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Tag: North Korea

  • North Korean teens sentenced to 12 years of hard labour for watching K-drama

    North Korean teens sentenced to 12 years of hard labour for watching K-drama

    Rare footage obtained by BBC Korean shows North Korea publicly sentencing two teenage boys to 12 years of hard labour for watching K-dramas.

    The footage, which appears to have been filmed in 2022, shows two 16-year-old boys handcuffed in front of hundreds of students at an outdoor stadium.

    It also shows uniformed officers reprimanding the boys for not “deeply reflecting on their mistakes”.

    South Korean entertainment, including TV, is banned in the North.

    Despite that, some are prepared to risk severe punishment to access K-dramas, which have a huge global audience.

    Footage such as this is rare, because North Korea forbids photos, videos and other evidence of life in the country from being leaked to the outside world.

    This video was provided to the BBC by the South and North Development (Sand), a research institute that works with defectors from the North.

    It suggests authorities are coming down harder on such incidents. The clip has reportedly been distributed in North Korea for ideology education and to warn citizens not to watch “decadent recordings”.

    The video includes a narrator who is repeating state propaganda. “The rotten puppet regime’s culture has spread even to teenagers,” says the voice, in an apparent reference to South Korea. “They are just 16 years old, but they ruined their own future,” it adds.

    The boys were also named by officers and had their addresses revealed.

    In the past, minors who broke the law in this way would be sent to youth labour camps rather than put behind bars, and the punishment was usually less than five years.

    In 2020, however, Pyongyang enacted a law to make watching or distributing South Korean entertainment punishable by death.

    A defector previously told the BBC that he was forced to watch a 22-year-old man shot to death. He said the man was accused of listening to South Korean music and had shared films from the South with his friend.

    Sand CEO Choi Kyong-hui said Pyongyang sees the spread of K-dramas and K-pop as a danger to its ideology.

    “Admiration for South Korean society can soon lead to a weakening of the system… This goes against the monolithic ideology that makes North Koreans revere the Kim family,” she said.

    North Koreans started getting a taste of South Korean entertainment in the 2000s, during the years of the South’s “sunshine policy” which saw it offering unconditional economic and humanitarian aid to the North.

    Read Also: North Korea reopens borders to foreigners after three years

    Seoul ended the policy in 2010, saying it found the aid did not reach the ordinary North Koreans it was intended for, and that it had not resulted in any “positive changes” to Pyongyang’s behaviour.

    But South Korean entertainment continued to reach North Korea through China.

    “If you get caught watching an American drama, you can get away with a bribe, but if you watch a Korean drama, you get shot,” a North Korean defector told BBC Korean on Thursday.

    “For North Korean people, Korean dramas are a ‘drug’ that helps them forget their difficult reality,” the defector said.

    “In North Korea, we learn that South Korea lives much worse than us, but when you watch South Korean dramas, it’s a completely different world. It seems like the North Korean authorities are wary of that,” said another North Korean defector in her 20s.

  • U.S. secures release of soldier after crossing into North Korea

    U.S. secures release of soldier after crossing into North Korea

    The United States has secured the release of an American soldier who sprinted across a heavily fortified border into North Korea more than two months ago, and he is on his way back to America, officials announced yesterday.

    U.S. ally Sweden and rival China helped with the transfer. Left unanswered were questions of why Pyongyang—which has tense relations with Washington over the North’s nuclear programme, support for Russia’s war in Ukraine and other issues—had agreed to turn him over and why the soldier had fled in the first place.

    North Korea had abruptly announced earlier yesterday that it would expel Pvt Travis King — though some had expected the North to drag out his detention in hopes of squeezing concessions from Washington at a time of high tensions between the two countries.

    “U.S. officials have secured the return of Private Travis King from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement.

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    “We appreciate the dedication of the interagency team that has worked tirelessly out of concern for Private King’s wellbeing.”

    Officials said they did not know exactly why North Korea decided to expel King, but suspected Pyongyang determined that as a low-ranking serviceman, he had no real value in terms of either leverage or information.

    One official, who was not authorised to comment and requested anonymity, said the North Koreans may have decided that King, 23, was more trouble to keep than to simply release him.

    Swedish officials took King to the Chinese border, where he was met by the U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns, the Swedish ambassador to China, and at least one U.S. Defence Department official. Biden administration officials insisted they provided no concessions to North Korea to secure the soldier’s release.

    “We thank the government of Sweden for its diplomatic role, serving as the protecting power for the United States in the DPRK and the government of the People’s Republic of China for its assistance in facilitating the transit of Private King,” Sullivan added.

    King was flown to a U.S. military base in South Korea before being returned to the U.S.

  • North Korea elects new ceremonial president

    North Korea has elected a new ceremonial president, a month after the election of its official parliament, state media said on Friday.

    North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s deputy, Choe Ryong Hae, was elected on Thursday as chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, as North Korea is officially known.

    According to a report Friday by the news agency KCNA, Choe replaces Kim Yong Nam, 91, who was long considered the diplomatic face of North Korea, but whose retirement was expected due to his advanced age.

    Read Also: As Korean Embassy intervenes in LADOL’s shooting incident

    South Korean media have described Choe as a political heavyweight and the number two man in North Korea behind Kim.

    KCNA called his selection a “great political event of crucial historical significance.’’

    The 687 lawmakers in the nominal parliament are elected for a period of five years, while turnout at the polls in March was over 90 per cent.

    The parliament is officially North Korea’s highest organ of state but it only meets once or twice a year to rubber-stamp decisions made by the country’s leaders.

  • Trump to meet North Korea’s Kim in Vietnam

    U.S. President Donald Trump says he will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam on Feb. 27 to Feb. 28 for their second summit, local media report said on Wednesday.

    Trump told Congress in his State of the Union address that as part of a bold new diplomacy, the U.S. would continue its historic push for peace on the Korean Peninsula.

    “Our hostages have come home, nuclear testing has stopped, and there has not been a missile launch in 15 months.

    “If I had not been elected president of the United States, we would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea.

    “Much work remains to be done, but my relationship with Kim Jong Un is a good one,’’ he stressed.

    The pair held their first summit in Singapore in June, the first time a sitting U.S. president has met a North Korean leader.

    Though Kim vowed to denuclearise the peninsula at the talks, no concrete details were given on how or when this would happen and little progress appears to have been made since then.

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    Dan Coats, Trump’s own director of national intelligence, recently contradicted the U.S. president on North Korea, warning that Pyongyang was “unlikely’’ to give up its nuclear weapons because “leaders view nuclear weapons as critical to regime survival.’’

    Kim has also criticised the U.S. for maintaining and implementing sanctions on Pyongyang, warning in his New Year’s address that they could “block the path to denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula forever.’’

    Trump’s speech came as U.S. envoy Stephen Biegun reportedly arrived in Pyongyang for talks on the summit with his North Korean counterpart Kim Hyok Chol, regarded as Kim Jong Un’s right hand man.

  • North Korea sanctions remain until complete denuclearization – U.S

    The United States Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, said on Thursday North Korea would not see any economic sanctions lifted until it has demonstrated “complete denuclearization.”

    Mr. Pompeo was speaking at a press conference in Seoul with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts, the BBC reports.

    It comes days after U.S President Donald Trump and North Korea leader, Kim Jong-un held a historic summit in Singapore.

    The leaders signed a statement pledging to establish a new relationship.

    Mr. Kim also reaffirmed its previous promises to work towards the “complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.”

    But there has been deep skepticism about the agreement, with observers saying it lacked detail on how North Korea would give up its nuclear weapons and how that process would be verified.

    Mr. Pompeo travelled from Singapore to South Korea to brief the U.S’s regional allies on the summit, and on Mr. Trump’s surprise announcement that he was ending routine U.S-South Korea military drills.

    He said the summit had marked a “turning point” in the relationship between the U.S and North Korea.

    Mr Pompeo dismissed a report by North Korean state media that indicated the U.S would grant concessions to Pyongyang for gradual progress.

    He said the U.S remained “committed to achieving the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation of North Korea.”

     

  • U.S., North Korea sign historic pact

    •Nigeria hails historic summit

    United States President Donald Trump and North Korea Leader Kim Jong Un yesterday signed an agreement after talks in Singapore which marked the first time a sitting U.S. president had met a North Korean leader.

    The two leaders, who in 2017 exchanged threats of war with one another – agreed to the “complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula” in a joint agreement, with the U.S. promising to provide “security guarantees” to North Korea in return.

    A joint statement signed at the end of the summit, gave few details on how either goal would be achieved but Trump fleshed out some details at a news conference.

    “President Trump committed to provide security guarantees to the DPRK and Chairman Kim Jong Un reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula,” they said.

    Trump said he expected the denuclearisation process to start “very, very quickly”. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and North Korean officials would hold follow-up negotiations “at the earliest possible date”, the statement said.

    Trump told the news conference that the process would be verified, and that the verification “will involve having a lot of people in North Korea”.

    He also said Kim had told him North Korea was destroying a major engine-testing site used for missiles, but maintained international sanctions on Pyongyang would stay in place for now.

    Trump said joint military exercises with South Korea would be halted. He said the move would save Washington a tremendous amount of money and would not be revived “unless and until we see the future negotiation is not going along like it should”.

    “Some things were agreed and not reflected in the agreement,” Trump said.

    Kim earlier said the two leaders had a historic meeting “and decided to leave the past behind. The world will see a major change.”

    However, several political analysts said the summit had yielded symbolic, rather than tangible, results.

    “It is unclear if further negotiations will lead to the end goal of denuclearisation,” said Anthony Ruggiero, senior fellow of Washington’s Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank. “This looks like a restatement of where we left negotiations more than 10 years ago and not a major step forward.”

    The document made no mention of the sanctions and nor was there any reference to finally signing a peace treaty. North Korea and the United States were on opposite sides in the 1950 to 1853 Korean War and are technically still combatants, as the conflict, in which millions of people died, was concluded only with a truce.

    But the joint statement did say the two sides had agreed to recover the remains of prisoners of war and those missing in action so that they could be repatriated.

    China, the third party to the truce, said it hoped North Korea and the United States could reach a basic consensus on denuclearisation.

    “At the same time, there needs to be a peace mechanism for the peninsula to resolve North Korea’s reasonable security concerns,” China’s top diplomat, state councillor Wang Yi, told reporters in Beijing.

    Russia’s deputy foreign minister said the Kremlin had a positive assessment of the summit but “the devil is in the details”, the Tass news agency reported.

    If the summit does lead to a lasting detente, it could fundamentally change the security landscape of Northeast Asia, just as former U.S. President Richard Nixon visit to China in 1972 led to the transformation of China.

    But Li Nan, senior researcher at Pangoal, a Beijing-based Chinese public policy think tank, said the meeting had only symbolic significance.

    “There is no concrete detail on the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and the provision of security guarantees by the United States,” Li said. “It is too early to call it a turning point in North Korea-U.S. relations.”

    The dollar however jumped to a three-week top and Asian shares rose on news of the agreement.

    Trump said he had formed a “very special bond” with Kim and that the relationship with North Korea would be very different in the future.

    “People are going to be very impressed and people are going to be very happy and we are going to take care of a very dangerous problem for the world,” Trump said.

    He called Kim “very smart” and a “very worthy, very hard negotiator.”

    “I learned he’s a very talented man. I also learned that he loves his country very much.”

    During a post-lunch stroll through the gardens of the Singapore hotel where the summit was held, Trump said the meeting had gone “better than anybody could have expected”.

    Kim stood silently alongside, but the North Korean leader had earlier described their summit as a “a good prelude to peace”.

    Both men walked to Trump’s bullet-proof limousine, nicknamed “The Beast”, and looked in at the rear seat, with Trump apparently showing Kim something inside.

    They then resumed their walk.

    They had appeared cautious and serious when they first arrived for the summit at the Capella hotel on Singapore’s Sentosa, a resort island with luxury hotels, a casino, manmade beaches and a Universal Studios theme park.

    The Federal Government yesterday commended United States and North Korea for yesterday’s historic agreement.

    In a statement yesterday, the government said Nigeria was optimistic that the two nations would uphold the commitments made during the landmark Summit.

    Spokesperson of  Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr. Tope Adeleye Elias-Fatile, said “The Federal Government of Nigeria congratulates Chairman Kim Jong Un of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and President Donald Trump of the United States of America on the historic achievement made at the “Kim and Trump Summit,” held earlier today, Tuesday 12th June, 2018, in Singapore, leading to the joint signing of a Statement by the two leaders; emphasising the establishment of new relationship; building an enduring peace and stability; the denuclearisation efforts in the Korean Peninsula; as well as recovery and repatriation of Prisoners of War (POW)/Missing in Action (MIA).

    “The success of the historic Summit is a demonstration of commitment by the relevant parties towards de-escalation of tension in the Korean Peninsula and a consolidation of the earlier achievement made during the Inter-Korean Summit of 27th April, 2018, resulting in the Panmunjom Declaration between the leaders of the Koreas.

    “Nigeria commends the bold step taken by the DPRK to dismantle the nuclear launch site as an indication of the determination to this peace process. In addition, Nigeria is optimistic that the two nations would uphold the commitments made duri

  • Summit with North Korea can still hold – Trump

    U.S. President Donald Trump said that the much anticipated meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un could still go ahead on June 12.

    Trump told reporters at the White House: “We’re going to see what happens. It could even be the 12th”, referring to the original date set for the meeting in Singapore.

    “We’re talking to them now. They very much want to do it. We’d like to do it. We’ll see what happens.”

    In a tweet later, the president welcomed North Korea’s latest statement on the talks as “very good news,” following Trump’s announcement on Thursday cancelling the meeting.

    Trump, also tweeted: “Very good news to receive the warm and productive statement from North Korea. We will soon see where it will lead, hopefully to long and enduring prosperity and peace. Only time (and talent) will tell!”

    Trump had cancelled the planned summit with Kim, citing the “tremendous anger and open hostility” in a recent statement from North Korea.

    It came on a day that North Korea dismantled its nuclear bomb testing site, in the presence of some invited journalists

    Read Also: Summit with North Korea’s leader may be delayed – Trump

    Trump said in a letter to Kim released on Thursday by the White House that based on the statement, he felt it was “inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting.”

    The president said the North Koreans talk about their nuclear capabilities, “but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used.”

    In a statement released by North Korean media on Thursday, Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui had called U.S. Vice President Mike Pence a “political dummy” for comparing North Korea – a “nuclear weapons state” – to Libya, where Gaddafi gave up his unfinished nuclear development programme, only to be later killed by NATO-backed fighters.

    “It is to be underlined, however, that in order not to follow in Libya’s footstep, we paid a heavy price to build up our powerful and reliable strength that can defend ourselves and safeguard peace and security in the Korean peninsula and the region.

    “We will neither beg the U.S. for dialogue nor take the trouble to persuade them if they do not want to sit together with us,” Choe said.

    However, a top North Korean official issued a statement on Friday, expressing the regime’s “willingness” to sit down for a summit with the U.S. administration.

    “We express our willingness to sit down face-to-face with the U.S. and resolve issues anytime and in any format,” North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan said.

    “Our commitment to doing our best for the sake of peace and stability for the world and the Korean Peninsula remains unchanged, and we are open-minded in giving time and opportunity to the U.S.,” he said.

    NAN

  • China calls on U.S., North Korea to ease tensions, meet halfway

    China on Wednesday asked the U.S. and North Korea to cherish recent efforts to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula and meet each other halfway, hours after North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un threatened to cancel a highly anticipated summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.

    “When the peace settlement process on the peninsula is facing an important opportunity, all parties concerned, especially North Korea and the U.S., should meet each other halfway and show kindness.

    “They should show sincerity to each other, and together create favourable conditions and atmosphere for the leaders’ meeting,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Lu Kang, said on Wednesday.

    His statement came hours after Jong-Un threatened to cancel his summit with Trump, scheduled for June 12, if the U.S. insisted that North Korea completely abandon its nuclear weapons.

    Read Also: Nigeria, China in $2.5b currency swap deal

    China also hopes the DPRK and the ROK will follow the spirit of the Panmunjom Declaration, understand and respect each other’s reasonable concerns to build trust and improve ties, Lu said.

    Lu called on the parties concerned to avoid taking steps that would escalate the situation.

    He also called for creating favorable conditions for dialogue and consultations.

    NAN

  • North Korea details plans to dismantle nuclear test site

    North Korea has scheduled the dismantlement of its nuclear test site for some time between May 23 and May 25 depending on weather conditions in order to uphold its previous pledge to discontinue nuclear tests, state media reported yesterday.

    The country’s central news agency said the dismantling of the nuclear test ground would involve collapsing all of its tunnels with explosions, blocking its entrances and removing all observation facilities, research buildings and security posts.

    “The Nuclear Weapon Institute and other concerned institutions are taking technical measures for dismantling the northern nuclear test ground of the DPRK in order to ensure transparency of discontinuance of the nuclear test,” the media reported said.

    The announcement came after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would hold a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12.

    It will be the first meeting ever between a sitting U.S. president and the leader of North Korea.

    It followed a flurry of international engagement with North Korea as the two Koreas held their own summit in late April and officials plan to hold high-level meetings in coming weeks.

    Trump’s Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday North Korea can look forward to “a future brimming with peace and prosperity” if it agrees to quickly give up its nuclear weapons.

    Officials in Seoul had said in April that North Korea planned to invite experts and journalists from the U.S. and South Korea for the shutdown of its test site.

    North Korea said newsmen from other countries, including the U.S. and South Korea, will be invited to cover the event, to “show in a transparent manner the dismantlement of the northern nuclear test ground to be carried out”.

    In order to accommodate the travelling newsmen, North Korea said various measures would be taken including “opening territorial air space.”

    “All international journalists will be provided with a charter flight into Wonsan, a port city in eastern North Korea, from Beijing,’’ KCNA said.

    There, newsmen will board a charter train to the nuclear test ground in an “uninhabited deep mountain area”.

    North Korea’s six known nuclear tests have taken place in Punggye-ri, a location in the northeastern part of North Korea where a system of tunnels has been dug under Mount Mantap.

    Experts have said the pledge to dismantle the test site is a big step forward but verifying it will be difficult.

     

     

  • North Korea set to part ways with Norwegian coach

    North Korea will part ways with its men’s national football team head coach Jorn Andersen after spending nearly two years with the Norwegian, according to foreign media reports Friday.

    Norway’s TV2 reported that Andersen recently met with Hong Kong Football Association officials to discuss his coaching job.

    This happened after North Korea beat Hong Kong 2-0 in the 2019 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup qualifying match in Pyongyang.

    Andersen’s contract with North Korea ends at the end of March.

    According to TV 2, Andersen who is a former German Bundesliga top goal scorer decided not to renew his contract with North Korea.

    He is said to be close to leading the Hong Kong national football team.

    Andersen took the helm of the North Korean men’s national football team in May 2016.

    Read Also: Trump and North Korea leader to hold ‘milestone’ meeting

    He was the second foreigner to manage North Korea after Hungarian Pal Csernai in 1991.

    The 55-year-old collected six wins, one draw and one loss in his first year with North Korea.

    He led the communist nation to qualify for the East Asian Football Federation E-1 Football Championship.

    Andersen also helped North Koreans to play in Europe, such as Han Kwang-song at Italian side Cagliari and Jong Il-kwan at Swiss outfit Luzern.

    Andersen renewed his contract with North Korea last December and focused on North Korea qualifying for the 2019 Asian Cup.

    North Korea finished second in Group B behind Lebanon in the Asian Cup qualifying campaign and earned their sport at the AFC event in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

    North Korea are ranked No. 119 in the latest FIFA rankings.

    NAN