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☆ A US tourist crossed the border into North Korea, UN says. South Korean media reports he's a US soldier.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A US national crossed the border from South Korea into North Korea on Tuesday, the UN said. South Korean media is reporting that he was a US soldier. South Korean media has described it as a defection, though it is currently unclear if this is the case. Cases of Americans or South Koreans defecting to North Korea are extremely rare, while North Koreans crossing into South Korea are more common. More than 30,000 North Koreans have fled south since the 1950-1953 Korean War, according to the Associated Press.

Persons: Travis King Organizations: UN, Service, United Nations, The United Nations Command, Security Area, — United Nations Command, The Korea Herald, Ilbo, US Army, South, US Department of State, Associated Press Locations: South Korea, North Korea, US, North, Wall, Silicon, Seoul, South Korea's

“I’m getting to know how to live in South Korea at Hanawon.”A Hanawon instructor in an IT education center for North Korean defectors on July 10, 2023. This approach is “outdated,” ineffective and overly restrictive, said Sokeel Park, South Korea country director for international nonprofit Liberty in North Korea (LINK), which helps North Koreans resettle in the South. North Korean defectors attend a computer class at the Hanawon facility on July 10, 2023. In 2022, the remains of a North Korean woman wrapped in winter coats found in her Seoul home. After their arduous journey, he said, North Korean defectors should have the chance to begin this new chapter on their own terms – with the freedom they risked their lives to seek.

Persons: ”, “, “ I’ve, “ I’m, Jeon Heon, Seokyong Lee, Hanawon, SeongJoon Cho, Kim, Kwon Young, ” B, Park, they’d, Kwon, he’d, she’d Organizations: South Korea CNN, South Korea –, Unification, National Intelligence Service, Liberty, CNN, Bloomberg, Getty, North, NIS, Hanawon, Authorities, South Locations: Seoul, South Korea, North Korea, Korea, China, Hanawon, North, Anseong, South, Pyongyang, North Korean, Korean

Seoul, South Korea CNN —North Korea has fired what appears to be a long-range ballistic missile from the Pyongyang area to waters off its east coast, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Wednesday, marking a potential new round of confrontation with Seoul and Washington. The flight time, if confirmed, would be similar to those of North Korean missiles tested in March and April of this year. Kim Yo Jong, a senior North Korean official and sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, accused a US spy plane of entering the North’s exclusive economic zone at least eight times on Monday, according to a statement Tuesday from North Korea’s state news agency KCNA. But North Korea has shown no signs that it is willing to engage in negotiations with Washington or Seoul. Meanwhile, South Korea, the US and Japan have been holding joint and trilateral military exercises aimed at deterring any North Korean military threat.

Persons: Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong Un, ” Kim, “ Kim Yo, ”, Leif, Eric Easley, Rodong Sinmun Chun, ” Chun Organizations: South Korea CNN, South Korea’s, Chiefs, Staff, Japan’s Coast Guard, Ministry of Defense, Korean, North Korean, CNN, NATO, United Nations, Ewha Womans University, South Korean Army Locations: Seoul, South Korea, Korea, Pyongyang, South, Washington, Japan, United States, East, North Korea’s, Lithuania, North Korea, Republic of Korea, “ Pyongyang, North

☆ For North Koreans in China, Seeking Freedom Is More Perilous Than Ever
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( Choe Sang-Hun | More About Choe Sang-Hun | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The North Korean software engineer was desperate. He had been sent to northeastern China in 2019 to earn money for the North Korean regime. A young woman who had been smuggled by human traffickers from North Korea into China in 2018 contacted the owner of the same website early this year. He has often been condemned by Pyongyang and was once imprisoned in China for helping hundreds of North Koreans reach South Korea or the United States. But now, the job of aiding North Korean defectors in China has become “all but impossible,” Mr. Chun said.

Persons: “, ”, Chun Ki, Mr, Chun Organizations: North Locations: Korean, China, North Korea, South Korea, cybersex, Seoul, Pyongyang, United States

☆ A North Korean stunned world soccer when he scored in Serie A. Then Han Kwang Song went missing
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Gawon Bae | Andrew Mcnicol | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +20 min

But the Covid-19 pandemic led to North Korea fully sealing its borders, making it impossible for Han and fellow repatriated North Korean nationals to return home. PyongyangHan was born in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang in 1998. The opening of North Korea through sport seemed like a door that would not be closed any time soon. They followed the Olympics and soccer,” former North Korean men’s soccer national team head coach Jørn Andersen told CNN Sport, adding that he had limited contact with the North Korean public during his time in Pyongyang between 2016 and 2018. Holding a North Korean passport, Han was no exception to these sanctions, despite his preternatural soccer talent.

Persons: Han Kwang, Qatar’s, Han, –, Hahn, hea, Kim Jong, Pyongyang Han, Kim Jong Un’s, Kim, Alberto Mier, Jørn Andersen, ” Andersen, Han Kwang Song, Enrico Locci, YuMi, Rome –, Choe, “, Mario Berreta, ” Cagliari’s, Max Canzi, ” Canzi, ‘ Tell Mario, ”, Canzi, Nicholas Pennington, Tullio M, Pennington, ” Han, Juventus –, Duhail, Sandro Stemperini, Qatar Han’s, Andersen, hasn’t, he’s, ” Anderson, regretfully Organizations: CNN, Juventus, Little North, South, CNN Sport, United Nations Security Council, North, Pyongyang International Football School, CNN North Korea, Korean, soccer, team, North Korean, Bundesliga, Liga, KCTV, FIFA, Cagliari's Serie, Chievo Verona, Academy, ISM Academy, AC Perugia Calcio, Cagliari, Canzi, Serie A, Perugia, Getty, AC Perugia, Juventus ’, Serie, ISM International Scouting Center, UNSC, North Korea, DPRK, Democratic People’s, Al, Qatar’s, Qatar Stars, Qatar, UN, Fiorentina, Sport, Qatar Stars League, “, Qatar Airways, – Locations: Korean, Italian, Pyongyang, South Korean, North Korea, Qatar, London, South Korea, Germany, Italy, England, Spain, Perugia –, Italy’s, Umbria, Rome, Europe, “, Cagliari, Puglia, Seoul, North Korean, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Qatari, Korea, North, Ahli, ”, Doha, China, Russia

☆ After Prigozhin’s Uprising, Yesterday’s Putin Is Gone - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Andrei Kolesnikov | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Mr. Putin today is not who he was last week. Is Mr. Putin really the all-powerful, czar-like figure they thought he was? Mr. Prigozhin, while becoming a relatively popular figure among certain groups, was never a serious or convincing candidate as a national leader. First, he said that to defeat the enemy in Ukraine, Russians should tighten their belts and be ready to live like North Koreans. Replace Mr. Putin, his teacher in the profession of gaining power?

Persons: Putin, Prigozhin, Sergei Shoigu, Putin’s, Aleksandr Lukashenko of, Wagner Locations: Ukraine, North Koreans, Russia, Moscow, Aleksandr Lukashenko of Belarus, Russian

☆ US lawmakers warn North Korean refugees face forcible repatriation from China
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, June 13 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers warned on Tuesday that China could be preparing to forcibly repatriate refugees who fled North Korea and urged the United Nations to use its influence with Beijing to prevent this. He referred to reports that approximately 2,000 and "perhaps many more" North Korean refugees faced repatriation "which would subject them to severe human rights violations upon their return." The CECC co-chair, Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, said a 2014 report by the U.N. commission on inquiry on human rights in North Korea had stated clearly that forcible repatriation of North Koreans "subjects them to crimes against humanity." "Just being a North Korean in China means an individual would be in grave peril if sent back to North Korea," he said. China's Washington embassy, UNHCR, and North Korea's U.N. mission did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Persons: Chris Smith, Smith, Antonio Guterres, General Guterres, Filippo Grandi, Elizabeth Salmon, Jeff Merkley, Merkley, U.N, Stephane Dujarric, Guterres, David Brunnstrom, Michelle Nichols, Don Durfee, Grant McCool Organizations: United, Congressional, Commission, U.N, United Nations, South Korea's Korea Times, Washington Post, Democratic, UNHCR, Thomson Locations: China, North Korea, United Nations, Beijing, Korean, South, North Koreans, Washington

Chris Christie laid into Donald Trump in a CNN town hall Monday night, calling the former president “angry” and “vengeful” and accusing him of “vanity run amok” within the event’s opening minutes. Chris Christie greets CNN's Anderson Cooper at the start of the CNN Republican Presidential Town Hall in New York on Monday, June 12. Christie speaks during the town hall. I’ve done it in the toughest state,” Christie said, allowing that perhaps New York, California and Illinois might be tougher on Republicans. “Let’s leave it to the states and if a consensus emerges, we’ll know it.”Christie speaks to the audience during the town hall.

Persons: Chris Christie, Donald Trump, “, ”, Christie –, –, Christie, ” Christie, Joe Biden, CNN's Anderson Cooper, Laura Oliverio, CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Trump, ’ ” Christie, “ They’re, CNN Christie, Christie Christie, “ You’ve, ” Christie –, New Jersey –, “ I’ve, he’s, ” Chris Christie, you’ve, Trump’s, Cooper, Roe, Wade, – Trump, “ We’re, DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Bernadette Tuazon, he’d, Warren, Christie’s, I’ll, TikTok Organizations: CNN, Former New Jersey Gov, Republican, Trump, GOP, ” Former New Jersey Gov, CNN Republican Presidential Town, Trump –, District of, Justice Department, Democratic, Biden, South, United Nations, Social Security, actuaries, North Koreans, China, Facebook, Twitter Locations: New York, Christie’s, York, District of New Jersey, Iran, Trump, New Jersey, New York , California, Illinois, Washington, legislating, Oklahoma, Kansas, South Carolina, China, Russia, Beijing, United States

☆ Kim Jong Un orders North Koreans to stop killing themselves after number of suicides skyrocketed
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Kim Jong Un banned suicide, calling it an "act of treason against socialism," per Radio Free Asia. The number of suicides in North Korea is believed to be skyrocketing, it said. Kim ordered local authorities to take action to prevent people from killing themselves, per the report. Data was provided on the number of suicides, which included examples of entire families ending their lives, the official said, per Radio Free Asia. In the neighboring province of Ryanggang, another official told Radio Free Asia that suicide was impacting the community more than starvation, while mentioning a similar meeting.

Persons: Kim Jong Un, Kim, —, Kim Jong Organizations: Free Asia, Service, Radio Free Asia, South Korean National Intelligence Service, Radio Free, North Hamgyong, Free, World Health Organization Locations: North Korea, Radio Free Asia, North Korean, North, Ryanggang

☆ North Korea says it will launch its first-ever military spy satellite to monitor U.S. drills
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Jihye Lee | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - FEBRUARY 09: People watch a television show North Korea's 75th anniversary of the founding of the armed forces day military parade released by Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Seoul, South Korea. Chung Sung-jun | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesNorth Korea announced its plans to launch its first-ever military spy satellite – giving a lift for some South Korean and Japanese defense stocks. North Korean military official Ri Pyong Chol said in a Monday statement that Pyongyang plans to launch a satellite with the aim to track "dangerous" actions by the U.S., pointing to its recent joint military drills taking with South Korea. North Korea claimed the event "fully proves how the enemy is making preparations for the military act of aggression on the DPRK," referring to its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Defense stocks riseShares of South Korean defense companies Firstec and Victek rose 3.8% and 3.3% respectively Tuesday afternoon, returning from a market holiday Monday.

☆ North Korea spent the pandemic building a huge border wall
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +11 min

As the pandemic began, North Korea moved to seal its northern borders, tightening control over informal trade routes and making escape harder for defectors. Nov. 16, 2019 Minimal security features visible along North Korea’s border with Russia. Food shortages in North Korea have worsened in recent months, due in part to the border closures, according to international experts. Still, he said, there were reports of foreign shows such as the South Korean hit “Squid Game” finding their way into North Korea. “It's all the more reason for the international community to step up efforts to support North Korean rights,” he said.

☆ ‘Lord Commander’ of the DMZ Has Seen It All on the Korean Frontier
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Choe Sang-Hun | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When inter-Korean relations soured in 2015 after two South Korean soldiers were maimed by North Korean booby traps, loudspeakers raged around Panmunjom with North Korean propaganda 20 hours a day — and with South Korean side blasting pop music. Sitting in his office one afternoon in 2017, Commander McShane recalled, he heard bursts of gunfire. Outside, a North Korean soldier was running his way across the border through a hail of bullets before making it to the South, shot but alive. Commander McShane used the bullhorn to invite the North to a joint investigation of the defection. Back in his office, he saw a North Korean flashlight blinking at him, and he was ordered to go back outside and repeat the message.

☆ North Korean hackers breach software firm in significant cyberattack
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Suspected North Korean hackers infiltrated a software firm that claims hundreds of thousands of customers around the world in a cyberattack that shows Pyongyang’s advanced hacking capabilities, private investigators said Thursday. But it’s the latest evidence that North Korean hackers are pulling out all the stops to break into organizations to steal or spy on them in support of dictator Kim Jong Un’s strategic interests. A recent CNN investigation found a rampant effort by North Korean hackers to steal cryptocurrency and launder it into hard cash that might help fund the regime’s weapon’s programs. Trading Technologies has not been able to verify Mandiant’s findings yet because the company just became aware of the issue last week, a spokesperson for Trading Technologies told CNN on Thursday. “What we do know with certainty is that 3CX is not a vendor or a customer of Trading Technologies,” the Trading Technologies spokesperson said.

☆ Fox News settles Dominion's defamation lawsuit for $787.5 million over election conspiracy theories just as the trial is about to start
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Fox News settled Dominion's defamation lawsuit over election conspiracy theories for $787.5 million. WILMINGTON, Delaware — Fox News settled Dominion Voting Systems's blockbuster defamation lawsuit just as it was about to go to trial, agreeing to pay it $787.5 million. In a press conference after Davis announced the settlement, Dominion CEO John Poulos criticized Fox for broadcasting lies about the company. Dominion first filed its lawsuit against Fox News and its parent company, Fox Corp., in March 2021. Representatives of Fox News arrive at the justice center for the Dominion Voting Systems' defamation lawsuit against Fox News, in Wilmington, Delaware.

☆ North Korea executes people for South Korean videos, drugs - report
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Hyonhee Shin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A North Korean flag flies on a mast at the Permanent Mission of North Korea in Geneva October 2, 2014. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File PhotoSEOUL, March 30 (Reuters) - North Korea executes people for drugs, sharing South Korean media, and religious activities as it stifles its citizens' human rights and freedom, its rival, South Korea, said in a report on Thursday. "Executions are widely carried out for acts that do not justify the death penalty, including drug crimes, distribution of South Korean videos, and religious and superstitious activities." Reuters could not independently verify the South Korean government's findings but they were in line with U.N. investigations and reports from non-governmental organisations. Nearly 34,000 North Koreans have settled in South Korea but the number of defectors has fallen sharply because of tighter border security.

☆ A man detained multiple times said North Korean prisons have improved over the years because the last time he was jailed he no longer had to walk on all fours
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

One expert told CNN that many released prisoners are unaware that they lived through torture. His testimony was one of many used in a report released Friday from the NGO Korea Future, which detailed torture and abuse faced by detained North Koreans. "In the past, we had to crawl with both hands and knees when we were moving, but in 2017, we could stand up and walk," the man told CNN. So they just simply thought that they were bad people and for that reason, they were being punished," Kim told CNN. In February, the UN HRC released a report on human rights that backs up many of Korea Future's findings.

☆ US, China, Russia argue over North Korea at United Nations
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] People watch a TV broadcasting a news report on North Korea firing a ballistic missile into the sea off its east coast, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea, March 16, 2023. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File PhotoUNITED NATIONS, March 20 (Reuters) - The United States, China and Russia argued during a United Nations Security Council meeting on Monday over who was to blame for spurring North Korea's dozens of ballistic missile launches and development of a nuclear weapons program. North Korea has been under U.N. sanctions for its missile and nuclear programs since 2006. China and Russia blamed joint military drills by the United States and South Korea for provoking Pyongyang while Washington accuses Beijing and Moscow of emboldening North Korea by shielding it from more sanctions. Russia and China, veto powers along with the United States, Britain and France, have said more sanctions will not help and want such measures to be eased.

☆ North Korea Suffers One of Its Worst Food Crises in Decades
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Dasl Yoon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

SEOUL—North Koreans are experiencing widespread hunger and dying of starvation as the country suffers one of the worst food shortages in decades as a result of its international isolation and natural disasters that have damaged crops, reducing yields. The North Korean regime held an urgent meeting on agriculture and the economy this week. Such a gathering is rare and indicates the seriousness of the shortages, South Korean officials said.

☆ North Korea Suffers One of Its Worst Food Shortages in Decades
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Dasl Yoon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

SEOUL—North Koreans are experiencing widespread hunger and dying of starvation as the country suffers one of the worst food crises in decades as a result of its international isolation and natural disasters that have damaged crops, reducing yields. The North Korean regime held an urgent meeting on agriculture and the economy this week. Such a gathering is rare and indicates the seriousness of the shortages, South Korean officials said.

☆ Groundwater carries radiation risk for North Korean cities near nuke test site, rights group says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Hyonhee Shin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

North Korea secretly conducted six tests of nuclear weapons at the Punggye-ri site in the mountainous North Hamgyong Province between 2006 and 2017, according to the U.S. and South Korean governments. It also said that neighbouring South Korea, China and Japan might be at risk due partly to agricultural and fisheries products smuggled from the North. When North Korea invited foreign journalists to witness the destruction of some tunnels at the nuclear test site in 2018, it confiscated their radiation detectors. The ministry said, however, that it could not establish a direct link with the nuclear site. The rights group urged a resumption of testing and an international enquiry into the radiation risks for communities around Punggye-ri.

☆ Over a million North Koreans could be drinking water contaminated by underground nuclear weapons tests, study says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Over a million North Koreans may be drinking water contaminated by nuclear material, a report says. The groundwater was likely contaminated by underground nuclear weapons testing. The report also warned of the danger posed by produce sent from North Korea to Japan and China. Between 2006 and 2017, North Korea is believed to have carried out six nuclear tests at the underground site, which is located in the mountainous North Hamgyong Province. Punggye-ri was closed down in 2018 and partly destroyed after North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un pledged to halt nuclear weapons tests as part of a short-lived agreement with President Donald Trump.

☆ Fox News exec said 'the North Koreans do a more nuanced show' than the now-fired host Lou Dobbs: lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Cheryl Teh | Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Fox News president Jay Wallace said North Korean propaganda has more nuance than Lou Dobbs. Wallace's comments about Dobbs were cited in a court filing by Dominion Voting Systems. Wallace said in September 2020 that "the North Koreans do a more nuanced show" than Dobbs, per a filing from Dominion Voting Systems released on Thursday. This filing was part of Dominion Voting Systems' defamation lawsuit against Fox News. Dominion Voting Systems has alleged that Fox defamed it by pushing a false conspiracy theory that it manipulated election results.

☆ ‘The Hard Road Out’ Review: A Prison Break Across Borders
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Melanie Kirkpatrick | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Thanks to the testimonies of North Koreans who have escaped their prison of a homeland in the past 25 years, the world is aware of the Kim-family regime’s atrocities against its own people. It is quite another to read personal accounts. “The Hard Road Out” by Jihyun Park and Seh-lynn Chai is the latest in a series of searing memoirs by North Koreans who beat the odds and reached safety in free countries. Ms. Park and her South Korean co-author relate Ms. Park’s awful story in clear-eyed, unsentimental prose. It is a gripping read.

☆ North Korea's antique fighter jets are still keeping the US and South Korea on their toes
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Even with an aging fleet, Pyongyang has been able to catch the attention of South Korea and the US. On October 6, 12 North Korean jets were detected practicing air-to-ground attacks near the DMZ, prompting South Korea to scramble 30 of its fighters. On November 4, 80 South Korean fighters were scrambled after 180 North Korean planes were detected on South Korean radar. The activity and scale is unusual given North Korea's air force is widely regarded as the weakest branch of North Korea's military. South Korean troops guard a MiG-19 used by a North Korean pilot to defect to South Korea in May 1996.

☆ Record $3.8 billion stolen in crypto hacks last year, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —A record $3.8 billion worth of cryptocurrency was stolen from various services last year, with much of those thefts driven by North Korean-linked hackers, according to a report Wednesday from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. Some of the biggest crypto hacks of the year have since been attributed to North Korea. US officials worry Pyongyang will use money stolen from crypto hacks to fund its illicit nuclear and ballistic weapons program. While crypto hacks continued to rise last year, there is some cause for hope. Law enforcement and national security agencies are expanding their abilities to combat digital criminals, such as the FBI’s recovery of $30 million worth of cryptocurrency stolen in the Axie Infinity hack.

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