Obama extends sanctions
against N. Korea
yonhap news
agency 2012/06/19
WASHINGTON, June 18
(Yonhap) -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday extended economic sanctions
against North Korea for another year amid lingering tension over the North's
nuclear and missile programs.
The U.S. has extended
its sanctions on North Korea, also subject to international sanctions, each
year in June.
Message --
Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to North Korea
The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release June 18, 2012
TO THE CONGRESS OF THE
UNITED STATES:
Section 202(d) of the
National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)) provides for the automatic termination of a
national emergency unless, within 90 days prior to the anniversary date of its
declaration, the President publishes in the Federal Register and transmits to
the Congress a notice stating that the emergency is to continue in effect
beyond the anniversary date. In accordance with this provision, I have sent to
the Federal Register for publication the enclosed notice stating that the
national emergency declared in Executive Order 13466 of June 26, 2008,
expanded in scope in Executive Order 13551 of August 30, 2010, and
addressed further in Executive Order 13570 of April 18, 2011, is to
continue in effect beyond June 26, 2012.
The existence and risk
of proliferation of weapons-usable fissile material on the Korean Peninsula,
and the actions and policies of the Government of North Korea that destabilize
the Korean Peninsula and imperil U.S. Armed Forces, allies, and trading
partners in the region continue to constitute an unusual and extraordinary
threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United
States. For these reasons, I have determined that it is necessary to continue
the national emergency with respect to these threats and maintain in force the
measures taken to deal with that national emergency.
BARACK OBAMA
Notice -- Continuation
of the National Emergency with Respect to North Korea
The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release June
18, 2012
On June 26, 2008, by Executive
Order 13466, the President declared a national emergency pursuant to the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701-1706) to deal with
the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign
policy of the United States constituted by the existence and risk of
proliferation of weapons-usable fissile material on the Korean Peninsula. The
President also found that it was necessary to maintain certain restrictions
with respect to North Korea that would otherwise have been lifted pursuant to
Proclamation 8271 of June 26, 2008, which terminated the exercise of
authorities under the Trading with the Enemy Act (50 U.S.C. App. 1-44) with
respect to North Korea.
On August 30, 2010, I
signed Executive Order 13551, which expanded the scope of the national
emergency declared in Executive Order 13466 to deal with the unusual and
extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of
the United States posed by the continued actions and policies of the Government
of North Korea, manifested by its unprovoked attack that resulted in the
sinking of the Republic of Korea Navy ship Cheonan and the deaths of 46 sailors
in March 2010; its announced test of a nuclear device and its missile launches
in 2009; its actions in violation of United Nations Security Council
Resolutions (UNSCRs) 1718 and 1874, including the procurement of luxury goods;
and its illicit and deceptive activities in international markets through which
it obtains financial and other support, including money laundering, the
counterfeiting of goods and currency, bulk cash smuggling, and narcotics
trafficking, which destabilize the Korean Peninsula and imperil U.S. Armed
Forces, allies, and trading partners in the region.
On April 18, 2011, I
signed Executive Order 13570 to take additional steps to address the
national emergency declared in Executive Order 13466 and expanded in Executive
Order 13551 that will ensure the implementation of the import restrictions
contained in UNSCRs 1718 and 1874 and complement the import restrictions
provided for in the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.).
Because the existence
and risk of proliferation of weapons-usable fissile material on the Korean
Peninsula and the actions and policies of the Government of North Korea
continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security,
foreign policy, and economy of the United States, the national emergency
declared in Executive Order 13466, expanded in scope in Executive Order 13551,
and addressed further in
Executive Order 13570,
and the measures taken to deal with that national emergency, must continue in
effect beyond June 26, 2012. Therefore, in accordance with section 202(d) of
the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)), I am continuing for 1 year
the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13466.
This notice shall be
published in the Federal Register and transmitted to the Congress.
BARACK OBAMA
N. Korea warns over
South Korea-U.S. drill
June 18, 2012
SEOUL, June 18 (UPI)
-- South Korea says a military drill Friday near the North Korean border will
demonstrate how the military would react if invaded by North Korea, officials
said
The United States will
participate in a live-fire exercise in Pocheon Friday involving more than 2,000
troops, as well as fighter jets and Apache helicopters, Yonhap News Agency
reported Monday. The drill will mark the upcoming 62nd anniversary of the
Korean War, which started June 25, 1950, the South Korean news agency said.
The United States,
Japan and South Korea also plan to hold a two-day naval exercise Thursday and
Friday south of the Korean Peninsula in waters past any territorial boundaries,
the U.S. Defense Department said last week.
The exercise will
involve the U.S. aircraft carrier, the USS George Washington.
North Korean officials
said the drills represent "military provocations" and accused the
United States of building up arms in South Korea.
Why People in
N.Korea's 'Rice Bowl' Are Starving
June 20, 2012
Thousands of people
are starving to death in North
Korea's South Hwanghae Province even though it is the country's rice bowl,
according to a defector.
"Villages in
remote mountains can resort to slash-and-burn
farming to survive, but in lowland areas where
there are only cooperative farms,
30 to 40 people in each village starve to death every year," said
Choi Myong-chol (not his real name), who used to handle crop harvests in Haeju,
South Hwanghae Province. "The reason is that their entire harvest is confiscated," he told the activist
website NK Reform.
The Tokyo Shimbun
reported in April that 20,000 North Koreans starved to death in South
Hwanghae Province after Kim Jong-il's death. "The reality there is
that farmers have no choice but to hide rice during the harvest
to survive," Choi said. This has happened every year. "This year,
authorities appear to have taken extra measures to seek out rice the farmers
had hidden," he added.
Choi said the reason
for the starvation is the unrealistic crop output goals set by the
regime every spring. Cooperative farms in South Hwanghae Province are ordered
to produce six tons of rice per 10,000 sq. m, of which the farmers are promised
two tons. But the actual amount that is harvested is only two to four tons,
which leaves nothing for the farmers.
Harvested rice is
distributed first to elite security and intelligence forces and then to ordinary soldiers.
Farmers steal rice even under close watch because they would starve
otherwise. They apparently steal between 1.5 to 2 tons per 10,000 sq. m of
farmland, or about half of the crop. The regime is aware of the practice and
sniffs out and confiscates around 30 percent of the stolen rice, leaving some
5,000-7,000 people to starve to death every year in the region.
Farmers Sell
Government Fertilizer
2012-06-18 Reported by Sung-hui Moon for RFA’s Korean
service. Written in English by Joshua Lipes
North Korea has
launched a probe into the sale of state-issued fertilizer.
Cooperative farms in
North Korea are selling government-provided fertilizers instead of using them,
prompting authorities to launch an “emergency investigation” and threaten
“harsh punishment” for offenders, sources say.
But the source said
that the farms had been forced to sell the fertilizer to cover the costs of
borrowing vehicles and buying gasoline to transport it after receiving it from
the government.
Seoul's foreign
ministry said N. Korea's food shortages not so serious
kdh@yna.co.kr 2012/06/19
SEOUL, June 19
(Yonhap) -- Food shortages in North Korea do not seem to be as serious as
expected while the country grapples with a months-long drought, Seoul's foreign
ministry said Tuesday, in a blunt assessment that contradicts warnings from
United Nations agencies.
Asked whether South
Korea will consider resuming its state food aid to the North if the drought
further worsens, Foreign Ministry
spokesman Cho Byung-jae replied, "Our general assessment is that (the
North's food situation) is not so serious as to fall into a level of
crisis."
"At present, no plan is in the offing
with regard to government-level food assistance to North Korea," Cho said.
Last week, U.N. agencies operating inside
North Korea reported that millions of North Korean people are suffering from
chronic food shortages and dire health care, appealing for the world to
raise funds to provide food to the impoverished state.
The North's Korean Central News Agency
(KCNA) reported on Friday that the North's key breadbasket areas including
North Hwanghae Province have been hit by an unprecedented drought.
ITU Requests North
Korean Help on GPS
By Oh Yun Ju 2012-06-18
An investigation into
GPS disturbance felt in the west of the Korean Peninsula between April and May
has led the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to request North Korean
assistance.
Sanjay Acharya, ITU’s
head of PR revealed the news on Saturday, saying, “We have given a warning to
North Korea about disturbing the operation of aircraft and vessels in South
Korea. We have also requested emergency cooperation to find the source of the
jamming suffered by South Korean base stations.”
North Korea is a
member of both the ITU and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
