Kim Jong Un made his
second speech at a major public event since taking power in December,
addressing a children’s rally aimed at winning a new generation’s support
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/north-korean-leader-stages-massive-children-rally-article-1.1090747
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/north-korean-leader-stages-massive-children-rally-article-1.1090747
-
North Korea typically
holds mass events for landmark anniversaries such as the leaders’ birthdays and
the founding of the Workers’ Party or military. It is the first time such
extensive celebrations have been organized for the founding of the Korean Children’s
Union, the first political organization young North Koreans join.
-
By speaking publicly
twice in his six months as leader, Kim already is distinguishing himself from
his father. Kim Jong Il, who died in December, addressed the public only once,
two years before he succeeded father Kim Il Sung.
Prolonged drought
major test to Kim
-
The worst drought in
decades is threatening to aggravate already serious food shortages in
North Korea, posing a grave challenge to its new leader Kim Jong-un
-
An expected food
crisis could force Kim to make a choice ― whether to open dialogue with the
international community or to tighten the iron-fist rule to preempt any signs
of destabilization
-
The North’s official
Korean Central News Agency said the drought is the country’s worst since 1962. The western coastal areas, long deemed a
breadbasket for the country, were among the hardest hit
o
“The North’s
self-publication of drought has two purposes ― drumming up public participation
in its nationwide agricultural campaign and attracting support from the
international community.”
-
Food shortages are
projected to intensify in the coming months with up to 3 million
estimated by the U.N. World Food Program to be at risk of starvation.
-
The U.N. body (WFP)
said it plans to scale back its aid by excluding 140 senior North
Koreans from its list of recipients largely comprised of women and children.
The agency last year provided 83,000 tons of food, merely a quarter of its
initial target
-
The U.N. Food and
Agriculture Organization said in its outlook that the North would secure 2
million tons of rice this year, up nearly 18 percent from 2011. The
sum includes 300,000 tons in international aid and translates into more than 70
kilograms of rice per person, the highest level in six years
-
During his 17-year
rule, the senior Kim (Kim Jong-il) formulated a two-pronged economic
policy. On the domestic front, he
trumpeted a “self-reliant” socialist economy. While turning a blind eye to
rampant black markets after the rationing system effectively went bust, he kept
them in check to prevent his country from going capitalist. Outside, Kim strove
to entice foreign investors. He promoted trade with China and other countries
and installed free economic zones in remote border regions, despite meager
outcome.
-
More than 23,500 North
Koreans have taken refuge in the South since the 1950-53 Korean War. The figure
constantly rose on a yearly basis ― from 1,383 in 2005 to 2,927 in 2009 ―
according to the Unification Ministry.
-
U.S. officials said
two weeks ago that Washington may consider reviving the deal if Pyongyang
changes course and cause no additional provocations as it promised before.
-
While defending its nuclear program as a “self-defense” measure, Pyongyang
said late last month it has no plan for an atomic test for the time being
and remains open to dialogue
-
Pyongyang has been searching
for alternative donors and diplomatic partners. It has recently sent its high-ranking
officials to Southeast Asia in an apparent bid to perk up foreign assistance
and investment.
o
Kim Yong-nam, president
of the Presidium of North Korea’s parliament, visited Singapore and Indonesia
last month. The KCNA said Tuesday a North Korean delegation led by Kim Yong-il,
secretary of the Central Committee of the Worker’s Party, has left for a
weeklong tour with stops in Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar.
o
Indonesian media
reported last week that Jakarta plans to provide Pyongyang with $2 million in
humanitarian aid. They cited Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa as saying that
his government is discussing distribution methods with the WFP and UNICEF
-
The U.S. suspended food
handouts in 2009 after Pyongyang banished foreign food distribution
monitors.
-
Seoul rolled back
state-level support after conservative President Lee Myung-bak was sworn in in
February 2008. It then severed it completely following the killing of a
South Korean tourist in the North’s Mt. Geumgang resort in the summer of 2008.
Ties have been further worsened by the North’s naval and artillery attacks in
2010 that killed about 50 people. Civic groups continued to provide
humanitarian aid, however
-
Kim Yong Nam,
president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People’s Assembly, met and had a
talk with Hor Nam Hong, deputy prime minister and minister of Foreign Affairs
and International Cooperation of Cambodia, and his party who paid a courtesy
call on him at the Mansudae Assembly Hall on Tuesday.
-
Hor Nam Hong said the
traditional friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries
provided by Great King Norodom Sihanouk and Generalissimo Kim Il Sung have a
long history and a firm foundation
North Korea, Cambodia ministers possibly discuss nuclear
issue
BBC Monitoring Asia
Pacific, June 5, 2012, Kyodo News Service, Tokyo, in English 0952gmt 05 Jun 12
-
Cambodian Foreign
Minister Hor Namhong is believed to have extended an invitation to North Korean
Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun to attend the ASEAN Regional Forum this
July in Phnom Penh.
-
Hor Namhong, whose
country currently chairs the 10-member ASEAN, is also thought to have offered
to facilitate talks between North and South Korea on the sidelines of
the regional security meeting, at which all countries involved in the six-party
talks will be present
North Korean officials
visit Fiji
-
A North Korean
delegation has arrived in Fiji to explore areas of mutual interest and
development co-operation with Fiji.
-
North Korea has no
diplomatic mission in the South Pacific after closing its Canberra office in
2008 for financial reasons.
A delegation of the
Workers' Party of Korea [WPK] headed by Kim Yo'ng-il, alternate member of the
Political Bureau and secretary of the C.C. [Central Committee] of the WPK, left
Pyongyang Tuesday [5 June] to visit Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar [Burma].
BBC Monitoring Asia
Pacific, June 5, 2012, Source: KCNA website, Pyongyang, in English 0731gmt 05
Jun 12
Lee criticizes pro-N.
Korean sympathizers in Memorial Day speech
-
In a Memorial Day
address, Lee also urged North Korea to follow in the footsteps of Myanmar and
open up to the outside world with democratic reforms, while at the same time
warning the regime in Pyongyang of "strict punishment" for any
provocations.
-
Criticism of pro-North
Korean sympathizers has risen sharply in South Korea in recent months after
some newly elected lawmakers of a minor opposition party displayed strong
leanings to the communist nation and reluctance to criticize the autocratic
regime
-
Last month, Lee urged
pro-North Korea groups to wake up to reality and stop blindly accepting any
nonsense assertions Pyongyang makes. It was the first time he has openly criticized
those sympathetic to Pyongyang by using the word, "jongbuk," which
means "blindly following the North."
Korea seeks balance
between security partners and China
-
Seoul's strategy to
diversify its network of security partnerships, not only to fend off the
North's threat, but also to tackle uncertain challenges of a future multi-polar
world
o
Seoul has been working
with Japan over possible military agreements concerning logistics and
information despite domestic opposition stemming from long-standing historic
and diplomatic disputes.
o
With China, South
Korea is seeking an agreement facilitating supplies cooperation between the two
militaries during humanitarian aid and rescue missions.
-
the General Security
of Military Information Agreement with Japan would be "essential" to
national security as the agreement would allow Seoul's military to keep a
closer eye on North Korea
o
Japan's military
possesses a number of high-tech surveillance equipment including six Aegis
destroyers fitted with the latest radar equipment and several early warning
aircrafts, giving Japan an advantage in monitoring developments in North Korea
o
"On the outside
it is a tool for countering North Korea, but from China's point of view it is
ultimately strengthening the frame for keeping it in check," professor
Yang Moo-jin of the University of North Korean Studies said.
o
Observers suspect
South Korea has been pressured by the US to push defence ties with
Japan despite a significant political burden. A leaked diplomatic document states
that South Korea's participation in the 2008 Defence Trilateral Talks was
"entirely due to strong US government pressure," citing a South
Korean diplomat stationed in Japan.
-
Japan's Ministry of
Defence is reviewing plans to deploy Aegis destroyers in the international
waters "near the launch site" when North Korea is scheduled to launch
long-range rockets.
o
Although patrolling in
international waters is allowed under international laws, a Japanese military
vessel operating within close proximity to the Korean Peninsula is a thorny
issue for Korea due to unresolved historical and territorial issues.
o
The Japanese
government continues to deny its involvement in forcing Korean women into
sexual slavery for its military during Japan's occupation of Korea.
o
In addition, Japan is
maintaining that the Dokdo islets in the East Sea are its territory.
-
In addition, such
developments could aggravate China, which had responded strongly to the South
Korea-US joint military exercise conducted in the West Sea in 2010
-
a military agreement
with China remains a far more distant prospect
o
advanced cooperation
with China -- beyond humanitarian missions -- could have negative effects on
Korea's relations with other countries
o
too early to be
considering military agreements when the bilateral relationship is that of
strategic partners. The Seoul-Beijing relations were upgraded to that of
strategic partners in 2008. Since then
the two nations have been holding joint search and rescue exercises and seeking
ways to increase military exchange
o
"For instance, an
information sharing agreement could strain the Korea-US alliance because such a
pact represents risks of secrets shared by Seoul and Washington going into
China," Nam said
-
After Seoul and
Beijing established diplomatic relations with South Korea on August 24, 1992,
North Korea-China relations took a sudden dive that lasted for nearly seven
years
The United States is
in the process of selling hundreds of cutting-edge weapons to South Korea, a
deal expected to be worth $325 million
The Chinese State Media
has sent a clear warning to the United States today. The country’s news sources
are unhappy with the military power of the United States in the Asia Pacific
region and what is clearly a strategy of increasing that power in future
Europe: Press for
Commission of Inquiry on North Korea
-
A delegation
representing the International Coalition to Stop Crimes Against Humanity in
North Korea (ICNK) will travel to Europe beginning on June 7, 2012, to urge
European governments and the European Union to support the establishment of a
United Nations Commission of Inquiry to investigate crimes against humanity in
North Korea
-
The ICNK is an
international coalition formed to work to end the dire human rights situation
in North Korea
-
The delegation
includes:
Kang Cheol-hwan, a survivor of a North
Korean prison camp and co-author with Pierre Rigoulot of The Aquariums of
Pyongyang;
David Hawk, visiting scholar at Columbia
University and author of The Hidden Gulag (new edition published in April
2012);
Kwon Eunkyoung from Open North Korea; and
Jared Genser, an international
human rights lawyer who submitted a petition to the United Nations on April 2,
2012, on behalf of ICNK, calling for an investigation into North Korea’s human
rights violations.
