North Korea Watch 2016

Also, the BBC has someone there right now, and others are there too, ready to report on the Party meeting. They've been isolated from everyone and apparently can't leave a creepy little compound made to look like a suburban neighbourhood.

The famine they're facing is going to be massive. They were facing a massive shortfall in food supply already, and their little psychopathic dictator has been redirecting money into their military rather than feeding the people starving to death in their country.

There is a lot of risk for people in NK right now, especially leading up to the party meeting. The threat doesn't come from the people as it might in other nations, they're not going to rise up against their failed government, they'll starve to death rather than make a fuss and end up putting themselves and all their family in a concentration camp for the rest of their lives. The threat comes from within the party, from generals and senior party members who are no longer getting all the supplies and luxuries from the outside world they're used to getting. There will be plots and plans being made, with different groups working in secret to achieve different things. This is only going to be heightened by their fears that their "Dear Leader" is likely to make examples of some and have them publicly executed for looking at him the wrong way, or saying something incorrectly, or not making something impossible happen on his command.

Paranoia is a powerful emotion, and it can lead to dramatic things.

Right now Kim is probably planning to make some kind of show of force in front of his party and attempt to secure his position for a few more years, and that assertion of power could be anything from killing off some important people to threatening the South with war.

Everyone should be on alert while this event is going on, especially SK.

I think the journalists there right now are damn brave, either that or they're stupid. I would not be entering that country at any time, journalist or not.

Pyongyang.. once-in-a-generation political gathering that begins at 9 a.m. on Friday (8:30 p.m. ET Thursday) in a convention center called "April 25 House of Culture"

Source: CNN.com North Korea prepares for highest political gathering in 3 decades

For those that wanted to know. Works fine for the USA. Prime time sports and watching Glorious Leader while eating nachos and sipping margarita's on Cinco de Mayo!

This is pretty bizarre.
The Workers Party Congress is the first one since 1980, and although NK has invited journalists they're not being shown anything at all, the events are not even being televised to the public there.

What is the point in inviting journalists if all those journalists are going to do is be held in a weird little fake suburb and be given a tour of another fake factory where no one is actually working?

If I were a journalist there right now I would be worried. It certainly seems to me as though they were invited under false pretences.

It's going to be interesting to watch what happens there today and over the weekend.

Just seen this update and thought it worthy of mentioning here:

Commercial satellite imagery of North Korea’s Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site from May 5 suggests that Pyongyang may be preparing for a nuclear test in the near future.

New Possible Indication of North Korean Nuclear Test Preparations

I think many believed that he might perform a test while the meeting was being held, as a show of strength and leadership. I'm not too certain about this though, I think he might wait until after the meeting has concluded before he makes any more grand gestures of power and threat.

I still find it quite strange that NK has invited journalists in, but it's not allowing them access to anything outside of Pyongyang, or access to any of the proceedings of the meeting. It makes me wonder just what they're there for.

I've been trying to work out the political motivation for inviting them and all I can come up with is that the party wants the world to think that everything is fine. How does that serve NK though? Is it purely about arrogance and defiance? Have they just invited the journalists in to say "see, we don't need you!"?

This doesn't seem logical to me at all.

Kim needs a bargaining chip right now, he's desperate for a way to make a deal with the outside. He knows that he can't keep his party happy for long without the luxuries and special treatment they've been used to for decades and now that aid has ended the pressure is on.

Kim wants to carry on building his weapons, while getting supplies in from outside, and he's refusing to accept that he can't have both, and refusing to accept that this is all leading to an inevitable confrontation with the world he now threatens.

If I were one of those journalists I would be worried about the prospect of being held in the country on manufactured charges. They would make good bargaining chips for another shipment of aid to help keep his generals placated.

a reply to: Rocker2013

Looks like 30 Western journalists were allowed in the Worker's Congress!

Source: CNN.com - Unprecedented: CNN goes inside North Korea's secretive Congress

They were used a "perp walk" for the state run television!

And Glorious Leader was confirmed as Chairman.

Last week the US State Department issues a report about human rights violation in NK. The Treasury department issued sanctions against Glorious Leader and 10 other officials for corruption and banking violations. Kim Jong Un said that that was an open act of aggression against his country. (In case you missed it: WSJ, 7/6/16, article).

So today, this story has broke: Reuters, July 11, 2016 - North Korea says will treat U.S. detainees under 'wartime law'.

North Korea said on Monday it had told the United States it will cut the only channel of communication between them, at the United Nations in New York, after Washington blacklisted leader Kim Jong Un last week for human rights abuses.
...
"As the first step, we have notified that the New York contact channel that has been the only existing channel of contact will be completely severed," it said.

"The Republic will handle all matters arising between us and the United States from now on under our wartime laws, and the matters of Americans detained are no exception to this."

If that is the only contact, then how do you plan to communicate with the US under "wartime" laws. And because there was never an official end to the Korean War... doesn't that mean we were are still in "wartime" mode?

Anyway, stop being a spoiled little brat and stomping your feet around KJU! Show... lead, by example! Otherwise, nobody in the world will take you seriously.

The missiles were launched towards east from an area in the North's western region called Hwangju from 5:45 a.m. local time (2045 GMT Monday) to 6:40 a.m., the South's military said.

"The ballistic missiles flight went from 500 kilometers to 600 kilometers, which is a distance far enough to strike all of South Korea including Busan," the South's military said in a statement.

Source: Reuters, July 18, 2016 - North Korea fires three ballistic missiles, flew up to 600 km: South Korea

BBC is also reporting this news. That is not good for relations in the region. If Glorious Leader gets his tighty-whities in a bunch and in a fit launches one... well, not a god thing at all.

Meanwhile, over in North Korea...

...unnamed female announcer... began with, "From now on, I will give review work for the subject of mathematics under the curriculum of a remote education university for exploration agents of the 27th bureau."

The announcer went on to say, "On page 459, question number 35, on page 913, question number 55, on page 135, question number 86, on page 257, question number 2…"

The string of phrases and numbers continued for another twelve minutes.

North Korea has long used so-called numbers stations—shortwave radio stations that broadcast coded messages to communicate with agents abroad. The messages typically consist of a string of numbers or phrases, nonsensical to anyone but the intended recipient. Spy agencies around the world have used numbers stations for decades, but the advent of the internet has generally made the system obsolete. North Korea ceased transmitting the messages in 2000.

Source: Popular Mechanics, July 19, 2016 - North Korea Is Sending Mysterious Coded Radio Messages Again

So after a 16 year absence a shortwave radio station was activated in North Korea. Broadcast out was some kind of coded message and South Korea is scrambling to figure out who this message was intended for and what it means. What the heck is NK up to? Fire three missiles into the sea and now this? Hope this is just a psy-op by KJU and not a call to senseless violence.

Or maybe Glorious Leader is calling out a hit on Seth Rogen finally! (JK, I like Mr. Rogen!)

"The drill was conducted by limiting the firing range under the simulated conditions of making preemptive strikes at ports and airfields in the operational theater in South Korea where the U.S. imperialists' nuclear war hardware is to be hurled,"

NBC News, July 20, 2016 - North Korea Says It Tested Pre-Emptive Strikes on U.S. Targets.

Gomabseubnida! Is that what the numbers were? Launch codes and coordinates? There is no specific date that they said this was done so nobody knew about it until North Korea said so! This would be funny news if it was not such a STUPID thing to do. So, North Korea... WTF?!

This imperialist pig is going to have a cold one in honor of Glorious Leader!

The Swiss government has put an end to the export of luxury watches to North Korea, and have totalled zero for the last two months, US-backed Radio Free Asia reports. The North Korean Supreme Leader is often photographed wearing an expensive timepiece, and it's long been thought that they've reached the country despite United Nations sanctions. The UN bans the export of luxury items to North Korea due to its nuclear and ballistic missile projects. Kim and his sister Kim Yo-jong - now a senior party official - were both educated in Switzerland.

BBC News, July 22, 2016 - North Korea's Kim Jong-un loses access to Swiss watches.

I did not know that! Two things actually. He has a sister named Kim. And he went to school in Switzerland. Anyway...

North Korea is constructing a massive underground facility, capable of sheltering ballistic missile submarine at a location on its east coast new satellite images have shown.

News of the fortified submarine pens in the port city of Sinpo comes as tension spiked again on the Korean Peninsula following a series of recent missile and weapons tests.

The Telegraph, July 22, 2016 - North Korea building secret ballistic missile submarine base.

A 2-fer! So he lost his Swiss watches (they have not shipped any for two months the article says) but is getting a new submarine base. Go figure! I wonder if the US has run a "simulated attack" on the new sub site? I wonder if the US would make an announcement on television saying so? Which makes me wonder what the point is?

Hey North Korea! Your nukes don't work! You lost a sub! And the rest of world laughs at you when you leave the room (oh, except for Sean Penn because he's weird like that)!

North Korea's foreign minister said on Tuesday that whether it conducted another nuclear test depended on the behavior of the United States, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.

The minister, Ri Yong Ho, said, however, that the United States had destroyed the possibility of a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.

Reuters, Jul 26, 2016 - North Korea says decision on nuclear test depends on U.S.: Yonhap

Great! Another idiotic thing to say! The US is not the country testing nuclear bombs in Korea! I can't believe this guy. If North Korea stopped the whole issue goes away. No, the article says NK demands the US remove troops and equipment from South Korea and sign their treaty! They call non-proliferation "US blackmail"! Then they issue an ultimatum.

Hey North Korea! We do not want to invade your country! We want to keep an impetulant dictator from doing something stupid and causing WW3!

"The Obama administration went so far to have the impudence to challenge the supreme dignity of the DPRK in order to get rid of its unfavorable position during the political and military showdown with the DPRK," Han said, using the acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"The United States has crossed the red line in our showdown," he said. "We regard this thrice-cursed crime as a declaration of war."

CBSNews.com, July 28, 2016 - North Korea: U.S. "crossed the red line," effectively declared war

Great, US is in yet another war! First off, there was no showdown! Second, Obama? Uh, it was the State Department that called the top diplomats including KJU to the mat for human rights abuses. This is posturing! Answer to the questions of your alleged crimes--that's right, DPRK leaders cannot answer. So the only thing to do is pick a fight. Real smart move!


(Pssst! That is sarcasm! is what I really think)

a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF

continued...

Han warned that Pyongyang is viewing next month's planned U.S.-South Korea exercises in this new context and will respond if they are carried out as planned.

"Nobody can predict what kind of influence this kind of vicious confrontation between the DPRK and the United States will have upon the situation on the Korean Peninsula," he said. "By doing these kinds of vicious and hostile acts toward the DPRK, the U.S. has already declared war against the DPRK. So it is our self-defensive right and justifiable action to respond in a very hard way.

"We are all prepared for war, and we are all prepared for peace," he said. "If the United States forces those kinds of large-scale exercises in August, then the situation caused by that will be the responsibility of the United States."

Foxnew.com - North Korea says US has crossed 'red line,' warns of showdown over upcoming war games.

The guy is clearly insane! I suppose if one blows up a couple South Koreans with a mine that is not a hostile action. But showing force to somebody spouting such rhetoric is! Completely bass-ackwards. It is scary that this thought process exists in an individual that is representing the country's mindset.

Settle down dude!

Hundreds of thousands of North Korean citizens have been roped in to finish the project, which consists of a 70-floor skyscraper and more than 60 apartment blocks.
...
"Project managers are now openly providing drugs to construction workers so that they will work faster,” a construction source in Pyongyang told Radio Free Asia.

"[They] are undergoing terrible sufferings in their work."

The Telegraph news (.uk), Aug. 10, 2016 - North Korea 'feeding workers crystal meth' to speed up skyscraper project.

This report is unconfirmed (Human Rights Watch already condemns it).

Wonder where they get the stuff from? Mexico?! Oh, they are under strict import laws so probably not. My guess is they manufacture it themselves at industrial levels. At least Kim Jong Un's scientists know how to make meth! No wonder they want to go to war with the USA. No wonder they can go to the moon and conquer space in ten years!

All kidding aside. Seems that dictators get desperate when they feel their time in power is short. Such a shame to take it out on the people that view you as a god.

A diplomat at the North Korean embassy in London has defected and fled abroad with his family, BBC News understands.

The diplomat, Thae Yong Ho, had served as deputy to the ambassador and was responsible for promoting the image of his country to British audiences.

He had reportedly lived in the UK for 10 years with his wife and family and disappeared from his home in west London several weeks ago.

BBC News, Aug. 16, 2016 - North Korean diplomat at London embassy 'defects to another country'.

Deputy to the Ambassador?! And a nice 10 year timeline. Very smart move to have your family with you. When your diplomats want to leave your country then you have a pretty good idea on how bad things really are.

Nice jobs Thae Yong Ho! Best of luck on your new adventures!

"[The games] officially got under way on Monday. North Korea's warning from its state media outlet KCNA says that the U.S. and South Korea should bear in mind that if they show the slightest sign of aggression, North Korea would turn the South into a 'heap of ashes through a Korean-style pre-emptive nuclear strike.' "

NPR.org, Aug. 22, 2016 - U.S.-South Korea War Games Begin Despite Threats From North Korea.

The war games that have been a huge sticking point for North Korea have started!

That was a quote in the article from North Korea! If naming human rights abusers by name is a "thrice cursed crime" I hope that nobody sneezes in North Korea' direction!

Hope DPRK can keep it in their pants while these games go on.

North Korea publicly executed two top officials earlier this month by shooting them with anti-aircraft guns, a South Korean newspaper reported Tuesday.

The JoongAng Ilbo identified the murdered officials as former agriculture minister Hwang Min and senior education ministry official Ri Yong Jin.

FOX News World, Aug. 30, 2016 - North Korea reportedly executes two top officials with anti-aircraft guns.

I wonder if this happened when they did the sub launch? A kind of "bait and switch" by focusing attention "over here" instead of "over there" where the public (??) execution happened. But hey, America made them do that, right? At least that is the logic. So we get the blame, the top administration get sanctioned, and the human rights abuses still happen--the story remains the same.

"Doing a major test would be a way of trying to intimidate the incoming president," said Victor Cha, one of the study's authors. "North Korea chooses particular windows that they know will gain maxmum [sic] attention from the world, and the US in particular."

"It could be a sixth nuclear test, it could be launching of their rocket which put a satellite in orbit," Cha added.

The study is scheduled to be published this week on the CSIS website Beyond Parallel.

Source: CNN, Oct. 4, 2016 - First on CNN: North Korea may be planning October Surprise, study says.

Well, you should not really try to second guess Glorious Leader! But then again... it is going to be published on the web. And this story is on CNN which a credible source. So both of those together make me a believer! Even if they did spell a word wrong. One that even a BBcode spell checker would know and try and correct! See, they know how to use a computer AND post to the web! So this is TOTALLY true!

I wonder who he is trying to intimidate? The two front runners? A third party candidate? The Military Industrial Complex? South Korea? China? It is probably not Russia. If it is a satellite, NK should make it a quantum one and go mess with China's satellites. Then can announce that Glorious Leader has cracked quantum encryption!

October. The harvest. Fall. The Presidential elections. Turkey and pumpkin pie. Samhain (it is actually pronounced "sah win" and is the a festival time marking the end of the harvest time. I am NOT talking about the band featuring Glen Danzig! You see, he is so short that it is a no brainer that Henry Rollins would totally wipe the floor with that poser! And hey isn't there a video of Danzig being knocked out somewhere out there on the interweb? Because if so I will have to download it and show it to my friend who is totally into all things Danzig. Man, I am going to LMAO when he see his hero being knocked out! Then I will mention the Beavis and Butthead fight between Danzig and Rollins and point out why Rollins Rules!)
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.



Who could stay mad at this cute little guy?!!!