The US and South Korea begin their joint military exercises in view of North Korean nuclear threat

North Korean nuclear threat prompts the US and South Korea to undertake the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises. These are their biggest combined military training in years and will continue through 1 September in South Korea. It will cover field exercises and involve aircraft, warships, tanks and tens of thousands of troops. North Korea describes these exercises as rehearsals for an invasion. Pyongyang has raised the pace of its weapons testing activity and has been simultaneously threatening conflicts with Seoul and Washington. There is a long state of stalemate in diplomacy. Incidentally, a spokesperson of the Unification Ministry of South Korea says there is no immediate signs of any unusual activities from the North. The Unification Ministry handles inter-Korean affairs. US and South Korea begin biggest military training in years amid growing North Korean nuclear threat. The United States and South Korea already canceled some of their regular drills in recent times in order to create space for diplomacy with North Korea apart from concerns associated with COVID-19.

Last week, North Korea rejected South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's offer to exchange denuclearization steps and economic benefits. To this, Kim Yo Jong described the proposal as foolish. She also stressed the North did not have any intention to barter away an arsenal her brother apparently sees as his strongest guarantee of survival. She is the increasingly powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. She heaped criticism on Yoon Suk Yeol and the military exercises with the US. moreover, she also blamed him for the failure to stop South Korean civilian activists from using balloons to send anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets across the border. There are worries in certain quarters that the threats might end up in something worse like a nuclear or missile test or even border skirmishes.

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Nancy Pelosi visits South Korea after Taiwan during her Asian tour

North Korea described US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as “the worst destroyer of international peace and stability.” This was during her visit to South Korea as a part of her Asian tour. The North accused her of inciting anti-North Korea sentiment earlier this week. Pelosi has arrived in South Korea after visiting Taiwan. This prompted China to launch military exercises. These included missile strike training in waters near the self-governed island. China looks at Taiwan as an integral part of its own territory and wants to annex it forcibly if necessary. North Korea calls Pelosi 'destroyer of international peace' During her visit to South Korea, Pelosi went to the border of the North and South and discussed the nuclear program of the North with South Korean National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin Pyo. It seems the two of them agreed to extend support to their respective government’s plans for denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula. Such an exercise would act not only as a strong deterrent against the North but also help diplomacy.

Nancy Pelosi became the highest-profile American to go to the border since the then-President Donald Trump in 2019. He had met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inside the world's most heavily fortified border. The American-led United Nations Command and North Korea control it jointly. American presidents and other top officials have previously travelled to the area. The intention has been to reaffirm their security commitment to South Korea. Incidentally, during her visit, Pelosi did not make any strong public statements against the North. The Korean Peninsula remains tense because of the missile tests carried out earlier this year by North Korea. It seems it is preparing to conduct its first nuclear weapons test in five years. Its intention appears to be to move away from talks of denuclearization and instead focus on expanding its nuclear program. It wants the United States to drop its hostile policies. This apparently refers to US-led international sanctions on the North and its regular military drills with South Korea.

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North Korea supremo Kim Jong-Un defies ban of the UN – fires anti-ship missile

North Korea supremo Kim Jong-Un has defied the ban imposed on it by the UN and has test fired its newly deployed anti-ship rockets which are believed to have a range of 120-Km. This has happened only a few weeks after it had claimed to have tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile in the month of May.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 15 June 2015.

Kim Jong-un witnessed the test-firing of three KN-01 short-range missiles from a site near the city of Wonsan, as indicated by South Korea's defense ministry. The 'highly intelligent' rockets were reportedly fired around 4.30pm and the process lasted 26 minutes.
This news is a reason for alarm because North Korea has been banned by the United Nations Security Council from testing or developing ballistic missiles.
Korean Central News Agency has revealed that the missiles had accurately detected and hit their targets but it was silent on the location where it took place. Neither has it provided any other details or specifications of the rockets.
A fully developed submarine missile capability would take North Korea’s nuclear threat to a new level, but in the opinion of experts, the authenticity of the May test is in doubt since the photos might have been digitally altered.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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Barbed wires and phone tapping prevent North Koreans from escaping

People of North Korea would like to defect to neighboring countries like China or South Korea but, are unable to do so because ever since Kim Jong-Un has come to power, the barbed wire fencing has been strengthened and phone lines are being tapped.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 22 May 2015.

In 2009, it was 2,914 defections from North Korea to South Korea – it was the biggest influx since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. However, Kim Jong-Un's first year in power in 2012, the figure of defections had dropped to just 1,502. That works out to a 44% drop on the previous year. And, last year, the number fell further to 1,396.
The main motivation of defection 10-years ago was food, it has now shifted to freedom.
In view of increased risks, people who make arrangements for people to escape, have nearly doubled their charges to about $8,000 (£5,100) per person and, this is beyond the reach of most North Koreans.< (Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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North Korea defector recollects living with rats and dead bodies on railway platforms

#chongjin #famine #northkorea #laborcamp Ji-hyun Park has managed to defect from North Korea and has, now, revealed the deep dark secrets that lurk in the North Korean labor camps as revealed in dailymail.co.uk dated 6 February 2015. As per her narrative, she was forced to clean out filthy toilets with her bare hands and the people ate rats in a desperate attempt to survive. The worst part is that people are all hungry and the stocks of rats, snakes or wild plants have practically vanished.
Ji-hyun Park had spent a year inside the Chongjin labor camp which is one of the notorious detention camps of North Korea after she was deported from China as an 'economic defector' - she had fled to China to escape starving to death. In her words, the whole of North Korea is one big prison.
While recalling the North Korean famine of the late 1990s, she said that plenty of people died between 1996 and 1998 and the dead bodies would be littered on the railway platforms.
Ji-hyun first left North Korea during the famine of the 1990s that ravaged the country and it is estimated that over four million people died in the famine. At that time, the country was ruled by Kim Jong-il, the father of Kim Jong-un, the present ruler.
The woman Ji-hyun now lives in Manchester with her partner and four children and she is gradually rebuilding her life after her experiences in the labor camps.

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Embroiled in accusations of human rights violations, North Korea wants tourists

In spite charges of human rights violations in North Korea, many travel firms are hoping that the rumors would not prove to be any obstacle to attract foreign tourists to the country. It seems British tourists are going in for North Korea as a holiday destination.

Towards this end, a tourist agency that specializes in trips to the secretive state has set up a stall at the UK's largest travel trade show – it hopes to lure travelers with packages that including skiing in a resort built on the orders of Swiss-educated dictator Kim Jong-Un.
The travel brochures feature the positives and depict communist propaganda-style drawings of workers toiling happily in the fields. There are no indication that its people live abject poverty amid wholesale human rights abuses. Incidentally, while it gets tourists from South Korea and China, only a few (around 5,000) gave come from outside China to make the trip every year.

As per the extant rules, Westerners must always be accompanied by a travel guide or minder and must remain most of the time in Pyongyang and be confined to the Yanggakdo Hotel which is cut off by a river from districts where ordinary North Koreans live. Moreover, the tourists have to face internet blackout and some of the areas are out of bounds for tourists.

South Korean operas not welcome in Kim Jong-Un’s regime

North Korea has, reportedly, executed 10 officials who had dared to watch soap operas of South Korea foxnews.com. With this execution, the number of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party who have been executed goes up to 50 in this year alone.,br>

The charges against them include watching foreign read South Korean soap operas, engaging in bribes, or womanizing – this is as per the National Intelligence Service. The executions were carried out by the firing squad.
Defectors from North Korea have revealed that a thriving black market business goes on in North Korea in pirated versions of South Korean and Chinese television shows.
It is understood that the officials who were executed by the firing squad were close to Jang Song-thaek, the uncle of North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un, who had been arrested in December last year and executed for committing crimes against the state.

This lends credence to the theory that Kim Jong-Un wants to eliminate his possible rivals who could oppose his activities.