Amateur sleuths crack North Korean secrets

General Sources - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

An online community of amateur satellite sleuths are gathering intelligence about North Korea by comparing historical differences in publicly accessible satellite imagery. Not only have they been successful in predicting recent rocket launch dates, they have also been able to use the imagery to identify expansions of prisons and changes to key landmarks. More recently, they were able to ...

N. Korea tries diplomacy with China

General Sources - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

Pyongyang, North Korea - After months of ignoring Chinese warnings to give up nuclear weapons, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent a high-level confidant to Beijing on Wednesday, in a possible effort to mend strained ties with his country's most important ally and a sign that he may be giving diplomacy a chance. The trip by Vice Marshal Choe Ryong Hae, a senior Workers' Party official ...

U.S. urges DPRK to immediately release sentenced American

SINA - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

The U.S. State Department on Thursday urged the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to immediately release a U.S. citizen who was sentenced to 15 years of compulsory labor by its court. "There is no greater priority for us than the welfare and safety of U.S. citizens abroad, and we urge the DPRK authorities to grant Mr. Bae amnesty and immediate release," said State ...

Carter has no plan to visit DPRK spokeswoman

SINA - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has no plan to visit the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) for the release of a U.S. citizen who was sentenced 15 years of compulsory labor by Pyongyang, his spokeswoman said on Thursday. "President Carter has not had an invitation to visit North Korea(DPRK) and has no plans to visit," Carter's spokeswoman Deanna Congileo said in ...

Cracking North Koreas secrets

Sydney Morning Herald - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

An online community of amateur satellite sleuths are gathering all sorts of interesting intelligence about North Korea by comparing historical differences in publicly accessible satellite imagery. Not only have they been successful in predicting recent rocket launch dates, they have also been able to use the imagery to identify expansions of prisons and changes to key landmarks. More recently, ...

North Korean Envoy Visits Beijing Amid Strained Relations

International Herald Tribune - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

BEIJING ...

U.S. Response to North Koreas Threats

World Press Review - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

A North Korean political poster in inter-Korean military demarcation area. The poster says there is only one country on the Korean Peninsula. (Photo: Linqong, ...

DPRK accuses U.S. of slandering its socialist system

SINA - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Wednesday accused the United States of slandering its socialist system through a report on religious freedom. Washington has abused religion for the political purposes of undermining the DPRK and overthrowing its social system, a Foreign Ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by the official KCNA news agency. "The United States ...

Japan ponders direct talks with Pyongyang

China Daily - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

/enpproperty--> Japan is considering direct talks with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the government said on Wednesday, adding momentum to the cause after a top level aide to the prime minister made a surprise trip to Pyongyang. Bilateral talks are on the table as Tokyo seeks to salve the running sore of abductions of its nationals by DPRK spies in the 1970s and ...

China North Korea and the Tale of Two Fishing Boats

General Sources - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

Is the Chinese government's uneasy friendship with North Korea costing it the public's confidence? A curious confluence of recent events involving two fishing vessels suggests that might be the case. The crisis began in the waters of Scarborough Shoal, a set of fish-laden reefs and small rocky islands west of ...

European banks stop sending money to North Korea aid groups

Reuters - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

BEIJING (Reuters) - European aid groups said their banks in Europe had stopped sending money to North Korea in the wake of U.S. sanctions on Pyongyang's main foreign exchange bank, leaving them scrambling for a solution short of hand-carrying cash into the impoverished ...

North Korea Still Shooting Things Into the Sea

General Sources - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

North Korea fired a projectile into waters off its eastern coast Sunday, a day after launching three short- range missiles in the same area, officials said. North Korea routinely test-launches short-range missiles. But the latest launches came during a period of tentative diplomacy aimed at easing recent tension, including near-daily threats by North Korea to attack South Korea and the ...

North Korea sanctions threaten humanitarian aid report

General Sources - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

London: Aid agencies helping millions of people in North Korea could be forced to pull out after a Chinese bank cut ties with main foreign exchange bank, a humanitarian group said on Wednesday.The freeze - imposed amid growing concern over North Korea's nuclear ambitions - has made it impossible for aid agencies to transfer money to fund projects, many of them aimed at helping chronically ...

North Korea frees Chinese fishing boa...

SINA - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

North Korea has freed Chinese fishing boat and its crew, the ship owner Yu Xuejun confirmed on May 21. 16 Chinese fishermen were missing after apparently been kidnapped by armed men from the North Korea two weeks ago. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is demanding that Pyongyang secure the release of the men. "China calls on the DPRK to deal with this in a proper manner, and to ...

Special envoy from DPRK arrives

China Daily - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

DPRK 's Vice-Marshal Choe Ryong-hae, a senior Workers' Party official and the military's top political officer, in Beijing on Wednesday. Ding Lin / ...

Top North Korean Envoy Holds Talks in China

Hispanic Business Magazine - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

An envoy of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met Chinese officials on Wednesday in the first such talks since Kim succeeded his late father, Kim Jong Il, Chinese state media said. Choe Ryong Hae, a military leader with close ties to the Kim family, met Wang Jiarui, head of the Chinese Communist Party's international department. Diplomatic meetings between China and North Korea are ...

US Air Force test-launches Minuteman 3 missile in California delayed by North Korea tensions

Canada.com - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

An image provided by Vandenberg Air Force Base shows an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile being launched during an operational test Wednesday May 22, 2013, from Launch Facility-4 on Vandenberg AFB, Calif. The U.S. Air Force launched this unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile from a California base, a month after the test flight was postponed because of tensions with ...

North Korean special envoy meets with Chinese party official

Middle East Times - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

Kim Jong Un sent one of his closest advisers to Beijing Wednesday as a "special envoy" amid signs of a fraying alliance, officials say. Choe Ryong Hae, vice marshal of the Korean People's Army, met with Wang Jiarui, a senior official of the Chinese Communist Party, The Washington Post reported, ...