Analysis
Latest UN images shows life in North Korean nursery, hospital
May 24th
A visit to North Korea by the executive director of the UN World Food Programme this week has provided a glimpse inside a handful of state-run establishments that care for babies and new mothers.
The pictures, shot by the WFP on May 20, showed several stops on the visit by Ertharin Cousin, which lasted from May 19 to May 21.
The children in the images don’t appear to be suffering from some of the chronic malnutrition witnessed in the past in North Korea, but their ages are unclear and it’s not known whether the facilities were given notice of Cousin’s visit or the More >
Pyongyang building collapse underlines North Korea’s news blockade
May 20th
The revelation by North Korean state media on Sunday that Pyongyang suffered a major construction accident underlines how strong the regime’s grip on information flow remains, despite cracks appearing in recent years.
The accident occurred on Tuesday, according to the domestic media reports, but the world didn’t hear anything about the incident until those first reports were published on Sunday. By then, the rescue efforts had been completed and, apparent from images, the site had already been cleared of all debris.
The reports were unclear about the exact accident and number of casualties, but it appears likely an entire apartment block collapsed More >
NASA captures fires burning across North Korea
May 2nd
NASA’s Aqua satellite has captured a stunning image showing a number of large fires burning across North Korea earlier this week.
The image, taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite, clearly shows large plumes of smoke from the fires, which are concentrated across the east and central parts of the DPRK. Also visible are the fires themselves, which are highlighted in red after being detected with the satellite’s thermal imager.
They are probably related to farming and involve either the burning off of old crops or clearance of land for new planting. It’s about this time that the More >
A new look at North Korea
Feb 25th
A 2007 image from NASA shows the Korean peninsula at night (NASA)
Most people who read this blog will be familiar with the image of the two Koreas at nighttime by a NASA satellite
On January 30, 2014, an astronaut on the International Space Station used a Nikon D3S camera to capture a new image of the Korean peninsula at 10:16 pm — one that’s even more dramatic than the monochrome NASA satellite image of old.
As NASA says, “The darkened land appears as if it were a patch of water joining the Yellow Sea to the Sea of Japan. Its capital city, More >
New CRS report on North Korea
Jan 28th
The Congressional Research Service has published a new report on North Korea.
The report, “U.S. Relations, Nuclear Diplomacy, and Internal Situation,” is embedded below.
CRS works for the U.S. Congress and produces objective and impartial reports that are intended to provide policy makers in the House and Senate with analysis of current issues. The organization is a part of the Library of Congress.
DPRK UN ambassador takes questions, gives advice
Jan 26th
It’s not often that a North Korean official faces a skeptical press corps and takes questions. Judging by Friday’s appearance at the United Nations by DPRK Ambassador Sin Son-ho, it’s even rarer that they provide answers to those questions.
Sin called a news conference at the U.N. in New York on Friday morning to announce North Korea’s proposal to lay steps towards “national reconciliation and unity” with South Korea.
His comments echoed those of North Korea’s National Defence Commission, which earlier in the day published the proposal through the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
A key demand is that the U.S. and South Korean More >
‘No discernible improvement’ in DPRK human rights in 2013
Jan 22nd
Human Rights Watch says it has seen “no discernible improvement” in the human rights situation in North Korea since Kim Jong Un took power in late 2011.
The verdict, which likely comes as no surprise to anyone that watches the country, was included in the New York-based group’s annual “World Report” on human rights in countries around the world.
“The government continues to impose totalitarian rule,” the report said.
Five pages are devoted to North Korea and sum up the government’s use of torture and executions, prison camps, restrictions on movement, refugees and labor rights.
On the issue of freedom of access to information, the report More >
Kim Jong Un’s new year address
Jan 2nd
For the second year in a row, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appeared on state TV and radio on January 1 to deliver a new year address to his nation.
The direct address was something of a surprise when it happened last year as Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il, was rarely heard speaking on state media. For many years, he delivered his annual address through an editorial in the Rodong Sinmun newspaper.
This year’s speech comes at an interesting time, happening just weeks after Jang Song Thaek was arrested and executed for crimes against the state. Reports suggest a major purge More >
“Mass intimidation” from DPRK media on Jang’s execution
Dec 20th
North Korean state media’s coverage of the arrest, trial and subsequent execution of Jang Song Thaek was “tantamount to mass intimidation,” Reporters Without Borders said on Thursday.
“Although only to be expected from one of the world’s worst dictatorships, such manipulation of news and information is disturbing,” the Paris-based group said in a statement.
“The extensive and indeed staged coverage of this execution coinciding with the hyped coverage of the second anniversary of Kim Jong-il’s death had the hallmarks of a intimidatory message to the entire Korean population and the international community.”
One of the things that made Jang’s arrest notable was the way it was More >
Voice of Korea on Jang Song Thaek
Dec 16th
North Korea’s external broadcasting service, the Voice of Korea, ran three reports last week on the arrest and subsequent trial and execution of Jang Song Thaek.
The reports, in English, are reproduced below.
The first report ran on December 9 and covered the meeting of the political bureau of the central committee of the Worker’s Party of Korea, at which Jang was accused of a series of crimes against the state and led away by soldiers.
The political bureau of the party center committee convened the enlarged meeting and discussed the issue about the anti-party, counter-revolutionary factionalist acts of Jang Song Thaek. At More >
