North Korea - The African Mirror

Feb

2024

North Korea defectors cite dwindling food rations, market reliance -study

THE majority of North Koreans who resettled in South Korea over the last decade said they never received government rations in the isolated state and had to rely on an informal market to survive, a study issued by Seoul's unification ministry showed. The 280-page report on North Korea's economic and social situation issued on Tuesday was based on interviews with more than 6,300 defectors between 2013 and 2022. The ministry began such surveys in 2010, but this is the first time results have been publicly released. North Korea has faced serious food shortages in recent decades, including a famine in…

Jan

2024

By The African Mirror

North Korea vows military strike if any provocation, fires artillery rounds

WORLD

NORTH Korea will launch a military strike immediately in response to any provocation, Kim Yo Jong, the sister and key ally of leader Kim Jong Un, said, as it fired artillery shells near its border with the South for the third day in a row. The remarks come after South Korea's military said the North had fired more than 60 artillery rounds on Saturday near their disputed maritime border, following a similar volley of more than 200 the previous day. North Korea again fired about 90 rounds on Sunday, the South said. The North's army said they did not pose…

Dec

2023

By SOO-HYANG CHOI and KANTARO KOMIYA

North Korea fires ICBM after condemning US ‘war’ moves

WORLD

NORTH Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile that has a range to hit anywhere in the United States, said South Korea and Japan, marking its second launch in hours as Pyongyang condemned a U.S.-led show of force as "war" moves. The missile has the potential to travel more than 15,000 km (9,300 miles), meaning it can reach anywhere in Japan and the mainland United States, Japan's Parliamentary Vice Minister of Defence Shingo Miyake said. The U.N. Security Council is due to meet on Tuesday at the request of the U.S. and other states to discuss the launch. South Korea's National…

Nov

2023

By HYONHEE SHIN

North Korea closes multiple embassies around the world

WORLD

NORTH Korea is poised to close as many as a dozen embassies including in Spain, Hong Kong, and multiple countries in Africa, according to media reports and analysts, in a move that could see nearly 25 percent of Pyongyang's missions close worldwide. North Korea's recent closing of its diplomatic missions was a sign that the reclusive country is struggling to make money overseas because of international sanctions, South Korea's unification ministry said on Tuesday. On Monday, North Korean state media outlet KCNA said the country's ambassadors paid "farewell" visits to Angolan and Ugandan leaders last week, and local media in…

Sep

2023

By PHIL STEWART and IDREES ALI

Travis King: U.S. soldier released by North Korea arrives in Texas

WORLD

U.S. Army Private Travis King landed at a U.S. military base in Texas early after being expelled from North Korea following his surprise dash across the heavily militarized border two months ago, a U.S. defense official told Reuters. King arrived on a U.S. military flight, landing at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston at about 0530 GMT, the official said. Television footage showed a group of people leaving a plane at the base at that time. King is expected to undergo a medical review at Brooke Army Medical Center, a hospital at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston. Basketball star Brittney Griner…

Jul

2023

By THE AFRICAN MIRROR

North Korea condemns US plan to send cluster munitions to Ukraine as ‘criminal’

WORLD

NORTH Korea condemned U.S. President Joe Biden's decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine as a "criminal act" and demanded an immediate withdrawal of the plan. The fact that Biden had admitted it was a difficult decision showed he was aware of the disastrous consequences of the use of cluster munitions, North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency. "I, on behalf of the DPRK government, vehemently denounce the U.S. decision to offer WMD (weapons of mass destruction) to Ukraine as a dangerous criminal act to bring a new calamity…

Jun

2023

By The African Mirror

North Korea holds rallies denouncing US, warns of nuclear war

WORLD

NORTH Korea held mass rallies in Pyongyang where people shouted slogans vowing a "war of revenge" to destroy the United States, as it marked the 73rd anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War, state media reported on Monday. About 120,000 working people and students took part in the rallies held across the capital on Sunday, state news agency KCNA reported. Photos released by state media showed a stadium crowded with people holding placards reading "The whole U.S. mainland is within our shooting range" and "The imperialist U.S. is the destroyer of peace." Sunday's anniversary came amid concerns Pyongyang could…

Apr

2023

By The African Mirror

Japan says evacuation warning for North Korea missile was not a mistake

WORLD

THE Japanese government said the emergency evacuation warning it issued and later retracted against residents of the northern island of Hokkaido after a North Korean missile launch was appropriate and not an error. "We did not correct the information issued by the J-Alert" emergency broadcasting system, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a news conference. He said the North Korean missile disappeared from Japan's radar immediately after detection, and further analysis found that there was no possibility of its landing in Japan's territory, leading to the lifting of the evacuation warning. "The J-Alert warning was issued to inform citizens of…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

North Korea executes people for South Korean videos, drugs

WORLD

HYONHEE SHIN NORTH Korea executes people for drugs, sharing South Korean media, and religious activities as it stifles its citizens' human rights and freedom, its rival, South Korea, said in a report. South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, based the 450-page report on testimony collected from 2017 to 2022 from more than 500 North Koreans who fled from their homeland. "North Korean citizens' right to life appears to be greatly threatened," the ministry said in the report. "Executions are widely carried out for acts that do not justify the death penalty, including drug crimes, distribution of South Korean…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

North Korea tests new nuclear-capable underwater drone

WORLD

SOO-HYANG CHOI and JU-MIN PARK NORTH Korea has tested a new nuclear-capable underwater attack drone, state media reported, as leader Kim Jong Un warned joint military drills by South Korea and the U.S. should stop. During the test, the new North Korean drone cruised underwater at a depth of 80 to 150 metres (260-500 feet) for over 59 hours and detonated a non-nuclear payload in waters off its east coast on Thursday, North Korean state news agency KCNA said. Analysts say North Korea is showing off its increasingly diverse nuclear threats to Washington and Seoul, though they are sceptical about…