Pyongyang - The African Mirror

Jan

2024

North Korea teens get 12 years’ hard labour for watching K-pop – video

VIDEO footage released by an organisation that works with North Korean defectors shows North Korean authorities publicly sentencing two teenagers to 12 years of hard labour for watching K-pop. The footage, which shows the two 16-year-olds in Pyongyang convicted of watching South Korean movies and music videos, was released by the South and North Development (SAND) Institute. Reuters was unable to independently verify the footage, which was first reported by the BBC. North Korea has for years imposed tough sentences on anyone caught enjoying South Korean entertainment or copying the way South Koreans speak in a war on outside influences…

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…

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

S.Korea, US, Japan hold drills as N.Korea slams US ‘nuclear blackmail’

WORLD

HYONHEE SHIN SOUTH Korea, the United States and Japan staged joint naval missile defence exercises to improve responses to North Korean threats, as Pyongyang accused Washington of ramping up "nuclear blackmail" with military drills. The three nations agreed at talks in Washington on Friday to hold regular missile defence and anti-submarine exercises in their efforts to boost diplomatic and military cooperation. North Korea tested a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Friday that experts say would ease the way for missile launches with little warning, part of an increase in its military activities in recent weeks. Hours after the trilateral exercises, Ri Pyong Chol, vice…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

EXCLUSIVE-Suspected North Korean hackers targeted COVID vaccine maker AstraZeneca -sources

WORLD

JACK STUBBS SUSPECTED North Korean hackers have tried to break into the systems of British drugmaker AstraZeneca in recent weeks, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, as the company races to deploy its vaccine for the COVID-19 virus. The hackers posed as recruiters on networking site LinkedIn and WhatsApp to approach AstraZeneca staff with fake job offers, the sources said. They then sent documents purporting to be job descriptions that were laced with malicious code designed to gain access to a victim's computer. The hacking attempts targeted a "broad set of people" including staff working on COVID-19…