Showing posts with label Pyongyang. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pyongyang. Show all posts
Friday, January 25, 2013
Saturday, November 03, 2012
TAGES ANZEIGER: Die UNO wirft Pyongyang schwere Verstösse gegen die Menschenrechte vor. Zudem haben 60 Prozent der Bevölkerung des asiatischen Landes nicht genug zu essen. Die Regierung um Kim Jong-un weist die Vorwürfe zurück.
Nordkorea verwahrt sich gegen massive Kritik der Vereinten Nationen (UNO) an der Lage der Menschenrechte auf seinem Gebiet. Die UNOhatte der Regierung in Pyongyang in einem Bericht schwere Verstösse gegen die Menschenrechte vorgeworfen.
«Wir sind stolz auf unser ausgezeichnetes System zur Förderung und zum Schutz der Menschenrechte in unserem Land», erklärte Nordkoreas UNO-Botschafter, Kim Song, gestern in New York. Dies schliesse kostenlose Gesundheitsversorgung und Bildung ein, betonte Kim vor dem Menschenrechtsausschuss der UNO-Vollversammlung. » | chk/sda | Samstag, 03. November 2012
Monday, June 04, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: North Korea's military threatened on Monday to blow up the Seoul offices of South Korean media outlets following critical coverage of a mass children's event in Pyongyang.
The military general staff, in an unusually detailed statement on the official news agency, said missile units and other forces had fixed the longitude and latitude coordinates for several firms' offices in central Seoul.
The statement named the Chosun Ilbo and JoongAng Ilbo newspapers, a TV channel operated by Dong-A Ilbo newspaper, and the KBS, CBS, MBC and SBS television stations.
The North's military accused conservative South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak of inciting the coverage and called on him to apologise to avert an attack.
"In case dens of monstrous crimes are blown up one after another, the Lee group will be entirely held responsible for this," it said in what it termed an "open ultimatum".
The military accused the media outlets of "monstrous mud-slinging" over their coverage of an event which brought 20,000 schoolchildren to Pyongyang to mark the 66th anniversary of the [North] Korea[n] Children's Union. » | Source: agencies | Monday, June 04, 2012
Monday, December 19, 2011
La mort soudaine du «cher leader» nord-coréen complique l'agenda de Barack Obama dans la région. L'Administration américaine devait prendre ce lundi d'importantes décisions sur la reprise des négociations sur le dossier nucléaire et l'octroi d'aide alimentaire au «royaume ermite». Ces arbitrages devraient, au minimum, être retardés.
La Maison-Blanche a réagi avec prudence à l'annonce du décès de Kim Jong-il, se gardant de commenter la disparition du dictateur. «Nous exprimons à nouveau l'espoir d'une amélioration de nos relations avec le peuple de Corée du Nord et restons profondément soucieux de son bien-être», a indiqué lundi soir Hillary Clinton, espérant une transition «stable et pacifique». Washington stationne toujours 29.000 GI en Corée du Sud.
Dès minuit, dans la nuit de dimanche à lundi, Barack Obama a appelé le président sud-coréen, Lee Myung-bak. L'Administration est également en contact étroit avec les autorités japonaises. Le président s'est toutefois gardé pour l'heure d'offrir ses condoléances à la Corée du Nord. S'il devait faire un tel geste, cela indiquerait une volonté de saisir l'opportunité de la succession à Pyongyang pour tendre la main au nouveau leader désigné, Kim Jong-un. Mais cela pourrait se révéler prématuré, compte tenu de l'incertitude qui enveloppe l'avenir politique de la Corée du Nord et les intentions du «grand successeur». » | Par Adèle Smith | lundi 19 décembre 2011
China has endorsed Kim Jong-un as North Korea's new leader in a gesture of support designed to bolster Pyongyang and avoid regional instability.
The Chinese government announced that co-operation with North Korea would continue. It hailed the late Kim Jong-il as a great leader and a close friend, and called on the North Korean people to unify under the leadership of "comrade Jong-un" and turn their "anguish into strength".
China is crucial to the survival of Pyongyang in the face of international isolation. It has provided economic assistance to North Korea since 2006, when US and South Korean aid dried up after Pyongyang carried out the first of two nuclear tests. In the past 18 months Kim Jong-il travelled four times to China. He also visited Russia, North Korea's other key partner.
Beijing is anxious to avoid any collapse of its often troublesome neighbour, reasoning that this would lead to a flood of refugees and economic migrants across its border. Unlike the US, which wants North Korea to scrap its nuclear capabilities, China's chief strategic concern is to maintain regional stability.
The White House said it was closely monitoring developments on the Korean peninsula following Kim Jong-il's death. It restated its commitment to the "freedom and security" of its allies, with Barack Obama phoning South Korea's president, Lee Myung-bak, at midnight. They agreed to stay in close contact. » | Luke Harding, Tania Branigan in Beijing and Justin McCurry in Tokyo | Monday, December 19, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
LE MATIN: La Corée du Nord continue de poser de poser une "menace sérieuse" pour la sécurité dans la péninsule coréenne, a estimé mercredi le secrétaire américain à la Défense Leon Panetta à son arrivée en Corée du Sud, au lendemain de pourparlers avec Pyongyang sur le nucléaire.
La Corée du Nord continue de poser une "menace sérieuse" pour la sécurité dans la péninsule coréenne, a estimé mercredi le secrétaire américain à la Défense Leon Panetta à son arrivée en Corée du Sud, au lendemain de pourparlers avec Pyongyang sur le nucléaire.
"La Corée du Nord continue de poser une menace sérieuse (...). Pyongyang continue de défier la communauté internationale alors qu'il développe ses armes nucléaires et ses capacités balistiques", écrit le chef du Pentagone dans une tribune dans le quotidien sud-coréen Chosun Ilbo. » | AFP | mercredi 26 octobre 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Les Nord-Coréens célébraient vendredi la «fête du Soleil», l’anniversaire de la naissance de Kim- Il song, père de l’actuel dirigeant du pays. Parallèlement étaient lancés depuis le Sud des tracts appelant à la chute du régime.La Corée du Nord célébrait vendredi la naissance de son fondateur dans une ambiance festive, selon la propagande du régime, alors que des activistes lançaient depuis le Sud des tracts appelant à la chute du régime dirigé par son fils Kim Jong-Il.
La «fête du Soleil» célèbre l’anniversaire de la naissance de Kim- Il song, père de l’actuel dirigeant, proclamé «président pour l’éternité» à sa mort en 1994. La foule a déposé des fleurs au pied de la statue du fondateur du régime et d’immenses portraits de Kim étaient affichés dans les rues de Pyongyang, a rapporté l’agence de presse officielle KCNA. » | AFP | Vendredi 15 Avril 2011
Friday, August 27, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Former US president Jimmy Carter has secured the release of an American held in North Korea for nearly seven months after crossing the border from China on foot.
Aijalon Gomes, 31, left Pyongyang on a plane accompanied by Mr Carter, who had flown to the North Korean capital three days earlier on a private visit to negotiate the release.
The former president "courteously requested" a special pardon for Mr Gomes, which leader Kim Jong-il granted, North Korean state media said. Mr Gomes had been sentenced in April to eight years of hard labour and a hefty fine for trespassing and committing a "hostile act."
A committed Christian, Mr Gomes is thought to have travelled to the country on a one-man peace mission.
The[y] pair are due to arrive in Boston today to be reunited with Mr Gomes' mother and other family members.
In Washington, the State Department welcomed the news.
We "are relieved that he will soon be safely reunited with his family," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said. "We appreciate former President Carter's humanitarian effort and welcome North Korea's decision to grant Mr. Gomes special amnesty and allow him to return to the United States."
North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency said Carter's visit included cordial talks with Kim Yong Nam, North Korea's number two official, [sic]
Mr Kim relayed Pyongyang's interest in resuming the six-nation disarmament talks and reiterated the regime's commitment to denuclearisation, KCNA said.
However, Mr Carter does not appear to have met Kim Jong Il, who was making a surprise trip to China. A year ago, Kim sat down for talks and a photo with former US president Bill Clinton when he went to Pyongyang on a similar journey to negotiate the release of two American journalists. >>> | Friday, August 27, 2010
THE BOSTON GLOBE: Boston man set free in N. Korea: Carter intervenes to secure his release; former prisoner to return home today >>> Travis Andersen and Farah Stockman, Globe Staff | Friday, August 27, 2010
Verbunden >>>
Saturday, July 24, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: Pyongyang ramps up the tension over this weekend's joint US-South Korean wargames in the Sea of Japan
North Korea has threatened to use its "nuclear deterrent" in response to planned military exercises by the US and South Korea this weekend.
The regime promised a "retaliatory sacred war" amid increased tensions on the Korean peninsula over the March sinking of a South Korean navy vessel, which Seoul and Washington blame on Pyongyang.
North Korea's National Defence Commission (NDC), headed by leader Kim Jong-il, issued the threat today for what it called a second "unpardonable" provocation for again being blamed for the incident in which 46 sailors died.
"The army and people of the [North] will legitimately counter with their powerful nuclear deterrence the largest-ever nuclear war exercises," the commission said in a statement run on the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
Pyongyang routinely threatens war when its southern neighbour and the US hold joint military exercises. South Korea's defence ministry said no unusual North Korean military movements were detected. >>> David Batty and Justin McCurry | Saturday, July 24, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
TIMES ONLINE: President Barack Obama today said he “fully supports” the South Korean president and his response to the torpedo attack by North Korea that killed 46 South Korean sailors as the cross-border animosity between the two countries continues to rise.
South Korea’s President Lee Myung-bak earlier today demanded that North Korea “immediately apologise and punish those responsible for the attack, and, most importantly, stop its belligerent and threatening behaviour” and announced it will take the case of the torpedoed Cheonan warship to the United Nations Security Council.
In a move which analysts described as “cautiously hard-line”, Mr Lee also said he would be suspending all exchanges between the two Koreas and imposing a total ban on North Korean ships passing through South Korean waters.
His government banned all trade, investment and visits with North Korea. South Korea also plans to reduce the number of workers in a joint factory park just inside the North which has long been an important source of income for the North Korean leadership.
The White House said Seoul can continue to count on the full backing of Washington. Read on and comment >>> Leo Lewis, Beijing | Monday, May 24, 2010
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: The reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is expected to arrive in Beijing later today for talks with China's president Hu Jintao as he seeks to shore up his country's bankrupt economy and negotiate a way out of the international diplomatic isolation of recent months.
Neither Beijing or Pyongyang has confirmed the visit, but Mr Kim, with his easily recognisable sunglasses and frizzy hair, was photographed in the port city of Dalian where he arrived on Monday from North Korea in his 17-carriage armoured train.
This visit came as South Korea moved closer to blaming the Pyongyang for the sinking of one of its warships last March in an incident that has further raised tensions between the two Koreas in recent weeks.
The South's president Lee Myung-Bak told a televised meeting of his chiefs of staff that it was clear that the sinking was not a "simple accident" and ordered a thorough review of Seoul's military readiness in light of the apparent attack on the 1,200 tonne corvette Cheonan.
Analysts said the sinking, which Pyongyang has denied, was expected to be on the agenda of talks with Chinese leaders along with the North's desperate need for economic aid, including food and fuel.
A disastrous attempt to reform the North Korean currency last November is thought to have deepened the country's economic woes, raising the threat of a repeat of the famines of the mid 1990s. >>> Peter Foster in Beijing | Tuesday, May 04, 2010
Monday, March 08, 2010
BBC: A former North Korean colonel, Kim Jong-ryul, has described how he spent two decades shopping in Europe for the dictatorship in Pyongyang.
His story is the subject of a new book published in Austria, where the colonel says he has lived under cover since his defection in 1994.
Colonel Kim Jong-ryul says he spent 20 years doing business in Europe for the North Korean regime.
His story is told in a new book, At the Dictator's Service. >>> Bethany Bell, BBC News, Vienna | Monday, March 08, 2010
Saturday, September 12, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama has approved plans for the US to start direct talks with both North Korea and Iran, in a significant shift in policy.
The State Department said it would meet one-to-one with Pyongyang negotiators in an effort to persuade the reclusive Stalinist state to return to multilateral talks on dismantling its nuclear weapons programme.
Washington has also accepted a vague Iranian offer of talks on broad national security issues, even though Tehran refused to discuss its illicit atomic operations.
The US insisted it would raise Iranian’s nuclear activities in the meeting. "This may not have been a topic that they wanted to be brought up but I can assure that it's a topic that we'll bring up," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.
The new approach to two regimes shunned by the previous Bush administration as rogue states from the so-called "axis of evil" marks a significant change in American diplomacy.
It is certain to come under fresh attack from prominent conservatives and national security hawks such as former vice-president Dick Cheney.
They are resolutely opposed to what they see as "rewarding" hostile nations for their nuclear belligerence by agreeing to talks.
The North Korea gambit comes just a week after Pyongyang declared that it was close to being able to enrich uranium, a development that would give the outlaw regime a potential second means of building nuclear weapons.
Until now, the US has insisted it would only speak directly to North Korea if it had already agreed to re-join the six-party talks. South Korea said yesterday that it would back a US-North Korea meeting if the goal was to kick-start the stalled six-party talks.
The strategy is a risky one, however. The North has long wanted to engage America in direct and wide-ranging talks over its nuclear ambitions while the US insists any one-to-one contact would be focussed on pushing Pyongyang back into multilateral negotiations over its atomic projects.
The regime has also long proven itself to be an unreliable partner, reneging on deals during the administrations of Mr Obama's two predecessors, George W Bush, a Republican, and Bill Clinton, the last Democrat in the White House. >>> Philip Sherwell in New York and David Eimer in Beijing | Saturday, September 12, 2009
Thursday, August 06, 2009
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: While Negotiating Journalists' Release, Clinton and Kim Widened Talks to Security, Regional Concerns
WASHINGTON -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, in more than three hours of discussions with Bill Clinton in Pyongyang, drew the former U.S. president into a wide-ranging discussion of security and regional issues.
Former U.S. officials and diplomats say the meetings, attended by the top ranks of Pyongyang's security establishment, were part of a renewed campaign by Pyongyang to stimulate direct negotiations with Washington over the country's nuclear program.
President Barack Obama and his aides stressed Wednesday that they weren't viewing Mr. Clinton's trip as anything more than a humanitarian mission focused on securing the release of two detained American journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling.
Mr. Clinton returned to California Wednesday morning on a private jet with Ms. Lee and Ms. Ling, who had been arrested in March at the Chinese border and later sentenced to 12 years hard labor for illegally entering North Korea. Mr. Clinton's one-day visit secured their release.
"We were very clear this was a humanitarian mission," Mr. Obama said in an interview with MSNBC Wednesday. "We have said to the North Koreans there is a path for improved relations, and it involves them no longer developing nuclear weapons."
Mr. Clinton and his delegation were tight-lipped Wednesday about what transpired during a 75-minute meeting with Mr. Kim on Tuesday. They also attended a two-hour banquet hosted by the North Korean leader and his country's pre-eminent national-security body, the National Defense Commission.
U.S. officials briefed on Mr. Clinton's mission, however, are already outlining a broad discussion with Mr. Kim that focused on significantly more than just the two imprisoned Americans.
These U.S. officials indicated that Mr. Clinton expressed to Mr. Kim the necessity that his regime end a nuclear program that's feared to be stoking a broader arms race across Asia and the Middle East. >>> Jay Solomon | Thursday, August 06, 2009
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: Euna Lee and Laura Ling, the two US journalists freed after 140 days in captivity in North Korea, have returned home with Bill Clinton to a tearful reunion with their families in Los Angeles.
Euna Lee, 36, and Laura Ling, 32, were flanked by the former US president Bill Clinton, whose meeting with the reclusive Jong-il had secured their liberty during a surprise 20-hour visit to Pyongyang, as they gave their first account of their escape from a 12-year sentence of hard labour.
"Thirty hours ago, Euna Lee and I were prisoners in North Korea," said Miss Ling, struggling to remain composed. "We feared that at any moment we could be prisoners in a hard labour camp. Then suddenly we were told that we were going to a meeting.
"We were taken to a location and when we walked through the doors, we saw standing before us president Bill Clinton. We were shocked, but we knew instantly in our hearts that the nightmare of our lives [was over].
She added: "Euna and I would just like to express our deepest gratitude to president Clinton and his wonderful, amazing, not to mention super-cool team ... and the United States Secret Service who travelled half way around the world, and then some, to secure our release." >>> Toby Harnden in Washington | Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: Bill Clinton, who flew into North Korea today on a surprise mission to secure the release of two American journalists, was taken from the airport into a rare face-to-face meeting with the regime’s “Dear Leader”, Kim Jong Il.
The unexpected summit meeting has raised hopes across the region that North Korea may soon be enticed back to multinational disarmament talks after three months of mounting atomic tensions and provocation.
North Korea’s official news agency reported that Mr Clinton and Mr Kim engaged in “sincere and exhaustive discussions” on a range of issues and that the former US president came armed for his encounter with a “courteously conveyed” personal message from Barack Obama. The White House quickly denied there had ever been such a message.
In another striking break with tradition, footage of Mr Clinton’s arrival and images of his meeting with Mr Kim were aired almost immediately on North Korea’s tightly-controlled state television channel – an indication, said close observers of North Korea, of how the visit will likely be used by the regime to parade its out-manoeuvring of the US.
It appears that the groundwork for the talks were well-laid and that Mr Clinton is likely to return to the US with the two journalists in tow on Wednesday. Although nominally carried out in a private capacity, Mr Clinton’s visit is believed to have the double purpose of both freeing Laura Ling and Euna Lee from their sentence of 12 years hard labour and of bringing North Korea back to the negotiating table on nuclear weapons.
Relations between Washington and Pyongyang have deteriorated rapidly since May after the unpredictable regime test-fired what it said was a nuclear device and declared the six party” multinational disarmament talks with South Korea, China, Russia, Japan, America “dead in the water”.
The Pyongyang state news agency put what experts said was a predictable spin on the visit, declaring that Mr Clinton had first appealed for the release of the two American prisoners and then for the opportunity to meet Mr Kim – a request that was graciously granted. >>> Leo Lewis | Tuesday, August 04, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: Former US president Bill Clinton is understood to have landed in Pyongyang earlier today for a surprise visit to North Korea as relations between the United States and the regime continue to sour and mystery surrounds the health of its enigmatic "Dear Leader".
The regime's mouthpiece, the Korean Central News Agency, said in a bulletin this afternoon that Mr Clinton had been greeted at Pyongyang's airport by two senior government figures - the vice president of the presidium of North Korea's parliament and the vice foreign minister.
"A little girl presented a bouquet to Bill Clinton," ran the rest of the report.
Diplomatic sources suggest that Mr Clinton, who is the highest-profile American to visit North Korea since Madeleine Albright's trip nine years ago, may be granted an audience with Kim Jong Il as early as today.
Reports from Seoul based on South Korean intelligence suggest that the former US president will use the two-day trip to "negotiate robustly" for the release of two American journalists currently serving 12 years of hard labour in a North Korean prison.
Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who were both working for a television company run by Mr Clinton's former vice president, Al Gore, were arrested for a "grave", though unspecified, crime on the North Korea-China border earlier this year.
The two were imprisoned on a charge of committing "hostile acts" and for plotting to produce a smear campaign over human rights issues. >>> Leo Lewis | Tuesday, August 04, 2009
NZZ Online: Der ehemalige amerikanische Präsident Bill Clinton ist überraschend in Nordkorea eingetroffen. In Pjongjang will er sich für die Freilassung zweier amerikanischer Journalistinnen einsetzen, die im Juni zu zwölf Jahren Arbeitslager verhaftet worden waren.
Der frühere amerikanische Präsident Bill Clinton ist überraschend nach Nordkorea gereist, wo er sich laut einem südkoreanischen Medienbericht für die Freilassung der dort festgehaltenen zwei amerikanischen Journalistinnen einsetzen will.
Von Chefunterhändler empfangen
Die amtliche nordkoreanische Nachrichtenagentur KCNA meldete am Dienstag, Clinton sei auf dem Flughafen von Pjongjang unter anderem vom Chefunterhändler für Atomfragen, Kim Kye Gwan, begrüsst worden. >>> ap/sda/dpa | Dienstag, 04. August 2009
Related / liée:
La Corée du Nord arrête deux journalistes américaines >>> C.J. (lefigaro.fr) avec AFP | Jeudi 19 Mars 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: WASHINGTON -- The U.S. is moving ground-to-air missile defenses to Hawaii as tensions escalate between Washington and Pyongyang over North Korea's recent moves to restart its nuclear-weapon program and resume test-firing long-range missiles.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday that the U.S. is concerned that Pyongyang might soon fire a missile toward Hawaii. Some senior U.S. officials expect a North Korean test by midsummer, even though most don't believe the missile would be capable of crossing the Pacific and reaching Hawaii.
Mr. Gates told reporters that the U.S. is positioning a sophisticated floating radar array in the ocean around Hawaii to track an incoming missile. The U.S. is also deploying missile-defense weapons to Hawaii that would theoretically be capable of shooting down a North Korean missile, should such an order be given, he said.
"We do have some concerns if they were to launch a missile...in the direction of Hawaii," Mr. Gates said. "We are in a good position, should it become necessary, to protect American territory." >>> By Yochi J. Dreazen | Friday, June 19, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
DAILY EXPRESS: NORTH Korea will “pay a price” for its nuclear missiles tests, the American ambassador to the UN warned last night.
Susan Rice said international pressure on the country would increase until it realised the tests had left it “further isolated and further debilitated”.
She told a US television news channel that Pyongyang’s actions were “clearly provocative and destabilising actions which threaten international peace and security”.
She said the international community would not “throw up our hands and let them pursue this path”, adding: “North Korea needs to understand that its actions have consequences.” >>> By Mark Reynolds | Wednesday, May 27, 2009
DAILY EXPRESS: He is the ultimate renaissance man, superlatively gifted at everything he attempts. He has composed six operas and his genius at staging musicals makes an Andrew Lloyd Webber production look like amateur dramatics in your village hall.
When playing golf, he regularly shoots a hole-in-one three or four times in a single round and he personally designed his country’s most symbolic monument, the Juche Tower. No wonder his countrymen worship him.
Or he is an irredeemably flawed individual who cannot distinguish between fact and fiction, a tyrant who rules by fear and punishes ruthlessly any hint of dissent. No wonder his countrymen worship him.
If you thought Britain suffered under the manipulative skills of Alastair Campbell, then spare a thought for the poor benighted souls of North Korea living under the rule of the man they are obliged to call their “Dear Leader”: Kim Jong Il.
This is a man who, even when his people were reduced to eating grass because there was nothing else, still managed to convince them there wasn’t a famine raging through the country and that it was an ugly rumour cooked up by pro-Western agitators – or, as we know them, the Red Cross and the United Nations World Programme, the relief agencies who saved more than a fifth of the North Korean population from dying of starvation and disease in the Nineties. Meanwhile, he had his favourite dish, lobster, flown in every day, eating it with silver chopsticks.
For the past five years, Kim Jong Il has even succeeded in keeping the outside world guessing as to whether he is still alive or not; rumours persist that he died in 2003 and that since then foreign leaders have been dealing with one of four lookalikes.
It has been all too easy for the West to scorn Kim Jong Il as something of a figure of fun, a vain playboy in built‑up shoes presiding over all those eerily robotic mass rallies before retiring to watch the American action films he adores.
But North Korea’s nuclear tests this week are a sharp reminder of Kim Jong Il’s other side as arguably the most dangerous man in the world at the moment.
“Know thine enemy” is sage advice but when it comes to Kim Jong Il, the West is hamstrung by the paucity of fact and the abundance of fable. >>> By Anna Pukas | Wednesday, May 27, 2009
THE GUARDIAN: Photo Gallery: Kim Jong-il: a life in pictures >>>
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