Tag Archives: Kim Jong-il
Infighting Among Kim Jong-il Sons Expected
The LFNKR office has continued to receive intermittent calls from our local staff member in North Korea. Even though that country remains on high alert, the following report was received on the 23rd. People in the Onsong area of North Hamgyong have already begun discussing who will succeed Kim Jong-il. A common remark is that “Kim Jong-un is too young to run the country.”
Mourn Not for Kim Jong-il
Mourn Instead for his Victims
On Dec. 28 in Pyongyang a funeral will be held for Kim Jong-il. As do most of those involved in the North Korean human rights issue, we at LFNKR strongly feel that this funeral should commemorate the victims of Kim Jong-il and his brutal regime. We call upon the world – mourn not for this dead dictator.
All Year-End Events Cancelled in NK
In the afternoon of Dec. 22, our office received another report from our local LFNKR staff member in North Korea. The authorities in that country are cracking down and tracking all cellular phone signals originating from made-in-China cell phones being used in North Korea. Thus, the conversation between the local staff member and our office was necessarily much shorter than usual.
Prosecute Kim Jong-il through ICC for Crimes Against Humanity
According to recent media reports, Kim Jong-il, now suffering health difficulties, has selected his third son, Kim Jong-un, to succeed him. The North Korean regime is reportedly accelerating plans to become an important military power by 2012. This may explain why the regime has conducted repeated missile launches and nuclear tests in defiance of UN resolutions on sanctions, despite escalating tensions in the world community.
First Hints of Free Journalism for North Korea
Japanese Language Magazine Reports from inside North Korea
North Korea is increasingly attracting world attention because of its recent missile launch and the issue of who will succeed Kim Jong-il. These issues should motivate us to step up our efforts to discover what is happening inside North Korea and how the common people are doing there.
The flood of news about the missile launch, which usually depends on official North Korean announcements, helps hide signs that the badly weakened Kim Jong-il regime cannot afford to feed its soldiers and that the majority of common people see their leader’s policies as failures. I believe that, to deal with North Korea, it is increasingly urgent to focus on the real picture there, rather than possibly over- or under-estimating the regime.
North Korea suffers from a serious ailment. All the neighboring countries in East Asia, as well as the US are very well aware that the country’s illness is critical, and they are willing to help North Korea. They hope for the nation to become a healthy, normal country as soon as possible. However, none of the concerned countries has been able to identify the cause or locate the wound. Therefore, they have not yet been able to properly diagnose or treat the condition.
Although the international community is very willing to find the cause of this serious illness, the patient, North Korea, will not disrobe, will not even allow its pulse to be taken.
The North Korean regime has confined itself inside a deep hole, with no sign that it wishes to come out. The regime, completely isolated from international society, is unlikely to heal itself without outside help.
What is needed first is a proper diagnosis of the illness. This requires that highly accurate, reliable information on the internal condition of North Korea be consistently supplied to the outside world. A diagnosis based on inaccurate or inadequate information could lead to a misdiagnosis, leading to a delayed cure or even a worsening of the illness.
This is why I decided to plant the seeds of journalism in North Korea.
North Korea is currently going through a dramatic change. During the past 15 years, the commercial transactions started by common people after the economical failure of the nation have enormously developed with a resultant rapid growth of market economy.
Concurrently with the growth of the market economy, more people are beginning to go for self-sustained living. More people think for themselves, make their own decisions and take action. In other words, the people’s way of thinking and their sense of values are significantly changing.
The magazine features comments from common people in North Korea collected by Rimjingang reporters living underground while in the country. The comments represent true public opinions of the people living under this tyranny.
These public opinions may help provide the materials to help reach a proper diagnosis of the serious illness of the North Korean society.
Report by Jiro Ishimaru
(Publisher of Rimjingang, Asiapress)
Go here to read a brief introduction of Mr. Jiro Ishimaru and the “Rimjingang” magazine.
LFNKR Comments:
Even while North Korea still has many helplessly starving people, a growing number of individuals have begun to take matters into their own hands, setting up to sell small goods along roadsides or under bridges. They are seeking a private income for survival in response to the collapse of the government’s economic policy.
To discourage the spread of private selling, the government has set up public markets for small merchants, such as the one shown below.
The owner of each 1-sq-meter booth sells food in a publicly-run market in Kang-dong, a suburb south of Pyongyang. (Photo by Chang Jung-gil, a reporter with Rimjingang, the magazine published by Jiro Ishimaru, Asiaoress.)
2 Tons of Rice Distributed to Poor in Hamgyong
This report is by Kim Hong-son, one of LFNKR’s local staff members. He writes:
In February of this year, I passed through the Chinese customs office at Kosong and headed for North Korean customs. Passing through Chinese customs took a mere 30 minutes, but on the North Korean side it took over three hours. The reason for this is the North Korean customs inspection process, which begins with a verification of relatives living in North Korea, and involves a full-body search in addition to an inspection of the goods being brought into the country.
Third Annual NK Freedom Week in Washington DC
April 22nd through 30th 2006 in Washington DC
The North Korea Freedom Coalition has organized an impressive list of activities for the week of April 22 through April 30 to express public support for the North Korean people suffering under the repressive regime of Kim Jong Il.