Kim jong un's missile

[bluesky79]

Kim jong un's missile

 

[waltky]

Just like a two-year-old onna tirade...

Kim Jong Un orders missile launches when angry, source says
April 26, 2016 - Kenji Fujimoto said decisions are made spontaneously but Kim has no intention of starting a war.

Kim Jong Un orders the firing of missiles on a whim when he gets upset about U.S. policy toward North Korea. But the North Korean leader has no intention of starting a war, a source close to Kim said. Kenji Fujimoto, the former sushi chef to the current leader's father, Kim Jong Il, told Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun that the younger Kim's military decisions are made spontaneously. Fujimoto is finally breaking his silence after his recent trip to Pyongyang, where he stayed April 12-23.

The Japanese national was visiting North Korea in time for the commemoration of the "Day of the Sun," April 15, which is founder Kim Il Sung's birthday. Fujimoto told press that Kim "has no mind to start a war," but that "every time he sends an envoy to the United States the envoy is forced to face false charges" about Pyongyang's provocations. The former sushi chef seemed to be suggesting that Kim Jong Un was irritated by unilateral U.S. sanctions and military threats from rivals, South Korean news service News 1 reported. But an immediate military strike wouldn't be the first option that would be considered in Washington, CBS News reported Tuesday.

Granny says one o' these days dat fat lil' momma's boy gonna start a war​

In an interview with Charlie Rose, U.S. President Barack Obama said, "We could, obviously, destroy North Korea with our arsenals. But aside from the humanitarian costs of that, they are right next door to our vital ally, [South Korea]." Building missile defense systems is key, Obama said. But Robert Einhorn, a former special adviser for nonproliferation and arms control at the U.S. State Department, told reporters in Seoul the United States cannot rule out the use of nuclear weapons, because of the "potential threat that North Koreans pose against South Korea."

Fujimoto has a long history with the Kim family that began in the 1980s and became friendly and familiar with the young Kim Jong Un. Since leaving North Korea in 2001, he has become a vital source on the secretive North Korean leader. On his most recent trip, the two exchanged information on North Korea-Japan relations. Fujimoto told Kim Japan's view of the North is at a low point. "[Secretary Kim] said that he thought it would be a good idea if I played a bridging role between Pyongyang and the Japanese government," he said.

Kim Jong Un orders missile launches when angry, source says

 

[waltky]

Lil' Kim losin' popularity with young an' old alike...

North Korean children spurn candy bags from Kim Jong Un
April 29, 2016 | The state-issued confections are being secretly sold at marked-down prices.

Gift bags of candy that Kim Jong Un issued for North Korean children on Kim Il Sung's birthday anniversary are being spurned for better quality Chinese sweets, sources say. The North Korean candy is of such poor quality an excess supply of the confections are being sold in the country's gray markets at marked-down prices, Radio Free Asia reported. A source in North Hamgyong Province said the gift bag for children is being "trafficked" in the unofficial marketplace, and the authorities are not happy with the situation. "Trading in 'Day of the Sun' gifts from the state is illegal, and law enforcement had to take action," the source said, according to South Korean news service Newsis.

Kim Jong Un visiting a North Korean cookie factory in November 2014. Kim issued a gift bag of sweets to commemorate an anniversary, but the product is of poor quality, sources say.​

The quality of the candy is low, and doesn't taste nearly as well as Chinese imports because North Korea's sweets use corn flour, the source said. The gift bag weighs about 2 pounds and is evenly divided between hard candy and cookies. Each bag costs about 10,000-12,000 North Korean won, a currency for which there is no official exchange rate. The quality of candy has dropped significantly since the days of Kim Il Sung, the source added. "Children don't even give the sweets a second glance because they are of such poor quality," the source said.

The quality problem stems from a long-running issue at state-run factories in North Korea. Flour and sugar are taken out of the factories to be resold in exchange for much needed currency by the state, according to the source. Some brokers are buying the unpopular gift bags directly from the factory at 6,000 North Korean won, said a second source in the same province.

North Korean children spurn candy bags from Kim Jong Un

See also:

Kim Jong Un unpopular among top North Korea officials, defector says
April 28, 2016 - A former North Korean diplomat said Kim reinstates officials against their will.

A senior North Korean official who resigned because he was "overcome with stress" was forced to return to his position under Kim Jong Un's orders. That and other signs indicate Kim Jong Un doesn't have adequate levels of support from top cadres of the Korean Workers' Party, said Ko Young-hwan, a former North Korean diplomat and defector. Ko, vice chief of the Institute for National Security Strategy in Seoul, said political tensions owing to frequent purges compelled Cho Yon Jun, first deputy of the Korean Workers' Party, to resign. The offer to resign was turned down by Kim, Ko said. Cho isn't alone in his desire to retire.

Many senior North Korean officials are fearful of the "unpredictable" Kim and they "never know what could happen next," Ko said, according to Yonhap. "Many high-level cadres are turning their backs on Kim and exiting the regime," the analyst said. North Korea has purged more than a hundred officials under Kim. In other parts of the country, ordinary North Koreans have "given up hope" in the future of the Kim regime, and lead a hand-to-mouth existence on a daily basis, Ko said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is feared as unpredictable, and many senior officials are resigning out of fear for their safety, a defector in the South said Thursday​

But they are also increasingly opening their eyes to the outside world, he added. Speaking at the same panel on the roles defectors could play in the event of unification, Kang Chol Hwan, a defector who was sentenced to North Korea's infamous Yodok prison camp as a child, said he has information North Korean prisoners have received leaflets featuring former South Korean President Roh Tae-woo. "Sending information of the outside world to North Koreans is important," Kang said.

Kim may be decreasing in popularity, but according to Seoul's Unification Ministry, official idolization of the young leader has only increased, and has accelerated further since North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January. North Korea is also manipulating historical facts, Yonhap reported. A recent issue of a Pyongyang magazine stated the First Party Congress was held in October 1945, although experts say the event actually took place in August 1946.

Kim Jong Un unpopular among top North Korea officials, defector says

Related:

North Korea to demolish 300 homes in border region
April 29, 2016 - The residents are having their homes involuntarily destroyed.

North Korea is forcing 300 households to relocate from a border area as part of preparations for the May 6 Seventh Party Congress. A source in the North's Yanggang Province told South Korean news service Daily NK authorities have issued the mandate for the residents of Hyesan. The source said the "top recently instructed the overhaul of a border region, and for this purpose instructed the demolition of 300 residences along the Yalu River." The houses are to be taken down at the end of Pyongyang's "70-day battle," a mass mobilization movement.

North Korean women wash clothing on the banks of the Yalu River near Sinuiju, across the Yalu River from Dandong, China's largest border city with North Korea. In another border area facing China, North Korea plans to destroy 300 family homes, according to a source in the country.​

Authorities are also warning residents against voicing complaints about the policy, and have claimed that the move is to guard against "traitors of the country," the source said. The source added the demolition could be taking place in order to build more security around the Yalu, where defections have taken place in the wake of sweeping economic sanctions against North Korea. The residents who will have their homes involuntarily destroyed have been dispossessed of their certificates of residence, and only those with money are able to relocate to a new house, the source said. Ordinary North Koreans have little say in what the state decides to do in its best interests.

Revolt, opposition and protest, however, are highly unlikely, according to Sergei Kurbanov, a North Korea expert at St. Petersburg University in Russia. Speaking at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul on Friday, Kurbanov said North Koreans couldn't organize protests because of a lack of transportation infrastructure in the country, Yonhap reported. By contrast, Russians in the former Soviet Union were able to confront the government in the 1980s and 1990s, owing to the availability of a public transportation system, the analyst said. Once outside Pyongyang, roads are in poor condition, but the situation could be improved if North Korea received more fossil fuel that could power public transportation and automobiles, Kurbanov said.

North Korea to demolish 300 homes in border region