Archive for the ‘Congo (DRC)’ Category

DPRK delivers Kasavubu statue to Kinshasa

Friday, August 13th, 2010

UPDATE: Google just updated their satellite imagery over Kinshasa.  Now we can see where the statue is located:

ORIGINAL POST: The DPRK’s Mansudae Overseas Development Group has designed and built many buildings and statues across the Middle East, Africa and Asia.  I have been trying to map out these projects on Google Earth.

The most recent project appears to be the statue of Joseph Kasavubu in the DR Congo.  June 30th 2010 was the DRC’s 50th independence day and the statue of its first president was unveiled as part of the celebrations:

Here is a story in French about the unveiling of the new statue.

Using Google Translate, I pulled out the following blurbs:

(June 29, 2010) President Joseph Kabila unveiled Tuesday in Kimpwanza Square in the town of Kasavubu, to the cheers of the people, the monument to the first president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Joseph Kasavubu.

It is a bronze monument of 5 tons, 5.45 meters high.

The story incorrectly notes that the statue was made in South Korea.

I have so far been unable to locate the square where this statue is located.  Help appreciated. A reader called “NKObserver” identifies the location here: 4° 20′ 17.19S 15° 18′ 18.38″E.

Additional information:

1. Here is a set of photos of the statue taken by a visitor.

2. Here is an interesting video clip of a Chinese protest of Kasavubu in 1961 featuring Zhou Enlai.

3. Here are previous posts on the Mansudae Overseas Development Group.  They do not reflect all the projects I have identified, but if you know of any others, please pass the information to me.

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DPRK sold arms to Congolese insurgents

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

According to the Choson Ilbo:

Christian Dietrich, a member of the UN Security Council committee investigating Congo, told VOA that the North Korean ship Birobong arrived in the port of Boma, Congo on Jan. 21, where it unloaded some 3,400 tons of weapons, 100 times the amount seized in Thailand earlier this month.

Dietrich said the committee was told the weapons were “modern” but was unable to find out any details. Assuming all the weapons were AK rifles, the weight would be equivalent to about 800,000 of them, he added.

North Korea in May also sent military instructors to train Congolese government soldiers for about four weeks, around the time the North conducted its second nuclear test.

Dietrich said there are indications that North Korea was the source of state-of-the-art weapons carried by insurgents in eastern Congo. In some cases, Congolese government soldiers have sold their arms to neighboring countries such as Zimbabwe, he said.

Under UN Resolution 1807, adopted in 2008, the UN must be informed in advance of all arms transactions with and military training for Congo, but North Korea did not. The UNSC committee is a watchdog that oversees implementation of the UN resolution.

Additional information:

1. Here is a link to the story about the arms intercepted in Thailand (Including updates).

2. The DPRK has long been involved in African political, economic, military, and cultural affairs.  When I read this story I immediately thought of Zimbabwe’s 5 Brigade which was trained by the North Koreans.  Here are a few stories which are related to the DPRK and Zimbabwe.

3.  The North Koreans also constructed the statue of Laurent Kabila in Kinshasa. The statue is located here.

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