Archive for September, 2007

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N. Korea Ties Heavily Favored U.S. in Women’s World Cup

Tuesday, September 11th, 2007

Washington Post
Steven Goff
9/11/2007

CHENGDU, China, Sept. 11 — North Korea wrested a tie from the heavily favored United States women’s soccer team in the opening round of the World Cup Tuesday night, scoring two goals within four minutes after an injury to a star U.S. forward left the Americans with just 10 players on the field.

U.S. Coach Greg Ryan elected to play shorthanded in anticipation of star striker Abby Wambach returning later in the game. Wambach did return, but only after the Americans lost their one-goal lead and fell behind, 2-1.

In the 69th minute, Heather O’Reilly ripped a perfectly placed shot to the upper corner to salvage a 2-2 tie before 35,100 spectators on a rainy night at Chengdu Sports Center Stadium.

The U.S. team — which has never finished worse than third in four previous World Cups — will face 2003 runner-up Sweden here Friday and play African champion Nigeria next Tuesday in its Group B finale. The top two finishers in that group will advance to the quarterfinals.

Despite their status as the tournament favorite, the Americans learned very quickly that Tuesday’s match was not going to be easy.

Ryan offered a mild surprise in his starting lineup, moving left back Stephanie Lopez — at age 21,the team’s youngest player — into the midfield and playing with only three defenders. There had been speculation that he might also use two forwards instead of the usual three to offset North Korea’s midfield strengths, but on this night, Ryan stuck with his dangerous trio of Wambach, O’Reilly and Kristine Lilly.

The North Koreans adapted better than the Americans to the wet conditions, using their technical skill to take the early initiative and mount a steady attack. An early shot on goal skipped wide in the opening minute, and a long ball out of the back forced U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo to come off her line and smother the ball before a Korean forward could make contact.

The Americans then began to find their footing and put pressure on North Korea’s keeper. Lori Chalupny poked an eight-yard attempt wide, O’Reilly created space on the left side of the penalty area and Cat Whitehill pounded three free kicks from distance into the box.

In the 26th minute, Korean midfielder Ri Un Suk nearly broke the scoreless deadlock with a 25-yard shot that streaked fractionally wide of the left post. Thirteen minutes later, Kim Yong Ae, who had replaced the injured Ho Sun Hui midway through the half, sent a glancing header just beyond the left corner.

The best threat, however, belonged to the Americans as Wambach headed Lopez’s corner kick off the crossbar and Lilly’s rebound bid was deflected wide.

Intermission arrived without a goal. But in the second half, the match opened up.

The Americans went ahead in the 50th minute when Lilly supplied a superb pass to Wambach clear on the right side of the box. Wambach’s 14-yard attempt had just enough pace and direction to skip off goalkeeper Jon Myong Hui’s hands and fall into the far corner of the net. It was her 78th goal in 97 international appearances.

After Lilly sent a 20-yard free kick just wide of the left post, the match took a wild and unexpected turn.

Wambach bumped heads with a Korean player and suffered a cut in the back of her head. Wambach had to leave the game with blood pouring from her head. She headed toward the locker room for repairs, and had just passed behind the U.S. bench when the Koreans struck for the 58th-minute equalizer.

Solo was in proper position to handle Kil Son Hui’s rising 22-yard shot, but let the ball slide between her wet gloves and drop into the net.

Things continued to unravel for the Americans when, in the 62nd minute, Kim Yong Ae took advantage of a wayward U.S. clearance and slid a 12-yard shot into the far corner, putting the Koreans ahead and sparking a wild celebration on the field and in the stands.

Wambach returned two minutes later, bringing the U.S. team back to full strength. In the 69th minute, Lilly’s cross was deflected twice to O’Reilly, who stung a 10-yarder into the top far corner.

Solo made amends for her earlier gaffe with a spectacular diving save on a laser shot by Ri Un Gyong. In a pregame news conference, FIFA President Joseph “Sepp” Blatter expressed concern about the lopsided result of Monday’s tournament opener — an 11-0 victory by Germany over Argentina — and the ramifications it might have on the organizing body’s decision on whether to expand the field to 24 teams from 16 in 2011.

“Definitely, I did not like this result,” he said. “This is not good when we look forward to the future to perhaps have 24 teams.”

However, in response to a follow-up question, Blatter added: “It’s only the first match. For us, it will be good if we can open this competition because in 1995 I said the future of football is feminine and it is still feminine.”

FIFA (the International Federation of Association Football) will decide this fall whether to expand the field and also determine the host country for the 2011 tournament. Canada, Germany, Australia and Peru are the top candidates, Blatter said.

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Posted in Civil society, Football (soccer), Sports, USA | Comments Closed

DPRK Education Reform Underway

Tuesday, September 11th, 2007

Institute for Far Eastern Studies
NK Brief No. 07-9-11-1
9/11/2007

The 2007 New Year’s Joint Editorial revealed that this year, North Korea is promoting radical educational reform, boldly casting out ‘cram education,’ and other remnants of their old system while emphasizing ‘Education Revolution.’ North Korea’s new educational reform can generally be summarized into four major parts: early childhood education and the standardization of foreign language and computer education, emphasis on ingenuity over memorization, strengthening practical education (gifted education), and on-going reeducation of teachers and professors.

In order to support this kind of reform, North Korea established an education fund in 2005, and has remodeled more than 70 middle and high schools in Pyongyang, showing their increased interest and investment in the country’s education. The idea attracting the most attention is that efforts are being poured into cultivating “capable beings who learn one thing, understand tens, and use it to do hundreds” no longer focusing on cram education and rote memorization.

The most representative example is the implementation of multiple-choice exams. It was revealed that last year, North Korea debuted multiple-choice questions in their college entrance exams (similar to South Korea), and focused on assessing reasoning ability and judgment, comprehensive analysis, and other abilities. In the past, the exams were subjective questions that were wholly based on memorization.

Emphasizing the importance of computer education in the era of information technology (IT), the North Korean administration also adopted a radical measure to teach only major classes, history of revolution (The Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il Movements), mathematics, and foreign languages to students in the ‘gifted’ computer program, while removing physics, chemistry, biology and other ‘unnecessary’ subjects from their curriculum.

Of course, it is still unknown as to how successful an outcome these educational reforms will bring North Korea, especially because gifted education and on-going reeducation of teachers and professors are all measures that North Korea has implemented in the past. In 1984, upon return from his visit to Eastern Europe, Kim Il-Sung declared that “one gifted scientist can feed and save ten-thousand of his countrymen,” and ordered more gifted education programs. The following year, the Pyongyang Senior Middle School No. 1 was established, where only the country’s top gifted students were educated. Within two years, these senior middle schools spread into every province in the country.

North Korea mandated that every teacher and professor go through a 1-3 month long reeducation program every 3-5 years. The reeducation programs differed from field to field, and not even Party and administrative staff, doctors, police officers, or commissioned officers were exempt. However, due to an underdeveloped system and weak educational content, these measures did not produce many results.

Meanwhile, North Korea has adopted a radical measure to implement foreign language and computer education into the third grade curriculum at elementary schools beginning next April. This is two years earlier than foreign language and computer classes were offered in the past; the first and sixth years in senior middle school. These measures reflect the North Korean government’s sense of urgency in their belief that without foreign language capabilities, it would be impossible to import advanced scientific technologies from abroad to develop their own technology in hopes of attaining economic development goals set forth in the July 1 Economic Reform Measures of 2002.

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U.S.-N.K. exchanges flourishing

Tuesday, September 11th, 2007

Korea Herald
Lee Joo-hee
9/11/2007

Informal exchanges between the United States and North Korea are thriving against the backdrop of maturing nuclear negotiations at the six-party talks, news reports said yesterday.

The exchanges vary from invitations to cultural and sports events, to a sightseeing tour in the United States by North Korean officials.

North Korea invited the New York Philharmonic Orchestra last month to play in Pyongyang. The renowned orchestra is yet to accept the offer, but the U.S. State Department has already said that it was up to them to make the decision, despite the embargo on travel and trade with the North.

Washington has also approved a tour around the capital city by the members and families of North Korean U.N. representatives this past weekend. The North Korean diplomats were usually restricted from traveling outside New York City.

A North Korean Taekwondo sports team is set to compete in exhibition matches in the United States next month.

The string of events is in stark contrast to just a year ago, when the North’s missile test in July chilled relations between the United States and North Korea.

Back then, bilateral contacts with the communist regime were still taboo under President George W. Bush’s policy.

With progress in the six-party talks, the cultural and informal exchanges appear to be flourishing hand-in-hand with increasing political exchanges, the reports said.

The latest progress on the nuclear front is the arrival of a U.S. delegation headed by Sung Kim, deputy chief of the U.S. negotiating team to the nuclear talks. He arrived in Seoul yesterday before starting a five-day trip to the North to discuss disabling the North’s nuclear facilities.

In the meantime, three North Korean boxers are to participate in the World Boxing Championships opening in Chicago next month — for the first time in over 10 years.

An information and human resources exchange program between Syracuse University of the United States and Kim Chaek University of Technology of North Korea also resumed recently. The program was halted following Pyongyang’s nuclear test last October. Upon the resumption, the United States reportedly approved a three-month visa for North Korean officials this month, compared to a 10-day visa in the past.

In February, the American Association for the Advancement of Science hosted an academic seminar with North Korean officials to discuss science and technology cooperation.

The United States and North Korea are currently discussing ways to normalize diplomatic relations in return for the North’s nuclear disablement as part of the denuclearization agreement reached at the six-party talks.

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North Korea: Brainwashing in reverse

Tuesday, September 11th, 2007

Asia Times
Sunny Lee
9/11/2007

BEIJING – This was certainly not one of your normal press briefings. The venue was unusual – Pyongyang. Last week, North Korea’s National Security Agency invited its propaganda news arm and a handful of foreign media there to announce a botched espionage plot against its “major military facilities and places of vital strategic importance”.

“The state security organ of the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] arrested moles working for a foreign intelligence service, a [foreign] agent, and seized their spying equipment,” North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. 
 
The foreign intelligence service had approached some North Korean citizens traveling abroad with “money, sexual gratification and blackmail” and turned them into its spies, National Security Agency spokesman Li Su-gil said at the briefing, held at the People’s Palace of Culture in Pyongyang on Wednesday.

According to Lee, the foreign intelligence body had these recruits undergo an anti-communist brainwashing session and taught them how to collect intelligence data as well as how to use electronic equipment for spying.

“Their duty was also to collect information on the ideological tendencies of the [North Korean] people and, at the same time, to create an illusion about the ‘free world’ among some key officials and lure them out to third countries,” the KCNA said.

Pyongyang said the foreign intelligence service had sent its agent to North Korea posing as a businessman and commanded the spy activities. But “the counterespionage officers of the DPRK who had watched every movement of the enemy arrested them on the spot while they were exchanging the data”, the KCNA said.

“This is the first time North Korea has announced such news publicly,” said Li Dunqiu, a well-known Chinese government analyst on North Korea. Li, however, politely declined to discuss the issue further, citing its sensitivity.

Yoo Ho-yeol, professor of Korean politics and foreign policy at Korea University, said, “Not only did they announce it publicly, but the press briefing also included very concrete details. Further, the spokesman of the secretive National Security Service made the announcement himself. That’s unusual.”

At the security agency’s press conference, spokesman Lee went into details about the case, including that the spies had used the Global Positioning System and Sony transmission equipment, and then took questions from reporters. The whole scene was staged very much like a press conference.

China’s Xinhua news agency aired the news first. There are a handful of foreign reporters in North Korea, including from China and Russia. Pyongyang also has a bureau for the television arm of the Associated Press, where locally hired employees transmit television footage to the that media agency. Reporters with Japan’s Kyoto news agency are also allowed to visit Pyongyang roughly once every two months.

At the press briefing, neither the identity of the spy nor his nationality was disclosed. The fact that North Korea didn’t name the country was meant “to warn any country that attempts to overthrow the regime”, said Koh Yoo-hwan, a professor of North Korean Studies at Dongguk University in Seoul.

“As North Korea is slowly opening up to the outside world, more and more foreign humanitarian-aid organizations and businessmen are visiting North Korea these days. That means more North Koreans are meeting foreigners,” Koh said. “That, however, poses a threat to the North. So the announcement has two purposes. On one hand, it was meant to overhaul its internal system, and on the other hand, it was an expression of will to let the world know that it won’t allow any outside attempt to overthrow the regime.”

Yoo concurred with Koh: “North Korea is already on a track to open up to the outside world. In the process, there will be increased contact between North Koreans and foreigners. In this transitional period, Pyongyang feels the need to strengthen its internal supervision.”

Li Su-gil warned that although on the surface there has been an improvement of relations between North Korea and other countries, “There is also an intensifying foreign intelligence effort to oppose our system and our people. That is happening even when there are dialogue and negotiation under way. Especially, the dark tentacles of the foreign intelligence agencies are focusing on our military facilities and gathering information necessary for preemptive strikes.”

Yoo, who visited North Korea early last month, said the country appears somewhat edgy during this “opening-up” period. “In my previous visits, they had allowed me to take pictures freely, but this time they wouldn’t. They only allowed me to take pictures at tourist spots and at certain angles.

“North Korea knows that when foreigners take pictures, the pictures can be circulated in the outside world. So they carefully choose what to show and what not to show to the outside world. I got the feeling that they have become much more sensitive on that lately,” Yoo said.

Nonetheless, Yoo believes that the fact that North Korea went public about the case is a departure from its past secretive practices. “Spy activities in any country are subject to legal punishment, including in the US. Although North Korea is a somewhat peculiar country, it also has relevant laws. In a sense, it is using the tools used by the international community.”

Yoo added that North Korea is expected to do a follow-up announcement and disclose the identity of the spy and the prison term he will receive.

While Pyongyang keeps the identity of the spy in the dark, Professor Yoo believes he is very likely Japanese. “Only certain nationalities in the world can enter North Korea relatively easily and frequently. There are Chinese and Russians. If the spy were from one of these countries, given that they are ideological allies to North Korea, Pyongyang would have resolved it quietly.”

According to Yoo, using the media is a strategy publicly to pressure the country from which the spy came. And the timing of Pyongyang’s announcement is the key: it came on the same day North Korea started normalization negotiations with Japan in Ulan Bator.

At the negotiation, North Korea demanded Japanese compensation for its past occupation of the Korean Peninsula and the lifting of economic sanctions, while Japan demanded a full account of 17 of its nationals allegedly kidnapped by North Korea some three decades ago.

The talks, however, ended without a breakthrough. Over the weekend, Japan announced that it would extend economic sanctions on North Korea for another six months.

Professor Yoo did not raise the possibility of the spy being a South Korean. Many South Korean business people travel to the North via China. North Korea is scheduled to hold a summit with the South early next month.

North Korea’s past nabbing of foreign spies includes citizens from the US and Japan, and Chinese of Korean descent.

Koh of Dongguk University said the very fact that the leaders of the two Koreas meet is an achievement in its own right, adding that the meeting will yield some “meaningful results”.

“It’s a meeting that the top leader of North Korea himself attends. If it doesn’t bear any fruit, then it will also become a burden for Kim Jong-il,” Koh said.

Koh reasons that if Kim doesn’t score major achievements at the summit, it will corner the Dear Leader politically, because it will give more political leverage to the hardline military faction that opposes engagement with South Korea.

Yoo disagreed. “The timing [of the summit] is very bad. It comes right before the presidential election in South Korea. It will be a gamble if the Seoul government tries to use the summit to influence the election outcome. For that to happen, North Korea has to make some surprising decisions, including those related to the six-party talks [on nuclear disarmament]. Seoul, in response, will pledge massive economic aid.

“But North Korea knows well that whatever promises the current South Korean government makes, it is up to the next administration to decide whether to carry them out. So there is this uncertainty. I think the two sides approach the summit with a relatively low expectation.”


Joong Ang Daily
9/6/2007

North Korea said yesterday it had arrested spies working for an unspecified foreign country who were collecting intelligence on the communist state’s military and state secrets.

It said a foreign spy agency had trapped “some corrupt” North Koreans traveling abroad by using money, sex and blackmail and turned them into moles, the official Korean Central News Agency said.

“Recently, the National Security Service of the DPRK has arrested spies who were recruited by a foreign spy agency and the agent who was directing them,” it said.

The agent posed as a businessman, it said, adding the spies’ missions included taking pictures and drawing maps of key military facilities.

They were also asked to collect documents on military and state secrets and spread the ideas of freedom and democracy to key figures so that they would flee the authoritarian North, the KCNA said.

“Anti-espionage agents of the DPRK, who had been watching them closely, arrested on the spot those spies and the agent who had been giving the spies espionage equipment including global positioning systems,” it said.

Neither their identities nor the foreign country involved were revealed.

Earlier, a spokesman for North Korea’s National Security Service told reporters in Pyongyang that an unspecified number of foreigners were caught as they were conducting espionage activities, according to Xinhua.

Several North Korean nationals were also arrested for helping the alleged spies, Xinhua cited the spokesman, Li Su-Gil, as saying.

“We arrested those spies when they were busy transmitting information, and they will be brought to justice under DPRK law,” said the spokesman.

Li said the arrests of the spies showed espionage activities against communist North Korea were on the rise, despite a recent improvement in its relations with other nations.

“The situation on the Korean Peninsula seems to be easing up on the surface, but in fact hostile forces are intensifying their espionage against the DPRK,” Li said.

“The goal of hostile forces is to start a psychological war against the DPRK and overthrow socialism and the regime in our country. The people and security service will remain on high alert for this.”

The talk of an improving situation on the peninsula was apparently a reference to progress in multilateral talks aimed at disarming North Korea.

Those talks have led to North Korea and the United States beginning discussions that could eventually see them establish normal diplomatic relations.

Li said the spies had used a wide range of equipment including digital and pinhole cameras.

At the press conference, footage was shown of apparently captured spy equipment, including a fake rock containing a satellite communications gadget and a listening bug in a flower pot, according to Xinhua.

China is North Korea’s closest political and military ally, and one of the few nations allowed to have journalists based in Pyongyang.

North Korean NSA Arrested Foreign Spies
Daily NK
Yang Jung A
9/6/2007

The Xinhua, a Chinese news agency, reported on the 5th that the National Security Agency (NSA) of North Korea arrested a number foreign spies and North Korean citizens on suspicion of espionage.

The NSA held a press conference and announced that it had arrested foreign alleged spies and native citizens working for a foreign intelligence service, according to the Xinhua.

It is unprecedented that the North Korean authorities revealed the espionage issue publicly; even more surprising is the fact that authorities released this information to the foreign media. Therefore, the underlying reasons for these actions are under speculation.

The spokesperson, Li Su Gil claimed that the foreign spies had collected North Korean official documents and information on important military facilities and had spread the idea of democracy and freedom to the people. Additionally, Li proclaimed they would be brought to justice under North Korean law.

However, the NSA did not reveal further details on the alleged spies such as the number of suspects, their nationalities, when, where or how they were arrested.

According to Xinhua, Li said they had performed their tasks using advanced technology such as digital cameras, pinhole cameras, GPS, even a fake rock containing a satellite communications device, a bug in a flowerpot and other devices of espionage. The NSA showed footage which captured the rigging of these devices at the press conference.

Spokesperson Li stated that the situation of the Korean Peninsula seems to be easing up on the surface, but in fact hostile forces are intensifying their espionage against North Korea.

He added that “The goal of hostile forces is to instigate psychological warfare against North Korea and overthrow socialism and the regime in our country. The people and the security service will remain on high alert.”

So far, the North Korean authorities have been communicating the “espionage issue by the American imperialists” to the people through public lectures, but have yet to release information regarding the NSA’s formal announcement to Rodong Shinmun, North Korea’s state-controlled newspaper.

Therefore, there is much speculation as to the nature of the NSA’s sudden announcement to the foreign media regarding this espionage issue.

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Spread of Religion among North Korean Soldiers

Monday, September 10th, 2007

Daily NK
Kim Yong Hun
9/10/2007

It was reported that a religion criticizing Socialism has been on the spread in North Korea’s army, and various publications and CDs relaying information on South Korea has been transmitted in secrecy.

It is the first time ever to be reported that there has been a spread of religion within the North Korean army.

On the 6th of September, the Committee for Democratization of North Korea collected and revealed an educational-purpose document, which was issued by the Chosun People’s Army Publishing Department. This 18-page manuscript, issued in March, 2007, was used in the two months following to educate soldiers and commissioned officers about the increase in soldiers relying on religion and foreign publications. According to the document, there is a need to re-indoctrinate the North Korean People’s Army in order to suppress the inflow of capitalism.

It warned that, “We should not look, listen, read the documents, broadcastings and video or audio materials made by the enemy. The enemy is using Radio and TV to launch false propaganda through well-made, strategic news and intrigue.” and “While the enemy continues to attack us with their political indoctrination, our soldiers must not sway to their influence. We must block off all means of broadcasting through which the enemies can trespass.”

The document states that “the CDs, recordings and publications from the enemies all contain information about their development of and the prosperity of capitalism. Their corruptive culture and lifestyle is embellished ingeniously in such a strategic manner. The signalmen must comply with all rules when using their radiotelegraph and every soldier must work to confiscate small-sized semiconductor radios and pocket-sized TVs.”

The reason why the North Korean military is complying with educational-purpose philosophy indoctrination is because the wide-spread transmission among soldiers of South Korean dramas, CDs, and publications that contain information on capitalistic society is seen as a serious problem.

In particular, the report advises very strictly that the soldiers not be dazzled by religion, and to pursue socialism no matter what. It conveys that religion is not only taking over the regular citizens but is becoming an influence within the army of North Korea.

The document states that, “The enemy is sending bibles, audio and video materials related to religion and superstition through various routes. They are placing spies within international delegations entering our borders to spread their religions and superstitious beliefs and win our citizens over to their side.”

In addition, “Religion and superstition are like poison that corrupts socialism and paralyzes class consciousness. Our soldiers must, more than ever, instigate a revolutionary awakening to defy the enemies’ maneuvers.”

It continues on, cautioning that “soldiers must be wary of superstition, religion and the foreign lifestyle, and when they find evidence of such things, must immediately stop them from spreading further. We must not get involved in the enemy’s strategic propaganda. Getting involved in the psychological warfare of enemies is considered high treason; and therefore, we must fight against it, considering this issue an emergency.”

It is also emphasized that, “Alcohol, Sex and Money are poisons that ruin our ideology and belief. We must increase the ideological indoctrination, ideological struggle and legal struggle in order to fight the spread of these elements of capitalistic ideology.”

The Committee for Democratization of North Korea revealed that “According to North Korean defectors, there have been consecutive economic downfalls since the nuclear tests, causing much difficulty in the daily lives of North Korean citizens. It is known that the situation for soldiers has worsened as well.”

The educational-purpose document is a kind of propaganda tool explaining background, measures, and outlines of the domestic state. Different indoctrination documents are distributed to different groups of individuals: what is disseminated among politicians differs from that which is given to workers or military.

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Posted in Civil society, Domestic publication, Korean People's Army, KPA Publishing Dept., Military, Religion | Comments Closed

Pyongyang Vice: Tale of Veteran-Students

Monday, September 10th, 2007

Daily NK
Park Choel Yong
9/10/2007

Army Veterans in North Korea can have bright futures once accepted into college. In North Korea, serving in the Armed Forces, party membership, and college diplomas are three main keys for success.

However, a Veteran matriculate is not necessarily awarded with a diploma after four years.

Veteran-students without money or parental auspice would have to suffer turbulent years leading up till graduation.

First of all, most of them acknowledge that they are too old to study ardently (since veterans have spent at least seven to eight years in the Armed Forces); therefore, Veteran-students do not hesitate to take shortcuts.

Every North Korean university/college is organized as if it were a military academy. In this semi-military college student environment, Veterans usually take an officer role and often take advantage of their position, taking bribes from other students.

As another vice, some Veteran-students commit adultery while in college. An ex-serviceman studying in college and communist party members are the most eligible bachelors in North Korea. Many rich parents encourage their daughters to marry with collegiate Veterans.

Exploiting their popularity, some Veterans have wives to support in their hometowns, but engage with another woman in Pyongyang. Some even divorce their under-educated and less-privileged wives to marry their mistresses.

Often times, a divorced wife of a Veteran-student will come to the college in Pyongyang and seek help at the party office.

Some Veteran-students boast “There is a nice way to shut them (divorced wives) up!” The ‘way’ is demanding huge sums of money from the parents-in-law. The wife’s parents will be shocked, will tire of the petition, and eventually, the call for divorce will come from the other side.

A Veteran-student from my college never let his wife leave his hometown to visit him in Pyongyang because she was too rustic.

An additional area of concern is that Veteran-students frequently instigate fist fights.

The Veterans, who sweat and bled on the drill field, can not allow other students to regard themselves as being in the same class. So they bully other students into revering them, and often fight with those who refuse to do so.

At other times, these Veteran-students will provoke quarrels with police or traffic officers.

Their fighting ability ranks top, but academically, they are pitiful; yet they make no efforts to overcome the disadvantage.

Veteran-students learn how to exploit a situation. And as soon as they are appointed as party leaders after graduation from college, ex-servicemen tend to pursue power and money by preying on their subordinates.

North Korean people used to call American imperialists “wolves” (a very derogatory term). However, more people now have begun to redirect the term toward party officials, who were once Veteran-students themselves.

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Teach English in Pyongyang!

Sunday, September 9th, 2007

Michael Rank at NKZone (which seems to be making a comeback) has pointed out:

British Council is looking for three English language teacher trainers as part of its “high-profile project [that] has been running since 2000.”

The British Council website states:

Senior English Trainer – £28,240 a year, plus benefits

English Trainers (2 posts) – £24,877 a year, plus benefits

Contract from 1 November 2007 to 31 August 2008

Benefits including free accommodation, medical insurance and pension provision

JOB SUMMARY
The British Council/Foreign and Commonwealth Office English language project in the DPRK aims to deliver quality programmes in teacher/trainer training and to develop the curriculum and related materials as well as assessment systems at leading institutions in Pyongyang. This high-profile project has been running since 2000, and we are now seeking three experienced English language teaching professionals to fill the above posts, which will be based at these institutions.

For all posts you will have: a diploma level qualification in TEFL (eg UCLES DTEFLA/Cambridge ESOL DELTA, Trinity College London Dip TESOL); a minimum of 3 years’ ELT and teacher training experience overseas; course/curriculum planning and materials development. Additionally: for the Senior Trainer post you will have an MA in TEFL/Applied Linguistics (or equivalent) plus experience of teaching ESP and of people management. For one of the Trainer posts, content and language integrated learning (CLIL) teaching experience is required, and, for both posts, an MA in TEFL/Applied Linguistics (or equivalent) is desirable.

Note: Local restrictions mean that UK passport holders only can be considered for this post. These are unaccompanied posts, although in exceptional cases the authorities might agree to a married couple.  Employment is subject to permission from the DPRK Ministries of Education and Foreign Affairs.

WHO WE ARE
The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We work in 110 countries and territories reaching millions of people each year, and increase appreciation of the UK through the arts, education, science, governance and sport.

HOW TO APPLY
Please apply using the materials below.

   Information sheet
   Behavioural competencies
   Guide for external applicants
   Application form
   Guidance on completing the application form
   Senior English Trainer – Information about the job
   English Trainer (with CLIL) – Information about the job
   English Trainer – Information about the job

Closing date for applications: 12 noon, Thursday, 20 September 2007. Applications should be returned to TMP, initially by e-mail, then hard copies by post. Interviews will be conducted on 4 and 5 October 2007 in Manchester.

Please return completed application forms quoting reference OA07016 to:

Lisa Hampton
TMP
Chancery House
53-64 Chancery Lane
London WC2A 1QS

Telephone: 020 7649 6046
Fax: 08700 339318
E-mail: [email protected]

If you are unable to download the application form and details please contact Lisa Hampton.

OUR RECRUITMENT POLICY
The British Council is committed to a policy of equal opportunity and is keen to reflect the diversity of UK society at every level within the organisation. We welcome applications from all sections of the community.

We also offer application packs in the following formats: large print, Braille, computer disk or audio tape.

We guarantee an interview to disabled candidates who meet the essential criteria.

We are the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.

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Obsession With Nuclear Family

Sunday, September 9th, 2007

Korea Times
Andrei Lankov
9/9/2007

On Aug. 24, 1962, the Soviet Ambassador to Pyongyang, Vasilii Moskovski, met the North Korean foreign minister, Pak Song-chol. The issue to be discussed was nuclear non-proliferation, one closely related to the nuclear test ban treaty, then in preparation. Moscow was an enthusiastic backer of the treaty, and wanted support from its allies. Relations with North Korea were deteriorating fast, but still some supportive gesture from the North was hoped for.

However, Comrade Pak was straightforward: a non-proliferation treaty was a bad idea. He explained the reasons for his skepticism. He asked a Soviet diplomat: “Who can impose such a treaty on countries that do not have nuclear weapons, but are perhaps successfully working in that direction?” Having said that, the North Korean foreign minister continued, “The Americans hold on to Taiwan, to South Korea, and South Vietnam, they blackmail the people with their nuclear weapons, and so rule over those lands and do not intend to leave. Their possession of nuclear weapons, and the lack thereof in our hands, objectively helps them, therefore, to eternalize their rule.”

Indeed, soon Ambassador Moskovski learned that the North Koreans were trying to acquire nuclear technology. As a matter of fact, recently de-classified Soviet papers confirm that in late 1963 Moskovski heard something to this effect more or less every month.

In August 1963 the East German ambassador informed Moskovski that “the [North] Koreans … are asking whether they could obtain any kind of information about nuclear weapons and the atomic industry from German universities and research institutes.”

In September 1963 Soviet geologists, then employed as technical consultants to the North Korean uranium mine, told Ambassador Moskovski that “the Korean side incessantly tries to obtain information about the deposits and quality of the uranium ore mined in the Soviet Union.” They also noticed that the amount of the uranium ore extracted in the North far exceeded the modest demands of its small-scale research program.

In October 1963, another Soviet scientist told the ambassador about a recent conversation on the same subject with a Korean engineer. The engineer asked whether Koreans were able to create an atomic bomb. The Soviet scientist said that the economy of the DPRK could not cope with such a task. But, according to an Embassy document, “the Korean said that it would cost much less in the DPRK than in other countries. If we tell our workers, he declared, that we are taking up such a task, they will agree to work free of charge for several years.”

This new evidence, recently obtained and published by Balazs Szalontaj and Sergei Radchenko, finally confirms what has been long suspected by many (and known to the few) _ from its inception, the North Korean nuclear program was military in its nature.

Actually, North Korea was to some extent involved in nuclear politics as early as the 1940s. It has large deposits of a particular monazite, a mineral that was seen as potentially useful for the Soviet nuclear program. The Soviets demanded payments in monazite for their sales to the North. Eventually, the engineers were disappointed with the properties of the mineral, and abandoned their plans to use it as a source of nuclear material. Russia still does not know what to do with the large stockpiles of monazite it still has from the 1940s.

The North Koreans were mining for uranium as well. There were two major quarries operated with Soviet technical support. The quality of the uranium remained low, but its production was still seen as necessary for the sake of the future.

In 1959 the DPRK signed an agreement on nuclear research with the USSR (soon afterwards, a very similar agreement was signed with China as well). The Soviet Union was becoming very strict about non-proliferation, and the agreement was probably seen as a potential safeguard, to make sure that North Korean ambitions would not result in a military nuclear program.

Needless to say, such a program was indeed what they wanted, and the North Koreans had many ways to outsmart the Soviet supervisors _ not least, by skillfully exploiting the deepening rivalry between Moscow and Beijing, and so it was that Soviet assistance helped Pyongyang launch its first research reactor in 1965.

It seems that the nuclear weapons were not much feared _ generally, in line with Mao’s mad dictum about the `paper tiger.’ In 1962, for example, the East German ambassador had a remarkable talk with Yi Chu-yon, then a Politburo member and one of North Korea’s top leaders.

Yi Chu-yon suggested that it was a good time to start a Third World War. He said that “now, when the USSR has such powerful means of waging war, with missiles that can strike all ranges, perhaps it would be better not to wait, but to strike the imperialists.” Yi Chu-yon received some support, since, according to the East German diplomat, “other Korean comrades who accompanied us also insistently advocated a military resolution of all contradictions between capitalism and socialism.”

Hence, North Korean nuclear ambitions have remained a constant for nearly half a century. However, it took a couple of decades to get things moving. The North was, indeed, too poor for such an undertaking, and no amount of drum-beating nationalism could compensate for lack of resources and technology. At the same time, none of the great power allies was enthusiastic about helping Pyongyang arm itself with nukes.

Nonetheless, work continued, and by the early 1980s the first rumors of the North Korean nuclear weapons project began to spread along the people in the know.

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Posted in Military, Nuclear, Political economy, Russia | Comments Closed

N. Korean leader’s public appearance up sharply in August

Sunday, September 9th, 2007

Yonhap
9/9/2007

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il made as many as 17 public appearances in August, as he made more visits to factories than military units, statistics compiled by Yonhap News Agency showed Sunday.

The 65-year-old leader’s public appearances in August, as reported by the communist country’s media, included nine tours of industrial facilities mainly in North Hamgyeong Province and five visits to military units.

The August figures compared with two to seven appearances Kim made a month between January and July.

Kim made a total of 21 public appearances in May 2001, followed by 18 in October of 2002 and 2005. He also made 17 appearances in May last year.

South Korean officials believe that the leader is shifting his attention to the North’s moribund economy, as his country is moving to ease tension with the international community over its nuclear weapons program.

Yonhap is the only South Korean news organization to be authorized by the government to monitor North Korean media reports. South Korea has a tough anti-communist law banning its people from listening to North Korean radio and television reports.

The two Koreas, divided since 1945, are still technically at war, having signed no peace treaty at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

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Posted in Political economy | Comments Closed

N. Korea restores expressway between Pyongyang, Kaesong

Thursday, September 6th, 2007

Yonhap
Sohn Suk-joo
9/6/2007

North Korea has restored an expressway linking its capital and the border town of Kaesong, paving the way for an overland trip to Pyongyang by South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun for the inter-Korean summit early next month, North Korean officials said Thursday.

“Our ministry has fought an audacious battle to realize restoration as soon as possible by mobilizing all resources available, so normal operations are now ensured for the tourist road between Pyongyang and Wonsan, the expressway between Pyongyang and Kaesong and the tourist road between Pyongyang and Hyangsan,” said Pak Chong-son, a deputy bureau chief at the North’s Environment Ministry.

Last month, South and North Korea agreed to hold their second-ever summit in late August in Pyongyang, but just five days later, the North asked to postpone the meeting, citing severe damage from floods. Roh is to travel to Pyongyang by car through Kaesong in the western section of the Korean Peninsula for the Oct. 2-4 summit.

“No matter how big and formidable the damage is, we are not afraid at all and are making efforts to ensure that the country will suffer no damage from flash floods,” Pak said in an interview with the Korean Central Broadcasting Station.

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Posted in Automobiles, Transportation | Comments Closed

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