Korea ( South & North ) 01 (May 08 - Nov 10)

[winston]

I'm not worried that the North will attack the South.

I'm more worried that the South will attack the North, probably based on misplaced fear or confidence.

[kennynah]

this one...lagi no need worry....south attacking north, is like asking her to fight china...no way this will happen unless south korea is mislead or manipulated by usa into doing so...

[winston]

I hope his father would bring him back to run the country. He understands the
free-market system and with the help of the Chinese and the South, he would be able to transform his country ...

=============================

North Korean leader's son enjoys pampered life in Macau

The man who could have inherited the throne in North Korea's Communist dynasty instead lives a pampered life in the glitzy Asian gambling hub of Macau, all but banished by the country's ruling elite.

The reclusive Stalinist state is preparing for its biggest political meeting in decades on Tuesday, with widespread speculation that leader Kim Jong-Il will tap his youngest son, Jong-Un, for the top job.

That honour might have gone to Kim Jong-Nam, 39, the North Korean leader's eldest son, until he was exiled following a scandal in 2001 when he was caught entering Japan on a fake Dominican Republic passport -- enraging his father.

Since then, Jong-Nam has passed his days drinking and eating in the former Portuguese colony's five-star restaurants, trying his luck at the gambling table and spending some of his 500,000 dollar annual allowance in the territory's luxury brand stores.

He lives with his wife and two children in an upscale villa complex on Macau's southern tip, a quiet enclave of pink-tiled houses overlooking the South China Sea -- although his exact location proved elusive.

"Oh, the big son? Yes, he lives around here but I'm not sure which one," said a taxi driver pointing at rows of cookie-cutter homes.

An employee at the five-star Altira Hotel said the multilingual Kim -- who learned English and French at a Swiss boarding school -- drops by sometimes.

"I know Mr Kim, but I haven't seen him today," he told AFP.

Wearing an untucked dress shirt and blue suede loafers, Jong-Nam gave a brief interview to a South Korean reporter in June, denying reports he planned to defect to Europe and saying his reportedly ill father was in good health.

He splits his time between Macau and Beijing -- where he also owns a home -- while taking trips to Vienna, Bangkok and Moscow.

Like his father, Jong-Nam is reportedly fond of the best that money can buy and has a second home in the city where he stays after late nights in one of his favourite karaoke bars or casinos. His three bodyguards live there too, reports said, while his mistress resides in a rented flat nearby.

The low-key son of North Korea's leader, who has been spotted taking taxis or even the bus without an army of security, takes a keen interest in his family, including his 14-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter.

The family has gone on camping trips or jaunts around the city and even outdoor trips with the Lusophone Scouts, the international movement's Portuguese-speaking affiliate.

"His wife is always very well dressed," Ricardo Pinto, publisher of Macau Closer magazine, told AFP.

"The kids had all sorts of iPods and other gadgets. He seems to like hanging around with friends at some of the Korean restaurants in town. And he likes to gamble although he isn't a high roller."

Jong-Nam is not invited to government events and is treated like a private citizen, Pinto said.

"He keeps a very low profile," Pinto added.

In the late nineties, the eldest of Kim Jong-Il's three sons was the heir apparent with his father giving him senior jobs in the country's shrouded political structure. He even held key posts in its military.

In the mid-nineties, he was made a general and head of foreign counter-intelligence in the secret police.

But the failed bid to enter Japan -- reportedly to visit Tokyo Disneyland -- along with two women and his son derailed those plans after his angry father effectively barred him from ever taking the top job in Pyongyang.

Observers said Jong-Nam's resume makes him a better choice as North Korea's next leader over his half brother -- the pair were born to different mothers.

But the eldest Kim, whose film-star mother died in 2002, shrugs off any talk of his appointment to North Korea's highest office.

"If I were the successor, would you see me in Macau wearing these casual clothes and taking a holiday? I am only the son of Kim Jong-Il," he told a Japanese television reporter last year.

"I am a North Korean citizen who has the right to live in Macau and China. To call me a fugitive from North Korea is completely incorrect."

Source: AFP Asian Edition

[behappyalways]

http://news.wenxuecity.com/messages/201 ... 74587.html


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11432894

[winston]

Maybe this should be filed in the "Crab" thread ..

If you are watching Phoenix TV now, there's a live telecast of some grand ceremony in North Korea.

While millions there dont have food to eat, these guys can find the money to spend on ceremonies and weapons

[behappyalways]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11508493

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB2ZZgbm ... re=related

[winston]

Playboy son of NKorea leader raps succession plan

The casino-loving eldest son of North Korea's Kim Jong Il — once tipped to succeed him before trying to sneak into Japan to go to Disneyland — says he opposes a hereditary transfer of power to his younger half-brother.

While his disapproval is unsurprising, it's the first public sign of discord in the tightly choreographed succession process, though analysts said Kim Jong Nam has lived outside his native land for so long his opinion will carry little weight.

The chubby 39-year-old Kim, the oldest of three brothers who were in the running to take over secretive North Korea, is the closest thing the country has to a playboy.

Unlike many of his countrymen back home who lack the resources and connections to travel overseas, Kim Jong Nam travels freely and spends much of his time in China or the country's special autonomous region of Macau — the center of Asian gambling with its Las Vegas-style casinos.

He sports the family pot belly and favors newsboy caps, designer shoes and an unshaven face, while frequenting five-star hotels and expensive restaurants.

He told Japan's TV Asahi, in an interview from Beijing aired late Monday and Tuesday, that he is "against third-generation succession, but I think there were internal factors. If there were internal factors, (we) should abide by them."

Kim added that he hopes his brother will do his best to bring abundance to the lives of North Koreans and that he stands ready to help from abroad, according to a dubbed Japanese-language version of his remarks.

Andrei Lankov, a Russian expert on North Korea at Seoul's Kookmin University, said Kim Jong Nam's remarks were "almost a challenge," but noted he has little influence due to the considerable time he spends abroad and lacks military support.

"I don't see them rallying to Kim Jong Nam," he added, emphasizing that key generals who run the military far prefer Kim Jong Un, who they see as young, inexperienced and thus easy to control.

Kim Jong Un, believed to be 26, appeared with his father at Pyongyang celebrations on Sunday marking the 65th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party, saluting troops marching past in a massive military parade and waving to the crowd. The appearance was less than two weeks after he was named to a top political post and promoted to four-star general.

Kim Jong Nam is widely believed to have fallen out of favor as a possible successor after embarrassing the government in 2001 by being caught trying to enter Japan on a fake passport, saying he wanted to visit Tokyo Disneyland.

Little is publicly known about middle brother Kim Jong Chol, except that he studied in Switzerland and is a fan of U.S. professional basketball.

Source: AP News

[winston]

On CNN now:-

Various pompous ceremonies and military parades in Pyongyang, while millions are starving

[winston]

These guys are giving the South and Japan to take them out...

US admiral warns against another NKorea nuke test

If North Korea carries out a third nuclear test, it would seriously undermine international and regional security, the U.S. Pacific commander warned Friday.

Adm. Robert Willard's comments were prompted by a South Korean newspaper report that said a U.S. spy satellite detected activity at the North's main nuclear test site and that a detonation could occur in three months. South Korean officials played down the report, saying the activity didn't seem unusual.

Responding to questions about the report, Willard told reporters that North Korea's nuclear capabilities pose a grave threat to the region and that another atomic bomb test — which would be the country's third — would be a "very serious matter."

"I think the prospect of any next provocation ... would be a very serious matter for the international community, for (South Korea) and for the alliance as a whole," he said. He did not comment on the likelihood of such a test.

The head of the U.S. Pacific Command was speaking at a joint news conference in Seoul with Gen. Han Min-koo, chief of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff. Han said South Korea and the U.S. are keeping an eye on North Korea and are working to deter any planned test.

South Korea's unification minister, who is responsible for relations with North Korea, separately said Friday that it is unlikely that the North will carry out a nuclear test soon.

"We cannot completely rule out the possibility so we are closely monitoring" the North, Unification Minister Hyun In-taek told lawmakers, according to his office. "Still, the chances of North Korea doing so are rather low at present."

North Korea carried out its first nuclear test in 2006 and a second, more powerful one last year, drawing international sanctions each time.

Just before the second test, North Korea walked out of talks aimed at ending its nuclear program.

Tensions between the Koreas — which are still technically at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with a truce, not a peace treaty — have been high in recent months following the sinking of a South Korean warship that killed 46 sailors. Seoul blamed the sinking on North Korea, which denied involvement.

Recently, however, North Korea has made a series of conciliatory gestures such as releasing South Korean and American detainees, proposing a resumption of stalled joint projects with South Korea, and indicating it is ready to talk again about its nuclear program.

The U.S. stations 28,500 troops in South Korea in a legacy of the Korean War.

Source: AP News

[winston]

North Korea Circumventing UN Sanctions With China's Help, U.S. Report Says
By Nicole Gaouette

North Korea is circumventing United Nations sanctions by routing trade and financial transactions through China, a U.S. report said.

Flawed intelligence about North Korean actions and varying interpretations of UN sanctions also allow the isolated communist country to avoid the full weight of penalties meant to push it to reconsider its nuclear weapons program, according to a report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.

President Barack Obama is pursuing a policy of sanctions and engagement with North Korea to encourage it to rejoin denuclearization talks. North Korea’s leaders have made ending the sanctions a condition for returning to talks. Implementation of those sanctions has been uneven globally and in cases has diminished over time, the report said.

“Because China has taken a minimal approach to implementation on North Korea, it has proven difficult to strengthen measures any further in the UN context,” said the report, requested by Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Calls to the Chinese Embassy in Washington weren’t answered.

North Korea’s unpredictable behavior complicates U.S. attempts to draw it into negotiations. South Korea is currently monitoring North Korea for signs of a nuclear test, Han Min Koo, chairman of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said today.

Retaliation Threatened

In August, North Korea threatened “physical retaliation” against South Korean naval ships carrying out military drills. An international tribunal found the North responsible for torpedoing a South Korean vessel in March, killing 46 sailors.

The CRS report found that North Korea uses air and land routes through China with little risk of inspection and that luxury goods flow through China to Pyongyang’s elites “almost unabated.”

China’s chief interest is in maintaining the status quo and regional stability, and preventing a flood of North Korean refugees over its northern border region, according to the report.

“Clearly, China holds the key to implementing sanctions on the DPRK,” the report said, using the acronym for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. “It could arguably devote more resources to detecting and stopping North Korean violations.”

Lugar said in a statement that the findings are a reminder that U.S. and Chinese interests regarding North Korea differ.

“While the United States presses for elimination of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, China’s primary focus is on preserving regional stability,” Lugar said. China’s less than rigorous approach “should be a wake-up call to this White House in the ongoing development of its North Korea strategy,” he said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-2 ... -says.html