Is Kim Jong-Un Ousted from North Korea?

Despite the apparent adoration of North Korean girls in ill-fitting WW2 helmets, Kim Jung-Un is likely out of any position of actual political power in North Korea

Personally, I never felt this Kim had the political backing nor the skills to run North Korea. Of course, I felt the same way about his father and that guy ran the country until his death.

From The Daily Mail (h/t Gateway Pundit):

A former North Korean counter-intelligence officer has claimed that Kim Jong-Un is no longer in control of the nation and is now just a 'puppet leader'. 

Jang Jin-sung, who used to be an influential officer in Kim Jong-il's propaganda division, made the sensational assertion at a September conference in Holland attended by several elite exiles, it's been reported. 

The capital, Pyongyang, meanwhile, has been placed into lockdown with even the elite banned from entering or leaving, according to a respected news site. This adds weight to Jin-sung's claim, as a North Korean expert said that this kind of measure is only put in place when a coup has taken place - or is suspected.  

Jin-sung said that Kim Jong-Un was actually overthrown in 2013 and that the political strings in North Korea are being pulled by the powerful Organization and Guidance Department (OGD), which used to report directly to Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-Un's father.  

North Korea is currently embroiled in a sort of civil war, he said in his speech. 

Some officials want to keep the communist status quo, he said, others are open to elements of capitalism being introduced.

Doubtlessly, something is going on in North Korea, although I'm not sure that Jin-Sung is absolutely correct in his assertions. Let's remember that Jin-Sung is simply giving us his best guess. I'm betting that the military leadership will ultimately be the ones deciding the eventual outcome of this fracas.

Anyway, let's hope that those people supporting a loosening of the Marxist state win. Marxist North Korea is doomed to be brushed into the ash bin  of history, but in the meantime it can do catastrophic damage to both Asia and the world.

N. Korea Nukes Can Reach U.S. and Russia Flies Military Aircraft Along Coast... Hey, the 80s called and they said: Don't Worry. Be happy.

Could a president depicted in this manner-- by the press-- possibly let you down?

So let's see here...

North Korea has nuclear warheads for its ballistic missiles capable of reaching the western United States.

From The Washington Free Beacon article by Bill Gertz:

North Korea has developed nuclear weapons capable of being launched on its ballistic missile forces, according to a new report by a defense analyst. 

The Obama administration is seeking to hide the fact that North Korea possesses nuclear missile warheads, according to a report by Mark Schneider, a former Pentagon strategic analyst and director for forces policy at the office of the secretary of defense. Schneider’s statement came in a report published April 28 in the journal Comparative Strategy. 

According to the 16-page report, “The North Korean Nuclear Threat to the United States,” the Defense Intelligence Agency stated in an unclassified assessment made public a year ago that “DIA assesses with moderate confidence the North [Korean government] currently has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic missiles.” 

“This is disturbing news,” the report says. “The North Korean regime is one of the most fanatic, paranoid, and militaristic dictatorships on the planet. … While North Korea has long made occasional nuclear attack threats, the scope, magnitude, and frequency of these threats have vastly increased in 2013.” 

North Korea has in the recent months issued provocative threats to carry out nuclear strikes on U.S. cities and against American allies.  

[...]
The report on the North’s nuclear warheads stated that the assessment of a missile-delivered nuclear strike capability is not new. 

Based on a declassified 2001 National Intelligence estimate, North Korea’s Taepodong-2 ICBM can deliver a payload of several hundred kilograms up to 6,200 miles, distance enough to hit Alaska, Hawaii, and parts of the western Untied States. 

“If the North uses a third stage similar to the one used on the Taepodong-1 in 1998 in a ballistic missile configuration, then the Taepodong-2 could deliver a several-hundred-kg payload up to 15,000 km—sufficient to strike all of North America,” the report said.
North Korea also has acquired Chinese-made transporter-erector launchers that are now deployed with a new road-mobile KN-08 ICBM.

Russia is flying strategic aircraft along California's coast.

From Breitbart:

The Associated Press reported Monday that Gen. Herbert Carlisle, Commander of United States Air Forces in the Pacific, acknowledged a significant increase in the activities by Russian long-range strategic aircraft flying along the California coast.  

 There was no comment about whether the aircraft were nuclear capable, but it has not been since the Cold War ended in the early 1990s that Russian patrols have skirted the West Coast and California.       

Gen. Herbert J. "Hawk" Carlisle is the Commander of Pacific Air Forces; Air Component Commander for U.S. Pacific Command; and Executive Director, Pacific Air Combat Operations Staff, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. As the PACAF, he is responsible for Air Force activities spread over half the globe in a command that supports 45,000 Airmen serving principally in Japan, Korea, Hawaii, Alaska and Guam.  

Speaking Monday, May 5th at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a bipartisan Washington DC think tank, General Carlisle said there had been long-range Russian air patrols to the coast of California and a circumnavigation of the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam. He noted that a U.S. F-15 fighter jet intercepted a Russian strategic bomber that had flown to Guam. 

General Carlisle linked the increased activity and incursions to the situation in the Ukraine. He said Russia was demonstrating its capabilities and gathering intelligence on U.S. military exercises.   

He further admitted that there has been a sharp increase in Russian air patrols around Japanese islands and Korea. General Carlisle added that there was more Russian ship activity in the area, too.

Ok, now both of these might be a little alarming, but hey, remember Obama said that something like "The eighties called and they want their foreign policy back"?

I feel better already!

Well here's an '80s video Obama may be humming in head-- or perhaps he'll need to foist it upon us as our foreign policies fail miserably (betrayal of Ukraine, bad-mouthing our ally Israel, Saudi Arabia's recent snub, etc.), our foes threaten (North Korea threatening nuclear strikes, Iran practicing attacking American ships, including aircraft carriers, , and our economy falters:

Male North Korean Students Required to get Kim Jong-un Haircut?



And it just looks so good, especially for the shape of his head and all...

I'm not sure whether I believe this story or not. It's completely ridiculous. The thing is, North Korea is so insane that just because something is ridiculous-- or horrific for that matter-- doesn't mean that it's a lie.

From BBC News:

Male university students in North Korea are now required to get the same haircut as their leader Kim Jong-un, it is reported.  

The state-sanctioned guideline was introduced in the capital Pyongyang about two weeks ago, Radio Free Asia reports. It is now being rolled out across the country - although some people have expressed reservations about getting the look. 

"Our leader's haircut is very particular, if you will," one source tells Radio Free Asia. "It doesn't always go with everyone since everyone has different face and head shapes." Meanwhile, a North Korean now living in China says the look is actually unpopular at home because people think it resembles Chinese smugglers. "Until the mid-2000s, we called it the 'Chinese smuggler haircut'," the Korea Times reports. 

It seems that haircuts have been state-approved in North Korea for some time - until now people were reportedly only allowed to choose from 18 styles for women and 10 for men. Earlier, North Korea's state TV launched a campaign against long hair, called "Let us trim our hair in accordance with the Socialist lifestyle".

Why not make all the North Koreans men get that haircut? I mean it does look so damn good on Kim, you know?

North Korea Arrests and then Summarily Machine Guns Down Musical Star

Hyon-Song-wol

She was also the rumored former lover of Kim Junh Un.

From The Telegraph (warning annoying auto-play video at link):

The performer [Hyon Song-wol], who was rumoured to be a former lover of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, is reported to have been arrested on Aug 17 for violating laws against pornography. Her musical group, the Unhasu Orchestra, and other entertainers from the Wangjaesan Light Music Band were also arrested.  

The group was executed in public three days later.  

“They were executed with machine guns while the key members of the Unhasu Orchestra, Wangjaesan Light Band and Moranbong Band as well as the families of the victims looked on,” said a Chinese source reported in the Chosun Ilbo newspaper. 

Kim met Hyon about a decade ago, before either of them were married but was later ordered to break off their relationship by his father Kim Jong-il. She then married a soldier but there have been rumours that the two continued their love affair.

Just another day in the murderous and glorious workers' paradise.

Back to Blogging

Hello. Just wanted to say that I'm back to blogging after fighting off this tenacious little bug. I don't know what this little bugger was, but it hit me and my family hard. Not my wife, of course. The last time she was sick enough to stay in bed was about 9 years ago. Geez. Why can't I have that immune system?

Ah, well.

So, I'm looking through the political junk, which I mostly avoided while I was ill-- and you would not believe how happy that made me, and find Cyprus in disarray and Obama throwing up missile interceptors in Alaska to allay fears of North Korean nuclear missiles. I don't think Obama's worried about the West Coast so much-- I mean there's a lot of people out here that he believes deserve to be punished-- but is instead concerned about the flaming Obama video North Korea released-- to music from the video game Skyrim no less. Perhaps Obama should just remind everyone in North Korea that they're in a tiny country that's not really a threat to the great and powerful U.S. That's real "smart diplomacy."

Anyway, will post more when I see anything interesting.

Be back soon.

North Korean Government Reports Finding Unicorn Lair

Was this actual unicorn also found at the site?

A unicorn lair in North Korea? Sure. Why not?

From the Telegraph:

The quite unbelievable claim of the discovery of the unicorn lair belonging to King Tongmyong, founder of the ancient Korean kingdom Koguryo was made by the History Institute of the DPRK Academy of Social Sciences.
 

The lair was apparently found 220 yards fro[sic] a temple in the capital, Pyongyang.
 

"A rectangular rock carved with words "Unicorn Lair" stands in front of the lair. The carved words are believed to date back to the period of Koryo Kingdom (918-1392)," the report said.
 

"The temple served as a relief palace for King Tongmyong, in which there is the lair of his unicorn."
 

The report was also used to make a more serious point about the North's claims of dominence over the South.
 

"The discovery of the unicorn lair, associated with legend about King Tongmyong, proves that Pyongyang was a capital city of Ancient Korea as well as Koguryo Kingdom," it said. 

I just love the proof that it's a unicorn lair-- a rock that actually says "Unicorn Lair." Well, I'm convinced.

And just more proof that all of what has ever been historically good and noble in the Korean society happens exclusively in the North. Yup. Cast iron proof. No doubt.

Belligerent North Korea and China Reaffirm Ties

As the US, South Korea, and Japan unify over recent North Korean belligerence and attacks, senior Chinese foreign policymaker Dai Bingguo met with Pyongyang. Hard to say what actually was said, but the both the Chinese and North Korean governments touted "consensus" regarding the situation.

From the AFP article:

"North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il and a top Chinese envoy Thursday touted 'consensus' between the communist allies regarding the region's worst crisis in years, official media reported.

"China's most senior foreign policymaker Dai Bingguo visited Pyongyang as pressure intensifies on Beijing to rein in its unruly ally, after North Korea's deadly shelling of a South Korean island inflamed tensions on the peninsula.

"'The two sides reached consensus on bilateral relations and the situation on the Korean peninsula after candid and in-depth talks,' said a brief report from China's Xinhua news agency, datelined Pyongyang.

"North Korea's official news agency said the delegations discussed 'issues of mutual concern' and efforts to improve friendly relations.

"It marked the first time that Kim has met a senior foreign official since the North's shock artillery attack on the South Korean island, and since his regime startled the world by showing off a sophisticated new nuclear programme.

"China is the isolated North's sole major ally and provides it with a crucial fuel and food lifeline.
But Beijing has come under increasing pressure from the United States and US allies to rein in North Korea following the incident, which was the first shelling of civilian areas in South Korea since the 1950-53 war.

"It has so far refused even to condemn the North for the November 23 artillery attack, which killed four people including two civilians.

"In Tokyo, the top US military officer Thursday accused China of aiding and abetting the hardline regime's 'reckless behaviour' as he touted a united defence front with South Korea and Japan against North Korea.

"'Northeast Asia is today more volatile than it has been in much of the last 50 years,' Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said.

"'Much of that volatility is owed to the reckless behaviour of the North Korean regime, enabled by their friends in China.'

"Mullen also said he felt a 'real sense of urgency' about building up three-way defence ties with Seoul and Tokyo. US forces have separately held major military drills with the two allies since North Korea's attack.

"The admiral has proposed three-way drills and said Thursday that any threat is 'much better addressed with all of us together, in terms of showing strength and getting to a point where we can deter North Korean behaviour'.

[...]

"The flare-up on the Korean peninsula has confronted Beijing with a wider diplomatic challenge, wrote Zhu Feng, deputy director of the Centre for International and Strategic Studies at Peking University.

"'Perceptions that China "protects" North Korea could lead to the emergence of a powerful Washington-Tokyo-Seoul axis directed not only against North Korea but also implicitly at China,' he said."

Oh to be a fly on the wall at that North Korea-China conference... China has so much to lose from North Korea and precious little to gain. China is absolutely reliant on continued good trade relations with the US, Japan, and Korea (all of whom have money), while North Korea costs them nothing but cash and resources. It'll be very interesting to see how relationships develop in the future. My bet is China will "strongly encourage" Kim Jong-un to modernize economically like China-- something that I think is fully beyond Kim Jong-un's capabilities. Following Kim Jong-il's stroke, it's hard to say who exactly is running North Korea, and I'm very skeptical that Kim Jong-un will be to rein in and unify North Korea's party factions.

South Korean President Lee Under Pressure to Respond to North Korean Attack

From the Reuters article by Yoo Choonsik and Jeremy Laurence:

"South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's government was criticised at home on Wednesday for its slow response to a North Korean attack, with lawmakers and media saying it was now time to get tough.

"Lee has vowed a firm response to Tuesday's attack by North Korea, but Seoul too has no desire for a serious conflict. While North Korea would certainly lose any war, it would be able to do enormous damage to the South with its vast artillery.

"Lee won office in 2008 vowing to take an uncompromising stand with neighouring North Korea, but for the second time this year his conservative government is being criticised for being indecisive in responding to crises involving the mercurial state.

[...]

"A day after the North fired a barrage of artillery shells at the island of Yeonpyeong, killing two civilians and soldiers, members of Lee's own party and opposition lawmakers accused the South's military of being too weak and responding too late.

"In a fiery parliamentary hearing, Defence Minister Kim Tae-young was grilled by lawmakers who said the government should have taken quicker and stronger retaliatory measures against the North's provocation.

[...]

"Editorials in local media also said it was now time for retaliation.

"The JoongAng Daily urged Lee to send a clear message to the North, saying the North's provocation had 'gone beyond our imagination'.

[...]

"Lee, well known for his hawkish policies, ended the South's Sunshine Policy of engagement with North Korea in 2008, cutting aid and refusing to give in to Pyongyang's demand for concessions, saying the North must first give up its nuclear programmes."

Once again, I've got to say that Obama sending messages of weak support and weakened American strength places our allies in a very difficult situation. It puts lots of political pressure --often domestic-- on our allies in ways that many in the US (including the president it seems) fail to understand. Obama's apology / pledge of American weakness tour was a real blow to American-friendly governments who count on American military support-- as South Korea does. Obama has created needless instability and possible volatility in these countries-- all so he can prove that he's a great guy to the American Left.

Obama Pledges to Defend South Korea

From the AP article by Anne Gearan (via Drudge):

"President Barack Obama on Tuesday pledged the United States would defend South Korea after what the White House branded an outrageous attack by North Korea on its neighbor. Yet with its options limited, the U.S. sought a diplomatic rather a military response to one of those most ominous clashes between the Koreas in decades.

"'South Korea is our ally. It has been since the Korean War,' Obama said in his first comments about the North Korean shelling of a South Korean island. 'And we strongly affirm our commitment to defend South Korea as part of that alliance.'"

Somehow I think Obama's pledge would carry a bit more weight if Obama hadn't spent a fair amount of his presidency abroad claiming that the US was no longer a superpower, wouldn't act unilaterally, and was just one more nation amongst the world community. This sort of language doesn't impress anybody with how wonderful Obama is. It does, however, put US allies in danger and embolden both our enemies and our allies' enemies.

Hey, but don't worry... Being photographed naked or fondled by the TSA is what keeps the US safe (yeah, right). I'm not sure how that helps South Korea though...

North Korea Shells South Korean Island

From the AFP article by Jung Ha-Won:

"North Korea fired dozens of artillery shells onto a South Korean island on Tuesday, killing one person, setting homes ablaze and triggering an exchange of fire as the South's military went on top alert.

"In what appeared to be one of the most serious border incidents since the 1950-53 war, South Korean troops fired back with cannon, the government convened in an underground war room and 'multiple' air force jets scrambled.

"The firing came after North Korea's disclosure of an apparently operational uranium enrichment programme -- a second potential way of building a nuclear bomb -- which is causing serious alarm for the United States and its allies.

"Some 50 shells landed on the South Korean border island of Yeonpyeong near the tense Yellow Sea border, damaging dozens of houses and sending plumes of thick smoke into the air, YTN television reported.

"One South Korean marine -- part of a contingent based permanently on the frontline island -- was killed and 13 other marines were wounded, the military said. YTN said two civilians were also hurt.

[...]

"Sporadic firing by each side continued for over an hour before dying out, the military said.

"The shelling began at 2:34 pm (0534 GMT) after the North sent several messages protesting about South Korean naval, air force and army training exercises being staged close to the border, a presidential spokesman said.

[...]

"Yeonpyeong lies just south of the border declared by United Nations forces after the war, but north of the sea border declared by Pyongyang.

"The Yellow Sea border was the scene of deadly naval clashes in 1999, 2002 and last November.

"Tensions have been acute since the sinking of a South Korean warship in March, which Seoul says was the result of a North Korean torpedo attack. Pyongyang has rejected the charge.

[...]

"'This is an intentional provocation to heighten cross-border tensions,' Dongguk University professor Kim Yong-Hyun told AFP.

"'The North made a series of gestures but there has been no response from South Korea and the United States. It is now using its brinkmanship aimed at forcing Seoul and Washington to take action and agree to dialogue.'

"Kim said the North would try to use the clash to promote solidarity among its people during the leadership succession.

"'It is also sending a strong message to the United States and the international community that the peninsula urgently needs a peace regime.'"

North Korea has been reduced to resorting to this sort of extreme brinkmanship. Economically, the place is an absolute wreck, the people living in a world of food shortages, corruption, and bizarre government provided misinformation.

While this action is worrisome, it's not quite the beginning of the end that so many people are claiming. It is very likely that this is another attempt (although an extreme one-- more evidence of their frustration) by North Korea to extort concessions and funds from the US, South Korea, and the West.

North Korea Rattles Saber Once Again

North Korea is, once again, playing tough with more warnings of dire consequences for joint South Korean/American war game exercises.

From the AFP story:

"North Korea's military threatened Sunday to launch the 'severest punishment' against South Korea for staging massive joint war games with the United States this week.

"The North's army and people will 'deal a merciless counterblow' to the allies 'as it had already resolved and declared at home and abroad', a spokesman for the country's army General Staff said in a statement published by state media.

"'The military counteraction of (North Korea) will be the severest punishment no one has ever met in the world,' he said.

"The warning came a day before US and South Korean troops begin the 10-day computerised war games called 'Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG)'."

[...]

"This week's exercise is one of a series planned by the South -- either alone or jointly with the United States -- in the aftermath of the sinking of a South Korean warship in March.
The North has angrily denied responsibility for the sinking, which killed 46 sailors and sharply raised tensions on the Korean peninsula.

"Last month South Korea and the United States held a massive joint naval and air drill in the Sea of Japan (East Sea), which were opposed by Beijing.

"A week ago South Korea ended its largest-ever anti-submarine drill including live-fire training near the disputed Yellow Sea border.

"The war manoeuvres including the UFG exercise 'represent the phase of practical actions aimed at a full-dressed military invasion', the North's spokesman said.

"'The more recklessly the warmongers persist in the war rackets as a result of wrong policy option, the faster and deeper they will fall into the grave of self-destruction,' he said."

This is pretty standard rhetoric by the overheated North Korean regime. Reading through the official North Korean news source in English (a sure way to depress yourself) while picking random dates (I kid you not) one finds pretty constant warnings of dire consequences for the provocations of the US, South Korea, and Japan.

Stories from two dates I randomly selected:

December 1st, 1999:

"On November 20 the U.S. pacific command made public the size of the U.S. forces to be quickly hurled into the Korean peninsula for a total war there and its 'timeframe.'

"This proves that the 'operation plan 5027,' a scenario for the second Korean war of aggression published by the U.S., is not a mere fiction that poses threat but it has been carried into practice in full swing.

"Now the double-dealing tactics of the U.S. reminiscent of both sides of a coin is becoming clearer.

"By nature, the DPRK has never reposed expectations in the 'appeasement policy' of the U.S. crying for 'improved relations.'

"Out of the stand to solve the Korean peninsula issue only through dialog and negotiations it Decided to have high-level talks with the U.S. It was generous enough to stop missile test-fire which belongs to the sovereignty, during the negotiations with the U.S.

"Contrary to the sincere efforts of the DPRK, the U.S. had one war confab after another in an attempt to invade the DPRK and made public what it calls 'timeframe' for the deployment of the U.S. forces in emergency on the Korean peninsula, stepping up war preparations.

"This stand taken by the U.S. behind the scene of the negotiations for the 'improvement of relations' clearly shows that its Korea policy still remains unchanged to stifle the DPRK by force of arms rather than to pursue a peaceful settlement of the Korean peninsula issue.

"It is clear to anyone that the U.S. seeks to unleash a war of aggression at any cost, while paying lip-service to 'dialogue' and 'engagement.' This compels the DPRK to think of the negotiations with the U.S. again.

"The U.S. moves to stifle the DPRK militarily forced the DPRK to increase its self-reliant national defence capabilities in every way.

"It is the fixed stand of the DPRK to return force for 'strength,' dialogue for dialogue.

"Reckless military threat and blackmail cannot frighten nor bring the DPRK to its knees at all."

July 26, 2000:

"Rodong Sinmun today in a signed article calls upon the Korean people to frustrate the Japanese reactionaries' moves to grab Tok Islet, a prelude to their reinvasion of Korea.

"The article assails the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan for claiming in its 2000-year 'diplomatic bluebook' that Tok Islet is their 'proper territory.' This is a grave infringement upon the dignity and sovereignty of the Korean nation, the article says, and goes on: Tok Islet has been part of Korea's territory since olden times.

"According to historical materials and documents of Korea and Japan, Koreans discovered Tok Islet before 500 A.D. and have since used this as a fishing center.

"A state measure was taken to bring Tok Islet under the jurisdiction of Uljin Prefecture, Kangwon Province in 512 A.D.

"The Japanese reactionaries once again laid bare their true colors as savage plunderers who stoop to nothing to achieve their design for territorial expansion when they raised this claim.

"Japan's aim to grab Tok Islet is to loot natural resources abundant in the area surrounding the islet and build a military springboard on it from which to launch reinvasion of Korea.

"The Japanese reactionaries' moves to grab Tok Islet have reached a very grave stage.

"Recently the Japanese government took an administrative measure to apply Japanese census register to Tok Islet.

"The three services of the Japan 'Self-Defence Forces' secretly staged an 'exercise of taking over Tok Islet' in Iojima recently.

"They seek to let Japanese settle on the islet with their family registers and deploy 'SDF' there under the pretext of 'protecting' them.

"The Japanese militarists' comeback to Tok Islet is near at hand.

"Japan is keen on a war, not peace and watching for a chance for reinvasion of Korea.

"The Korean people will never pardon the Japanese reactionaries' moves to grab Tok Islet, part of their inviolable territory.

"The Japanese reactionaries should clearly understand the will of the Korean people and drop their absurd dream of grabbing Tok Islet. [emphasis mine]"

Did you know that the Japanese were planning to invade North Korea in 2000? No? Well welcome to the world of North Korean "news" reporting.

Related post: North Korea Shells South Korean Island