North Korea

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Defectors: Kim's Sister May Be Running North Korea

Rumors fly as leader remains out of sight

(Newser) - As Kim Jong Un remains out of sight —and North Korean officials do unusual things like admit the country has labor camps —Pyongyang-watchers are starting to wonder who's running the place. Amid rumors of a "palace coup," a think tank run by North Korean defectors...

North Korea: Yes, We Have Labor Camps

But 'no prison, things like that,' UN envoy says

(Newser) - A North Korean official publicly acknowledged to the international community the existence of his country's "reform through labor" camps yesterday, a mention that appeared to come in response to a highly critical UN human rights report earlier this year. A North Korean foreign ministry official said at a...

Korean Warships Trade Fire
 Korean Warships Trade Fire 

Korean Warships Trade Fire

After ship from North crosses into Southern territory

(Newser) - Warships from the rival Koreas exchanged warning shots today after a North Korean ship briefly violated the disputed western sea boundary, a South Korean defense official said. The shots were fired into the sea and there have been no reports of injuries or damage to the ships of either side,...

Surprise: North, South Korea Have Rare Meeting

But Kim Jong Un doesn't make the trip

(Newser) - If Kim Jong Un's disappearance from the public arena in recent weeks wasn't strange enough, now factor this in: The No. 2 and No. 3 leaders of North Korea made a surprise visit today to South Korea, reports the Washington Post . Delegations from both nations held their first...

N. Korea 'Now Ready' to Launch Another Rocket

Improved facility may be designed to launch long-range missiles, US institute says

(Newser) - North Korea has been busily working on its Sohae Satellite Launching Station for the past year, and a US think tank says that satellite images indicate construction is complete and the facility is likely ready to launch longer-range missiles with bigger payloads, the New York Times reports. "North Korea...

Why Kim Jong Un Vanished: Ankle Problem?

South Korean source says he fractured both of them

(Newser) - Kim Jong Un may be out of sight , but he's certainly not out of mind , with the theories and explanations about his nearly monthlong absence piling up. The latest, from South Korea's Chosun Ilbo : Cuban heels may be to blame. The paper has an unnamed source saying the...

North Korean Athletes: We're 'Longing' for Missing Kim

Songs were sung honoring Dear Leader they 'long to see'

(Newser) - Kim Jong Un has disappeared from public view, but he's apparently not far from the hearts of North Korea's 273-member delegation to the Asian Games, which last night held what the AP calls an "Evening longing for respected Marshal Kim Jong Un." Says an apparently...

Kim Jong Un Has Disappeared
 Kim Jong Un Has Disappeared 

Kim Jong Un Has Disappeared

And sources say it's because he's suffering from gout

(Newser) - Kim Jong Un hasn't been seen in public since Sept. 3, even missing the year's second session of its rubber-stamp parliament yesterday, and North Korea today explained why, albeit vaguely. The 31-year-old is "suffering discomfort," according to state media, in what Reuters terms the "first...

American Held in North Korea Describes Prison Life

Matthew Miller says he's isolated, works in fields

(Newser) - North Korea claims Matthew Miller wanted to be a "second Snowden" and to expose human rights abuses in its penal system—and whatever the truth is, the 24-year-old from Bakersfield, Calif., is getting as close a look at the country's prisons as anybody could wish for. Miller has...

North Korea: American Wanted to Be 'Second Snowden'

Matthew Miller is now serving 6 years of hard labor

(Newser) - North Korea today piled more accusations upon a 25-year-old American arrested there and sentenced to six years' hard labor . The state-run Korean Central News Agency says Matthew Miller entered the country on a tourist visa from South Korea and deliberately got himself arrested by tearing up his visa in order...

Kim Jong Un Has It Bad for, Er, Cheese

Corpulent dictator apparently has a soft, cheesy side

(Newser) - You know who really likes some cheese? Kim Jong Un , that's who. Or at least that's what North Korean defectors are telling outlets including the Mirror . Specifically, Dear Leader Junior is—wait for it—"crackers for" Emmental cheese, a habit he apparently picked up while in boarding...

N. Korea Is Fabulous on Human Rights, Says N. Korea

Rambling report says country has 'world's most advantageous human-rights system'

(Newser) - North Korea's war of words has taken quite the turn. After being accused by the UN earlier this year of "unspeakable atrocities" against its people, the country blasted the US as the "world's worst human rights abuser." But it has now stepped back from name-calling...

American Busted Trying to Swim to North Korea

Man was caught by South Korean border patrol

(Newser) - The number of Americans in North Korean custody still stands at three after what appears to have been a failed—and incredibly dangerous—attempt by a US citizen to swim across a river border between North and South Korea. Officials in the South say the man was taken into their...

North Korea Sentences American to 6 Years

Californian Matthew Miller, 24, held since April

(Newser) - North Korea's Supreme Court has sentenced Matthew Miller, a US citizen, to six years with labor for entering the country illegally and trying to commit an act of espionage. The court said today that the 24-year-old Miller, of Bakersfield, Calif., tore up his tourist visa at Pyongyang's airport...

3 Americans Held in N. Korea: Situation Is Urgent

Kenneth Bae, 2 others get 5 minutes each to talk about conditions

(Newser) - The foreign media was caught off guard today after North Korea allowed reporters to speak to three Americans detained there, reports the AP . Kenneth Bae, Matthew Todd Miller, and Jeffrey Edward Fowle were each given five minutes for a TV interview with CNN , which aired their statements about their conditions...

N. Korea Picks on Kerry's ... Jaw

So nanny nanny boo boo, dumb Americans and your military drills

(Newser) - North Korea is upset with America for staging an "invasion rehearsal" (read: military drills) with South Korea, so naturally it gracefully and diplomatically ... No. It diplomatically did nothing. Instead, Pyongyang opted for playground antics, blasting Secretary of State John Kerry as a "wolf donning the mask of sheep"...

Pope Meets Korean WWII Sex Slaves

Francis calls for peace on last day of Asian visit

(Newser) - Pope Francis wrapped up his first trip to Asia today by challenging Koreans—from the North and the South—to reject the "mindset of suspicion and confrontation" that clouds their relations and find new ways to forge peace on the war-divided peninsula. In a poignant moment at the start...

As S. Korea Welcomes Pope, North Fires Rockets

Francis stresses peace, reconciliation on first visit to Asia

(Newser) - South Korea welcomed Pope Francis today with flowers and a red carpet, as the pontiff kicked off a five-day visit in which he called for peace on the divided peninsula. North Korea, on the other hand, shot off rockets. Pyongyang fired five short-range projectiles off its east coast, including three...

2 Americans to US: Free Us From North Korea

Jeffrey Fowle, Matthew Miller fear lengthy imprisonment

(Newser) - A pair of Americans detained months ago in North Korea have a message for Washington: Help us get home. Jeffrey Fowle, 56, and Matthew Miller, 24, haven't been seen since they were detained, on separate occasions, by Pyongyang, but they were recently allowed to speak to the AP in...

North Korea Complains to UN About Seth Rogen Movie

It's 'undisguised sponsoring of terrorism,' says Pyongyang

(Newser) - North Korea continues to do a fine job of promoting an upcoming flick with Seth Rogen and James Franco. Pyongyang has taken its complaint about The Interview all the way to the United Nations, reports Reuters . In the movie, Rogen and Franco play a TV producer and host who land...

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