Home

TL;DR news on Kim Jong Un North Korean at June 14, 2023

But under a law brought in last December, those who distribute South Korean entertainment face the death penalty if caught. Hyesan, a trading hub of 200,000 people, acts as a gateway to smuggle in South Korean entertainment on USB sticks, among other contraband. North Korea has denied the existence of prison camps and accused the United States and its allies of using criticism of human rights as part of a hostile policy towards it. In footage aired by KCTV, Kim Jong Un was seen bowing before a large portrait of his father, standing on a platform overlooking what appeared to be thousands of people on the grounds of the palace. Others were seen bowing to a mosaic mural of the two Kims and leaving flowers. North Korea's tightly controlled state media on Friday ran editorials praising Kim Jong Il's 'revolutionary leadership', while urging people to remain devoted to his son. It further stressed that people should adhere 'to the ideas and leadership' of Kim Jong Un. While the mourning period held every year for Kim Jong Il is usually 10 days, this year it will be 11 days to mark the tenth anniversary of his death. by standing united behind respected comrade Kim Jong Un,' the North's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in an editorial. This year's death anniversary comes as Kim Jong Un grapples with the toughest moment of his rule because of the coronavirus pandemic, persistent U.N. Kim refuses to return to talks with Washington and Seoul. 'Unless North Korea accepts offers for denuclearization talks with the U.S., it cannot stay away from powerful international sanctions. Security Council resolutions, according to Seoul's Unification Ministry. Four of the North's six nuclear tests and its three intercontinental ballistic missile launches all occurred under Kim Jong Un's rule. Despite Kim running to security immediately after the 'prank', informing them of his true identity and that his life was in danger, he collapsed and died in agony shortly afterwards. In fact, observers believe he was killed as part of Kim establishing his claim to power and eliminating those he could not trust. Perhaps the earliest sign that he was a different kind of North Korean leader came via his unlikely friendship with US basketball star Dennis Rodman, which began back in 2013. Rodman accepted, and travelled to Pyongyang with three members of the Harlem Globetrotters in March 2013, where he was pictured sitting alongside Kim at a basketball match. Kim has been trying to turn North Korea into a tourist destination since he took power, lavishing money on ski resorts, water parks, new airports and resort towns. While Kim is commonly pictured alongside members of the country's military, to be pictured with female soldiers in such a candid setting was striking. Kim was the man who gave it to them. While the exact topics of conversation were not made public, it is thought Kim was seeking advice from Xi Jinping on the best way to negotiate with the Americans. Though its exact specifications are a mystery, it is thought to be heavily armoured and big enough to carry dozens of Kim's closest aides and bodyguards. Kim is alleged to have addressed Trump as 'Your Excellency', and Trump later described the notes as 'beautiful'. The two sides began talking about a third summit, an on June 30 they staged a photo op in the Korean DMZ. Trump was soon sucked into the 2020 election cycle, which he lost to Joe Biden who has showed little enthusiasm for renewing relations with Kim. The order was given by Kim's younger sister, Kim Yo Jong. All of which meant that Kim's health topped the list of suspected reasons. Social media users were convinced the man they were seeing was not in fact Kim, but a body double that had been wheeled out to trick the public into believing he was still alive. Kim is thought to have three children with wife Ri Sol Ju, but the eldest is rumoured to be around 11 years old and would be in no position to inherit in the event of his death. Despite Kim being firmly back in the public eye, he is appearing a lot less frequently than he used to and has been delegating powers to his subordinates. None has benefitted so much from that as sister Kim Yo Jong, who has taken on a considerably bigger role since her brother's health crisis. And appearing too ready for power is also a potentially deadly position, given how the rest of Kim's rivals including his family have ended up in the past. The look prompted comparisons to notorious gangster Al Capone, while GQ even went so far as to suggest that Kim had pulled a 'hipster style power move'. It was also worn by their Communist counterparts in the Soviet Union, such as Joseph Stalin. After one trip to a fish farm sporting the straw hat in 2018, one observer commented: 'Kim is trying to make himself a more familiar and accessible leader to the North Korean people.