Pyongyang, North Korea North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, visits the children of flood-affected victims who had to be relocated Photograph: KCNA VIA KNS/AFP/Getty Images Source link
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia will visit North Korea this week for a meeting with its leader, Kim Jong-un, their second in nine months, as the two countries deepen military ties to support Mr. Putin’s war in Ukraine with North Korean weapons. Mr. Putin last visited North Korea in 2000, when he became the first Russian or Soviet leader to visit the nation. This week’s trip, beginning on Tuesday, highlights North Korea’s growing strategic importance for Mr. Putin, especially its ability to supply badly needed conventional weapons for the war in Ukraine. Mr. Kim met with Mr. Putin in Russia’s Far East last September, ushering in a new era of relations between the two countries. For Mr. Kim, it was a rare moment of his country, a pariah in the West, being sought after as an ally. For Russia, it’s a strengthening of ties with a country that is providing it with much-needed munitions for its war in Ukraine. The two countries announced the two-day visit on Monday. “At the invitation of the chairman …
Kim Jong-un has unexpectedly become a TikTok sensation as his latest propaganda song takes the internet by storm. The North Korean leader’s tune, dubbed ‘Friendly Father’, is being hailed by Gen Zers as “dystopian in the catchiest way”. This electropop track is just one of many propagandist pop songs that have been released by the North Korean state over the past 50 years. The lyrics of the song laud Kim, who has ruled over his nation’s 12 million people for 12 years, for promising them a “brighter future”. The video accompanying the song features montages of football teams winning tournaments and what seems to be a group of Covid scientists cheering on the dictator, reports the Daily Star. One TikTok user commented: “It’s so dystopian in the catchiest way.” Another added: “This song is like the end of a movie where the whole town gathers together and sings in unity while spinning in a circle.” This is believed to be the first time a song promoting the tyrant has gone viral. Peter Moody, a North …
Report comes a day after South Korean and Japanese militaries detected North firing suspected multiple short-range ballistic missiles Source link
North Korea’s strict censorship policies reached a new height as the state television censored British presenter Alan Titchmarsh’s blue jeans during a broadcast of the BBC gardening show “Garden Secrets”. The move is seen as another attempt by the regime to clamp down on Western influence, even in seemingly innocuous programming. In the episode aired on Korean Central Television (KCTV) on Monday, Alan Titchmarsh was shown tending to plants in a garden bed while wearing blue jeans. However, the regime applied a blurring effect to his legs, albeit unsuccessfully concealing the fact that he was clad in denim. This censorship marks a continuation of North Korea’s efforts to restrict Western fashion and culture. Blue jeans have been banned in the country since the early 1990s, with former leader Kim Jong Il categorically stating that they are forbidden under any circumstances, considering them a symbol of American imperialism. Despite this long-standing ban, it is unusual for North Korea to censor foreigners on television for wearing jeans. The DPRK’s crackdown on foreign cultural influence has intensified in …
Greg Scarlatoiu, executive director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK), which documents the atrocities of the Kim regime, said it was a “ludicrous” rule. He said: “What should I do with the dog I love so much? I can’t just kill it, and I can’t just abandon it. “The Kim regime criminalises normal behaviour, including visiting a relative in a neighbouring village without a travel permit, crossing the border without regime approval, or possessing a religious book.” “The ongoing crackdown on pet dog ownership as non-socialist behaviour – this attempt to break the multi-millennial human-canine bond by ideological decree – is the epitome of ludicrous interdiction.” The practice of keeping dogs as pets was a late arrival in North Korea, where residents mostly kept dogs to guard their homes before the 2000s. The source said: “There have always been families who had cats to catch mice, but there weren’t many families with dogs. “But that number has gradually increased, and recently there’s been a noticeable rise in foreign breeds of dogs …
Kim Jong-un has been seen driving a new-type tank in a series of exercises as part of a mock battle. After the United States sounded the alarm about North Korea deploying chemical weapons to eliminate targets abroad as part of its latest global threat assessment, the military has now tried simulating a ‘real war’. Kim’s head was seen poking up from the driver’s seat of a brand new tank during a guided military demonstration on Wednesday. According to state media KCNA on Thursday, the North Korean leader expressed “great satisfaction” when his battle successfully demonstrated its striking power. “Swiftly weaving their way through various worst combat circumstances, heavy tanks hit targets at once with powerful strikes and broke through strong defence lines with high manoeuvrability,” the report said. READ MORE: Kim Jong-un calls for ‘merciless’ strikes in preparation for ‘actual war’ with South Korea The “training match” was designed to inspect the combat capabilities of tank crews, it also claimed. The aim was to make them familiar with combat action on different tactical missions – …
Kim Jong-un has threatened South Korea with war as North Korea’s military conducts artillery drills. The dictator declared the South as the “principal enemy” and warned that war would come if Seoul infringed on North Korea’s territory by “even 0.001mm.” Kim told his soldiers to “vigorously push forward the work for making preparations for regular combat mobilisation” and to “take the initiative with merciless and rapid strikes” in the event of an “actual war.” The leader in Pyongyang was seen observing the drills while wearing a leather jacket and laughing with his generals. Kim’s anger has come after the US and South Korea took part in joint military drills this week. READ MORE: War fears soar after North Korea warned Seoul can ‘overwhelmingly’ respond South Korea’s military said of the North Korean exercises: “Our military is closely monitoring North Korea’s signs of provocation … while maintaining a firm joint defence posture and conducting the ongoing Freedom Shield exercises and joint drills. “If North Korea commits a provocation, we will punish overwhelmingly and firmly in accordance …
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has gifted North Korean leader Kim Jong-un a Russian-made car, Pyongyang’s state media said on Tuesday, as the two countries bolster ties in areas from tourism to defence. Kim was “presented with a car made in Russia for his personal use by Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, president of the Russian Federation”, Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency reported. Kim’s powerful sister, Yo Jong, said the “gift serves as a clear demonstration of the special personal relations between the top leaders” of the two countries, KCNA added. The report did not specify the vehicle’s model. Since Kim visited Putin last year, Pyongyang has been drawing ever closer to Moscow, with a group of Russian tourists arriving earlier this month for a four-day trip – the first known foreign tour group since before pandemic-linked border closures in 2020. After September’s Kim-Putin summit in Russia’s Far East, the United States and South Korea have repeatedly claimed the North has shipped weapons to Moscow for use in its war with Ukraine, in exchange for Russian help …
