the North takes a step back

[DrLeftover]

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea has replaced its hard-line defense chief with a little-known army general, according to a state media report Monday, in what outside analysts call an attempt to install a younger figure meant to solidify leader Kim Jong Un's grip on the powerful military.

Jang Jong Nam's appointment is the latest move since Kim succeeded his late father in late 2011 that observers see as a young leader trying to consolidate control. The announcement comes amid easing animosities after weeks of warlike threats between the rivals, including North Korean vows of nuclear strikes. Pyongyang's rhetorical outbursts against massive U.S.-South Korean war drills and U.N. sanctions over the North's February nuclear test were seen, in part, as a push to portray Kim Jong Un at home as a respected military commander on the world stage.

http://news.yahoo.com/north-korea-replaces-hard-line-defense-chief-062744765.html

 

[DrLeftover]

(Reuters) - Increasingly tough financial sanctions, an arms embargo and other international restrictions on trade with North Korea have significantly delayed expansion of Pyongyang's illicit nuclear arms program, according to a confidential report by a U.N. panel of experts seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/15/us-korea-north-nuclear-exclusive-idUSBRE94D1A120130515

 

[DrLeftover]

maybe half a step:

North Korea demanded that Seoul stop its "provocative remarks," should it wish to normalize the suspended industrial complex in Gaesong.

"If the South truly wanted to normalize the Gaeseong business, it should stop its insincere sideline talks and set to solving the fundamental problem," said the spokesperson of the North's Central Special District Bureau on Wednesday.

Seoul should also cease all remakrs and actions which are provocative against the North, he said.

President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday instructed the Ministry of Unification to propose talks with the communist state about brining South Korean products and material out of the stalled industrial complex.

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20130515001062

 

[DrLeftover]

And another

Terril Yue Jones and Sui-Lee Wee
Reuters

7:31 a.m. CDT, May 24, 2013

BEIJING (Reuters) - A North Korean envoy told China's president on Friday that his reclusive country was willing to take "positive actions" to ensure peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, as China steps up diplomatic efforts to bring Pyongyang back to talks.

But Choe Ryong-hae, a special envoy of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, made no offer to abandon North Korea's nuclear program. The United States insists North Korea takes meaningful steps on denuclearization before there can be dialogue.

Choe met Chinese officials, including President Xi Jinping, in the highest-ranking visit by an official from Pyongyang in about six months.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-korea-north-china-urgentbre94n071-20130524,0,6195878.story

 

[DrLeftover]

Well, this is getting to be a habit.

Pyongyang has said it is willing to allow South Korean businessmen to visit the jointly-run Kaesong zone.

In a statement carried by state media, North Korea said it was prepared to discuss with the businessmen how normal operations could be resumed.

But South Korea expressed worry about its citizens' safety and asked that government-level talks be held.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22686429

 

[Evil Eye]

Not too surprising, I guess.

 

[DrLeftover]

(Reuters) - Chinese currency and U.S. dollars are being used more widely than ever in North Korea instead of the country's own money, a stark illustration of the extent to which the leadership under Kim Jong-un has lost control over the economy.

The use of dollars and Chinese yuan, or renminbi, has accelerated since a disastrous revaluation of the North Korean won in 2009 wiped out the savings of millions of people, said experts on the country, defectors and Chinese border traders.

On the black market the won has shed more than 99 percent of its value against the dollar since the revaluation, according to exchange rates tracked by Daily NK, a Seoul-based news and information website about North Korea.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/03/us-korea-north-money-idUSBRE9510E720130603

 

[DrLeftover]

Oh well.

4 June 2013 Last updated at 04:07 ET
North Korea Yongbyon reactor work ‘nearing completion’
North Korea is making "important" progress on reactivating facilities at its moth-balled Yongbyon nuclear reactor, a US think-tank says.

Start-up could be one to two months away, it said, but there was uncertainty over the availability of fuel rods to power the reactor.

Pyongyang vowed to restart the reactor, which makes weapons-grade plutonium, in April amid severe regional tensions.

The reactor was shut down in July 2007 as part of a disarmament-for-aid deal.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22763278

 

[Evil Eye]

Plenty of time still for them to back out.

 

[DrLeftover]

Plenty of time still for them to back out.

And you're covering the bets that way?

 

[JetWing34]

If the North even attempts to bomb the United States, then we have a problem.

If I were the United States president and the North successfully lands a bomb at my country, then I'm starting a war to take down the leader who made a decision to bomb the US.

 

[DrLeftover]

I didn't know George Walker Bush was a member of Off Topix.

 

[DrLeftover]

Another step forward.

The two Koreas agreed Thursday to hold talks for the first time in 28 months to normalize ties, including reopening the Gaeseong industrial park and a joint tour program to Mount Geumgang.

South Korea proposed that the two Koreas’ ministers meet in Seoul on June 12, accepting the North’s offer made earlier in the day.

In a news conference in the evening, Unification Minister Rhyu Kihl-jae called on the North to reopen the severed communications line across the border Friday for working-level contacts to prepare for the meeting.

The Unification Ministry expressed hopes that the intergovernmental talks will be an opportunity to build trust between the two Koreas.

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20130606000133

 

[Evil Eye]

And you're covering the bets that way?

I'm not wholly convinced they're confident enough to start anything. Of course, no one else wants to start anything either so, I dunno what they're going to do. We'll see.
I doubt it'll be very spectacular in any event.

 

[DrLeftover]

North Korea has restored a key hotline with South Korea, as the two sides discuss where to hold talks on a jointly-run industrial zone.

Pyongyang said early on Friday it would reopen a Red Cross line cut in March.

It also invited officials to Kaesong for talks on Sunday on restarting operations at the factory zone, after the two sides agreed in principle to talks on Thursday.

Seoul has agreed to Sunday talks but wants them to take place at Panmunjom.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22809622

 

[DrLeftover]

2013-06-19 10:18
The North Korean Army has deployed about 900 new tanks equipped with improved armament in the last seven years to modernize its aging vehicles, a South Korean military source said Wednesday.

...
Beginning in the late 1970s, Pyongyang started to produce a modified version of the 115mm-gunned T-62 tank, and since then it is believed to have made considerable modifications to the basic Soviet and Chinese designs.

According to South Korea's 2012 defense white paper, the North has stockpiled about 4,200 tanks.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2013/06/205_137739.html

 

[DrLeftover]

One More Step:

7 August 2013

North and South Korea have agreed to resume talks on reopening the Kaesong industrial zone, days after Seoul demanded "final talks" on the matter.

In a statement on Wednesday, Pyongyang offered talks on 14 August, saying its workers would return to the joint complex and the safety of South Korean staff would be guaranteed.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23586026

 

[DrLeftover]

Almost a step

August 18, 2013
(CNN) -- In another clear sign that the severely strained relations between the two sides is slowly improving, North Korea has agreed to a proposal from the South that they resume the reunion of families separated in the 1950-53 Korean War.

The meetings would take place on September 19, during the Chuseok harvest festival, the North Korean news agency KCNA reported Sunday.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/18/world/asia/north-korea-family-reunions/

 

[DrLeftover]

And things may return to what passes for "normal" over there.....

10 September 2013

North and South Korea have agreed to restart operations at the shuttered Kaesong industrial zone, Seoul says.

The two sides set a date for a "trial" restart of 16 September after talks that went through the night, the South's Unification Ministry said.

Work at the complex stopped in April when the North withdrew its workers amid high political tension.

The zone, just inside North Korea, is home to 123 South Korean factories that employ more than 50,000 North Koreans.

It is the last functioning inter-Korean joint project and a key source of revenue for Pyongyang.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24043377

 

[DrLeftover]

North Korea: Reality vs. the world according to Dennis Rodman

(CNN) -- In The World According to Dennis Rodman, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, whom he just saw on his second trip to the country, is quite likable.

"He has to do his job, but he's a very good guy," Rodman said Monday at a news conference, announcing plans for a "basketball diplomacy" event that will involve players from North Korea.
...

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/09/world/north-korea-world-according-to-dennis-rodman/index.html?hpt=hp_bn2