Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)
December 2020 - North Korea Special Weapons News
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- Locals Suffer as North Korea Ramps up Security on Chinese Border Ahead of Party Congress Radio Free Asia 31 Dec 2020 -- Authorities in North Korea are further tightening security on the Sino-Korean border ahead of a ruling party gathering in January, the latest of a series of increasingly harsh border strictures made in 2020 which the government claims are to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, sources in the country told RFA.
- North Korea set to open massive party meeting Press TV 30 Dec 2020 -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is set to open a massive ruling party congress next month for the first time in five years, where he is expected to call for more efforts to protect the economy against harsh United States sanctions.
- UN Agencies Appeal to China Not to Repatriate Five North Korean Refugees Radio Free Asia 30 Dec 2020 -- Five North Koreans in Chinese government custody would face grave danger if they are sent back to the North, said a United Nations appeal made public Wednesday that urged Beijing to uphold its U.N. member obligations against returning refugees to places they might be harmed.
- 22nd Meeting of Political Bureau of 7th Central Committee of WPK Held KCNA 30 Dec 2020 -- The 22nd meeting of the Political Bureau of the 7th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) was held at the office building of the Party Central Committee on December 29.
- Many Minor Hydropower Stations Built in DPRK This Year KCNA 29 Dec 2020 -- A work is getting brisk in the DPRK to boost the electricity production and renew the looks of the country by constructing minor hydraulic power stations in a big way for the improvement of local industry and people's livelihood.
- US-North Korean Dialogue at 'Crossroads,' Analysts Say VOA 29 Dec 2020 -- The international community's efforts to compel North Korea to end its nuclear weapons program came to a halt in 2020 following the breakdown of US-led negotiations and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. And while fears that Pyongyang would show its frustration by conducting another nuclear or ICBM test never came to fruition, much of Seoul's inroads with the regime literally went up in smoke.
- Coal Miners Mobilized 'Like Slaves' in North Korea's 80-Day Battle Radio Free Asia 28 Dec 2020 -- Citizens in North Korea who were recently mobilized for labor in coal mines told RFA Monday that for the past 80 days the government has exploited them "like slaves," sending malnourished and untrained men into pits with only hand tools.
- Efforts for Using Various Energy Resources Brisk in DPRK KCNA 25 Dec 2020 -- This year, Pyongyang City and each province, city and counties pushed ahead with the work to utilize the energy resources like solar, wind and biomass energies, thus contributing to the country's increased electricity production.
- DPRK firmly maintains top-class emergency anti-epidemic state People's Daily 24 Dec 2020 -- All sectors and units are waging an intensive drive to firmly consolidate the anti-epidemic walls in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Wednesday.
- Top-class Emergency Anti-epidemic State Maintained in DPRK KCNA 23 Dec 2020 -- All sectors and units are waging an intensive drive to firmly consolidate the anti-epidemic walls.
- Rights Groups Protest Anti-North Korean Leaflet Law at National Assembly in Seoul Radio Free Asia 22 Dec 2020 -- Human rights groups rallied Tuesday at South Korea's National Assembly to protest over a recently passed bill that would outlaw sending anti-regime leaflets by balloon into North Korea, a ban they say violates South Korea's constitution.
- Yearly Economic Plan Carried out in Coal Mines of DPRK KCNA 22 Dec 2020 -- A productive upswing is being effected in the coal industrial sector of the DPRK through the 80-day campaign.
- North Korea's Food Production Down Five Percent in 2020 Radio Free Asia 21 Dec 2020 -- North Korea's 2020 food harvest is projected to be five percent lower than last year, with bad weather hitting rice and corn output, adding to the risk of food shortages that are expected to worsen in the spring of 2021, a South Korean report said.
- Suspected DPRK Uranium Enrichment Plant May Be Manufacturing Centrifuge Components – Report Sputnik 19 Dec 2020 -- In 2018, suspicions surfaced that North Korea, in addition to its major nuclear plant in Yongbyon, has another uranium-enrichment plant, believed to be called Kangson, located in Chollima-guyok, just southwest of Pyongyang. The facility was reportedly opened in the early 2000s, prior to the Yongbyon plant, and to have begun operating by 2003.
- Border Residents Wary as North Korea Sends Security College Students to Monitor Them Radio Free Asia 18 Dec 2020 -- North Korea has dispatched about 2,000 students from its National Security College to areas of the country near the Sino-Korean border to interview struggling residents, a listening mission that instills fear in local people, sources in the country told RFA.
- North Korea Executes Fishing Fleet Captain for Listening to RFA Radio Free Asia 17 Dec 2020 -- Authorities in North Korea executed the owner of a fishing fleet in front of 100 boat captains and fisheries executives for secretly listening to broadcasts by Radio Free Asia and other forbidden media outlets while at sea, sources in the country told RFA.
- Emergency Anti-Epidemic Work Further Intensified in DPRK KCNA 17 Dec 2020 -- Officials and working people across the country are further intensifying the all-people anti-epidemic campaign to cope with the worldwide spread of COVID-19 while strictly observing the measures taken by the state.
- Coal Output Increases in DPRK KCNA 17 Dec 2020 -- The coal industrial sector of the DPRK is increasing the production through the on-going 80-day campaign.
- Increased Electricity Production Witnessed in DPRK KCNA 16 Dec 2020 -- Officials, workers and technicians in the field of hydro-electric power industry all out in the 80-day campaign have achieved successes in the electricity production.
- Interview: Seoul's Leaflet Ban a Problem Because 'North Korea Hasn't Changed at All' Radio Free Asia 16 Dec 2020 -- Ji Seong-ho, a former North Korean refugee who is now a lawmaker in South Korea's opposition People Power Party, is currently in the United States on a visit to discuss the North Korean human rights situation with government officials and policy makers.
- South Korea Passes Law Against Flying Leaflets into North Korea Radio Free Asia 15 Dec 2020 -- South Korea passed a bill Monday outlawing sending anti-regime leaflets by balloon into North Korea, an effort to remove an irritant in bilateral ties that drew angry criticism of Seoul from free speech activists and foes of the North's ruler Kim Jong Un.
- Seoul Bans Anti-North Korea Leaflet Drops VOA 15 Dec 2020 -- South Korea's National Assembly has passed a law that penalizes activists who send anti-North Korean material across the border.
- North Korea Halts All Public Transportation Outside of Pyongyang to Stop Coronavirus Radio Free Asia 14 Dec 2020 -- North Korea has suspended all public transportation nationwide except for in the capital Pyongyang, the latest measure by the self-proclaimed "virus-free" nation to stop the spread of coronavirus within its borders, sources in the country told RFA.
- North Korea Vows Merciless Punishment for Smugglers to Stop COVID-19 Radio Free Asia 14 Dec 2020 -- Authorities in North Korea have begun threatening harsh punishments for residents caught smuggling goods to and from China, as earlier warnings went unheeded by desperate citizens, sources in the border area told RFA.
- South Korea passes law to ban flying of leaflets toward North Korea Press TV 14 Dec 2020 -- South Korea's parliament has passed a bill to ban the launching of propaganda leaflets into North Korea amid rising tension over Seoul's failure to stop defectors from sending anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets over the border.
- South Korea's Parliament Reportedly Bans Cross-Border Flying of Critical Leaflets to North Sputnik 14 Dec 2020 -- The South Korean parliament has approved a bill prohibiting the launch of propaganda leaflets across the border to North Korea as a measure to protect residents of borderline areas, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported on Monday.
- Emergency Anti-epidemic Work Further Intensified in DPRK KCNA 13 Dec 2020 -- All sectors and units are further intensifying the emergency anti-epidemic work, keeping the utmost vigilance.
- Interview: North Korean Prison Guards 'Beat Anyone Regardless of Age' Radio Free Asia 12 Dec 2020 -- North Korean prisoners suffer extremely harsh conditions in the country's political prison camps and forced labor camps, where malnutrition and disease are rampant, and torture, beatings and other abuses at the hands of prison authorities are the norm.
- European States, US Accuse North Korea of Using COVID-19 Pandemic 'to Crack Down on Human Rights' Sputnik 12 Dec 2020 -- Member states of the United Nations Security Council including Germany, Britain, France, Belgium, Estonia, the United States and the Dominican Republic brought up the issue of human rights abuses in North Korea in a closed-door virtual meeting on Friday.
- The Future of the United States and the Korean Peninsula US Dept. of State 10 Dec 2020 -- Remarks by Stephen Biegun, Deputy Secretary of State
- North Korea Warns South Will 'Pay Dearly' for Casting Doubt on COVID-free Claims VOA 09 Dec 2020 -- North Korea says South Korea’s foreign minister will “pay dearly” for casting doubt on the regime’s claims of being free of the novel coronavirus.
- North Korea outraged by South questioning its zero coronavirus claim Press TV 09 Dec 2020 -- The sister of North Korea's leader has strongly reacted to remarks by the foreign minister of neighboring South, which cast doubt over Pyongyang’s claim of the country having no coronavirus cases.
- Kim Jong-Un's Sister Slams South Korean FM Over Comments on DPRK Having Zero COVID Cases - Reports Sputnik 09 Dec 2020 -- In doing so, the North Korean leader's sister dispelled rumours of her "death", as she was last seen in late July, prompting speculation in the media that she was allegedly killed.
- North Koreans Mobilized for ‘80-Day Battle’ Told to Pay Cash Instead of Labor Radio Free Asia 09 Dec 2020 -- Authorities in North Korea are pushing people to donate money instead of contributing free labor to the latest “80-day battle” military-style mobilization scheme, making ordinary citizens suspect that the program’s goal from the beginning was to squeeze them for extra cash.
- Statement of First Vice Department Director Kim Yo Jong of WPK Central Committee KCNA 09 Dec 2020 -- Kim Yo Jong, first vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, released the following statement on Tuesday:
- Interview: The World Has ‘Great Responsibility’ to Help the People of North Korea During Pandemic Radio Free Asia 08 Dec 2020 -- Ahead of Human Rights Day this week, RFA’s Korean Service interviewed Joanna Hosaniak, the Deputy Director General at the Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (NKHR), a South Korea-based NGO.
- US envoy arrives in South Korea in last-ditch effort to revive North Korea talks Press TV 08 Dec 2020 -- A US envoy has arrived in South Korea in a last-ditch attempt by the outgoing administration of President Donald Trump to renew stalled nuclear talks with North Korea.
- Treasury Sanctions Shipping Companies Transporting North Korean Coal US Treasury 08 Dec 2020 -- "Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated six entities and identified four vessels related to the transport of North Korean coal. Such actions address the transportation and exportation of North Korean coal in violation of UN Security Council resolution (UNSCR) 2371 and underscore that entities within the People's Republic of China (PRC) have continued to engage in activities prohibited under the UNSCRs."
- Emergency Anti-epidemic Work Intensified across DPRK in Winter KCNA 07 Dec 2020 -- All the sectors and units of the DPRK are intensifying the work for strictly observing the top-class anti-epidemic guidelines in winter.
- Red Cross Pulls Foreign Staff Out of North Korea as Quarantine Measures Intensify Radio Free Asia 04 Dec 2020 -- The last remaining foreign Red Cross staff left North Korea this week, the latest departure in the exodus of aid workers and diplomats from the country due to increasingly strict measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the aid organization said.
- North Korea Publicly Executes Smuggler for Violating COVID-19 Quarantine Rule Radio Free Asia 04 Dec 2020 -- Authorities in North Korea have publicly executed a citizen for violating "emergency quarantine measures," in an effort to scare other citizens into strict compliance, sources in the country told RFA.
- South Korean Unification Minister Urges Pyongyang Not to Provoke Biden's Administration Sputnik 03 Dec 2020 -- South Korean Unification Minister Lee In-young on Thursday has called on North Korea to refrain from provoking the future administration of US President-elect Joe Biden, as reported by Yonhap.
- North Korea Sends Anti-Aircraft Units to Chinese Border to Stop Illegal Border Crossers Radio Free Asia 02 Dec 2020 -- North Korea has deployed anti-aircraft guns on some parts of its border with China, the latest tactic aimed at preventing people from escaping, and stopping corruption among other soldiers there, sources in the country told RFA.
- Top-class Emergency Anti-epidemic Measures Taken across DPRK KCNA 02 Dec 2020 -- The emergency anti-epidemic units in the DPRK are now toughening the top-class emergency measures to thoroughly check the inroad of COVID-19.
- North Korean Hackers Reportedly Conduct Attacks on COVID-19 Vaccine Makers Across the World Sputnik 02 Dec 2020 -- Stories of North Korea-affiliated hacker groups attacking firms and laboratories involved in the development of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments for the disease have been circulating for months. Pyongyang always dismisses the allegations, claiming that no evidence of malign cyber activity has been produced.
- 'Comrade' Kim Jong-un: North Korea Releases Official Biography Sputnik 02 Dec 2020 -- Kim Jong-un is the third generation supreme leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. His private life has always been a matter of discussion for the western world. Kim's childhood and adolescence are still something of a mystery that amplifies his charisma and image as the nation's leader.
- Food Prices Spike After North Korean Authorities Relax Controls Radio Free Asia 01 Dec 2020 -- Food prices are skyrocketing in North Korea as authorities have relaxed price controls in local markets amid food shortages and a worsening economy due to COVID-19, sources in the country told RFA.
- New Power Station Built in DPRK KCNA 01 Dec 2020 -- The Kowon Taehung Power Station has been inaugurated with due ceremony.
- Tongraegang Reservoir Completed in DPRK KCNA 01 Dec 2020 -- Tongraegang Reservoir has been successfully built in North Phyongan Province.
- US accuses China of 'flagrant violation' of North Korea sanctions Press TV 01 Dec 2020 -- The US administration has accused China of a "flagrant violation" of sanctions against North Korea, which are aimed to prevent Pyongyang from advancing its peaceful nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
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