Kim Jong Un admits North Korea is facing its ‘worst ever’ difficulties in rare admission of failure

Kim Jong Un admits North Korea is facing its ‘worst ever’ difficulties in rare admission of failure amid pandemic, US sanctions and spate of natural disasters Kim is facing what appears to be the toughest crisis of his nine-year dictatorship With the economy already troubled, the pandemic has compounded its issues Pandemic-related border closings and … Read more

North Korea continued nuclear and missile programmes in 2020 thanks to cyber hacking money, UN says

North Korea continued its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes throughout 2020 in violation of international sanctions and funded them with £220m ($300m) stolen through cyber hacks, according to a confidential United Nations report.  Kim Jong-un’s regime ‘produced fissile material, maintained nuclear facilities and upgraded its ballistic missile infrastructure’ while continuing to seek material and technology … Read more

North Korea bans ‘capitalist’ blacked out car windows

North Korea bans ‘capitalist’ blacked out car windows (which allowed citizens to watch foreign media without being seen) Kim Jong-un’s regime sees the tinted windows as a malign capitalist influence Young people are feared to be consuming South Korean music and films in cars Drivers are being fined and ordered to replace their windows if … Read more

Covid lockdowns have seen democratic freedoms decline across the globe

Coronavirus lockdowns have stripped the world of democratic freedoms, with 2020 returning the worst scores in the 15-year history of an annual democracy index. The United Kingdom slipped two places, while France and Portugal joined the US in the ‘flawed democracies’ categories compiled in the Economist’s Democracy Index. Norway, Iceland and Sweden were unchanged at … Read more

North Korea: Kim Jong un unveils huge ‘submarine-launched ballistic missiles’ during military parade

Nuclear-armed North Korea unveiled a new submarine-launched ballistic missile at a military parade in Pyongyang, state media reported Friday, in a show of strength days before Joe Biden’s inauguration as US president. State media said Kim Jong Un took centre stage after the five-yearly congress of the ruling Workers’ Party, at which the North Korean leader … Read more

Kim Jong Un says US is North Korea’s ‘biggest enemy’ regardless of who is in charge

Kim Jong Un has described the United States as his country’s ‘biggest enemy’ while outlining a number of sophisticated weapons systems under development, during a key meeting of the ruling party this week, state media reported. Speaking for nine hours at the five-yearly congress of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, over three days, the … Read more

Kim Jong Un vows to ‘improve’ North Korea’s relationship with West

Kim Jong Un has vowed to drastically improve his nation’s ties with the outside world as he addressed a major political conference for the third day. State media said the leader also reviewed relations with rival South Korea but didn’t explain what steps he said he wanted to take.  Observers have expected Kim to use … Read more

North Korean teens face gulag for ‘perverted’ slang on mobile phones

North Koreans face the gulag for using slang words after Kim Jong-un unleashed a bizarre new crackdown on ‘perverted’ language. The secretive state adopted the new measures in December, fearing that its teenage citizens were growing too comfortable with words popular in democratic South Korea. Now the authorities will inspect citizens’ phones, hunting for any … Read more

Thousands gather in ‘coronvirus free’ North Korea

Thousands gather in ‘coronavirus free’ North Korea for New Year fireworks but Kim Jong-Un SKIPS his annual televised address and sends every citizen a card instead Kim Jong Un thanked North Koreans for supporting leadership in ‘difficult times’ Fireworks welcomed in new year along with dancing in the capital of Pyongyang Kim penned New Year … Read more

Satellite images capture North Korean soldiers standing in formation

A North Korean parade has spelled out the message ‘defend with your life’ in a Pyongyang square in an apparent rehearsal ahead of a party congress in January.   Satellite imagery showed the propaganda phrase being spelled out in Korean by people standing in formation and holding up red placards in Kim Il-sung Square.  The think-tank … Read more