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Pyongyang Crypto Conference Site Goes Blank
The website of the 2020 Pyongyang Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference went blank on Friday, two days after a news report said United Nations sanctions experts are poised to warn people not to attend the event. The conference is organized by the Korean Friendship Association, a Spain-based group of overseas supporters of North Korea, and attendance…
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Kim Jong Un added to US sanctions list for the first time
It probably comes as a surprise to many that Kim Jong Un was never on the U.S. sanctions list for North Korea. That changed on Wednesday when the State Department him by name along with a handful of other government departments and individuals. The inclusion is more symbolic than anything else. It wasn’t as if Kim…
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Frustrated reporters see factory, not party congress
For the more than 100 foreign journalists in Pyongyang right now, Friday was apparently a frustrating day. They saw a factory, not the party congress.
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North Korea on agenda at Nuclear Security Summit
North Korea’s recent nuclear tests and provocations were high on the agenda on Thursday when President Obama met the leaders of China, South Korea and Japan at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D.C. The comments aren’t surprising, especially given the united front against North Korea at the U.N. Security Council, but the summit is a…
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UN Human Rights envoy: time for world to act
Marzuki Darusman, the U.N.’s human rights expert on North Korea has called for the international community to take action on the country. Speaking in Geneva on Monday, he said “repression remains unabated and the authorities in country continue to exercise the strictest control over all aspects of its citizens’ lives.” That despite a letter sent two…
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Sanctions bill passes Congress, is sent to Obama
A bill intended to tighten sanctions on North Korea and anyone working with the country passed the U.S. Congress on Friday. Its next stop is the desk of President Obama. House Resolution 757 (HR757) is the first bill to pass both houses of congress that specifically targets North Korea and was proposed by Ed Royce, a California Republican…
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U.S.: No reason to doubt execution reports
The U.S. State Department says it has no reason to doubt media reports that Ri Yong Gil, North Korea’s army chief of staff, has been executed. “Frankly, it exemplifies, I guess, the brutality of the political climate in North Korea,” said Mark Toner, the State Dept.’s deputy spokesman, during a briefing on Thursday. Toner was…
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DDOS over, North Korea Tech is back
If you tried to access North Korea Tech over the last week or so, you’ll have failed. The site had to be taken down as a result of a DDOS (distributed denial of service) attack. DDOS attacks aren’t hacks but simply send massive amounts of traffic to a website causing it to be completely overwhelmed. It’s…
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Lee Hyeonseo on the horrors of North Korea and her escape
North Korean defector Lee Hyeonseo spoke to the Asian American Journalists Association convention in San Francisco on Thursday. Lee is perhaps best-known for her TED talk detailing the amazing story of her escape from North Korea and subsequent life in China as she made her way South Korea. Her autobiography, “The Girl with Seven Names,”…
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Introducing The North Korea Book Store
It sure seems like 2015 is the year of the North Korea book. There have already been a number of high profile autobiographies by defectors and journalists and specialists continue to turn out books that look at the country, its leader and its future. So, to bring all these books together into one place and…
