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UN to DPRK: Allow access to alleged prison camps
The chair of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea called this week on the country to allow them access to areas of North Korea that are said to contain prison camps. Speaking at a news conference in New York on Tuesday, Michael Kirby…
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KCNA adds higher resolution images
Regular visitors to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) might have noticed something different about the site in the last few days. The North Korean state-run news agency has begun publishing higher resolution photographers alongside articles. The change was first noted by Frank Feinstein, the New Zealand-based researcher who runs the KCNA Watch service. The…
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KCNA Watch attracts bans in North and South Korea
KCNA Watch, a website that collects articles, pictures and video from the Korean Central News Agency, isn’t making friends on either side of the Korean border. A communications regulator in South Korea has blocked access to the service while the North Korean government has restricted access to its services from New Zealand, apparently due to…
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Voice of Korea schedule for winter 2013/2014
Voice of Korea will switch to its winter 2013/2014 shortwave broadcasting schedule from October 27, 2013. The broadcasts follow the same basic line-up each day. :00 Opening signal, station identification: “This is Voice of Korea” :01 National Anthem :03 Song of General Kim Il Sung :06 Song of General Kim Jong Il :09 News, editorials…
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High-tech industrial park planned for Kaesong
The North Korean government appears to be planning a high-tech industrial park close to the current industrial park at Kaesong, on the North-South border. No official announcement of the project had been made, but on Thursday the state-run Korean Central News Agency said several foreign companies would be investing on such a park. The companies…
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UK’s Channel 4 showing North Korea’s evening TV news
As part of a season of programs and reports on North Korea, the U.K.’s Channel 4 is showing the main evening news from Korea Central Television with English translation. The news bulletins are being carried on Channel 4’s website under the banner “North Korea Uncovered” and begin with the news from October 14. “North Korea…
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Associated Press names new Pyongyang bureau chief
The Associated Press has named Eric Talmadge as the new chief of its Pyongyang bureau. Talmadge was previously a news editor for the AP in Tokyo and also wrote on regional military and security issues. He is a long-time Asia correspondent for the New York-based newswire. Most recently, he accompanied AP President and CEO Gary…
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South Korea’s Internet only “partly free,” says Freedom House
Despite living in one of the most wired societies in the world, South Korean Internet users enjoy a “partly free” Internet due to government censorship of content, according to the results of a global survey on Internet freedom. Censorship of content, which includes many websites that carry North Korean content, has shot up in recent…
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AP president concludes latest visit to Pyongyang
The president and CEO of the Associated Press, Gary Pruitt, just concluded a four-day visit to Pyongyang during which he toured the city and sat down for an interview with Kim Yong Nam, president of the country’s parliament. The visit was the first reported trip to North Korea for Pruitt, who took over as CEO…
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South Korea eyes high-tech blimps at the border
South Korean defense officials plan to soon launch a high-tech blimp just south of the disputed maritime border with North Korea in November to get a better look into the neighboring country, according to a report in Stars and Stripes. The airship will hover over the island group that includes Yeonpyong, which is the island that was…
