Korea / 조선

Women of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) beat the U.S. soccer team 1-0 on Sept. 18 in Cali, Colombia, and won the opportunity to play Japan in the final game of women’s FIFA U-20 (under 20 years of age) world soccer championship tournament in Bogotá, Colombia.

In a sport that often features draws, as well as overtime and penalty shootouts in knockout games, the DPRK women won all their matches in regulation time.

The women’s resounding victories, their smiling faces, their strong bodies, their exuberance and excitement show not only their own personal resilience and victory but that of their country and its revolutionary leadership.

Since the founding of the DPRK in 1948, it has been under near total blockade and harsh sanctions by Japan, the United States and its allies.

Japan, with the blessing of the U.S. and the West, ruled all of Korea as a colony from 1910 until its liberation in 1945 by the armies of the still-governing Korean Workers’ Party and the Red Army of the Soviet Union.

During the U.S. war on Korea, 1950-53, Korea was bombed from one end to the other. People by the hundreds of thousands were indiscriminately killed either by bombs or starvation. In the north, every structure of more than two stories was leveled — imagine the devastation and genocide in present-day Gaza on a country-wide scale.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/22770231

South Korea convened an international summit on Monday seeking to establish a blueprint for the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the military, though any agreement is not expected to have binding powers to enforce it.

More than 90 countries including the United States and China have sent government representatives to the two-day summit in Seoul, which is the second such gathering.

The first summit was held in The Hague last year, where the United States, China and other nations endorsed a modest "call to action, opens new tab" without legal commitment.

"The DPRK is continuously cast as a villain in international politics. The “hermit kingdom” is painted as tyrannical, repressive, and dynastic. In this essay, I want to argue the opposite: North Korea is a deeply democratic country, and this is reflective of its socialist values."

Absolutely love the DPRK Explained channel, can only recommend!

March 21st marks the 50th anniversary of taxation abolition in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), making it the first state in history to do so.

This move, enacted by the Supreme People’s Assembly on March 21st, 1974, completely eliminated the tax system, which had been gradually phased out since the mid-1960s.

President Kim Il Sung emphasized that this decision aligned with the socialist system's principles and liberated the working class from exploitation.

Unlike in capitalist nations, where taxes continuously rise, DPRK's unique socialist approach prioritized people's welfare by eliminating taxation entirely. This bold step underscores the DPRK's commitment to socialism.

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/3966387

A few months ago when I was sifting through the garbage dump r/EuropeanSocialists (Once in a while they have good translated DPRK resources otherwise very hard to find) I came across a mention of a site called Yaegihaja. The name means "Let's Talk" in Korean and apparently it was a forum which claimed you could talk with actual north Koreans. It also claimed to be affiliated with the DPRK government. The site has also been mentioned on a few youtube channels, such as one called "SunhiPlays" which posts music videos and one just called "Yaegihaja" which uploaded a DPRK movie. Apparently the URL used to be yaegihaja.com but the website is now shut down and the Wayback Machine's latest snapshot of the website is from April 2022, only showing the home page. Such a place existing is so bizarre and I can't find more information on what it actually was. If you've heard of Yaegihaja please tell me everything you know because I am very curious about this matter.

Also apparently Uriminzokkiri had a Discord server? The DPRK rabbit hole goes deep.

WEBSITES:

•Explore DPRK: https://exploredprk.com/

•Korean Friendship Association (KFA): https://korea-dpr.com/

•Rodong Sinmun (The official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea): http://rodong.rep.kp/en/

•Media Ryugyong: http://mediaryugyong.com.kp/movie?lang=ko

•KoreanBooks: http://www.korean-books.com.kp/en/

YOUTUBE CHANNELS:

•PhuongDPRKDaily: https://youtube.com/@PhuongDPRKDaily?si=NCAdxY-dckm_DlVH •Jaka Parker (lives and works in DPRK part time): https://youtube.com/@jakaparker?si=nxj8Ep_PZSVSq5C7

•Songun007: https://youtube.com/@SONGUN007?si=S-TtbaiTFbiNFmux

•Explore DPRK (Youtube): https://youtube.com/@ExploreDPRK?si=AIam3xAu9yQAHN2y

•DefendKorea: https://youtube.com/@DefendKorea?si=Wy7lIf8XTVb9YVxA

•Juche Gang: https://youtube.com/@shanelawrence86?si=mUzTU7RrafDq-HdA

•DPRK News Room: https://youtube.com/@dprknews1912?si=jelvzKW2L_Sjbp1x

RECOMMENDED DOCUMENTARIES:

•My Brothers and Sisters in the North, 2016 (incredible documentary, my favorite): https://youtu.be/IBqeC8ihsO8?si=tPxzw3hts1Bjpu7g

•Loyal Citizens of Pyongyang in Seoul (really interesting interviews of defectors): https://youtu.be/ktE_3PrJZO0?si=_GX1jS6-uxtMI5MX

•We went to North Korea to Get a Haircut, 2017 (This one is short, hilarious, and enlightening): https://youtu.be/2BO83Ig-E8E?si=0imYM0n9kvureN3k

•An African American's Journal Inside North Korea ,1994: https://youtu.be/NTi5Ma1F7zM?si=_7XMaRX9cLPHzy4h

•My socialist country, 1992 (DPRK made documentary): https://youtu.be/EBDubna1oro?si=O1E34SYTQXOzEVtI

BOOKS & OTHER REPORTS:

•In North Korea: First Eye-Witness Report (1949) -Anna Louise Strong https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/strong-anna-louise/1949/in-north-korea/index.htm

GOOGLE DOC SOURCE DUMP:

• Notes on the DPRK: https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1ewrcRerI8lyXpykMX11EyMoCFii1Hafakq7t0976eYQ/mobilebasic Alternative link for "Notes on the DPRK": https://pdfhost.io/v/zkfDlL45e_NOTES_ON_THE_DEMOCRATIC_PEOPLES_REPUBLIC_OF_KOREA_Google_Docs

BEIJING, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s top leader Kim Jong Un on Monday jointly designated 2024 as the China-DPRK Friendship Year and launched a series of activities.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, and Kim, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the DPRK, made the announcement in their exchange of New Year greeting messages.

In his message, Xi pointed out that China and the DPRK are friendly neighbors connected by mountains and rivers, saying that the traditional friendship between China and the DPRK was forged by the older generation of leaders of the two parties and two countries, cemented in the revolutionary struggle, and continuously deepened in the course of socialist construction.

In recent years, Xi said, the traditional friendly cooperation between China and the DPRK has entered a new historical period with joint efforts.

The two sides have maintained close strategic communication, deepened practical cooperation, strengthened coordination and collaboration in multilateral international affairs, pushed forward the continuous development of China-DPRK relations, safeguarded the common interests of the two countries, and maintained regional peace and stability, Xi added.

Under the new situation in the new era, the CPC and the Chinese government have always viewed China-DPRK relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, and it is China's unwavering policy to maintain, consolidate and develop the long-standing friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries, Xi said.

China is ready to work with the DPRK to take the 75th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations and the China-DPRK Friendship Year as an opportunity to carry forward the long-standing friendship, deepen strategic mutual trust, enhance exchanges and cooperation, and ensure that bilateral ties move forward with the times for greater development so as to better benefit the two peoples, and continuously make new contributions to safeguarding regional peace and stability, Xi stressed.

In his message, Kim noted that 2024 is a significant year marking the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the DPRK and China, saying that socialist construction in the two countries has at the moment entered a new stage of progress and the international situation is undergoing complex changes.

The two parties and governments have decided to designate this year as the China-DPRK Friendship Year, and further promote the traditional relations of friendship and cooperation between the two sides in accordance with needs of the times, which conforms to the common expectation and desire of the people of the two countries, Kim added.

The unbreakable DPRK-China friendship, forged and consolidated in the struggle for socialism, will be fully displayed this year, he said.

Through the activities during the friendship year, the two parties and governments will further promote exchanges in all fields, including politics, economy and culture, further deepen the bonds of friendship and unity, and step up cooperation in the joint efforts to safeguard regional and global peace and stability, thus writing a new chapter in DPRK-China relations, Kim said.

Link includes Japanese original text and photograph of the article. English version:

This is a short article from 1939 where a Japanese abductee escaped captivity from Korean Communist Guerrillas to tell the Japanese police in Ranam, Korea about meeting Kim Il-sung and his comrades, many of whom were women.

[Translation]

Gyeongseong Ilbo June 3, 1939

Astonished by Female Bandits

Kim Il-sung was a Gentleman

A Kidnap Victim Shares His Experience

[Telephone Report from Ranam] On the 22nd of last month, a person who had been kidnapped by bandits in the jurisdiction of the Samjang Police Station returned and spoke about the interesting inner workings of the bandits, based on his experiences of living with them deep in the mountains for over ten days.

One surprising thing was the presence of many female bandits among them, not just men as he had initially thought. These people are primarily ethnic Koreans from the Gando region and usually handle cooking and sewing for the bandits.

It was unique that they cook rice in a washbasin, but it was also surprising that they skillfully made Western clothes and combat hats using a proper hand-operated sewing machine. All of them uniformly expressed nostalgia for their homeland and said they wanted to return to Korea as soon as possible.

He met the leader who introduced himself as Kim Il-sung. Kim was a fair-skinned, good-looking man in his thirties, about 5 shaku and 5 or 6 sun tall (167 to 170 cm tall). He was bald, wore a combat hat, dressed in brown woolen clothes, and wore jika-tabi footwear.

KIM SON GYONG:

"The reason why the UN Security Council fails to fulfill its important duty to ensure global peace and security and get rid of its malfunction can be clearly seen in the 'joint statement of 10 countries' issued by the U.S. and its followers.

The 'joint statement,' signed by some permanent member states of the UNSC gripped by extreme prejudice and double-standards and some UN member states accustomed to blindly follow the U.S. instruction instead of considering whether it is right or wrong, is nothing but a conspiratorial document without any effect in the light of international law and political influence.

The DPRK's reconnaissance satellite launch is a legitimate and just exercise of the right to self-defense aimed at correctly seeing through and thoroughly coping with the grave military moves of the U.S. and its followers, which are becoming more undisguised in their aggressive nature.

If the reconnaissance satellite 'Malligyong-1' brought to space is a 'threat' to the signatories of the 'joint statement,' are the nuclear carriers, nuclear strategic submarines and nuclear strategic bombers deployed on the doorstep of the DPRK by the U.S. 30-odd times this year 'apostles of friendship and peace'?

Do the 'ten countries,' which accused the DPRK of using ballistic missile technology in launching the satellite, launch their satellites by rubber balloon or null gravity, not by a carrier rocket using the same technology as ballistic missile?

Such brigandish idea of the U.S. and its vassal forces that the DPRK is not allowed to exercise its due right to space exploration, a right belonging to all UN member states, is a typical expression of the most hideous and brazen-faced violation of sovereignty that denies the justification of the existence of the DPRK, before being the mere issue of partiality and double-standards.

Our stand is clear.

The U.S. finds its main interest and hobby in encroaching upon the sovereign rights of independent countries through high-handed practice and threat, but what the DPRK is interested in is its full exercise of the universal sovereign rights common to all countries like satellite launch.

No matter what critical statements and harshest-ever sanctions the U.S. and its vassal forces may issue or impose, they can neither check the DPRK's exercise of its sovereign rights nor get what they want.

To make it crystal-clear that the U.S. and the West's outrageous and illegal interference in the internal affairs of independent sovereign countries and employment of double-standards against them can never work, the DPRK will squarely, unhesitatingly and perfectly exercise its sovereign rights including satellite launch, and this will contribute to the establishment of a just and equal new international order.

If the U.S. and its vassal forces again seek to violate the sovereignty of the DPRK under the pretext of the utterly unlawful 'resolution' of the UNSC, they will be held wholly accountable for any consequences to be entailed by it."

Press statement by Vice-Minister for International Organizations of the Foreign Ministry of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Son Gyong, Pyongyang, November 27, 2023.

Source: KCNA

Pyongyang, November 17 (KCNA) -- The Russian government delegation led by Alexandr Kozlov, minister of Natural Resources and Ecology, left here on Nov. 16. It took part in the 10th meeting of the Committee for Cooperation in Trade, Economy, Science and Technology between the governments of the DPRK and the Russian Federation.

The flags of the DPRK and the Russian Federation were fluttering at the flagstaffs of Pyongyang International Airport.

The Russian delegation was seen off by Yun Jong Ho, minister of External Economic Relations of the DPRK, Im Chon Il, vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, officials concerned, Charge d'Affaires ad Interim Vladimir Topeha and staff members of the Russian embassy here. -0-

Photos

Like Palestine, Korea’s history is one of war, occupation, and division. The Korean War was the first “proxy war” of the Cold War. Nearly 5 million Koreans were killed, entire cities were turned to ashes, and our country was divided in two. The Korean War shows us that a ceasefire does not end an occupation. Despite the ceasefire in 1953, our homeland remains divided and at war today. The ceasefire did not end the war — it only gave it new life. Therefore, as Koreans, we know that we need more than just an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. We need an end to the Zionist occupation of Palestine, once and for all.

We denounce the ongoing genocide in Palestine and extend our love and solidarity to the Palestinian people. And we put forward the following demands to the government of the United States:

• Support an immediate ceasefire to put a stop to the killing so that the people of Gaza can focus on rescuing the living and mourning the dead.
• Immediately cut all foreign aid to Israel, which currently amounts to more than $3 billion per year from the U.S.
• Lift the 16-year siege of Gaza and allow crucially needed medicine, food, fuel, water, power, and other supplies to reach people before it’s too late.

“I'm with Men's Solidarity” Man in his 20s arrested for assaulting female employee at convenience store - Nov. 5, 2023 (article in Korean)

[Machine translation + slight editing]

A man in his 20s who assaulted a woman in her 20s working at a convenience store was caught by the police. He told the police, ‘I am a member of the Men’s Solidarity. He is said to have said, “Feminists must be beaten.”

Jinju Police Station in Gyeongsangnam-do announced on the 5th, “We have applied for an arrest warrant for Mr. According to what the police said, Mr. A was drunk at around 0:10 a.m. on the 4th and acted unruly, including throwing items he had chosen at a convenience store in Hadae-dong, Jinju.

It is said that a female employee in her 20s who worked at a convenience store stopped him, but the throwing of objects continued. Mr. A took the mobile phone of an employee who was trying to report it to the police, put it in the microwave, and beat the employee who tried to stop him from doing so. Mr. A even assaulted a customer in his 50s who tried to stop him. The police responded to the scene following a report from a passerby and arrested Mr. A.

The police said, “Mr. A, who was being investigated, said, ‘I saw that (the convenience store employee) had short hair and thought she was a feminist. “I said, ‘I am a member of the men’s solidarity and you should be beaten,’” he said.

“Why does a woman have short hair?” A 20-year-old who indiscriminately assaulted a part-time worker at a convenience store. (article in Korean)

[Machine translated excerpts]

A man in his 20s who indiscriminately assaulted a female part-time worker at a convenience store because of her short hair was caught by the police.

Mr. A is accused of assaulting Ms. B, who was in her 20s and was working part-time at a convenience store in Hadae-dong, Jinju, by punching and kicking her

He assaulted Mr. C, a customer in his 50s who tried to stop the assault, several times, and also hit him with a chair provided in the store.

As a result of Mr. A's crime, Ms. B suffered a sprain, ligament damage, and an ear injury, and Mr. C suffered fractures in his shoulder, forehead, and nose.

At the time of the crime, he was found to have made remarks to Mr. B, saying, "When I see a woman with short hair, I see a feminist" and "I am a Men's Solidarity member, feminists should be beaten."

Summary: PDP gave a speech in front of US embassy in Seoul and a speech in front of the White House in Washington DC. The speech expressed that only when Palestine is liberated can the conflict be resolved, and that the "US and Israel are one body and it is public knowledge in the whole world that the US aggression forces are behind the indiscriminate bombing and aggression of the Palestinians" and "the imperialist powers led by the United States have turned the world into a powder keg of war" using Zionism in the Middle East, NATO in Europe, Japanese militarism and the formation of an "Asian version of NATO" in Asia, strengthening the war alliance against DPRK and plotting a war in East Asia.

The speech concludes: "the deeper imperialist aggression becomes, the stronger a unity of anti-US independent forces become. The Palestinian people, who seek independence and justice, will defeat the aggressive US imperialist and win their liberation. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!"

Link to English statement

This article is originally in Korean. These are some excerpts with machine translation and my slight additions:

Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and the Jeju April 3rd Peace Foundation announced that the identity of the missing April 3rd victim, whose fate was unknown, was confirmed in Golnyeonggol, Daejeon [Note: Several photos of violence and human remains are in that link], after 74 years.

The victims identified this time are 70 of the 1,441 remains excavated in Golnyeonggol through the first pilot project of 'Genetic identification of 4/3 victims from excavated remains from outside the province' conducted by Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and the Jeju 4/3 Peace Foundation.

The person whose identity was confirmed was the late Kim Han-hong, from Bukchon-ri, Jocheon-myeon, Jeju-si. During the April 3 Incident, he was hiding in a field away from the village to avoid punitive forces and armed forces. He came to the military at the end of January 1949 and surrendered himself on the rumor that he would be set free if he surrendered. The bereaved family said that after being detained in the distillery camp, no news was heard.

The list of prisoners shows that the victim was sentenced to seven years in prison on July 4, 1949 and served his sentence at Daejeon Prison.

On October 4, the remains of the victims went through a handover process with the bereaved families, the Jeju April 3 Victims' Families Association, the Sanae Incident Victims' Families Association, and officials from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety in attendance, and a ritual was held at Sejong Eunhasu Park under the auspices of the bereaved families, and then cremated in October. They are scheduled to be repatriated to Jeju by plane on the 5th.

At the site where the remains of the victims are returned to their hometown, the bereaved families and officials, including Governor Oh Young-hoon, will greet them in person, and a ceremony to return the remains will be held afterwards. Subsequently, an identification briefing session will be held on the same day to commemorate the victims and comfort their bereaved families.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is in the process of collecting remains from 2,000 of the 3,900 remains temporarily enshrined in the Sejong Memorial House, including the remains of the Daejeon Golryeonggol victims, and is conducting genetic tests on bereaved families. is planned to be carried out.

Chairman [of the Daejeon Mountain Incident Victims' Families Associatio] Jeon Mi-kyung said, “How good would it have been if something like this had happened to the families of the massacred people while they were still alive?” and “It breaks my heart that many family members of the massacred people are still passing away while the genetic identification is delayed.”

The son of the late Kim Han-hong, whose identity was recently confirmed through genetic identification, died in 2020 without being able to identify his father's remains. However, fortunately, he was able to confirm his identity because he left behind DNA data through blood collection while he was still alive.___

"The combined number of those seeking to stay in China and those wanting to return to the North is actually greater than those hoping to reach South Korea."

"The more South Korea and the international community get involved in defector issues with their own political agenda, the more likely it is to end up further cementing our national division."

Lee Sung-hwan (pseudonym): "I hate being called a ‘defector.’ I didn’t leave because I’m opposed to the politics in North Korea. I’m just someone who left to earn money, and I plan to return once I’ve made some."

Note: Hankyoreh is a center-left liberal newspaper from South Korea.

Excerpts:

Since 1997, Cho has met with North Korean defectors primarily in China’s Yanbian prefecture and the North Korean-Chinese border region. Other than last year, when the COVID-19 pandemic made it impossible to visit China, he has met with defectors virtually every year for the past two decades or so. Based on his meetings, they presented quite a different image from the one commonly perceived in South Korea, he said.

For example, Cho administered a survey to 100 female North Korean defectors whom he had met with three or more times between August 2001 and October 2003. Forty-one of them said they wanted to travel to the South, while the other 59 did not: 34 wanted to return to North Korea, 21 hoped to remain in China, and four wanted none of the above. Indeed, Kim Ryon-hui, the so-called “Pyongyangite in Daegu,” has demanded repatriation ever since she arrived in the South in 2011, insisting that she only came because she had been “deceived by a broker.”

Lee Sung-hwan (pseudonym), one of the defectors who hoped to return to the North, is quoted as saying, “I hate being called a ‘defector.’ I didn’t leave because I’m opposed to the politics in North Korea. I’m just someone who left to earn money, and I plan to return once I’ve made some.”

Pak Kyong-hwa (pseudonym) is a native of Onsong, North Hamgyong Province, whom Cho met in the Chinese city of Yanji in 2014. “If it’s someone who left after committing a crime, someone who’ll be punished if they go back, you’ll never hear them talk about going back to North Korea. But people like us just quickly earn money and go back,” she explained.

“Certain brokers, NGOs and missionary groups have been orchestrating and expanding North Korean defections to South Korea for political purposes. And as certain far-right and conservative media in South Korea and Japan have either parroted the things they say or actively orchestrated things themselves, things have really crossed the line,” Cho said.

The primary victims of actions like these are the defectors themselves. Orchestrated defections lead to intensified controls on the North Korean-Chinese border, leaving far fewer options available to those who seek to remain in China or return to the North.

Some defectors, NGOs and missionary groups have also taken advantage of this “defector myth” to perpetrate fraud. As a representative example, Cho mentioned the Yerang Mission incident, which the Supreme Court declared a case of fraud in 2008. Beginning in the early 2000s, the mission appropriated over 2 billion won (US$1.8 million) in donations raised through internet posts about “risking death to evangelize in North Korea” and the “martyrdom and defections of North Koreans.” In 2006, the church was tried amid accusations by congregation members, and most of the messages it posted were found to have been false.

“The more South Korea and the international community get involved in defector issues with their own political agenda, the more likely it is to end up further cementing our national division,” he warned.

Related:

• Nearly 1 in 5 North Korean defectors say they regret coming to South Korea
• Interview: A North Korean mother’s quest to return home to Pyongyang
• [CW: Child abuse, SA] S. Korean pastor under investigation for molestation at the boarding school he established for N. Korean defectors
• "Spy Nation" (2016): Film Shines Light on South Korean Spy Agency’s Fabrication of Enemies
• Unreliable witnesses: The challenge of separating truth from fiction when it comes to North Korea
• The insidious threat of fake news surrounding North Korea

The name has been almost permanently ruined. Whenever people hear of it, they always think of no food, 1984, worshipping the leader, getting your entire family arrested for not doing so, all that stuff. And if you say otherwise, they just call you a propagandist who is hiding the truth. And even if Korea's government does anything like build a water park, people say that it is just to "fool the world into believing they are good". Like they can't even build an entire village without people saying that they are just building it to deceive people.

At least China is taken seriously by a lot of people.