North Korea now seems to face a new problem which includes a rise in a number of defectors. The 13 were allegedly workers at a restaurant in China who grew disillusioned about the North Korean regime after being exposed to the outside world.
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The report comes at a time when North Korea has stepped up provocations with an announced nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch in February, which was for the “peaceful” objective of sending a satellite into space, according to Pyongyang.
“I think that’s going to lead to an epiphany for a lot of experts who have been dismissing the possibility that North Korea could have such a capability for several more years”, said Bruce Klingner of the Heritage Foundation.
The South’s Unification and Defence Ministries said on Monday a North Korean army colonel defected previous year and had been granted political asylum. The Dong-A Ilbo, a daily South Korean newspaper, reported that the diplomat is in his 50s and had fled the North with his wife and two sons due to “life-threatening” concerns.
The North’s Red Cross Society said it has detailed information about how the South’s intelligence service “lured” the North Korean defectors, a country that “connived” in the defections, and a Southeast Asia country they were taken to. He worked in North Korea’s General Reconnaissance Bureau and is said to be the highest-ranked officer to defect from the North.
“Usually it is hard for South Korean foreign embassies to accept a defector”.
North Korea maintains an estimated 130 restaurants in other countries, mostly in China.
Honest Abe has a message for the current occupant of the White House: President Barack Obama should rethink economic sanctions against North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.
“It is worth noting that these people all had valid identity documents with them and exited the Chinese border in accordance with law”, Lu said, stressing that they were not North Koreans who had illegally crossed into China. North Korea is believed to have displayed it at a military parade previous year.
“The government of the Republic of Korea strongly urges DPRK to stop its Global Positioning System jamming without further delay”, Oh wrote.
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It was again blacklisted in March, when the U.N. Security Council adopted a new round of sanctions to help stop North Korea from raising funds and securing technology for its nuclear weapons and missile programs.
