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Kim Kuk-song
Kim Kuk-song () is the pseudonym of a North Korean defector. He served for 30 years in North Korean intelligence agencies and rose to the rank of senior colonel. Kim defected to South Korea following the execution of Jang Song-thaek with whom he had political connections. Following the defection he provided information on a number of intelligence operations he had been involved with. Biography Kim Kuk-song is a pseudonym; his real name has not been disclosed. He worked for 30 years in a number of North Korean intelligence agencies and rose to the rank of daechwa (senior colonel). Kim has stated that he personally directed a number of spies to enter South Korea to carry out political subordination in the early 1990s, including one spy who worked for more than five years in the Blue House, residence of the South Korean president. During the 1990s North Korean famine Kim said that he formed a unit to manufacture crystal meth to raise foreign currency for the regime. Kim also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Korean Defectors
People defect from North Korea for political, material, and personal reasons. Defectors flee to various countries, mainly South Korea. In South Korea, they are referred to by several terms, including "northern refugees" and "new settlers". Towards the end of the North Korean famine of the 1990s, there was a steep increase in defections, reaching a peak in 1998 and 1999. Since then, some of the main reasons for the falling number of defectors have been strict border patrols and inspections, forced deportations, the costs of defection, and the end of the mass famine that swept the country when Soviet aid ceased with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The most common strategy for defectors is to cross the China–North Korea border into the Chinese provinces of Jilin or Liaoning. About 76% to 84% of defectors interviewed in China or South Korea came from the North Korean provinces bordering China. From China, defectors usually flee to a third country, due to China being a rel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jang Song-thaek
Jang Song-thaek (January or February 1946 – 12 December 2013) was a North Korean politician. He was married to Kim Kyong-hui, the only daughter of North Korean premier Kim Il Sung and his first wife Kim Jong Suk, and only sister of North Korean general secretary Kim Jong Il. He was therefore the uncle of the current leader of North Korea by marriage, Kim Jong Un. The extent of Jang Song-thaek's power and position has not been confirmed in the West. However, in 2008 South Korean government officials and academic North Korea experts suggested that he had ''de facto'' leadership over North Korea while Kim Jong Il's health was declining and when Kim subsequently died. Jang was a vice-chairman of the National Defence Commission, a position considered second only to that of the supreme leader. He is believed to have been promoted to four-star general around the time of Kim Jong-Il's death in December 2011, as his first appearance in uniform was while visiting Kim lying in sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sa (rank)
(; ; ) is the rank held by Senior officer, field-grade officers in the militaries of Japan Self-Defense Forces, Japan, People's Army of Vietnam, Vietnam, and Korean People's Army, North Korea. Japan The only difference between rank names are the use of morphemes, which are (), () or (). North Korea Vietnam South Vietnamese variant See also Ranks used in Chinese character-using countries *General officer: Jiang (rank) *Senior officer: Sa (rank), Xiao (rank), Lyeong *Junior officer: Wei (rank) *Non-commissioned officers: Shi (rank) *Enlisted ranks: Bing (rank), Shi (rank) References {{Reflist Military ranks of Japan Military ranks of North Korea, Jwa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue House
Cheong Wa Dae (), also known as the Blue House in English, is a public park that was the former Office of the President of South Korea, executive office and residence of the president of South Korea. Located in Seoul's Jongno District, directly behind Gyeongbokgung Palace, it served as the center of presidential administration and state receptions from 1948 until 2022. Under the presidency of Yoon Suk Yeol, it was opened to the public as a museum and urban park. Cheong Wa Dae is expected to become the presidential residence again after the presidential office is moved. Cheong Wa Dae is a complex of multiple buildings built largely in the traditional Korean architecture, Korean architectural style with some modern architectural elements and facilities. It currently consists of the Main Office Hall ''Bon-gwan'', the Presidential Residence, the State Reception House ''Yeongbin-gwan'', the ''Chunchu-gwan'', Press Hall, the Secretariat Buildings, and other buildings and structures. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1990s North Korean Famine
The North Korean famine (), dubbed by the government as the Arduous March (), was a period of mass starvation together with a general economic crisis from 1995 to 2000 in North Korea. During this time there was an increase in defection from North Korea which peaked towards the end of the famine period. The famine stemmed from a variety of factors. Economic mismanagement and the loss of Soviet support caused food production and imports to decline rapidly. A series of floods and droughts exacerbated the crisis. The North Korean government and its centrally planned system proved too inflexible to effectively curtail the disaster. North Korea attempted to obtain aid and commercial opportunities, but failed to receive initial attention. Estimates of the death toll vary widely. Out of a total population of approximately 22 million, somewhere between 240,000 and 3,500,000 North Koreans died from starvation or hunger-related illnesses, with the deaths peaking in 1997.Noland, Marcus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Illicit Activities Of North Korea
The alleged illicit activities of the North Korean state include manufacture and sale of illegal drugs, the manufacture and sale of counterfeit consumer goods, human trafficking, arms trafficking, wildlife trafficking, counterfeiting currency (especially the United States dollar and Chinese yuan), terrorism, and other areas. It is alleged many of these activities are undertaken at the direction and under the control of the North Korean government and the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, with their proceeds going towards advancing the country's nuclear and conventional arms production, funding the lifestyles of the country's elite, and propping up the North Korean economy. Overview Unlike criminal syndicates, the extensive nature of these illegal endeavors, and the claim that they are directed and sanctioned by the highest levels of government, has led to the nature of the North Korean state being defined as a form of "criminal sovereignty" by Paul Rexton Kan and Bruce Bechtol. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hwang Jang-yop
Hwang Jang-yop (; 17 February 192310 October 2010) was a North Korean politician who defected to South Korea. He served as the Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly from 1972 to 1983 and was largely responsible for crafting ''Juche'', the state ideology of North Korea. He defected in 1997, the highest-ranking North Korean to have defected. Early life and education Hwang was born in Kangdong, Heian'nan-dō, Korea, Empire of Japan (now in South Pyongan Province, North Korea). He graduated from the Pyongyang Commercial School in 1941, and then went to Tokyo in 1942 to attend Chuo University's law school; however, he quit two years later and returned to Pyongyang, where he taught mathematics at his old school. He joined the Workers' Party of Korea in 1946, soon after its founding; from 1949 to 1953, he was sent to study at Moscow University in the Soviet Union. Upon his return to North Korea, he became head lecturer in philosophy at Kim Il Sung University. He would later ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kim Kyong-hui
Kim Kyong-hui (; born 30 May 1946) is the aunt of current North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un. She is the daughter of the founding North Korean leader Kim Il Sung and the sister of the late leader Kim Jong Il. She currently serves as Secretary for Organization of the Workers' Party of Korea. An important member of Kim Jong Il's inner circle of trusted friends and advisors,Mansourov (2004), p. IV-17 she was director of the WPK Light Industry Department from 1988 to 2012.Baird (2003), p. 114 She was married to Jang Song-thaek, who was executed in December 2013 in Pyongyang, after being charged with treason and corruption. Early life and education Kim was born in Pyongyang on 30 May 1946 to Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Suk. Her mother died when she was four. After her father remarried, she was raised by various surrogates away from the family. After a brief period spent in Jilin Province, China due to the Korean War, Kim returned to Pyongyang with her brother, Kim Jong Il. She entere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kim Jong Il
Kim Jong Il (born Yuri Kim; 16 February 1941 or 1942 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second Supreme Leader (North Korean title), supreme leader of North Korea from Death and state funeral of Kim Il Sung, the death of his father Kim Il Sung in 1994 until Death and state funeral of Kim Jong Il, his death in 2011, when he was succeeded by his son, Kim Jong Un. Afterwards, Kim Jong Il was declared Eternal leaders of North Korea, Eternal General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). In the early 1980s, Kim had become the heir apparent for the leadership of North Korea, thus being established the Kim family (North Korea), Kim family, and he assumed important posts in party and army organizations. Kim succeeded his father and founder of North Korea, Kim Il Sung, following Death and state funeral of Kim Il Sung, his death in 1994. Kim was the General Secretary of the WPK, Presidium of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea, WPK Presidium ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kim Jong Un
Kim Jong Un (born 8 January 1983 or 1984) is a North Korean politician and dictator who has served as supreme leader of North Korea since 2011 and general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is the third son of Kim Jong Il, who was the second supreme leader, and a grandson of Kim Il Sung, the founder and first supreme leader of North Korea. From late 2010, Kim was viewed as the successor to the North Korean leadership. Following his father's death in December 2011, state television announced Kim as the "great successor to the revolutionary cause". Kim holds the titles of General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and President of the State Affairs. He is also a member of the Presidium of the WPK Politburo, the highest decision-making body in the country. In July 2012, Kim was promoted to the highest rank of marshal in the Korean People's Army The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) encompasses the combined military forces of North Korea an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reconnaissance General Bureau
The Reconnaissance General Bureau (; RGB), part of the General Staff Department, is a North Korean intelligence agency that manages the state's clandestine operations. Most of their operations have a specific focus on Japan, South Korea, and the United States. It was established in 2009. The RGB is regarded as North Korea's primary intelligence and clandestine operations organ. Although its original missions have traditionally focused on clandestine operations such as commando raids, infiltrations and disruptions, the RGB has since come to control most of the known North Korean cyber capabilities, mainly under Bureau 121 or its speculated successor, the Cyber Warfare Guidance Bureau. It was headed at one time by Kim Yong-chol as the first head of the RGB. History It is the direct successor of the General Staff Department of the Korean People's Army's Reconnaissance Bureau () (which was responsible for several North Korean acts of espionage such as the 1996 Gangneung ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2024 United States Presidential Election
United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 5, 2024. The Republican Party (United States), Republican Party's Ticket (election), ticket—Donald Trump, who was the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021, and JD Vance, then-junior U.S. senator from Ohio—defeated the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party's ticket—Kamala Harris, the incumbent U.S. vice president, and Tim Walz, the 41st governor of Minnesota. The incumbent president, Joe Biden of the Democratic Party, initially Joe Biden 2024 presidential campaign, ran for re-election as the party's presumptive nominee, facing little opposition and easily defeating Representative Dean Phillips of Minnesota during the 2024 Democratic Party presidential primaries, Democratic primaries; however, what was broadly considered a 2024 Joe Biden–Donald Trump presidential debate, poor debate performance in June 2024 intensified Age and health conc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
