In the War on Christianity in North Korea - A Long-Awaited Counter-Offensive

South Korean Christians launch group promoting

religious freedom in North Korea

ByYonhap News Agency

Kenneth Bae, a South Korean-American, spent about two years in a North Korean labor camp.

File Photo by Yonhap/EPA

SEOUL, (UPI) -- South Korean Christian leaders and activists on Friday launched an association to secure and promote religious freedom in North Korea.

The International Coalition for Religious Freedom in North Korea held its inaugural meeting in central Seoul on Friday, bringing together some 200 activists and Christian advocates.

Among them are Thae Yong-ho, who served as a high-ranking North Korean diplomat based in London before defecting to South Korea in 2016, and Kenneth Bae, a Christian missionary who was detained in North Korea from 2012 to 2014 on subversion allegations.

Taking responsibility for the task of introducing and fostering religious freedom, the coalition is planning to rally national and international support to the cause.

In a forum held during the inaugural meeting, Thae accused North Korea of "annihilating, not suppressing" religions in the communist country.

"The first step toward inter-Korean reunification should be giving religious freedom to North Korea," he said.

He then proposed building one or two Christian churches in 10 years as a way to realize religious freedom.

Recalling his two-year imprisonment in the North, Bae said North Korea considers religious diffusion more threatening to the regime than American nuclear weapons.

He also urged South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump to put religious freedom on the agenda of their future summits with North Korean chairman Kim Jong Un.

Why North Korea's Kim Jong Un Executed His Uncle

Defector: Jang Song Thaek wrecked North Korea's economy

By Elizabeth Shim

In this 2013 photo, a South Korean man watches TV news showing North Korean politician Jang Song Thaek

 as he appears before a military tribunal. A defector in the South says North Korea’s internal politics

and economy are misunderstood. File Photo by Jeon Heon-kyun/EPA

SEOUL, UPI -- North Korea's economy is structured so differently from the South's that its capitalist economy would be "unimaginable" to most North Koreans, according to a defector who once claimed membership in the Korean Workers' Party.

The former North Korean citizen, identified only by his surname Kim, served in the North Korean air force before he resettled in the South. He said important features of Pyongyang's planned economy are gravely misunderstood in the South, as are incidents like the execution of Kim Jong Un's uncle-in-law Jang Song Thaek.

"South Korean analysts who study North Korea are bad, because they blame the command economy for the Great Famine," the former North Korean pilot recently said.

The defector said drastic actions from powerful members of the North Korean regime, including Jang, were responsible for the shutdown of North Korean industry when millions starved.

"In South Korea, capital sits at the top of the hierarchy," Kim said. "In North Korea, people are at the center. In South Korea, without capital, you can't do anything. In North Korea, people work for each other."

When North Korea publicly disclosed the execution of Kim Jong Un's uncle-in-law in 2013, the news sent shockwaves around the world.

But according to defector Kim, Jang was a "bad person" who enriched himself during North Korea's notorious 1994-98 Great Famine, when idle machines in factories were torn apart and sold.

Jang was responsible for selling North Korean coal to China, even though the energy source was needed domestically. Coal mining productivity had plunged to one-fifth of pre-famine levels, but Jang exported the resource to China, Kim said.

North Koreans may also have been surprised, but not shocked, when Jang was sentenced to death by his nephew.

Jang, who secretly controlled the levers of power in the North for decades, ordered the rounding up of citizens with spinal disorders that cause dwarfism, Kim said.

The victims were sent to concentration camps because Jang believed their presence in society was "bad for socialism."

The men and women were "secretly kidnapped," around the time of the 1976 Korean axe murder incident at the border. Families would find them unexpectedly missing when they returned home. North Korea at the time reeled from the shock of the Jang-led mission to round up the disabled, Kim said.

A 'people-centered' economy

Just as the South's capitalist economy could leave many North Koreans scratching their heads, North Korea's economy may also baffle outsiders.

Profits are the least of economic priorities in North Korea, the defector said, where a pair of shoes that costs 60 cents to produce would be supplied to the population at 3 cents.

"In North Korea that would be jackpot pricing. In a capitalist economy that would be going for broke," Kim said.

The notion of an economy that benefits people also means Kim Jong Un is not the kind of dictator outsiders have assumed him to be.

The North Korean leader's field guidance visits are neither the product of an executive decision nor autocratic whimsy.

"Chairman Kim conducts field guidance according to Party direction," the defector told UPI. "Kim receives [institutional] permission, and then he has a duty to conduct field guidance."

Looking to the future

While South Koreans more familiar with profit-driven economic development learn about North Korea, experts on inter-Korea connectivity are preparing for the future.

Min Kyung-tae, a North Korea specialist at Seoul-based Yeosijae, Future Consensus Institute, told UPI the South Korean government ought to look beyond the manufacturing model of economic development in the long term.

Seoul shut down Kaesong, a jointly operated factory park in North Korea in February 2016, after a former South Korean administration claimed Kaesong proceeds were being used to fund North Korea's weapons programs.

"For the future we need projects involving advanced technology, next-generation industries of the Fourth Industrial Revolution," Min said, referring to the phase of development when robotics, artificial intelligence and self-driving cars enter mainstream society.

Min said North Korea is an ideal place to plan entire cities around emerging technological breakthroughs, because it is relatively undeveloped. The idea is one of several themes he raises in his book about the potential for a Fourth Industrial Revolution in North Korea.

"In North Korea, a new city could be built for self-driving taxis," Min said. "In South Korea if the government designates a city a self-driving taxi zone, drivers would go on strike."

Kim said the Fourth Industrial Revolution, if introduced in North Korea, would not have the same significance it would have in the South, the world's most wired country.

Artificial intelligence and other innovations will not be valued for their disruptive value to society, but rather, how they improve the lives of North Koreans, he said.

"If North and South are to cooperate, they must know each other well," Kim said.

10 OF THE TOP PERSECUTORS OF CHRISTIANS AROUND THE WORLD TODAY

You will notice that 6 of the 10 are Muslim organizations

by Joshua Pease in Stories of Persecution

The persecution of Christians is increasing year over year. Across the globe, more than 215 million believers face intimidation, prison—even death—for their faith in Jesus Christ. That’s one in twelve Christians worldwide.

While religious persecution is spread over many countries, there are some areas where the hostility is particularly intense. These pockets of concentrated persecution are due to the focused efforts of either one person or a larger system bent on smashing or squeezing out Christians in the region.

The list below highlights some of the greatest human rights offenders toward Christians. The list is not comprehensive or in particular order, and there are many more who could be added.

We share this list not to stir up anger—although righteous anger is expected—but to move us all toward prayer and action. Jesus commanded us, directly, to pray for our enemies. So please use this list as a powerful prayer tool.

As Brother Andrew, the founder of Open Doors says, no door is closed to the power of prayer. Through prayer, we have the ability to move beyond borders and into the very presence of our enemies…

Pray that God would stop their actions, change their hearts and shine the brilliant light of the gospel onto their path—much like He did with the apostle Paul, one of the most aggressive persecutors in the time of the early church.

Here are some of the top persecutors of Christians worldwide. 

1. ISIS

For nearly 2,000 years, Christianity has had a presence in countries like Iraq; however, the brutal and targeted attacks from ISIS have driven many Christians to flee these areas. Ten years ago, there were nearly 1 million Christians living in Iraq, with a large majority of the population living in Mosul. Today, ISIS has been driven out of Iraq and Syria for the most part, but now they are spreading to Southeast Asia. Abū Bakr al-Baghdadi is the current leader of ISIS in western Iraq, Syria, Libya and Afghanistan.

2. AL-QAEDA

While ISIS has been in the news lately, Al-Qaeda has continued to fight in countries throughout the Middle East, often marking Christian communities as specific targets. In countries like Yemen, Christian converts from Islam are particularly vulnerable as they are already treated as outcasts by their own communities. As Al-Qaeda takes advantage of distracted governments, Christians in their path experience intense persecution. Ayman al-Zawahiri, is the current leader of Al-Qaeda.

3. KIM JONG-UN

North Korea has for years been one of the worst persecutors of the Christian church. Kim Jong-un has only increased this terrible legacy, continuing the nation’s policy of outlawing any practice of the Christian faith. Prayer, church meetings and owning a Bible are all against the law, with violators being sent to prison camps, or even facing the death penalty.It’s because of this that North Korea is the #1 worst persecutor of Christians in the world according to the 2018 World Watch List.

4. HINDU NATIONALISTS

The far-right Hindu nationalist movement in India seeks to wipe out any religious expression, including Christianity, that falls outside of the Hindu faith. The movement’s mission is to make India a complete Hindu nation by 2021. The predominant Hindu nationalist association is referred to as the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh). This movement has created a culture war and made it very dangerous and difficult for many Christians living in the region who are often forced out of villages, beaten and arrested for believing in Jesus.

5. AL-SHABAAB

The radical Islamic terrorist group al-Shabaab is in many ways the Eastern African version of al-Qaeda (a group they once had an uneasy union with). Al-Shabaab has terrorized the country of Somalia for the past decade and is recently focusing its attacks on the neighboring country of Kenya. In 2015,  a Kenya college campus faced an attack where Christian students were specifically targeted, killing 148 in total. Any place al-Shabaab controls operates under Sharia law, which includes the slaughtering of anyone who identifies as Christian.

6. BOKO HARAM

Boko Haram made global news when it kidnapped over 200 girls from a local school (when the world took notice and responded with #BringBackOurGirls); however, this was nothing new for the Nigerian Islamic terrorist group who have kidnapped thousands of people, many who are children.

The word “haram” means forbidden, and Boko Haram’s belief is that any sort of Western influence is heresy, especially Christianity. To this end, Boko Haram has conducted raids, bombings and assassinations against any target it deems Western, especially churches and schools. They have taken out contracts on influential Christian leaders and are also at war with the Nigerian government.

7. MILITANT FULANI HERDSMEN

In northern Nigeria’s Middle Belt area, the latest threat to Christian communities may arguably be even worse than Boko Haram: the Hausa-Fulani Muslim Herdsman. Clashes with militants among the predominantly Muslim group have claimed thousands of Christian lives as they raze entire villages and brutally kill and rape. However, unlike the atrocities and attacks of Boko Haram, Fulani violence has gone relatively unreported in national news headlines.

8. RADICAL ISLAM

In Pakistan, bombings, attacks and threats toward Christians by radical Islam are prevalent

Islamic Oppression is one of the most widely recognized sources of persecution for Christians in the world today—and it continues to spread—aiming to bring many parts of the world under Sharia Law. The movement, which often results in Islamic militancy and persecution of Christians, is expanding in Asia (Philippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia) and Africa (Egypt, Nigeria, Somalia).

9. DRUG CARTELS

Threats toward Christians in Latin America often come at the hands of violent drug cartels

In Colombia and Mexico, drug cartels are prevalent in certain parts of the country. On top of the danger that these groups bring to ordinary citizens, Christians are specifically targeted. “A soul won for Jesus is a soul lost for them,” shared one pastor from Colombia. “They know that too.”

For this reason, Christian evangelists are particularly targeted. Drug cartel leaders know that they are the greatest threat to their way of life.

10. THE ULTIMATE ENEMY

It’s easy to read this list and feel hopeless in the face of so much evil. However, in Ephesians 6 we’re told our war isn’t a physical war, it’s a spiritual one. Behind all of the atrocities listed above is Satan, who prowls this world as a roaring lion.

But we are also told that God’s kingdom is forcefully advancing, and that in the end, Satan is overthrown and all things are made new.

So as we pray against the evil mentioned in this article, we can also pray hopefully that God’s kingdom would come, and His will would be done. Here on earth now, and then in completion for eternity.

STAND WITH THE PERSECUTED

Astonishing Policy Decisions by North Korea

Path to denuclearization?

North Korea announces 6 pivotal decisions

North Korea's ruling party holds a banquet / Reuters file photo

Pyongyang has declared a new strategic course for the country, announcing an indefinite suspension of all nuclear and ballistic missile tests, in the run-up to the planned meeting between Kim Jon-un and US President Donald Trump.

At a plenary meeting of the central committee of the Worker's Party of Korea, the ruling party has outlined six crucial decisions:

#1. North Korea ‘solemnly’ declared that its previous ballistic and missile tests have allowed the country to successfully miniaturize warheads and develop their means of delivery.

#2. Effective immediately, any further nuclear and ballistic missile tests will be frozen, starting April 21, 2018

#3. North Korea’s nuclear test center will be discarded in order to ensure the transparency of the nuclear research suspension.

#4. Pyongyang will never use nuclear weapons, unless there is a “nuclear threat or nuclear provocation” against North Korea, and “in no case will proliferate nuclear weapons and nuclear technology.”

#5. From now on, all Pyongyang’s efforts will be concentrated on building up a strong socialist economy, while the human and material resources of the country will be mobilized to dramatically raise people’s quality of life.

#6. Pyongyang will establish a favorable international environment and will intensify close dialogue with neighboring countries and the international community, in order to protect the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and the world.

These are simply astonishing and could hardly be any better. The questions are: Is it true? And, if it's true, will they actually do it? North Korea has a history of promising one thing and doing something completely different. Will this time be any different? Not likely, but we can always hope. 

These policies are almost certainly negotiated positions. Pyongyang would not begin negotiations from such a basis. Their announcement makes it look like it's their idea and saves them face, a big deal in Asian cultures. 

If Pyongyang actually follows these policies, the world could be a dramatically different place. 

Let's hope and pray that Kim Jong Un is the real deal and not just trying to put something over on his enemies. Overcoming communist paranoia would be a remarkable accomplishment.

Report: North Korea Continues to Punish Religious Practice

By Yonhap News Agency   

Tourists use binoculars to see North Korea from the Goseong Unification Observatory in the the demilitarized zone in Gangwon-do, South Korea. File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo

SEOUL, South Korea, (UPI) -- The North Korean government continued to punish those engaging in religious practices last year, with executions, torture and other abuse, the U.S. State Department said in an annual report Tuesday.

In the 2016 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom, the department reconfirmed human rights abuses the North has long been accused of, including its denial of the right to religious freedom.

"The government continued to deal harshly with those who engaged in almost any religious practices through executions, torture, beatings, and arrests," the report said. "An estimated 80,000 to 120,000 political prisoners, some imprisoned for religious reasons, were believed to be held in the political prison camp system in remote areas under horrific conditions."

Last year's report pointedly said the exercise of religious freedom continued to be nearly "nonexistent" in North Korea. But that word was dropped this year.

The report comes as tensions run high between Washington and Pyongyang over the communist regime's missile and nuclear programs.

North Korea releases Canadian pastor held since 2015:

state news agency

CTVNews.ca Staff 

Aug 9, 2017

After languishing for more than two years in a North Korean prison, a Canadian pastor was released Wednesday, according to the country’s state news agency.

Hyeon Soo Lim, 62, a pastor with the Light Korean Presbyterian Church in Mississauga, Ont., had travelled to North Korea more than a hundred times, leading humanitarian programs and even opening an orphanage. But during his last trip in 2015, he was detained and charged with attempting to overthrow North Korea’s regime using religion.

In what is believed to be a coerced statement, Lim soon admitted to the crimes after being sentenced to hard labour for life.

In this file image made from July 30, 2015, video, Canadian Hyeon Soo Lim speaks in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP Photo)

“There were rumours that he was affiliated with the uncle that Kim Jong Un had executed a few years back, and that was partly the reason for his incarceration," Jack Kim, a senior advisor with HanVoice, a Canada-based human rights organization that assists North Korean refugees, recently told CTV News.

Then, two years and dozens of delicate diplomatic communications later, a Canadian delegation led by Daniel Jean, a national security advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, travelled to Pyongyang this week to discuss Lim’s case in person.

"Pastor Lim’s health and well-being remain of utmost importance to the Government of Canada, and we are working to ensure that he receives any required medical attention," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.

That delegation was pivotal towards securing Lim’s release, Ontario MPP Raymond Cho said.

“It is important that Kim Jong Un got the representatives from Canada, so we saved his face,” Cho, who is Korean-Canadian, told CTV News. “It is a very good gesture.”

Since being imprisoned, Lim’s health was reportedly failing. He suffers from high blood pressure and allegedly lost nearly 40 kilograms while incarcerated.

According to North Korea’s news agency, Lim was released on “sick bail.”

North Korea Defectors Testify About Torture, 'Modern-Day Slavery'

Viewing of foreign media could have serious consequences, a former inspector said

By Elizabeth Shim

North Korea severely punished citizens for viewing foreign media, a defector said Monday.

File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI 

SEOUL, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- A North Korean defector who once spied on his fellow citizens testified on Monday that people arrested for watching foreign films would have their fingers broken or their nails pulled out as forms of punishment.

The statement from the defector in his 50s identified only by his surname Kim was given during a press conference held by South Korea-based defector organization North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity, local news service News 1 reported.

Kim, a former university professor, said he began to work as a member of an "anti-socialist inspection group" in South Hamgyong Province, where he "used all means and methods to prevent North Koreans from having contact with the outside world."

Kim said his activities led to the arrest of the propaganda secretary of Hamhung city, who was ultimately responsible for distributing a South Korean television show to three middle school students who were watching the media at home when Kim made an unexpected visit of a house in 2000.

The North Korean official was tortured "every day," and all 10 of his fingers were broken in the course of interrogation, Kim said.

Kim said in July 2002 alone he handled 500 similar cases, and detainees were punished with nail-pulling, starvation or subjected to enhanced interrogation techniques like sleep deprivation using bright lights.

Another defector who was in charge of monitoring women laborers sent overseas described the workers as "modern-day slaves."

The defector, also in his late 50s with the last name Kim, said North Korea began sending women workers to the Czech Republic in 1998 to earn foreign currency for the regime.

The women are under "double, triple surveillance" and are "treated like animals," the defector said.

The money they earn goes to the regime to fund the lavish lifestyle of Kim Jong Un or to build weapons of mass destruction, the defector said.

Women are also exploited by the regime and have been used as prizes for North Korea's nuclear scientists, the South China Morning Post reported Sunday.

Some nuclear scientists described as "monsters" by Lee Ae-ran, a woman defector, were exposed to radiation but were given brides as recompense, according to the report.

Kim Jong Un Steadily Gaining Weight, Drinking Excessively, Report Says

This is all we need. A rogue nation suffering from acute communist paranoia being led by a drunken glutton with no concept of self-control. And he is rapidly developing a strong nuclear weapon capability. Good grief!

By Elizabeth Shim, UPI


North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s health has not improved, and his dietary habits may be to blame, according to a South Korean press report. File Photo by Rodong Sinmun

SEOUL, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Kim Jong Un's fondness for Swiss cheese and French wine could be driving his weight gain since he fully assumed power in 2012 – and his siblings also struggle with alcohol-related issues and are quick to punish subordinates.

An account from the Kim family's former sushi chef Kenji Fujimoto, released in 2016 after the Japanese national visited with the North Korean leader in April, claims Kim hasn't stopped enjoying fine cuisine, South Korean television network KBS reported Friday.

According to Fujimoto, who has known the Kims since 1982, the North Korean leader drank an expensive Bordeaux wine during dinner. Kim also boasted that he had drunk "10 bottles of Bordeaux" a few days prior to the meal, where he appeared with six attractive North Korean women, Fujimoto had said.

A connoisseur of good food, Kim enjoys consuming Emmental, a medium-hard Swiss cheese that he became familiar with during his boarding school days in Switzerland, according to KBS.

In 2014, Kim reportedly dispatched officials to learn the cheese-making techniques at a French culinary school, after becoming angry with North Korean chefs for their inability to reproduce the same flavors he had tasted in Switzerland.

South Korea's National Intelligence Service stated at a recent parliamentary briefing on Wednesday that Kim's health has not improved since July, when the spy agency noted Kim weighed about 290 pounds, up from an estimated 200 pounds in 2012.

Keep sending him more wine and cheese - maybe he will explode!

The NIS also said in a recent assessment that Kim's older brother Kim Jong Chul engages in violent behavior when drunk.

Kim Jong Chul, who was seen at an Eric Clapton concert in 2015, destroyed bottles in his hotel room after excessive drinking, the spy agency said.

Kim Jong Chul would have succeeded his father, Kim Jong Il, but the former North Korean leader had criticized his oldest son for being "like a girl," according to Fujimoto.

Kim Yo Jong, the youngest among the siblings, has been out of the spotlight since June.

In charge of North Korea propaganda, she was responsible for inviting foreign journalists to the Seventh Party Congress, an event that did not produce cooperative journalism, according to KBS.

The youngest Kim is known for quickly punishing subordinates for even the slightest mistakes, according to the report.

Fujimoto has said Kim's sister is not married.

South Korea Confirms it has Military Plan to Remove Kim Jong Un

The plan could be activated to retaliate against the North Korean leadership

in the event of a nuclear attack, Seoul says.

By Elizabeth Shim


South Korea’s defense minister confirmed on Wednesday the government has a plan to remove Kim Jong Un in the case of a strike against Seoul. File Photo by Rodong Sinmun

SEOUL, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- South Korea's defense ministry is planning a special force that could remove Kim Jong Un from power.

Defense Minister Han Min-koo also said Seoul needs to increase the number of full-time troops if it is to resist an armed North Korean invasion, South Korean news network YTN reported Wednesday.

Han told lawmakers at South Korea's National Assembly there is "a plan" to assemble a unit that could target the North Korean leadership, referring to a plan known as the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation, or KMPR, local news service News 1 reported.

So it doesn't actually have a plan to remove Kin Jong Un, but it has a plan to have a plan. 

"If it becomes clear the enemy intends to use nuclear-tipped missiles, in order to suppress its aims, the concept [of the special forces] is to retaliate against key areas that include the North Korean leadership," Han said Wednesday.

KMPR is part of a "three-axis system" in South Korea's military that includes Seoul's homegrown anti-missile systems, the Korean Air and Missile Defense, or KAMD, and Kill Chain, a pre-emptive strike system.

Han also voiced concerns about South Korea's permanent troops, and said at least 500,000 soldiers need to be on active duty in order to deal with the North Korean threat, a number that cannot be upheld without conscription, which is the current policy.

North Korea has 1.2 million troops, according to Han.

South Korean lawmakers of both ruling and opposition parties unanimously condemned North Korea's nuclear weapons proliferation, and in a rare show of unity on the issue some politicians have begun advocating for the reinstatement of tactical nuclear weapons on the peninsula, Maeil Business reported Wednesday.

So, without an operational plan to remove Kim Jong Un, and with a plan to reinstate tactical nuclear weapons, that makes this a very vulnerable time for South Korea. If the North does intend to attack the South, now would be the best time.

Kim Jin-pyo of the Minjoo Party of Korea, the opposition, said if China and Russia do not take "effective action to join sanctions against North Korea's nuclear development" there is no option other than to deploy tactical weapons in the country.

Lee Cheol-uoo of the ruling Saenuri Party said in addition to tactical nuclear weapons, means of developing Seoul's own nuclear deterrent, conducting pre-emptive strikes and regime change should all be reviewed.

North Koreans in Breadbasket Province Malnourished

If the situation is prolonged for another 1-2 years,

people tell each other that they'll "all be dead."

By Elizabeth Shim


North Koreans work in the fields near the North Korean city Sinuiju, across the Yalu River from Dandong, China's largest border city with North Korea. Rural residents of Hwanghae Province are suffering from malnutrition because of Kim Jong Un’s agricultural policy, a source said. File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

SEOUL, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- North Koreans living in a province that is the center of the country's agriculture are malnourished, sources say.

The residents of Hwanghae, the breadbasket province of North Korea, are relinquishing their rice supply to the army and the residents of Pyongyang, Daily NK reported Monday.

A North Korean residing in North Hwanghae said there is barely enough to eat and "just enough to carry on the lifeline."

The dire situation is compelling some North Koreans to consider making an appeal to the government, the source said.

The report challenges claims the supply of rice in North Korea for the population increased after the creation of a new "incentive system" on June 28, under Kim Jong Un's orders.

"There is nothing left in Hwanghae after harvested rice all goes to the military," the source said. "The people who harvest the rice cannot taste their own product and must go all the way to Yanggang province to buy rice."

The source also said standards of living have declined in the past 10 years. Vagrants have increased in number, and if the situation is prolonged for another 1-2 years, people tell each other that they'll "all be dead."

The unofficial marketization in North Korea has not reaped benefits for the country's farmers because they produce rice for the military and the residents of Pyongyang, the source said.

Farmers have also been unable to take advantage of grey markets because they lack sufficient capital, the source added.

Inequality of wealth between the urban and rural areas is increasing, according to the source.

This is communism! Stalin used to take all the potatoes grown in the Ukraine from the farmers and sell them abroad for the money. Of course the farmers either starved to death of left for Canada or elsewhere.

The absurdity of life in Pyongyang and the insanity of the North Korean military cannot be reconciled with a healthy lifestyle for rural people. Kim Jong Un has to realize that soon or his country is going to self-destruct.

Things Are Beginning to Change in North Korea

Activist: Ordinary North Koreans have little respect

for 'that kid' Kim Jong Un

Ordinary North Koreans are calling him a kid

as they become more aware of the outside world

By Elizabeth Shim UPI


North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was nominated chairman of the Korean Workers’ Party, but more North Koreans do not hold him in high regard, an activist says. File Photo by Rodong Sinmun

SEOUL, May 20 (UPI) -- Kim Jong Un has yet to earn the grudging respect of ordinary North Koreans.

Most North Koreans who do not curry favor with the regime do not refer to him as the "general" or the "supreme leader," according to defector and activist Jeong Kwang-il.

In the past, North Korean leaders were addressed with honorifics, Jeong said, according to South Korean newspaper Donga Ilbo.

"But nowadays when I speak to North Koreans on the phone, they just call him 'Jong Un,' the way one would refer to a friend," Jeong said.

The North Koreans Jeong referred to are most likely sources of information located in the country.

That trend could be frustrating the young Kim, who recently was declared "Chairman" during North Korea's Seventh Party Congress.

The new role was announced in order to consolidate his rule over the country and for Kim to follow in the footsteps of his biological grandfather Kim Il Sung.

But the lack of reforms and improvement to people's lives could be having a greater effect on perceptions of Kim in the country.

Jeong also said during a conference held Thursday in London that defector activism, including the delivery of South Korean videos, such as films of resettled defectors in the South, are making an impact on North Korean understanding of the outside world.

Jeong and his organization No Chain has delivered a total of 500-600 compact discs or flash drives since 2012. Memory cards that can be placed inside mobile phones have also been sent across the border.

North Koreans caught viewing banned material are being let go, that is, if they can bribe officers, which allows the media to circulate across the country.

Disillusioned with the regime after viewing the media, some North Koreans have started to call the leader "that guy Jong Un" or sometimes "that kid," according to Jeong.

There's evidence North Koreans are no longer afraid to breach rules of conduct, the activist said.

Let us hope and pray that this is a beginning to the opening up of North Korea. If Kim Jong Un continues to loosen his grip on the people, only good can come from it. The fear is that he could react very poorly when he becomes fully aware of it. We have seen what he is capable of doing in executing members of his own family, so there is much danger yet.