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newstwitter-blog · 8 years ago

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New Post has been published on News Twitter

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CNN: North Korea's history of covert operations and secret killings

Kim was reportedly grabbed from behind and a poison liquid or rag put in his face, in an act South Korean lawmakers said was “terrorism” by the North.

If these allegations are true, it won’t be the first time Pyongyang has used covert operatives overseas to carry out its aims, sometimes with deadly results.

On November 29, 1987, Korean Air Flight 858 exploded in mid-air, killing all 115 people on board.

Two North Koreans planted a bomb in the overhead locker during a layover in Abu Dhabi. It exploded after both had disembarked and the plane was over the Andaman Sea en route to Bangkok.

After the bombers were traced by police to Bahrain, they attempted to kill themselves by taking cyanide pills. One bomber, Kim Hyon-hui, survived however, and was extradited to South Korea.

In Seoul, Kim confessed to carrying out the attack and was sentenced to death, but she was later pardoned by President Roh Tae-woo on the grounds she had been brainwashed by North Korea, something Kim expanded on in a book dedicated to the victims of the bombing, “The Tears of My Soul.”

Speaking to an Australian television program in 2013, Kim said she had to live in secret due to threats from North Korean agents who view her as a traitor.

Attempted assassination of Park Sang-hak

For over seven years, defector Park Sang-hak has sent balloons carrying leaflets criticizing the North Korean regime over the border from South Korea.

Pyongyang has threatened violent reprisals against the South for the practice, and in November 2012, it came after Park himself.

A North Korean assassin attempted to kill Park on the streets of Seoul using a pen modified to shoot poison-filled pellets and a small gun masquerading as a flashlight.

“You’d notice a gun, but these weapons are so innocuous, you can easily kill someone, I’d be dead immediately,” Park told CNN in 2012.

Fortunately for him, the would-be assassin was arrested on his way to Park, who was then given around the clock protection by police.

Kidnapping of Choi Eun-hee and Shin Sang-ok

Director Shin Sang-ok and leading lady Choi Eun-hee were once South Korean cinema royalty.

As Paul Fischer recounts in his biography of the pair, “A Kim Jong Il Production,” in January 1978, Choi was abducted by North Korean agents in Hong Kong’s Repulse Bay and taken to Pyongyang.

Shin was snatched six months later, also in Hong Kong, as he searched for information about what happened to his wife.

In North Korea, the pair were forced by Kim Jong Il to help him revamp the country’s film industry, making 17 films, including the 1985 fantasy-action monster flick Pulgasari, still something of a cult favorite for its bizarre story and special effects.

The 2016 documentary “The Lovers and the Despot,” includes tape, smuggled out of North Korea by the couple, of Kim discussing their kidnapping.

Choi and Shin escaped captivity while in Vienna for a film festival, fleeing to the US embassy and, eventually, to South Korea.

Spying in South Korea

As well as the attempted assassination of Park Sang-hak, North Korean agents have carried out a number of operations south of the border. Pyongyang is still technically at war with its neighbor after the Korean War ended in armistice but not peace on 27 July 1953.

Won Jeong-hwa was sentenced to five years in prison in 2008 after she confessed to seducing South Korean military officers in order to acquire classified information.

After her release, she said her femme fetale image had been exaggerated, but defended herself against claims she was just a low-level informant and not a spy.

In 2015, former North Korean spy Kim Dong-shik told CNN how he was sent to a specialized university for four years where he learned skills including martial arts, scuba diving, how to shoot and rig explosives.

“Spies are treated on the same level as generals, their education is to a similar high level. So it’s fair to say North Korea considers spies as very important,” Kim said.

Other abductions

Since the 1970s, North Korean agents have abducted at least 17, and possibly more than 100, Japanese citizens, snatching them off streets and beaches and smuggling them to North Korea.

While Tokyo only officially recognizes 17 victims, and North Korea has only admitted to taking 13, an independent commission has identified dozens more, including 15 since 2000.

Defectors and former kidnap victims themselves, including Choi Eun-hee and former US army deserter Charles Robert Jenkins — who was married to a Japanese kidnap victim during captivity in North Korea, have written of meeting many other abductees, including victims from China, the Middle East and Europe.

In a 2014 report, a UN commission listed dozens of potential victims from around the world.

“Reasons for the abductions include teaching foreign languages in spy and military training schools, for technical expertise, and, in the case of many abductees, to be ‘given’ in marriage to foreigners in the DPRK, to prevent inter-racial marriage with ethnic Koreans,” the commission said.

Last year, a South Korean abductee group claimed David Sneddon, a 24-year-old American who disappeared while hiking in China in 2004, was actually kidnapped by North Korean agents to serve as an English tutor for Kim Jong Un. The US State Department said there was no evidence to confirm that claim.

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bestdronestoday-blog · 8 years ago

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Top 10 North Korean Propaganda Films

New Post at http://bestdronestoday.us/top-10-north-korean-propaganda-films/

Top 10 North Korean Propaganda Films

Movies and TV

Shannon Quinn February 2, 2017

During his reign, North Korean dictator Kim Jung Il was so interested in propaganda through movies that he even wrote a book, On the Art of The Cinema. In it, he describes his tactics of using movies as an educational tool to spread his ideals to the nation. One of the steps in his process of making high-quality films was ordering his secret service to kidnap directors, actors, and other talented artists from South Korea so they could bring his ideas for movies to life.

While the plots of these movies vary greatly, they are all forms of propaganda designed to keep the public believing in their Great Leader and the morals of society that they are expected to follow.

10Pulgasari

[embedded content]

The South Korean director Shin Sang-Ok was one of the kidnapped directors brought into North Korea, and he was forced to direct a rip-off of the Japanese movie Godzilla, called Pulgasari.

The movie takes place in feudal Korea. Rich nobles loot a farming village and imprison an innocent elderly blacksmith. His children give him rice through the bars. Instead of eating it, the blacksmith molds the rice with his daughter’s blood until it turns into a miniature figurine of a monster. With his dying breath, he asks the gods to use his spirit to rescue the farmers from the monarchy.

The figurine of the monster, Pulgasari, has come to life, and it eats iron for food. The more metal it consumes, the bigger and stronger it grows. It soon becomes indestructible against any attacks. With the help of Pulgasari, the farmers are set free from the nobility’s rule. At the end of the movie, Pulgasari becomes enormous. While the villagers dearly love the monster for saving them, he cannot satiate his hunger for iron.

The blacksmith’s daughter realizes that if Pulgasari cannot stop consuming all of the iron, he will cause starvation and war. She sacrifices herself for the good of her country, committing suicide to banish the Pulgasari back to the spiritual world. This is meant to be an allegory of the dangers of capitalism. North Koreans must stop it from taking over, even if it means sacrificing one’s own life.

9The Favorite Young Man

[embedded content]

The main character, Kim Yong Bae, is handsome, friendly, intelligent, and a talented army veteran. Despite all of his obvious potential, he happily works hard at the humble job of a plumber. He runs into his old friend Son Ae, a beautiful, kind woman who works as a tailor, and they fall in love. Son Ae’s family tells her that she is too good to be with a plumber.

Son Ae declares that she does not care about his job, because she only cares about who he is as a person. Eventually, her family is won over by Kim Yong Bae’s personality as well. By the end of the movie, every single person who talked down on his job as a plumber has changed their mind. He even saves the entire town when pipes burst.

In the North Korean communist society, capitalism and private wealth is forbidden. Working hard and being satisfied with the jobs the government chooses for you is always encouraged, especially for the lower classes of society. At several points in the film, Kim Yong Bae stares directly in the camera, talking about the importance of plumbers in society for supplying clean water. The camera zooms in, practically breaking the fourth wall. It is as if he is scolding the audience and shaming anyone who talks down on the importance of blue collar jobs. The film is technically a romantic comedy, but that becomes a minor part of the movie compared to the lesson that the film is trying to teach North Korean citizens.

8My Socialist Country

[embedded content]

This documentary is voiced over in English, aiming to educate other countries about life in North Korea. It claims North Korean people have everything they could ever want provided for them: food, clothing, housing, healthcare, jobs, 150 days of maternity leave, and even a free college education. Somehow, even without charging their citizens taxes, this country apparently manages to pay for the needs of all of the people. My Socialist Country presents North Korean life as though the communist system is running perfectly in isolation from the outside world, and everyone should envy those who live there.

If someone were to watch this movie without understanding the reality behind it, they would be convinced that North Korea is an amazing utopia.

7Eternal Comrades

[embedded content]

In 1946, a terrorist group tried to kill Kim Il Sung. A Soviet officer named Yakov Nevichenko saw the grenade and sacrificed himself by throwing his body on top of it, saving Kim Jung-Il’s life. It turns out that Nevichenko had a very large book strapped to the front of his chest as a primitive form of body armor. This was enough to save his life own life as well, though he sustained multiple injuries, including losing his arm. After that, Nevichenko received the title of North Korean National Hero, and there was even a statue made in his honor.

Eternal Comrades reenacts the events of that day, leading up to the relationship built between the Soviet Union and North Koreans. The movie is meant to show North Korean audiences that their Great Leader is worth sacrificing their lives for, even to the extent that foreigners would do the same. “Yakov” became a popular baby name in North Korea after this incident.

6Soul’s Protest

[embedded content]

Soul’s Protest premiered only three years after the American hit film Titanic, in an attempt to replicate the box office success. Soul’s Protest tells the true story of the sinking of the ship Ukishima Maru in 1945. Onboard, Korean passengers were returning home from forced labor camps in Japan.

According to records, the boat exploded when it hit a hidden landmine in the ocean. 524 Koreans died, and the Japanese did not give any compensation to the survivors of the sinking ship. They claimed that it was an accident that could not have been avoided. However, North Koreans have been digging into the case to blame the Japanese for sinking the ship on purpose. Though the rumor was disproven in court, this movie assumes that that conspiracy theory is true, and the Japanese were trying to cover up using Koreans for forced labor by killing them off at sea.

While this movie is loosely based on true events, it is clearly meant to incite hatred toward the Japanese, who, along with Americans, are North Korea’s sworn enemies. The director, cast, and crew were required to watch Titanic over 100 times in preparation for the film. There are a lot of little homages to the film, and scenes that look like drama school reenactments. However, instead of steamy love scenes, the lovers of Soul’s Protest simply smile at one another in a very polite way.

5The Flower Girl

[embedded content]

Based on an opera and novel, The Flower Girl tells the story of Koreans living under Japanese occupation in the 1930s. The main character is a girl who must climb the mountains, picking flowers every day to sell them in the market. Her mother is very sick, her younger sister is blind, her father is dead, and her brother is away fighting as a revolutionary soldier. Despite being too sick to work, the landlord shows no sympathy for the mother and demands to put them out on the street if they don’t pay their rent.

No matter how hard she works, the young woman cannot afford to buy her mother the medicine to cure her. Eventually, the mother succumbs to her illness and dies. The blind sister cries inconsolably. The landlord is tired of listening to her crying, so he claims that she is possessed with the dead mother’s spirit and needs to be killed to “exorcise the demon.” The flower girl no longer has a place to stay, and must suffer even more and more throughout the movie. Her brother returns from the war, and Korea wins its independence from Japan.

This movie’s goal was to show North Koreans exactly how terrible life was before communism, where they get provided free health care and housing. This movie is considered to be the most famous and successful North Korean propaganda film, because the acting is very well done, and it brings up a lot of emotions for anyone who watches it, no matter what country they live in.

4O Youth!

[embedded content]

This movie shows the life of a North Korean family with five daughters who are all professional athletes and one son. The son is a historian still living with his parents while he works on his PhD thesis. Since he is nearly 30 years old and still single, the mother desperately worries about him finding a wife. The son meets a woman in the library. He begins courting her and thinks that she is a bookish sort of girl, but in reality, she is a professional Taekwondo fighter.

The movie features the sports complex in Pyongyang that was built by Kim Jong Il. The characters talk about the glory of their Great Leader and how much he appreciates young athletic talent. Once the son and mother hear about this, they are so emotionally moved that they begin to appreciate sports as well.

At one point in the movie, the young couple is getting hassled by a gang of men, when the girlfriend saves them both by fighting them off with her Taekwondo. Once her athletic side is revealed, he asks her to look over his History of Taekwondo Thesis for his PhD. Her suggestion is that he needs to give more credit to the Great Leader, because without him, the sport would not be the same.

3Welcome Of North Korea

[embedded content]

This English voiced-over video was created in the 1980s to encourage foreign tourists to visit North Korea. The country looks like the citizens live in economic abundance, with large buildings, beautiful clothes, and plenty of food to eat. Foreigners are brought to acrobatic shows, gift shops, historic buildings, and beaches. Anyone watching this video would assume that North Korea is a great place to live, and negative rumors must not be true.

Today, the tours given to tourists are very similar in nature, except that they have added a few newer, modern attractions, like water parks and a technology center. Tourists who enters the country are never allowed to be left alone at any time, and they must show respect to The Great Leader. If you are interested in seeing what tourists in North Korea are allowed to see today, filmmaker Louis Cole documented his time in the country on his YouTube Channel, FunForLouis.

2Order No. 27

[embedded content]

North Korean soldiers must go on a secret mission. They understand that it’s extremely dangerous, but they gladly accept the opportunity to serve the Great Leader.

The entire movie plays out like it’s supposed to be a parody, yet it is very serious. Every battle looks like something out of Mortal Kombat. North Korean soldiers look incredibly skilled to a superhuman extent. To anyone watching from the Western world, Order No. 27 is hilarious and kind of tragic at the same time.

Maybe this movie was filmed to make North Koreans, who are all required to receive army training, excited to possibly enter an actual battle someday. Or maybe Kim Jong Il hoped that other countries would see it the film and somehow believe that every Korean solider is a Kung Fu master.

By the end of the movie, the soldiers can complete their mission, but a few of their friends died along the way. Unlike American war movies, all of the men, even their commanders, openly cry at the loss of their fellow soldiers. The last lines of the movie explain that “when a soldier dies for the Great Leader and the Communist Party, their lives become eternal in the minds of our people.”

1Under The Sun

[embedded content]

This 2015 documentary film was a project started by Russian director Vitaly Mansky. He wanted to do a documentary on life in North Korea, so after years of negotiating, they allowed him access—but only if he filmed everything the government asked him to. He realized that everything in the lives of the people he was “documenting” was staged, and they wanted to use Mansky to make a propaganda film. Their intentions backfired when Manksy chose to leave the camera rolling as much as possible and left the outtakes in the final cut, so that the world could see exactly how people are treated, and how much of the country’s good life is orchestrated.

In one scene, Mansky is brought to a factory. They walk through stairs and hallways, and everything looks completely vacant, except for the few rooms that are set up with machinery. Men and women, who we learn are actors who usually work completely different jobs, are asked to play the parts of factory workers. Their lines are about how to improve production and the success of their work. Between takes, we see women bundling up with their jackets, which shows that the factory does not have any heat, even in the middle of winter.

Obviously, the North Korean government was not happy with this movie and banned it from being show in their country. However, Under The Sun has received multiple awards in other parts of the world.

Shannon Quinn is a writer and entrepreneur in the Philadelphia area. If you are interested in more of her work, you can find her here.

(Why?)

Published at Thu, 02 Feb 2017 08:01:00 +0000

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chernobog13 · 2 years ago

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Bulgasari, the Iron-Eating Monster (1962)

This was the first monster film, as well as the first film utilizing special effects, made in South Korea. The film is based on a medieval Korean legend, and was inspired by Godzilla (1954).

The film itself is considered lost. The only thing that remains are posters like the one above, a copy of the script, and tons of negative reviews archived in libraries in South Korea, where it was universally panned.

However, at least one person the Korean peninsula thought it was good enough to warrant a remake. Kim Jong-il, father of current North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, had the film Pulgasari (1985) made with a director kidnapped from South Korea and some staff from Toho.

#Bulgasari #The Iron-Eating Monster #Pulgasari #South Korean monster #North Korean monster #monsters #Korean legend #lost films

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ofmays · 1 year ago

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❍﹒𝗈𝖿 ㅤ— ㅤ @detagen !

“may? are you sick or intentionally here?” the question is a somewhat teasing remark poking at the other’s anti-socialness. considering may typically avoided any living person like the actual plague, the assumed biggest party of the year was the last place ryder was expecting to run into him at - much less trying to seek entrance in by himself.

may wasn't too fond of parties...or people...or being outside...or of anything, really-- but he was fond of a certain someone as of late, and that alone is reason enough for why he's frequenting the unfamiliar halls of the blue house, a place far too loud and in-his-face for his liking. maybe his distaste for practically everything around him had finally come into use though, forever unable to hide his feelings; ryder was approaching him, and while they weren't extremely close, may was comfortable enough with keeping him around, he is pulgasari's captain, after all.

"ryder, hi." he replies sheepishly, not bothering to raise his voice despite how crowded the hallway was. admittedly, it was a little embarrassing to be seen like this, out of his...natural habitat. he waves his hands in front of himself in gesture. "no, i'm not sick, i heard there's a cold going around though..." gaze finding the floor, he smiles. may still wasn't very good at making conversation, but it was somewhat easier with the older male. they seemed to fit well together as leaders of their team, or maybe ryder just made enough noise for both of them at once; it was nice to have someone fill in the gaps, the social ones at least.

may clears his throat and looks up to ryder after a few seconds pass, remembering why he was here in the first place. "someone invited me here, actually...i didn't think the line would be this crazy though...could i get in with you? he's probably waiting for me."

#𝐨𝐟𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐬 ﹒ ∬ ﹒ † ﹒ threads.#detagen #/ this took so long to get to omg...#/thank u for the starter !!!#/ sorry it took so long !!

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newstwitter-blog · 8 years ago

Text

New Post has been published on News Twitter

New Post has been published on http://www.news-twitter.com/2017/02/22/cnn-north-koreas-history-of-covert-operations-and-secret-killings-7/

CNN: North Korea's history of covert operations and secret killings

Kim was reportedly grabbed from behind and a poison liquid or rag put in his face, in an act South Korean lawmakers said was “terrorism” by the North.

If these allegations are true, it won’t be the first time Pyongyang has used covert operatives overseas to carry out its aims, sometimes with deadly results.

On November 29, 1987, Korean Air Flight 858 exploded in mid-air, killing all 115 people on board.

Two North Koreans planted a bomb in the overhead locker during a layover in Abu Dhabi. It exploded after both had disembarked and the plane was over the Andaman Sea en route to Bangkok.

After the bombers were traced by police to Bahrain, they attempted to kill themselves by taking cyanide pills. One bomber, Kim Hyon-hui, survived however, and was extradited to South Korea.

Speaking to an Australian television program in 2013, Kim said she had to live in secret due to threats from North Korean agents who view her as a traitor.

Attempted assassination of Park Sang-hak

For over seven years, defector Park Sang-hak has sent balloons carrying leaflets criticizing the North Korean regime over the border from South Korea.

Pyongyang has threatened violent reprisals against the South for the practice, and in November 2012, it came after Park himself.

A North Korean assassin attempted to kill Park on the streets of Seoul using a pen modified to shoot poison-filled pellets and a small gun masquerading as a flashlight.

“You’d notice a gun, but these weapons are so innocuous, you can easily kill someone, I’d be dead immediately,” Park told CNN in 2012.

Fortunately for him, the would-be assassin was arrested on his way to Park, who was then given around the clock protection by police.

Kidnapping of Choi Eun-hee and Shin Sang-ok

Director Shin Sang-ok and leading lady Choi Eun-hee were once South Korean cinema royalty.

As Paul Fischer recounts in his biography of the pair, “A Kim Jong Il Production,” in January 1978, Choi was abducted by North Korean agents in Hong Kong’s Repulse Bay and taken to Pyongyang.

Shin was snatched six months later, also in Hong Kong, as he searched for information about what happened to his wife.

The 2016 documentary “The Lovers and the Despot,” includes tape, smuggled out of North Korea by the couple, of Kim discussing their kidnapping.

Choi and Shin escaped captivity while in Vienna for a film festival, fleeing to the US embassy and, eventually, to South Korea.

Spying in South Korea

Won Jeong-hwa was sentenced to five years in prison in 2008 after she confessed to seducing South Korean military officers in order to acquire classified information.

After her release, she said her femme fetale image had been exaggerated, but defended herself against claims she was just a low-level informant and not a spy.

“Spies are treated on the same level as generals, their education is to a similar high level. So it’s fair to say North Korea considers spies as very important,” Kim said.

Other abductions

Since the 1970s, North Korean agents have abducted at least 17, and possibly more than 100, Japanese citizens, snatching them off streets and beaches and smuggling them to North Korea.

While Tokyo only officially recognizes 17 victims, and North Korea has only admitted to taking 13, an independent commission has identified dozens more, including 15 since 2000.

In a 2014 report, a UN commission listed dozens of potential victims from around the world.

This post has been harvested from the source link, and News-Twitter has no responsibility on its content. Source link

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newstwitter-blog · 8 years ago

Text

New Post has been published on News Twitter

New Post has been published on http://www.news-twitter.com/2017/02/22/cnn-north-koreas-history-of-covert-operations-and-secret-killings-6/

CNN: North Korea's history of covert operations and secret killings

Kim was reportedly grabbed from behind and a poison liquid or rag put in his face, in an act South Korean lawmakers said was “terrorism” by the North.

If these allegations are true, it won’t be the first time Pyongyang has used covert operatives overseas to carry out its aims, sometimes with deadly results.

On November 29, 1987, Korean Air Flight 858 exploded in mid-air, killing all 115 people on board.

Two North Koreans planted a bomb in the overhead locker during a layover in Abu Dhabi. It exploded after both had disembarked and the plane was over the Andaman Sea en route to Bangkok.

After the bombers were traced by police to Bahrain, they attempted to kill themselves by taking cyanide pills. One bomber, Kim Hyon-hui, survived however, and was extradited to South Korea.

Speaking to an Australian television program in 2013, Kim said she had to live in secret due to threats from North Korean agents who view her as a traitor.

Attempted assassination of Park Sang-hak

For over seven years, defector Park Sang-hak has sent balloons carrying leaflets criticizing the North Korean regime over the border from South Korea.

Pyongyang has threatened violent reprisals against the South for the practice, and in November 2012, it came after Park himself.

A North Korean assassin attempted to kill Park on the streets of Seoul using a pen modified to shoot poison-filled pellets and a small gun masquerading as a flashlight.

“You’d notice a gun, but these weapons are so innocuous, you can easily kill someone, I’d be dead immediately,” Park told CNN in 2012.

Fortunately for him, the would-be assassin was arrested on his way to Park, who was then given around the clock protection by police.

Kidnapping of Choi Eun-hee and Shin Sang-ok

Director Shin Sang-ok and leading lady Choi Eun-hee were once South Korean cinema royalty.

As Paul Fischer recounts in his biography of the pair, “A Kim Jong Il Production,” in January 1978, Choi was abducted by North Korean agents in Hong Kong’s Repulse Bay and taken to Pyongyang.

Shin was snatched six months later, also in Hong Kong, as he searched for information about what happened to his wife.

The 2016 documentary “The Lovers and the Despot,” includes tape, smuggled out of North Korea by the couple, of Kim discussing their kidnapping.

Choi and Shin escaped captivity while in Vienna for a film festival, fleeing to the US embassy and, eventually, to South Korea.

Spying in South Korea

Won Jeong-hwa was sentenced to five years in prison in 2008 after she confessed to seducing South Korean military officers in order to acquire classified information.

After her release, she said her femme fetale image had been exaggerated, but defended herself against claims she was just a low-level informant and not a spy.

“Spies are treated on the same level as generals, their education is to a similar high level. So it’s fair to say North Korea considers spies as very important,” Kim said.

Other abductions

Since the 1970s, North Korean agents have abducted at least 17, and possibly more than 100, Japanese citizens, snatching them off streets and beaches and smuggling them to North Korea.

While Tokyo only officially recognizes 17 victims, and North Korea has only admitted to taking 13, an independent commission has identified dozens more, including 15 since 2000.

In a 2014 report, a UN commission listed dozens of potential victims from around the world.

This post has been harvested from the source link, and News-Twitter has no responsibility on its content. Source link

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newstwitter-blog · 8 years ago

Text

New Post has been published on News Twitter

New Post has been published on http://www.news-twitter.com/2017/02/22/cnn-north-koreas-history-of-covert-operations-and-secret-killings-5/

CNN: North Korea's history of covert operations and secret killings

Kim was reportedly grabbed from behind and a poison liquid or rag put in his face, in an act South Korean lawmakers said was “terrorism” by the North.

If these allegations are true, it won’t be the first time Pyongyang has used covert operatives overseas to carry out its aims, sometimes with deadly results.

On November 29, 1987, Korean Air Flight 858 exploded in mid-air, killing all 115 people on board.

Two North Koreans planted a bomb in the overhead locker during a layover in Abu Dhabi. It exploded after both had disembarked and the plane was over the Andaman Sea en route to Bangkok.

After the bombers were traced by police to Bahrain, they attempted to kill themselves by taking cyanide pills. One bomber, Kim Hyon-hui, survived however, and was extradited to South Korea.

Speaking to an Australian television program in 2013, Kim said she had to live in secret due to threats from North Korean agents who view her as a traitor.

Attempted assassination of Park Sang-hak

For over seven years, defector Park Sang-hak has sent balloons carrying leaflets criticizing the North Korean regime over the border from South Korea.

Pyongyang has threatened violent reprisals against the South for the practice, and in November 2012, it came after Park himself.

A North Korean assassin attempted to kill Park on the streets of Seoul using a pen modified to shoot poison-filled pellets and a small gun masquerading as a flashlight.

“You’d notice a gun, but these weapons are so innocuous, you can easily kill someone, I’d be dead immediately,” Park told CNN in 2012.

Fortunately for him, the would-be assassin was arrested on his way to Park, who was then given around the clock protection by police.

Kidnapping of Choi Eun-hee and Shin Sang-ok

Director Shin Sang-ok and leading lady Choi Eun-hee were once South Korean cinema royalty.

As Paul Fischer recounts in his biography of the pair, “A Kim Jong Il Production,” in January 1978, Choi was abducted by North Korean agents in Hong Kong’s Repulse Bay and taken to Pyongyang.

Shin was snatched six months later, also in Hong Kong, as he searched for information about what happened to his wife.

The 2016 documentary “The Lovers and the Despot,” includes tape, smuggled out of North Korea by the couple, of Kim discussing their kidnapping.

Choi and Shin escaped captivity while in Vienna for a film festival, fleeing to the US embassy and, eventually, to South Korea.

Spying in South Korea

Won Jeong-hwa was sentenced to five years in prison in 2008 after she confessed to seducing South Korean military officers in order to acquire classified information.

After her release, she said her femme fetale image had been exaggerated, but defended herself against claims she was just a low-level informant and not a spy.

“Spies are treated on the same level as generals, their education is to a similar high level. So it’s fair to say North Korea considers spies as very important,” Kim said.

Other abductions

Since the 1970s, North Korean agents have abducted at least 17, and possibly more than 100, Japanese citizens, snatching them off streets and beaches and smuggling them to North Korea.

While Tokyo only officially recognizes 17 victims, and North Korea has only admitted to taking 13, an independent commission has identified dozens more, including 15 since 2000.

In a 2014 report, a UN commission listed dozens of potential victims from around the world.

This post has been harvested from the source link, and News-Twitter has no responsibility on its content. Source link

0 notes

newstwitter-blog · 8 years ago

Text

New Post has been published on News Twitter

New Post has been published on http://www.news-twitter.com/2017/02/22/cnn-north-koreas-history-of-covert-operations-and-secret-killings-4/

CNN: North Korea's history of covert operations and secret killings

Kim was reportedly grabbed from behind and a poison liquid or rag put in his face, in an act South Korean lawmakers said was “terrorism” by the North.

If these allegations are true, it won’t be the first time Pyongyang has used covert operatives overseas to carry out its aims, sometimes with deadly results.

On November 29, 1987, Korean Air Flight 858 exploded in mid-air, killing all 115 people on board.

Two North Koreans planted a bomb in the overhead locker during a layover in Abu Dhabi. It exploded after both had disembarked and the plane was over the Andaman Sea en route to Bangkok.

After the bombers were traced by police to Bahrain, they attempted to kill themselves by taking cyanide pills. One bomber, Kim Hyon-hui, survived however, and was extradited to South Korea.

Speaking to an Australian television program in 2013, Kim said she had to live in secret due to threats from North Korean agents who view her as a traitor.

Attempted assassination of Park Sang-hak

For over seven years, defector Park Sang-hak has sent balloons carrying leaflets criticizing the North Korean regime over the border from South Korea.

Pyongyang has threatened violent reprisals against the South for the practice, and in November 2012, it came after Park himself.

A North Korean assassin attempted to kill Park on the streets of Seoul using a pen modified to shoot poison-filled pellets and a small gun masquerading as a flashlight.

“You’d notice a gun, but these weapons are so innocuous, you can easily kill someone, I’d be dead immediately,” Park told CNN in 2012.

Fortunately for him, the would-be assassin was arrested on his way to Park, who was then given around the clock protection by police.

Kidnapping of Choi Eun-hee and Shin Sang-ok

Director Shin Sang-ok and leading lady Choi Eun-hee were once South Korean cinema royalty.

As Paul Fischer recounts in his biography of the pair, “A Kim Jong Il Production,” in January 1978, Choi was abducted by North Korean agents in Hong Kong’s Repulse Bay and taken to Pyongyang.

Shin was snatched six months later, also in Hong Kong, as he searched for information about what happened to his wife.

The 2016 documentary “The Lovers and the Despot,” includes tape, smuggled out of North Korea by the couple, of Kim discussing their kidnapping.

Choi and Shin escaped captivity while in Vienna for a film festival, fleeing to the US embassy and, eventually, to South Korea.

Spying in South Korea

Won Jeong-hwa was sentenced to five years in prison in 2008 after she confessed to seducing South Korean military officers in order to acquire classified information.

After her release, she said her femme fetale image had been exaggerated, but defended herself against claims she was just a low-level informant and not a spy.

“Spies are treated on the same level as generals, their education is to a similar high level. So it’s fair to say North Korea considers spies as very important,” Kim said.

Other abductions

Since the 1970s, North Korean agents have abducted at least 17, and possibly more than 100, Japanese citizens, snatching them off streets and beaches and smuggling them to North Korea.

While Tokyo only officially recognizes 17 victims, and North Korea has only admitted to taking 13, an independent commission has identified dozens more, including 15 since 2000.

In a 2014 report, a UN commission listed dozens of potential victims from around the world.

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newstwitter-blog · 8 years ago

Text

New Post has been published on News Twitter

New Post has been published on http://www.news-twitter.com/2017/02/22/cnn-north-koreas-history-of-covert-operations-and-secret-killings-3/

CNN: North Korea's history of covert operations and secret killings

Kim was reportedly grabbed from behind and a poison liquid or rag put in his face, in an act South Korean lawmakers said was “terrorism” by the North.

If these allegations are true, it won’t be the first time Pyongyang has used covert operatives overseas to carry out its aims, sometimes with deadly results.

On November 29, 1987, Korean Air Flight 858 exploded in mid-air, killing all 115 people on board.

Two North Koreans planted a bomb in the overhead locker during a layover in Abu Dhabi. It exploded after both had disembarked and the plane was over the Andaman Sea en route to Bangkok.

After the bombers were traced by police to Bahrain, they attempted to kill themselves by taking cyanide pills. One bomber, Kim Hyon-hui, survived however, and was extradited to South Korea.

Speaking to an Australian television program in 2013, Kim said she had to live in secret due to threats from North Korean agents who view her as a traitor.

Attempted assassination of Park Sang-hak

For over seven years, defector Park Sang-hak has sent balloons carrying leaflets criticizing the North Korean regime over the border from South Korea.

Pyongyang has threatened violent reprisals against the South for the practice, and in November 2012, it came after Park himself.

A North Korean assassin attempted to kill Park on the streets of Seoul using a pen modified to shoot poison-filled pellets and a small gun masquerading as a flashlight.

“You’d notice a gun, but these weapons are so innocuous, you can easily kill someone, I’d be dead immediately,” Park told CNN in 2012.

Fortunately for him, the would-be assassin was arrested on his way to Park, who was then given around the clock protection by police.

Kidnapping of Choi Eun-hee and Shin Sang-ok

Director Shin Sang-ok and leading lady Choi Eun-hee were once South Korean cinema royalty.

As Paul Fischer recounts in his biography of the pair, “A Kim Jong Il Production,” in January 1978, Choi was abducted by North Korean agents in Hong Kong’s Repulse Bay and taken to Pyongyang.

Shin was snatched six months later, also in Hong Kong, as he searched for information about what happened to his wife.

The 2016 documentary “The Lovers and the Despot,” includes tape, smuggled out of North Korea by the couple, of Kim discussing their kidnapping.

Choi and Shin escaped captivity while in Vienna for a film festival, fleeing to the US embassy and, eventually, to South Korea.

Spying in South Korea

Won Jeong-hwa was sentenced to five years in prison in 2008 after she confessed to seducing South Korean military officers in order to acquire classified information.

After her release, she said her femme fetale image had been exaggerated, but defended herself against claims she was just a low-level informant and not a spy.

“Spies are treated on the same level as generals, their education is to a similar high level. So it’s fair to say North Korea considers spies as very important,” Kim said.

Other abductions

Since the 1970s, North Korean agents have abducted at least 17, and possibly more than 100, Japanese citizens, snatching them off streets and beaches and smuggling them to North Korea.

While Tokyo only officially recognizes 17 victims, and North Korea has only admitted to taking 13, an independent commission has identified dozens more, including 15 since 2000.

In a 2014 report, a UN commission listed dozens of potential victims from around the world.

This post has been harvested from the source link, and News-Twitter has no responsibility on its content. Source link

0 notes

newstwitter-blog · 8 years ago

Text

New Post has been published on News Twitter

New Post has been published on http://www.news-twitter.com/2017/02/22/cnn-north-koreas-history-of-covert-operations-and-secret-killings-2/

CNN: North Korea's history of covert operations and secret killings

Kim was reportedly grabbed from behind and a poison liquid or rag put in his face, in an act South Korean lawmakers said was “terrorism” by the North.

If these allegations are true, it won’t be the first time Pyongyang has used covert operatives overseas to carry out its aims, sometimes with deadly results.

On November 29, 1987, Korean Air Flight 858 exploded in mid-air, killing all 115 people on board.

Two North Koreans planted a bomb in the overhead locker during a layover in Abu Dhabi. It exploded after both had disembarked and the plane was over the Andaman Sea en route to Bangkok.

After the bombers were traced by police to Bahrain, they attempted to kill themselves by taking cyanide pills. One bomber, Kim Hyon-hui, survived however, and was extradited to South Korea.

Speaking to an Australian television program in 2013, Kim said she had to live in secret due to threats from North Korean agents who view her as a traitor.

Attempted assassination of Park Sang-hak

For over seven years, defector Park Sang-hak has sent balloons carrying leaflets criticizing the North Korean regime over the border from South Korea.

Pyongyang has threatened violent reprisals against the South for the practice, and in November 2012, it came after Park himself.

A North Korean assassin attempted to kill Park on the streets of Seoul using a pen modified to shoot poison-filled pellets and a small gun masquerading as a flashlight.

“You’d notice a gun, but these weapons are so innocuous, you can easily kill someone, I’d be dead immediately,” Park told CNN in 2012.

Fortunately for him, the would-be assassin was arrested on his way to Park, who was then given around the clock protection by police.

Kidnapping of Choi Eun-hee and Shin Sang-ok

Director Shin Sang-ok and leading lady Choi Eun-hee were once South Korean cinema royalty.

As Paul Fischer recounts in his biography of the pair, “A Kim Jong Il Production,” in January 1978, Choi was abducted by North Korean agents in Hong Kong’s Repulse Bay and taken to Pyongyang.

Shin was snatched six months later, also in Hong Kong, as he searched for information about what happened to his wife.

The 2016 documentary “The Lovers and the Despot,” includes tape, smuggled out of North Korea by the couple, of Kim discussing their kidnapping.

Choi and Shin escaped captivity while in Vienna for a film festival, fleeing to the US embassy and, eventually, to South Korea.

Spying in South Korea

Won Jeong-hwa was sentenced to five years in prison in 2008 after she confessed to seducing South Korean military officers in order to acquire classified information.

After her release, she said her femme fetale image had been exaggerated, but defended herself against claims she was just a low-level informant and not a spy.

“Spies are treated on the same level as generals, their education is to a similar high level. So it’s fair to say North Korea considers spies as very important,” Kim said.

Other abductions

Since the 1970s, North Korean agents have abducted at least 17, and possibly more than 100, Japanese citizens, snatching them off streets and beaches and smuggling them to North Korea.

While Tokyo only officially recognizes 17 victims, and North Korea has only admitted to taking 13, an independent commission has identified dozens more, including 15 since 2000.

In a 2014 report, a UN commission listed dozens of potential victims from around the world.

This post has been harvested from the source link, and News-Twitter has no responsibility on its content. Source link

0 notes

newstwitter-blog · 8 years ago

Text

New Post has been published on News Twitter

New Post has been published on http://www.news-twitter.com/2017/02/22/cnn-north-koreas-history-of-covert-operations-and-secret-killings/

CNN: North Korea's history of covert operations and secret killings

Kim was reportedly grabbed from behind and a poison liquid or rag put in his face, in an act South Korean lawmakers said was “terrorism” by the North.

If these allegations are true, it won’t be the first time Pyongyang has used covert operatives overseas to carry out its aims, sometimes with deadly results.

On November 29, 1987, Korean Air Flight 858 exploded in mid-air, killing all 115 people on board.

Two North Koreans planted a bomb in the overhead locker during a layover in Abu Dhabi. It exploded after both had disembarked and the plane was over the Andaman Sea en route to Bangkok.

After the bombers were traced by police to Bahrain, they attempted to kill themselves by taking cyanide pills. One bomber, Kim Hyon-hui, survived however, and was extradited to South Korea.

Speaking to an Australian television program in 2013, Kim said she had to live in secret due to threats from North Korean agents who view her as a traitor.

Attempted assassination of Park Sang-hak

For over seven years, defector Park Sang-hak has sent balloons carrying leaflets criticizing the North Korean regime over the border from South Korea.

Pyongyang has threatened violent reprisals against the South for the practice, and in November 2012, it came after Park himself.

A North Korean assassin attempted to kill Park on the streets of Seoul using a pen modified to shoot poison-filled pellets and a small gun masquerading as a flashlight.

“You’d notice a gun, but these weapons are so innocuous, you can easily kill someone, I’d be dead immediately,” Park told CNN in 2012.

Fortunately for him, the would-be assassin was arrested on his way to Park, who was then given around the clock protection by police.

Kidnapping of Choi Eun-hee and Shin Sang-ok

Director Shin Sang-ok and leading lady Choi Eun-hee were once South Korean cinema royalty.

As Paul Fischer recounts in his biography of the pair, “A Kim Jong Il Production,” in January 1978, Choi was abducted by North Korean agents in Hong Kong’s Repulse Bay and taken to Pyongyang.

Shin was snatched six months later, also in Hong Kong, as he searched for information about what happened to his wife.

The 2016 documentary “The Lovers and the Despot,” includes tape, smuggled out of North Korea by the couple, of Kim discussing their kidnapping.

Choi and Shin escaped captivity while in Vienna for a film festival, fleeing to the US embassy and, eventually, to South Korea.

Spying in South Korea

Won Jeong-hwa was sentenced to five years in prison in 2008 after she confessed to seducing South Korean military officers in order to acquire classified information.

After her release, she said her femme fetale image had been exaggerated, but defended herself against claims she was just a low-level informant and not a spy.

“Spies are treated on the same level as generals, their education is to a similar high level. So it’s fair to say North Korea considers spies as very important,” Kim said.

Other abductions

Since the 1970s, North Korean agents have abducted at least 17, and possibly more than 100, Japanese citizens, snatching them off streets and beaches and smuggling them to North Korea.

While Tokyo only officially recognizes 17 victims, and North Korea has only admitted to taking 13, an independent commission has identified dozens more, including 15 since 2000.

In a 2014 report, a UN commission listed dozens of potential victims from around the world.

This post has been harvested from the source link, and News-Twitter has no responsibility on its content. Source link

0 notes