Latest news with #NorthKoreans
Wall Street Journal
2 days ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
How to Spot North Korean Scammers in the American Workforce: Look for Minions
American tech companies have a serious problem with a despicable twist. The FBI believes thousands of North Koreans have infiltrated the U.S. workforce by assuming the identities of Americans to secure remote jobs. Many of them, investigators have found, are bound by a few defining characteristics: total devotion to Dear Leader Kim Jong Un, a penchant for stealing cryptocurrency and an obsession with Minions, the cuddly yellow agents of evil from 'Despicable Me.'
AllAfrica
3 days ago
- Politics
- AllAfrica
The strange disappearance of the US-North Korea conflict
If you'd lived in America, fallen into a coma in early 2018 and awakened in 2025, you might wonder what became of the US-North Korea conflict. You would remember that at the time you lost consciousness, war seemed almost inevitable. US opinion leaders had convinced you that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) government is irrational or reckless. Nightmarishly, the reputedly crazy North Koreans were trying to develop nuclear-armed missiles. Their steady progress was visible to the outside world through test nuclear explosions and practice missile launches. You would also remember that Pyongyang had repeatedly taunted the Americans, as well as the Japanese and the South Koreans, about its eagerness to nuke them once it had the capability. Outgoing President Barrack Obama had warned incoming President Donald Trump that dealing with North Korea's ambition to get nuclear weapons should be the new administration's top priority. The first-term Trump Administration indicated it was prepared to take preventive military action against North Korea. Trump's national security advisor said it would be 'intolerable' for the North Koreans to 'have nuclear weapons that can threaten the United States.' Trump himself said 'It won't happen!' Trump also famously said North Korean 'threats'– he didn't say an actual attack – 'will be met with fire and fury.' In January 2017, Washington seriously considered launching a limited 'bloody nose' attack on the DPRK with the hope of frightening Kim into halting his nuclear weapons program. Experts were quick to point out that such an attack could inadvertently lead to a larger war. Despite the warnings, you would recall, North Korea proceeded with its project. A sixth test in September 2017 of what the DPRK said was a thermonuclear device produced an especially large explosion. North Korean technicians continued to improve on their long-range missiles, with test flights in 2017 indicating the missiles could reach most or even all of the continental US. Discovering that there had been no second Korean War while you slept, you would ask: did Washington and Pyongyang reach some kind of rapprochement? No, your friends would answer; far from it. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are still high, they would explain. Washington still maintains economic sanctions against the DPRK and demands de-nuclearization, while Pyongyang continues to increase its nuclear arsenal and add more varied and sophisticated delivery systems, including submarine-launched ballistic missiles and hypersonic glide vehicles. The new solid-fueled Hwasong-19 appears designed to carry multiple warheads to all parts of the US. In 2022 the DPRK government passed a law allowing the launch of a pre-emptive nuclear attack in some circumstances. The DPRK government has renounced reunification and says it now considers South Koreans enemies. On top of this, North Korea is supporting Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine with troops and supplies of munitions, while presumably gaining in return Russian assistance to enhance the performance of DPRK missiles and submarines. Why, during the years of our hypothetical coma, did American attention dramatically shift away from the post-nuclear DPRK? There are two parts to the explanation. First, governments have considerable power to set the agenda of national discourse by highlighting some issues and ignoring others. That power is maximized in the area of foreign affairs, which are generally not as visible to the public as domestic issues. The public is heavily reliant on information provided by the government to know what potentially threatening capabilities a distant hostile country possesses, and whether or not the home country has effective countermeasures. There are, of course, limits to the ability of officials to control a narrative. The Biden Administration wanted to hide or at least downplay the discovery of a Chinese spy balloon over the US in 2023, but public opinion forced the government to confront the issue after private citizens publicized sightings of the balloon. Similarly, Pyongyang can thrust itself into the limelight through an eye-catching statement or act. But to a large degree the US government, and especially the executive branch, can choose to either elevate or neglect the issue of DPRK nuclear missiles, and the level of interest among the mass public will mostly conform. The first Trump Administration benefitted from highlighting Pyongyang's acquisition of nuclear weapons. In 2017 Trump took the opportunity supplied by the DPRK to portray himself as a protector of the American people with the will to destroy an enemy country if necessary. In 2018 and 2019 North Korea became useful as a Nobel Prize vehicle, with Trump attempting to demonstrate his self-touted diplomatic skills through summitry with Kim Jong-un. In his eagerness to get credit for a success, Trump prematurely announced after the Singapore summit in June 2018 that 'There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea.' With the collapse of the second summit in Hanoi the following year, there was no prospect of a diplomatic breakthrough for the remainder of Trump's term. The DPRK became a low-key issue, with Trump taking the position that the North Korea problem was under control because Pyongyang wasn't testing long-range missiles and because Trump still had a good relationship with Kim. North Korea remained on the US policy back burner, and hence was little discussed, during the Biden Administration. It became clear Pyongyang intended to keep rather than bargain away its nuclear and missile programs. The Biden team said call us if you want to talk about denuclearization – which Pyongyang did not – and focused on strengthening security cooperation among the US, South Korea and Japan. The second part of the explanation is the US government has found that it actually can tolerate a nuclear-armed DPRK. Pyongyang has not behaved significantly more aggressively since acquiring nuclear weapons. There have been no fatal 'provocations' by the DPRK military since the sinking of the South Korean Navy ship Cheonan and the shelling of South Korea-occupied Greater Yeonpyeong Island in 2010, after which Seoul publicly pledged to retaliate militarily against any future incidents. Pyongyang has not tried to use nuclear weapons to coerce Seoul into halting military exercises, ceding territory to the DPRK, paying protection money or surrendering South Korean sovereignty. Kim has said he wants his country to gain recognition as a 'responsible' nuclear weapons power. The US government has settled into occasionally restating that America's own nuclear arsenal and the US commitment to protect its East Asian allies are sufficient to deter a North Korean nuclear attack. Trump seems interested in reviving high-level diplomacy with Pyongyang. However, according to some reports, North Korea will remain a low priority issue as the second Trump Administration focuses instead on China. If considering a pre-emptive military strike on the DPRK in 2017 was an over-reaction, the US government now draws criticism for growing too comfortable with the new status quo. NK Pro analyst Chad O'Carroll protests that 'Washington is asleep at the wheel even as the DPRK advances its nuclear program and deepens military ties with Russia.' Rather than inattentiveness, the lack of US engagement reflects the realization that Washington is frustratingly powerless to influence decision-making in Pyongyang, and that a tense stability is the best available outcome. Denny Roy is a senior fellow of the East-West Center, Honolulu.
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
4 days ago
- Business
- First Post
North Korea. Russia deepen alliance; Apples, ammunition & manpower cross the border
While Russia may gain labour and weapons, the benefits to North Korea are not purely economic, as access to Russian funding and technology would likely accelerate the North's weapons programme read more North Korean apples have begun to appear on supermarket shelves in Russia as growing commercial and military ties between Moscow and Pyongyang take on new significance. One year after Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un signed a strategic partnership at a ceremony in Pyongyang, the two authoritarian states are rapidly expanding co-operation that goes well beyond the battlefield in Ukraine. Trade and business links have proliferated over the past twelve months. North Korean fishing vessels have surged into waters off Russia's far east coast, and companies from the reclusive regime are registering trademarks for products as varied as jam, beer, accordions and sausages. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD North Korea's presence is growing in the Russian marketplace, and a raft of new infrastructure projects and workforce deployments suggests the partnership is being built to endure. A $100mn bridge is under construction over the Tumen river to improve cross-border road access. A dormant 10,000km rail link between Moscow and Pyongyang may also be revived. Russian theatre groups have performed in the North Korean capital, while athletes and university officials have travelled between the two countries in growing numbers. Last week, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov met Kim on his yacht near the beach resort of Wonsan. Kim pledged 'unconditionally support' for Russia's aims in Ukraine. Lavrov responded by saying Russia 'respects and understands' North Korea's pursuit of a nuclear weapons programme. Financial Times quoted Andrei Lankov, a North Korea expert at Kookmin University in Seoul, as saying that the two sides have become more open about their collaboration. 'Having previously downplayed the extent of their military co-operation, the two countries now want the world to know that their relationship is being built to last.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Soldiers for roubles As well as economic integration, the most significant support from Pyongyang to Moscow has come in the form of weapons and soldiers. South Korean intelligence reported that since October, North Korea has sent 12 million artillery shells to Russia and deployed an estimated 13,000 troops to the Kursk region. The deployments are thought to have suffered heavy losses, but Russian officials have publicly praised the contribution. Sergei Shoigu, head of Russia's Security Council, lauded the North Koreans for defending Russia 'as if it was their own motherland'. Shoigu has since announced that a further 6,000 North Koreans will be sent to Russia, including 5,000 military construction workers. Lankov believes this could be a 'trial run' to assess North Korea's potential to meet Russia's labour needs and allow more domestic troops to be redirected to the war in Ukraine. Peter Ward, a research fellow at the Sejong Institute, said the cash and in-kind payments from Moscow could significantly revive North Korea's stagnating mining and agricultural sectors. 'Even modest investments in rural infrastructure could bring real benefits for swaths of the North Korean population,' he said. But Ward added a note of caution. 'While some of it will be spent on improving conditions for some of its own people, in reality a lot of it is likely to be wasted on prestige projects like skyscrapers in Pyongyang and other privileges for the elite.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Growing mutual leverage While Russia may gain labour and weapons, the benefits to North Korea are not purely economic. Victor Cha, Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said that access to Russian funding and technology would likely accelerate the North's weapons programme. Ward noted that even after the war in Ukraine ends, the alliance would give both countries 'greater capacity to resist western diplomatic pressure'. Trump-era diplomacy may be ill-suited to this new alignment. In March, Donald Trump signalled a desire to re-engage with Kim, calling North Korea a 'big nuclear nation' and the North Korean leader a 'very smart guy'. But Cha believes the calculus has changed. 'Trump should not imagine that his bonhomie will somehow sour Kim on a lucrative relationship with Russia, or convince the North Korean leader to cede the tremendous leverage he now enjoys."
1News
5 days ago
- Business
- 1News
North Korea bans foreign tourists to newly opened beach resort
North Korea is banning the entry of foreign tourists to a recently opened mega beach resort, a move that dims prospects for the complex that leader Kim Jong Un hailed it as "one of the greatest successes this year". DPR Korea Tour, a website run by North Korea's tourism authorities, said in a notice that the eastern coastal Wonsan-Kalma tourist complex "is temporarily not receiving foreign tourists". It gave no further details including why a ban was established or how long it would last. North Korea says the complex can accommodate nearly 20,000 guests. The resort opened to domestic tourists July 1 before receiving a small group of Russian tourists last week. Observers expected North Korea to open the resort to Chinese tourists while largely blocking other international tourists. Ban comes after visit by Russia's top diplomat The announcement came after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov flew to the complex to meet Kim and Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui for talks last weekend. ADVERTISEMENT North Korea and Russia have sharply expanded military and other cooperation in recent years, with North Korea supplying weapons and troops to back Russia's war against Ukraine. During a meeting with Choe, Lavrov promised to take steps to support Russian travel to the zone. "I am sure that Russian tourists will be increasingly eager to come here," he said. But experts say North Korea likely decided to halt foreign travel to the zone because of a newspaper article by a Russian reporter who travelled with Lavrov that implied North Koreans at the zone appeared to be mobilised by authorities and not real tourists. "The North Korean government is believed to have determined that it would face some negative consequences when it opens the site to foreigners," said Oh Gyeong-seob, an analyst at Seoul's Korea Institute for National Unification. A beach resort in the Wonsan-Kalma eastern coastal tourist zone on July 1, 2025. (Source: Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP) Oh said the ban would include Russians, but the North Korea-focused NK News website, citing tour groups specialising in North Korea trips, said Russians won't likely be targeted. Analyst Lee Sangkeun of Seoul's Institute for National Security Strategy said the ban could be associated with difficulties in recruiting Russian tourists because many would consider North Korea too far away and the trip too expensive. ADVERTISEMENT Ban likely won't remain for long Experts say North Korea must open the Wonsan-Kalma zone, the country's biggest tourist complex, to Russian and Chinese tourists, given what was likely a huge construction and operational expenditure from the country's tight budget. "If foreign tourists aren't allowed to the site, no Russian rubles, Chinese yuans and dollars won't come in. Then, North Korea can't break even and it has to shut down the resort," said Ahn Chan-il, head of the World Institute for North Korean Studies think tank in Seoul. Kim has said the site would be "one of the greatest successes this year" and "the proud first step" in tourism development. North Korea's state media reports the Wonsan-Kalma site has been crowded with local tourists. The first group of 15 Russian tourists arrived in the resort July 11 after visiting Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, NK News reported earlier this week. "It was magnificent. Everything is new, clean and stunning," Russian tourist Nina Svirida said in the report. North Korea has been slowly easing the curbs imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic and reopening its borders in phases. But the country hasn't said if it would fully resume international tourism. ADVERTISEMENT Chinese group tours, which made up more than 90% of visitors before the pandemic, remain stalled. In February, North Korea allowed a small group of international tourists to visit the northeastern city of Rason, only to stop the programme in less than a month.
Gulf Today
5 days ago
- Politics
- Gulf Today
North Korea bans foreign tourists to newly opened beach resort
North Korea is banning the entry of foreign tourists to a recently opened mega beach resort, a move that dims prospects for the complex that leader Kim Jong Un hailed it as "one of the greatest successes this year.' DPR Korea Tour, a website run by North Korea's tourism authorities, said in a notice Friday that the eastern coastal Wonsan-Kalma tourist complex "is temporarily not receiving foreign tourists.' It gave no further details including why a ban was established or how long it would last. North Korea says the complex can accommodate nearly 20,000 guests. The resort opened to domestic tourists July 1 before receiving a small group of Russian tourists last week. Observers expected North Korea to open the resort to Chinese tourists while largely blocking other international tourists. The announcement came after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov flew to the complex to meet Kim and Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui for talks last weekend. Domestic tourists visit the Mokran Recreation Centre at the Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Area in Wonsan. AFP North Korea and Russia have sharply expanded military and other cooperation in recent years, with North Korea supplying weapons and troops to back Russia's war against Ukraine. During a meeting with Choe, Lavrov promised to take steps to support Russian travel to the zone. "I am sure that Russian tourists will be increasingly eager to come here,' he said. But experts say North Korea likely decided to halt foreigner travels to the zone because of a newspaper article by a Russian reporter who travelled with Lavrov that implied North Koreans at the zone appeared to be mobilized by authorities and not real tourists. "The North Korean government is believed to have determined that it would face some negative consequences when it opens the site to foreigners,' said Oh Gyeong-seob, an analyst at Seoul's Korea Institute for National Unification. Oh said the ban would include Russians, but the North Korea-focused NK News website, citing tour groups specializing in North Korea trips, said Russians won't likely be targeted. Domestic tourists react after riding a slide into a swimming pool at the Myongsasimni Water Park in the Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Area in Wonsan. AFP Analyst Lee Sangkeun of Seoul's Institute for National Security Strategy said the ban could be associated with difficulties in recruiting Russian tourists because many would consider North Korea too far away and the trip too expensive. Experts say North Korea must open the Wonsan-Kalma zone, the country's biggest tourist complex, to Russian and Chinese tourists, given what was likely a huge construction and operational expenditure from the country's tight budget. "If foreign tourists aren't allowed to the site, no Russian rubles, Chinese yuans and dollars won't come in. Then, North Korea can't break even and it has to shut down the resort,' said Ahn Chan-il, head of the World Institute for North Korean Studies think tank in Seoul. Kim has said the site would be "one of the greatest successes this year' and "the proud first step' in tourism development. North Korea's state media reports the Wonsan-Kalma site has been crowded with local tourists. The first group of 15 Russian tourists arrived in the resort July 11 after visiting Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, NK News reported earlier this week. "It was magnificent. Everything is new, clean and stunning," Russian tourist Nina Svirida said in the report. North Korea has been slowly easing the curbs imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic and reopening its borders in phases. But the country hasn't said if it would fully resume international tourism. Chinese group tours, which made up more than 90% of visitors before the pandemic, remain stalled. In February, North Korea allowed a small group of international tourists to visit the northeastern city of Rason, only to stop the program in less than a month. Associated Press
