PYONGYANG: It has been five years since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un came to power. Under his rule, there appear to be signs of rising prosperity on the streets of Pyongyang based on the rare glimpses granted to outsiders, but little else is known about the hermit kingdom.
Dr Cheng Xiaohe, a North Korean expert from the Renmin University of China told Channel NewsAsia: “The past five years would have been very dangerous, fragile and volatile years for this young leader and he’s survived. And I believe he has consolidated his power base and he will continue to rule his country in the foreseeable future. “
The isolated country has also conducted an unprecedented level of nuclear and missile tests over the last year. And it may have acquired the capability to deliver a nuclear weapon on a missile, though the US government has expressed doubts on that, along with President-elect Donald Trump who dismissed the idea that North Korean missiles could reach US territory by stating “It won’t happen! ” on Twitter.
Observers have noted that North Korea has been uncharacteristically restrained in the last few months as South Korea sank into a political crisis that saw the impeachment in parliament of President Park Geun-hye. The isolated country has not conducted ballistic missile or nuclear tests since September, even as the United Nations tightened sanctions that aimed at choking off its nuclear ambitions.
Zhao Tong, an associate in Carnegie’s Nuclear Policy Program based at the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center for Global Policy said: “North Korea is hoping that maybe there’ll be a more liberal president elected after President Park, and that new president might want to engage with Norea Korea and negotiate about North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes, and therefore it serves further incentives for North Korea to wait and see. “
It is less clear though, if the incoming Trump administration would be a boon or a bane for Mr Kim.
Trump had sent mixed signals regarding North Korea on the campaign trail. On the one hand, he had alarmed many by threatening to withdraw US troops from allies Japan and South Korea if they did not pay more. On the other, he had said that he is willing to negotiate directly with North Korea’s Kim to convince him to end his nuclear ambitions.
He also laid blame on China for not doing more to reel in North Korea – an accusation that Beijing rejected.
Said Dr Cheng: “We don’t know what’s going to be happen on the China and United States’ relationship after Mr Trump assumes power, and also, we don’t know who’s going to win the presidential elections in South Korea. And also, we don’t know what the DPRK’s leaders are thinking right now, so all the things combine to create huge uncertainties for the situation on the Korean Peninsula.”
This huge uncertainty has some observers in China, a staunch ally of North Korea, worried.
Said Zhao: “Trump is also very well-known for making quick decisions, and there is a danger there because if Trump sees that North Korea is about to launch a long-range or intercontinental range ballistic missile test, he might very well go ahead and order a pre-emptive strike to take out the missile on the launch pad, and that could prove to be very provocative and may even lead to a regional conflict.”
Experts have said North Korea may conduct new nuclear and missile tests early 2017, when Mr Trump officially assumes power, just as what it did when President Barack Obama took office. And if that happens, it may just be what it would take to clear up the confusion over Mr Trump’s policy on North Korea.

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North Korea ‘s nuclear weapons capabilities and ballistic missile defense programs constitute a “serious threat” to the United States, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Sunday.
The United States is prepared to shoot down a North Korean missile launch or test “if it were coming towards our territory or the territory of our friends and allies,” Carter said during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press. ”
North Korea declared on Sunday it can test-launch an intercontinental ballistic missile at any time from any location set by leader Kim Jong Un , saying a hostile U. S. policy is to blame for its arms development.
Kim said on Jan. 1 that his nuclear-capable country was close to test-launching an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
“The ICBM will be launched anytime and anywhere determined by the supreme headquarters of the DPRK,” an unnamed Foreign Ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by the official KCNA news agency, using the acronym for the country’s name.
The North is formally known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The United States said on Jan. 5 that North Korea had demonstrated a “qualitative” improvement in its nuclear and missile capabilities after an unprecedented level of tests last year.
North Korea has been testing rocket engines and heat-shields for an ICBM while developing the technology to guide a missile after re-entry into the atmosphere following a lift-off, experts have said.
While Pyongyang is close to a test, it is likely to take some years to perfect the weapon, according to the experts.
Once fully developed, a North Korean ICBM could threaten the continental United States, which is around 9,000 km (5,500 miles) from the North. ICBMs have a minimum range of about 5,500 km (3,400 miles), but some are designed to travel 10,000 km (6,200 miles) or further.
U. S. President-elect Donald Trump responded to Kim’s comments on an ICBM test by declaring in a tweet last week that “It won’t happen! ”
A U. S. State Department spokesman said last week that the United States does not believe that North Korea is capable of mounting a nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile.
North Korea has been under U. N. sanctions since 2006 over its nuclear and ballistic missile tests. The sanctions were tightened last month after Pyongyang conducted its fifth and largest nuclear test on Sept. 9.
“The U. S. is wholly to blame for pushing the DPRK to have developed ICBM as it has desperately resorted to anachronistic policy hostile toward the DPRK for decades to encroach upon its sovereignty and vital rights,” KCNA quoted the spokesman as saying.
“Anyone who wants to deal with the DPRK would be well advised to secure a new way of thinking after having clear understanding of it,” the spokesman said, according to KCNA.

© Source: http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/08/us-may-shoot-down-north-korean-ballistic-missile-test-carter-says.html
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North Korea marked Kim Jong-un’s birthday on Sunday in a decidedly low-key manner. Though the young leader’s birthday is well-known throughout the country, it has yet to be celebrated with the kind of adulatory festivities that accompany the birthdays of his late grandfather and father. Pyongyang residents did what they do every second Sunday of the new year – joined in sports events. Kim Jong-un, who is believed to be 33 or 34 and the world’s youngest head of state, assumed power after the death of his father, Kim Jong-il, in late 2011. With the official period of mourning his father’s death over and his own power base apparently solid, Kim presided over a once-in-a-generation party congress last May that was seen by many as something of a coronation and the beginning of the Kim Jong-un era. But he has continued to keep a step or two behind his predecessors in the country’s intense cult of personality. Kim’s grandfather, “eternal president” Kim Il-sung, and Kim Jong-il statues and portraits are found in virtually every public space or home. Their pins are worn over the hearts of every adult man and woman. Rumours were rife that a new pin featuring Kim Jong-un would be issued during the May party congress, but they proved to be unfounded. Calendars for this year don’t denote January 8 as anything other than a normal on Sunday, and there was no mention of the birthday in , the ruling party newspaper. The only time Kim has been honoured in public on his birthday was in 2014, when former NBA star Dennis Rodman sang to him before an exhibition basketball game in Pyongyang. North Korean officials say the low-key approach – and the very little information made public about his wife and family – reflects Kim’s “humble” nature and respect for his forbearers. Kim seemed to amplify that image in his annual New Year’s address, when he closed with remarks about his desire to be a better leader. Even so, 2017 could turn out to be a bigger than normal year in North Korea for Kim-related events. State media have suggested Kim Jong-il’s birthday in February and especially Kim Il-sung’s birthday in April will be celebrated in a more lavish than usual manner, though exactly what’s in store is not known. And Kim Jong-un has already had something of a big New Year’s event – days after his address, tens of thousands of North Koreans rallied in Pyongyang in the customary show of support for their leader.

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North Korea said on Sunday it can test-launch an intercontinental ballistic missile  (ICBM)  at any time from any location set by leader Kim Jong-un, adding the United States’ hostile policy was to blame for its arms development.
Kim said on January 1 his nuclear-capable country was close to test-launching an  ICBM.
“The ICBM will be launched anytime and anywhere determined by the supreme headquarters of the DPRK,” an unnamed foreign ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by the official KCNA news agency, using the acronym for the country’s name.
Analysts: North Korea not bluffing on ICBM launch
The North is formally known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Ashton Carter, the US defence secretary, said on Sunday that North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes constitute a “serious threat” to the US.
Washington is prepared to shoot down a North Korean missile launch or test “if it were coming towards our territory, or the territory of our friends and allies”, Carter said during an appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press.
The US said on Thursday that North Korea had demonstrated a “qualitative” improvement in its nuclear and missile capabilities after an unprecedented level of tests last year.
Analysts have said while Pyongyang may be close to testing an ICBM, it would likely take years to perfect the weapon.
Once fully developed, a North Korean ICBM could threaten the continental US, which is about 9,000km from the North.
US president-elect Donald Trump responded last week to Kim’s comments on an ICBM test by declaring in a tweet, “It won’t happen! ”
Kim Jong-un says close to testing long-range missile
North Korea has been under UN sanctions since 2006 over its nuclear and ballistic missile tests. The sanctions were tightened last month after Pyongyang conducted its fifth and largest nuclear test on September 9.
“The US is wholly to blame for pushing the DPRK to have developed ICBM as it has desperately resorted to anachronistic policy hostile toward the DPRK for decades to encroach upon its sovereignty and vital rights,” KCNA quoted the spokesman as saying.
“Anyone who wants to deal with the DPRK would be well advised to secure a new way of thinking after having clear understanding of it. ”
Source:   News agencies

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The reported kidnapping of a South Korean businessman by a crooked policeman, who allegedly used President Duterte’s unyielding war on drugs to carry out the crime, was a “matter of concern,” a Malacañang official said on Sunday.
Dubbed as “Tokhang for ransom,” the ploy has cops knocking on the doors of big businessmen in the fashion of the national law enforcement project, only this one involves kidnapping and extortion.
Police involved
Ernesto Abella, Mr. Duterte’s spokesperson, deferred to comment fully on the case of Jee Ick-joo, 53, who was forcibly taken on Oct. 18 from his house in Angeles City by two men, one of whom was allegedly a member of the Philippine National Police Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (PNP-AIDG) in Camp Crame.
He said he would still have to confirm from the authorities the circumstances regarding the foreign national’s disappearance.
“We can say that it’s a matter of concern, but it’s not alarming because the police scalawags are already existing,” Abella told the Inquirer in a mobile phone interview.
“I will confirm this case and I’ll see what I can do,” he added.
Earlier, Jee’s wife, Choi Kyung-jin, said in an interview that she has no plans to go after the kidnappers. “I am just after my husband,” she said.
She said she hoped the President would use his authority to locate her husband’s whereabouts.
“If my husband comes back to us alive, I will not file any case against the kidnappers, stop all cases that are ongoing and I will go back to my country, Korea, with [my] husband,” she said in her plea on social media.
Choi, who last saw her husband at 9 a.m. on Oct. 18, was unable to contact him until the following day.
Neighbors then surfaced to report what they saw: her husband being dragged into his black SUV by several men, one of whom was identified as a policeman.
Choi saw the incident as captured by a security camera at the house across the street.
No amount of resistance was able to stop the kidnappers, who even got help from a group of men aboard another vehicle—a black Toyota Hilux—parked in front of the house. The vehicle later turned out to be registered under the name of the wife of the suspect police officer.
Marisa Dawis, the couple’s helper, was also abducted.
Investigation by the PNP-AIDG showed that two men initially went inside the house and introduced themselves as police officers, conducted a search and eventually destroyed closets in the process.
PNP Anti-Kidnapping Group Luzon unit chief Senior Supt. Rodolfo Castil Jr., in a letter addressed to Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Theodore Villanueva, recommended the investigation of the suspects for kidnapping for ransom and serious illegal detention.
The suspects are one police officer assigned to the PNP-AIDG, another identified male, three unidentified men with detailed descriptions and several “John Does.” The names of the identified suspects were withheld upon request of Choi for fear of further harm of her family.
P8-million ransom
On her own, Choi negotiated with the kidnappers after they texted her, demanding a ransom of P8 million. She delivered the the negotiated amount—P5 million—to the designated location but her husband was not released.
Three days after, the kidnappers demanded an additional P4.5 million which she could no longer deliver.
She had no recourse then but to tell the police of the ransom payment.
No word has been heard from the kidnappers since then.
Choi said it was her hope that her husband remained alive and well.

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