One of China’s top leaders to attend N. Korean anniversary ceremony

Authorities in North Korea have given their blessing to a collection of startups, with representatives traveling overseas to find new ideas. The U.S. administration had previously said the current stalemate was persisting because of Pyongyang’s refusal to respond to its own dialogue overtures.　The fact that the two sides have begun talking about “dialogue” does not necessarily hold any great meaning at the moment – particularly with the vast gulf in their focuses and expectations.

“We categorically reject the recognition of the de facto nuclear status of North Korea, which is incompatible with the status of Russian Federation as an architect and depositary of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty”, the diplomat said. He later defected in the 1990s and resettled in Japan in 2001 and was naturalized, according to the Asahi.

The second Japanese national in custody was arrested after entering a military facility in Zhejiang province, the Mainichi Shimbun reported. He may also have been under suspicion of spying, according to the sources.

Dandong, where the man was detained, is separated from North Korea by the Yalu River. Because of the ease in finding jobs in the city, it is not unusual for North Korean defectors to live there while passing themselves off as Chinese. “The North is preparing a parade event in commemoration of the party foundation”, a government official said. Kim Kwang Chol, a senior researcher with the UnJong Hi-Tech Corporation, said he was interested in the different business models he had seen, and was thinking about how they could be implemented in North Korea. The point was further stressed by a Ministry of National Defense official who was quoted in Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper on October. 2 in connection with reports that South Korea, the USA, and Japan had confirmed movements to the North Korean launch site at Tongchang Village in North Pyongyang Province by a freight train believed to be coming from a munitions factory in Pyongyang’s Saneum neighborhood. For that reason, Chinese authorities are said to be on the lookout for not only smugglers and illegal immigrants but also spies.

Other sources said that freight vehicles were temporarily suspended from using the Yalu River Bridge linking Dandong with the North Korean city of Sinuiju until late into the night on September 28 after damage to the surface of the bridge caused a truck to turn over.

Concerns have risen in recent years over the frayed ties between Beijing and Pyongyang.