South Korea, Russia agree to work together for U.N

“North Korea needed a good result to celebrate at the congress and that was the hydrogen bomb test”, said Lee Cheol-woo, a member of South Korea’s parliamentary intelligence committee, citing a briefing by the South’s intelligence agency. He lives as close as he can to the demilitarized zone to make this work easier.

But there are doubts that the messages from Pyongyang will have the same cut-through with more affluent citizens of South Korea.

Shigeo Iizuka, the 76-year-old head of the Kazoku Kai (Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea), said he hoped that “pressure from the United Nations would push North Korea to move things forward” in resolving the issue dating to the 1970s and ’80s.

So how did North Korea react in the face of heavy censure and condemnation? South Korea is also considering setting up giant electronic displays in addition to existing loudspeakers to reinforce its psychological message.

The work of South Korean activists such as Lee is at the vanguard of the propaganda attacks on North Korea.

“We believe that China has a special role to play given the special relationship that it has with North Korea”, Blinken told reporters after meeting with South Korean officials.

Riding the wave of the popularity of K-pop and culture in China, South Korea’s Culture Minister Kim Jong-deok said his ministry will develop various tour packages specialized in fashion, beauty, culture and leisure.

If the veteran military official has indeed been tapped to lead the bureau, analysts say it could effectively mean “an end to dialogue” until South Korea elects a new president and President Park Geun-hye’s single five-year term ends in February 2018. The appointment had not been announced by the North Korean regime as of Monday.

It begs the question: why would anyone who has successfully managed to escape North Korea – from where travel is highly restricted – want to return?

The helium balloons reportedly have timers that cause them to explode and scatter the leaflets.

The Congressional Research Service stated in a report issued Friday that opinions were divided on whether North Korea has the capacity to miniaturize nuclear weapons that could then be mounted on a ballistic missile.

“We reconfirmed our joint goal that North Korea should be made to pay a corresponding price for its misdeed”, Lim said, standing alongside with Blinken. “It’s time we step up our campaign and the government step up its campaign, too”.