It appears to me that the Kim regime is using this likely manufactured story as a way to take shots at both the ROK and China as nations that cannot be trusted:
A source in North Korea told Japan press that North Korean soldiers crossed the border with China at Tumen to arrest two suspects planning to assassinate Kim Jong Un. Pictured: A bulldozer and truck cross a bridge into Namyang, North Korea, from Tumen, China. File photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo
At least two suspects who attempted to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were arrested, according to unconfirmed reports in the country.
The suspects had been reportedly arrested at the China border near the Tumen River as they were preparing a hit on Kim in the city of Hoeryong in North Hamgyong Province, Radio Free Asia reported Thursday.
A source in the North who spoke to Japanese news service Asia Press on the condition of anonymity said he had heard the “terrorists” had not yet crossed the Tumen, which separates North Korea from China, when North Korean border guards crossed the border to arrest them.
The source went on to say the suspects were transferred to the State Security Department, and that the border guards were given rewards – including a chance to become members of the Korean Workers’ Party.
One of the suspects is allegedly a North Korean defector from the South, but the other one or more were Chinese nationals.
Japanese journalist Jiro Ishimaru, founder of Asia Press, said it is likely a rumor that was manufactured by the state to bolster support for the party ahead of its Seventh Congress in May. [UPI via reader tip]
North Korea’s top leader Kim Jong-un (C) visits the Sinhung Machine Plant in South Hamkyong Province, north of Pyongyang, in this photo provided by the country’s ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun on April 1, 2016. The daily said Kim emphasized the plant’s role in building the country’s economic power through knowledge-based economy. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
That is what this North Korean defector who once worked as a body guard for Kim Jong-un’s dad, Kim Jong-il thinks:
A former bodyguard to the late Kim Jong Ilsaid the current North Korean leader leads a life of luxury while ordinary North Koreans die of hunger.
After speaking at the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, defector Lee Young-guk told Voice of America Tuesday Kim Jong Un should be referred to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
According to Lee, Kim has built 14 luxury villas for his enjoyment and makes seasonal visits to each retreat to go hunting or swimming.
The defector said that as the leader of North Korea Kim should be taking care of his people, but is instead pursuing his own interests.
Lee added Kim should take responsibility for the countless North Koreans languishing in political prison camps, where they are dying from hunger, malnutrition and beatings.
Information control in North Korea is tight, and the Pyongyang regime “closes the eyes and ears” of the people – preventing most, even senior officials, from ever knowing anything about Kim’s lavish lifestyle and the abject conditions in the prison camps.
Lee said Kim needs to be referred to the ICC, if it means North Koreans can now know the truth about the leadership. [UPI]
I would think that anyone that is part of the ruling regime would appear to have a lavish lifestyle compared to ordinary North Koreans:
North Korea‘s first lady Ri Sol Ju is rarely seen in public, but according to a recent report, the wife of leader Kim Jong Un is not well liked.
Ri is best known for her love of luxury goods that suggest she leads a lavish lifestyle, Asia Press reported Wednesday.
North Korean reporters who went undercover to gather opinions about life in the secluded country said Ri gets bad ratings for her choices at a time when many North Koreans say their standard of living has worsened since Kim came to power.
North Koreans who were interviewed anonymously called Kim a “rookie” and “fearsome.”
But they reserved their most negative remarks for Ri, who, according to the report is 26 years old and traveled to South Korea in 2005 with a North Korean cheerleading squad during the Asian Athletics Championship in Incheon.
Some North Koreans complained that they were irritated with her debut on state media, where she was touted as “Respectable Comrade Ri Sol Ju.”
One male worker in the North Korean province of Yanggangdo said the title was undeserved, adding, “What did she do to earn such praise? And why does she carry a moneybag everywhere she goes? Is she giving out money?”
Ri is often seen with an expensive French purse on her arm. [UPI]
This does make you wonder if for security precautions the North Koreans kept Kim Jong-un indoors somewhere or maybe he was just to lazy to show up for the picture?:
Recent photographs of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appeared to have been doctored, prompting speculation regarding Kim’s wariness about his personal safety as tensions rise on the peninsula.
The photographs that ran on the seventh page of state newspaper Rodong Sinmun on Friday show Kim surrounded by a large group of party officials, posing before the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo reported.
Kumsusan is also the mausoleum of the late Kim Il Sung, North Korea’s founder.
But something doesn’t look quite right.
On closer inspection, the main flag at the top of the building flutters in one direction, while a group of flags in the background flies in the opposite way, an unlikely phenomenon if wind was blowing at the time the photograph was taken. [Business Insider]
