North Korea vows to revisit 'nuclear issue' after alleged plot

North Korea said Friday it will "review the nuclear issue" after arresting a North Korean defector for allegedly plotting to destroy statues of the late leader Kim Il Sung at the behest of the United States and South Korea.

State media reported Thursday that North Korean defector Jon Yong Chol said South Korean and U.S. intelligence agencies had ordered him to return to the country to blow up statues and monuments, a bid to make it appear that North Korea was suffering internal unrest. Jon appeared on North Korean television Thursday giving an extensive account of how the alleged attacks were planned.

South Korea has denied the allegation as groundless. One government official was quoted in the newspaper Chosun Ilbo dismissing the idea as an "improbable plot."

The North Korean Foreign Ministry added in a statement run on state media Friday that by backing the plot, the U.S. had violated a deal with Pyongyang to pull back on its nuclear program.

"The situation forces us to completely review the nuclear issue," it concluded.

It is unclear what a nuclear review might mean. A failed North Korean rocket launch earlier this year -- widely believed to be a cover for testing its ballistic missile technology -– spurred fears that the country would turn next to a nuclear test, as it did after unsuccessful launches in 2006 and 2009.

Earlier this year, North Korea said it had no plans to carry out a nuclear test. The Friday announcement spurred speculation over whether the country's leadership could be reconsidering.

"North Korea is not expected to translate its threat into action for a while. But it is saying it can take action if the United States continues to ignore its calls," Yang Moo Jin of the University of North Korean Studies told the Agence France-Presse news service.

Military chief's ouster may be power play by North Korean leader

BEIJING -- Analysts say the surprise dismissal of the North Korean military chief from his senior posts Monday may be a calculated political move aimed at cementing the absolute rule of the nation's new leader, Kim Jong Un.

North Korean state media announced Ri Yong Ho was relieved of his position because of illness, but it’s not unusual for senior leaders to keep their posts even if they are seriously debilitated.

The removal of Ri represents one of the most decisive moves yet by Kim Jong Un as he consolidates power after the death last year of his father, Kim Jong Il.

“Ri being a powerful figure has a chilling effect. It sends a signal to anyone in the system that no one is above Kim Jung Un and anyone can be targeted for removal,” said Daniel Pinkston, a North Korea analyst at the International Crisis Group.

Pinkston, who recently returned from visiting North Korea, said cities and the countryside are already inundated with images of the new leader, estimated to be in his late 20s, painted on billboards and even mountainsides.

“In April there was no propaganda,” Pinkston said. “Now it’s a full-blown personality cult .… If internally there had been any resistance, confusion, split factions or challenges, this would not have been rolled out so quickly.”

At stake for Kim is control of a fragile, hermetic country whose economy appears to be teetering on disaster. The untested leader must navigate between entrenched interest groups such as elite political families and the military to maintain his hold.

Some analysts suspect Ri’s dismissal was primarily an attempt to rein in one of the largest armies in the world -- one that had benefited under a national policy that ensured they received scarce resources before civilians.

North Korean military official relieved of all posts

BEIJING -- North Korea's top military official was relieved of his posts, state media reported Monday, a surprise move that eliminates a key figure in the ascendance of the country's young and untested leader, Kim Jong Un.

Vice Marshal Ri Yong Ho, 69, rose out of obscurity to become a mentor to Kim, the country's supreme commander, and an integral part of the leadership's inner circle after the death of  dictator Kim Jong Il last year. Ri accompanied the younger Kim as they walked alongside a hearse carrying the body of Kim Jong Il at his funeral.

North Korea's official news agency said Ri was removed because of illness. The decision was made Sunday after a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Worker's Party.

"We cannot rule out the possibility that ... Ri Yong Ho was dismissed on account of Kim Jong Un's unsatisfactory military grip or as a result of a power struggle in North Korea," Chang Yong-suk, an analyst at the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies at Seoul National University, told South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

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-- David Pierson

twitter.com/dhpierson

It's still 'My Way' or the highway under North Korea's Kim

In the 45 years since  Paul Anka wrote it and Frank Sinatra made it famous, "My Way" has celebrated the rugged individualism that Americans like to think defines their spirit of independence, determination and pride.

But those are not virtues held dear in totalitarian North Korea, where deviation from Communist conformity can land a maverick in the nearest re-education camp.

So North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's recent embrace of Western songs, movies, cartoon characters and flashy fashion -- public displays his late father and grandfather would have denounced as "spiritual pollution" -- has set Korea analysts to pontificating on what the new leader's cultural inclinations might signify.

North Korea's KRT state broadcaster released almost two hours of video Thursday of the recent debut concert of the all-female Moranbong entertainment troupe that other state media said was assembled by Kim as part of his "grandiose plan to bring about a dramatic turn in the field of literature and the arts this year."

Gone were the shapeless trouser suits of mass spectacles of the past, replaced by sassy mini-skirted violinists and vocalists in strapless gowns. Cast members clad like Disney characters Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh pranced around the stage while clips from Hollywood classics were projected as backdrop, scenes from the decidedly anti-Communist "Rambo IV" spooling out as Moranbong sang its eclectic repertoire, including a stylized version of "My Way."

Most intriguing of all for North Korea watchers has been Kim's elegant female companion, caught on film but never identified by the state-run media chronicling the new leader's every public move. South Korean media claimed she was a former pop star, Hyon Song-wol, whom Kim dated briefly a decade ago after returning from studies in Switzerland.

Since taking over the leadership after the death of his father in December, Kim has presided over April tributes on the centennial of the birth of his grandfather, North Korea's founder Kim Il Sung, and a Sunday event to mark the anniversary of his death in 1994.

Kim has already exceeded the public forays of his father, Kim Jong Il, who made only one speech during  his 17 years in power and that only a single sentence, notes Stephan Haggard, director of the Korea-Pacific Program at UC San Diego. But he warns journalists and analysts against reading too much into small gestures and symbols.

"He’s set in train a change in leadership style but that doesn’t necessarily translate into substance," Haggard said of Kim. "He seems to have a very different ruling style -- more engaged, more public -- but I see nothing pointing toward any reformist inclinations."

Haggard and a research associate from the National Committee on North Korea, Marcus Noland, recently compiled an analysis of promotions within the Pyongyang hierarchy since 2010, when the younger Kim's influence became more pronounced in the waning days of his father's life. They found an increasing tendency to put military figures in positions of power, rather than elevating economists, professionals and technocrats with expertise needed to guide development and growth.

Haggard attributes the bows to modernity and Western influence on display at the July 6 concert to the pressure being brought on the government by "a kind of low-level restiveness within the economic and political elite of Pyongyang to provide more space for them to consume and to have more access to information."

In the countryside, hunger and poverty still prevail, he said, quoting a friend who had just returned from a trip to rural areas of North Korea's east coast as saying that he felt like he was "walking backwards through time."

David Chan-oong Kang, director of the Korean Studies Institute at USC, also sees little evidence of an impending opening in North Korea in Kim's indulgence of foreign commercial influences and more modern dress and amusements.

"It's really easy for those of us on the outside to exoticize North Korea," he said. "Everything seems weird and strange. Since we don’t know what ordinary is, we tend to emphasize the extraordinary."

Black market traders who have ferried in food to help North Koreans in the drought-stricken countryside have also smuggled in Western music and videos, as well as cheap Chinese-made toys, backpacks and other items sporting copyrighted logos and figures that have made characters like Mickey, Minnie and Winnie familiar even in the Hermit Kingdom.

"How close have they come to being an open society? Not very close," said Kang. "But how far have they come in breaking out of total control? Quite far."

He predicts a period of gradual change, as North Koreans become exposed to the global cultural scene, which could eventually erode the country's self-imposed isolation.

"There's no question they're in for changes. They have this really young, new leader. That doesn't mean, though, that he's planning some massive Gorbachevian change," said Kang. "Anyone who knows what they're talking about on North Korea will admit they don’t know what’s going on there."

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Photo: Mickey and Minnie have a chat at stage left as North Korea's new Moranbong group performs  July 6 in Pyongyang. The performers' stylish dress and unusual choice of songs and images for the troupe's debut performance have set analysts to speculating about what stamp new leader Kim Jong Un is trying to put on his image.Credit:  Korean Central News Agency

North Korean leader's female companion stirs speculation

North Korean media have disclosed so little about leader Kim Jong Un's personal life that no one outside of his innermost circle knows his age or marital status. Now Koreans on both sides of the divided peninsula have a new mystery to ponder: Who is that elegant young woman at his side?

The same slender, twentysomething woman seen with Kim at a Friday night concert in Pyongyang showed up with the young leader at a memorial ceremony on Sunday marking the 18th anniversary of the death of his grandfather, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung.

Dressed in a tailored black skirt suit, her short hair demurely tucked behind her ears, the woman applauded and bowed in unison with Kim during both public appearances. Her unexplained presence has set off speculation among analysts of the hermetic northern state about whether she might be his wife or perhaps a younger sister.

The KRT broadcast network, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper and the Central Korean News Agency all carried photos or footage of the couple at the two events, but none identified the mystery woman.

Cheong Seong-chang, a North Korea analyst at the Sejong Institute in South Korea, told the Associated Press that Kim has a sister born in 1987. But the images of the woman with Kim didn't evoke much family resemblance.

Official biographies of Kim, believed to be in his late 20s, make no mention of his marital status. Since assuming the leadership in December, following the death of his father Kim Jong Il, he has attended official ceremonies with other senior government leaders or older family members.

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Photo: North Korean media have carried photos and footage of leader Kim Jong Un in the company of a young woman, but have not identified her. Two appearances in recent days have set off speculation that she might be a younger sister or his wife. Credit: Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service/Associated Press

Kim Jong Un praises children in second public speech [Video]

Tens of thousands of North Korean schoolchildren gathered Wednesday in Pyongyang to hear North Korean leader Kim Jong Un praise them in the second public speech since assuming power late last year, calling them “more precious than 100 million tons of gold and silver.”

His speech, reported by North Korean state media, reflected the more accessible style that Kim  has demonstrated in public remarks and appearances. His father, Kim Jong Il, was heard by the North Korean public only once, shouting “Glory to the heroic Korean People's Army!”

Video from the Wednesday rally showed children sobbing as the new leader addressed them. “By mingling with kids, Kim Jong Un is showing that he is a leader who can interact with the public,” South Korean political scientist Ahn Chan-li told the Associated Press.

The new leader first spoke publicly in April during celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the birth of his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, repeating the familiar slogan “military first.”

Since then, Kim has reportedly visited schools, the zoo, and even a Pyongyang funfair, which he criticized for being in disrepair. State media trumpeted the public rebuke last month as a patriotic act.

“An In Ae, a breeder at the Central Zoo, said she was deeply touched by him personally plucking up weeds grown between pavement blocks,” the Korean Central News Agency reported.

At a trip to a kindergarten, Kim reportedly "proposed to provide a circular lawn to children, saying that if the playground is totally paved, children may get hurt while being engrossed in playing," the state news outlet reported.

Karin Lee, executive director of the nonprofit National Committee on North Korea, said after the young leader took over, she was struck to see Kim touching people, his arm slung around someone else in a photograph.

"You didn't see Kim Jong Il doing that," she said. "I think he might be looking to his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, who was incredibly charismatic. He's making himself accessible."

When Kim Jong Un rebuked the funfair, some South Korean analysts told Bloomberg News it was a sign that he was desperate to gather public support. But Lee warned that, less than six months after the death of his father was announced, it was still too early to parse what his stylings as a leader might mean.

"North Korea is the world's biggest Rorschach test," she said. "People who are looking for signs of insecurity will find insecurity. People who are looking for signs of strength will find strength."

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Video: Kim Jong Un addresses more than 20,000 children, many of them tearful, in a stadium Wednesday in Pyongyang. Credit: The Telegraph

Chinese fishermen say North Korean soldiers beat and robbed them

BEIJING -- Chinese fishermen released by North Korea this week after nearly two weeks of captivity alleged that they were beaten, robbed and stripped and given starvation rations in a case that has opened up a rare public rift between the Communist allies.

"They used the back of their machine guns to hit us and also kicked us," said Wang Lijie, one of 29 fishermen in a telephone interview on Tuesday. "They stripped us of all our clothes after the beating, including sock and shoes. Most of us had only underwear left."

The North Koreans drained the three captured ships of fuel and also removed almost all the caught fish and the food and cooking oil stored for the journey. The fisherman were allowed out once or twice a day to cook small rations of grain, but were otherwise confined in a tiny storage room while their captors negotiated for ransom.

The hostage takers had initially demanded $65,000 per ship, according to the ships' owners, which apparently the Chinese refused to pay.

U.S., Asian envoys warn North Korea on nuke test miscalculation

Amid signs of renewed nuclear development activity in North Korea, U.S. and Asian diplomats warned the regime on Monday that it will face a united international community and harsh sanctions if it carries out a nuclear test its neighbors suspect is being readied.

The U.S. special envoy for North Korea, Glyn Davies, met in Seoul with representatives from the other nations of the stalled six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear programs for the first time since Pyongyang carried out a failed rocket launch April 13.

The Unha-3 rocket, which foreign intelligence services believe was a test of long-range missile-firing capability, flew for less than two minutes before it broke up and fell into the Yellow Sea west of South Korea.

“It is very important that North Korea not miscalculate again and engage in any future provocation,” Davies told reporters at the South Korean Foreign Ministry after his talks with counterparts from Seoul and Japan. He plans to travel to China and Japan later this week.

North Korea releases captured Chinese fishermen, boats

BEIJING — North Korea has released 29 captured Chinese fishermen and three fishing vessels, putting an end to a 13-day ordeal that raised questions about the stability of the Pyongyang regime.

The fishermen returned to the Chinese port of Dalian on Monday morning, the New China News Agency reported.

Chinese media suggested that Beijing did not pay a ransom for the boats. The news agency report credited China's ambassador to Pyongyang, Liu Hongcai, with securing the release through "negotiation and close contact" with the North Korean government.

The boats were stopped May 8 while fishing in what the Chinese boat owners claimed were Chinese waters, and were forced at gunpoint to sail toward North Korea.

North Koreans accused of holding Chinese fishermen for ransom

BEIJING -- Chinese fishing boat owners have accused the North Korea military of taking 29 Chinese fishermen on three boats captive and holding them for ransom.

The seizing of the fishing boats has opened up a rare public rift between North Korea and its most important ally. Chinese ship owners complain that the demands for ransom are tantamount to piracy, little different that what is happening off the coast of Somalia.

According to the ship owners, four boats from the port of Dalian were accosted at sea May 8 in what they claimed are Chinese waters, about 50 miles off of the Chinese coast. They were then forced at gunpoint to sail into North Korean waters, they said. One boat was released immediately for reasons that remain unclear, while the three other ship owners have been negotiating for the return of their vessels and crew. They said North Koreans were demanding up to $65,000 for the return of each ship.

"We are really worried about the lives of our crew," said one of the owners, Sun Caihui, in a telephone interview Thursday. He described the boat that accosted his ship as a small but well-armed military vessel.