As North Korea is apparently taking steps to opening its door, insiders and international observants have expressed confidence that Vietnam would be a top model, especially in how it has turned the U.S. from a war enemy into a major business and security partner. Duong Chinh Thuc, former Vietnam ambassador to North Korea and South Korea, who spent more than 20 years studying and working in the North from the 1960s, told VnExpress about the historical and political resemblance that would make Vietnam an "appropriate" example for Kim Jong Un. Can you comment on reports that Kim Jong Un considered Vietnam a model for North Korea’s economic development? That is certainly appropriate because North Korea and Vietnam share many similarities. Both countries were affected by war, both were isolated by the U.S. and other nations, and both have had agriculture spearhead national growth. Vietnam and North Korea are also led by Communist parties, and share a lot of cultural commonalities, … [Read more...] about Vietnam an appropriate growth model for North Korea: former envoy
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China-made truck used by North Korea in new artillery system
North Korea is using Chinese-made trucks in a new mobile artillery system showcased five days ago, according to photographs reviewed by Reuters, underlining the difficulty in enforcing U.N. sanctions against the isolated state. North Korea's Multiple Rocket Launcher System (MRLS) may be able to operate outside the range of similar U.S. and South Korean weapons, according to an expert. In photographs published by North Korean state media, the vehicle used in the MRLS artillery battery has the bodywork and some markings of a Chinese-made Sinotruk HOWO truck, which is widely available commercially and is used by North Korea in its mining and construction industries. Last week, the United Nations Security Council imposed harsh new sanctions on North Korea for pursuing a nuclear program following a resolution drafted by the United States and Pyongyang's ally, China. An MRLS is a kind of rocket-propelled artillery system capable of firing a barrage of rockets at a target. It is usually … [Read more...] about China-made truck used by North Korea in new artillery system
Bridge to nowhere shows China’s failed efforts to engage North Korea
Towering above the murky waters, the New Yalu River Bridge was supposed to symbolize a new era in relations between China and North Korea, helping bring investment to landmark free trade zones jointly run with the impoverished and isolated state. Costing 2.2 billion yuan ($330 million) and partially completed last year, the dual-carriageway bridge today sits abandoned, the impressive border post on the Chinese side deserted and locked, not a soul to be seen. On the North Korean side the unfinished bridge ends abruptly in a field, with little sign of infrastructure work happening. Launched with great fanfare at a five-star Beijing hotel in 2012, the free trade zones close to the Chinese border city of Dandong were meant to be part of China's efforts to coax its erstwhile diplomatic ally into cautious, export-oriented economic reforms, rather than saber rattling and nuclear tests. China's anger at North Korea for carrying out its fifth and biggest nuclear test last week means the bridge … [Read more...] about Bridge to nowhere shows China’s failed efforts to engage North Korea
China slams North Korea’s nuclear test but unlikely to do much
China believes the U.S. and South Korea share responsibility for growing tensions in the region. China criticized North Korea's nuclear test on Friday but Beijing is unlikely to follow up with strong action because its influence is limited and it believes the United States and South Korea share responsibility for growing tensions in the region. China, Pyongyang's main diplomatic ally, is key in any effort to rein in North Korea's nuclear program. But it has been infuriated by the isolated nation's nuclear and missile tests and has signed up to increasingly tough United Nations sanctions. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China would lodge a diplomatic protest with North Korea at its embassy in Beijing for conducting the test. Beijing has also repeatedly expressed anger since the United States and South Korea decided in July to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-missile system in the South to counter missile and nuclear threats from North Korea. … [Read more...] about China slams North Korea’s nuclear test but unlikely to do much
With grey skies over North Korea, leader puts on a happy face
That seems to be the impression the youthful new dictator of destitute North Korea wants the state propaganda machine to give to a public that may be facing even more than usual food shortages when drought was followed last month by devastating floods. In the past few weeks, the 20-something Kim Jong-un, the third generation of a ruling dynasty better known abroad for its gulags than its compassion, has overturned the austere image that his father nurtured during his years in power. This week state media showed the leader cheerfully riding a rollercoaster in an outdoor theme park he had opened, clapping performing dolphins and waving to a crowd of young people in bathing suits. Apart from a brief spell at school in Switzerland, the young man has only known life inside the personality cult that gave his grandfather and father, and now him, god-like status to bolster their rule over the northern half of the Korean peninsula. But unlike the relative prosperity when founder Kim … [Read more...] about With grey skies over North Korea, leader puts on a happy face