A North Korean parliamentarian is reportedly somewhere looking to defect to South Korea. Among the more eye-catching things he told NIS:
Kim testified he himself visited Taiwan to sell North Korean-built missiles, the monthly said. He also told investigators Pyongyang was developing small submersible boats and stealth uniforms that were difficult to detect on radar, while developing weapons for its 30,000-man Special Forces, according to the magazine.
The North Koreans tried to sell missiles to Taiwan? Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.
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You didn’t excerpt the info supposedly passed by the defector about the North’s nuke(s?), which is even more interesting IMO:
“A 72-year-old deputy in North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly in May applied for political asylum in South Korea from a third country, the Monthly Chosun reported. The magazine’s August edition published Sunday said the parliamentarian… is using the alias Kim Il-do…
Kim reportedly told investigators North Korea had 4 kg of plutonium and manufactured a one-ton nuclear weapon, but added that North Korean scientists were doubtful about ability of the developed nuclear weapon. That was why, he said, the Stalinist country had been trying to make a miniaturized nuclear warhead weighing 500 kg, the magazine reported…”
Also, I find the lack of concern by the Daily Chosun for the defector’s family left behind in the North simply breathtaking.
Do ROK newpaper editors just automatically discount all the reports about DPRK standard treatment of defector’s families? One would imagine the fate of the families of confirmed high-profile political defectors to be particularly brutal. Maybe the family in this case will be “lucky” and be simply shot outright, instead of being used for poison gas experiments.
Quote from the end of the article:
“The NIS would not confirm the report, saying the government made it a rule never to comment on the status of defectors to protect both them and any family they leave behind in North Korea.”
Yet, earlier in the article, it says:
“A 72-year-old deputy in North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly in May applied for political asylum in South Korea from a third country, the Monthly Chosun reported. The magazine’s August edition published Sunday said the parliamentarian, who is using the alias Kim Il-do, is being questioned by the National Intelligence Service on his inside knowledge of the North’s weapons development.
Kim was to serve in the 11th Supreme People’s Assembly from August 2003 to July 2008, working with the Maritime Industries Research Center under the Second Economic Committee, which is in charge of North Korea’s munitions industry. The Research Center is said to be involved in the development and illegal sale of arms.
Kim, who graduated from Gyeongbuk Middle School in South Korea and defected to the North around the time of the Korean War, is said to have defected back leaving his family behind…”
My goodness, it shouldn’t be too hard for the DPRK intelligence service to figure out who it is that is missing from this info, should it?
Maybe the kindest thing would be for the NIS “handlers” to keep all newspapers away from their defector; once he sees this story, I imagine he might “dry up” in despair over the probable fate of his family.
There’s just nothing that newspaper reporters and editors won’t do for a story is there?
One ton…that’s good news. That’s too heavy for one of their missiles to carry, for the time being.
I believe this is a smoke screen.
1. Why now? : China wants to pretend that NK is an indepent government making independent decisions. The U.S. has been applying pressure on China and China wants to tell the U.S. that it is not responsible for the NK nuke. Every thinking person in the world knows NK is just an underling of China.
2. Why unreliable? : How come he is blabbering about so many different facts at once? Why can’t he just keep quite and defect? That is what most defectors would do. Judging from the things he says, he is just a red herring message note sent to lessen the U.S. pressure on China.
3. What should SK do? : Totally disregard what this jerk says. Or, think the opposite of what he says. China’s hold on NK is stronger than ever. KJI carries out Hu’s command ver batim.
The U.S. should keep applying the pressure on China. NK is not an independent country. China is responsible for NK nuke.
Kick Hu’s ass.
The U.S. should make it clear to China that, unless NK abandon its nuke program and let inspectors in, the U.S. will raise tariffs on Chinese goods.
Kick Hu’s ass. These Chinese jokers are playing both sides.
Daily linklets 18th July
I thought I had this market segment all tied up, but apparently not. Another blog by An Aussie in Hong Kong (via Phil) Another interesting blog is this one: Elite Chinese Politics and Political Economy, by a professor at Northwestern. How Hong Kong’s…
What Paul H. said really worries me. But at the same time, I can’t help wonder if a country like the DPRK would allow even their intelligence agents to surf on the internet looking for articles like this. (i wonder what the turnover rate is for intelligence officers)
I’m sure that the North Korean intelligence network knew about this with or without the Chosun Ilbo’s article.
And now, of course, is the time to end US promises of protection for Taiwan, if Taipei is going to deal with Pyongyang and send them money as a reward for their arms programs.
I was being sarcastic about ending the US promise of protection for Taiwan, but if those who want to get US forces out of Korea to avoid getting the US caught up in a nuclear battle with an Asian enemy are applying this evenly, then ending our promise of protection of Taiwan would be in order.
Of course, I’m not really advocating such a thing. For the same reason the US influence on the Korean peninsula has contributed to a highly successful Pax Americana here in Korea, the same is true for southern China and that part of Asia.