According to Asahi Shimbun, the key weapon for South Korean human rights groups is the cell phone.
“Defectors routinely stay in touch with relatives in the North, thereby providing a constant stream of information…The spread of Chinese-made mobile phones from around 2001 in areas close to China’s border with North Korea proved vital…At Free North Korea Radio, 10 defectors phone ‘stringers’ living near the Chinese border on a daily basis. Ha Tae-keung, the president of Open Radio for North Korea, said, ‘By calling, it is possible to learn about incidents that happened only one or two hours beforehand.”‘
But apparently making a phone call is getting harder because North Korea has made “overseas purchases of expensive cell phone tracking and jamming equipment.” Eurasia Review reports:
“One defector, who uses the alias Han Kyung Il, was previously in contact with relatives in Onsung-kun, North Hamgyong province, in North Korea. ‘The North Korean authorities are jamming cell phone signals, and it is practically impossible to make a call,’ he said in an interview. ‘You can switch phone cards, and the call appears to go through, but nobody in North Korea picks up.’”
theKorean has an excellent posting on this same subject (posted at a much earlier date than this one) that gives additional information. My apologies to tK for not linking to it earlier.
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Mr. Neff! This is the second time you are putting up something that I broke weeks ago!!
And already we’re tired of your self aggrandisment in repeatedly pointing it out. Personally if my kids behaved like that I’d beat it out of them
In addition posting something on your blog, that barely any of us read, is hardly getting the news out there, and I somewhat doubt that you yourself didn’t rely on other sources who actually did break the story.
Carry on Mr Neff, I for one am grateful for your spreading the word.
I don’t consider it to be self-aggrandisment. There is such a thing as Internet etiquette (e.g. Hat Tips) about which, given the frequent nature of your comments, you clearly know nothing about.
So if Ji-young cheated off of Min-ji in a test, and Min-ji pointed that out, you’d beat up Min-ji? Nice teacher you are.
I read it, so speak for yourself. It’s a darn good blog, and running one is different from writing comments. You have to proactive, not reactive, gather your thoughts and express them coherently and logically, etc. It’s very different from trolling.
Actually, these days, blogs can get the news out there. Does this ring any bells, Brainiac?
Then again, if you weren’t taking cheap shots at other people, then what on Earth would you do with your time?
tAD, thanks, but Arghaeri just likes pulling my leg. I don’t think he means anything by it.
Artful Dodger you seem somewhat confused and definitely not artful, you seriously need to lighten up.
“I don’t consider it to be self-aggrandisment”
Thank you, but I think I’ll stick with the standard meaning “The act or practice of enhancing or exaggerating one’s own importance, power, or reputation” to which I consider repeatedly pointing out that one was allegedly first to “break the news” comes within.
“There is such a thing as Internet etiquette (e.g. Hat Tips)”
Indeed, but if you were as familia as you claim you would note that Mr Neff cited all his sources, i.e. gave Hat Tips where Hat Tips are due. Hat Tips are to the source of your information, you can hardly give them to sources you haven’t seen or used.
Are you saying it is internet etiquette to admonish someone and effectively infer that they are not permitted to post on any matter without first checking several months of previous posts on the admonishers obscure blog.
“about which, given the frequent nature of your comments, you clearly know nothing about.”
I fail to see what relevance the frequency of my comments has either to whether a Hat Tip is due, or to whether I understand what a Hat Tip is, particularly when you clearly don’t having ignored Mr Neff’s source citations in your rush to defend TK.
Personally if my kids behaved like that I’d beat it out of them
Clearly, for all your talk of internet etiquette you are not aware of the practise of making a smiley face to indicate a light hearted joke. Nor, despite alluding to regular reading of this blog are you aware of the in-blog jokes following TKs own admission that he fully intends to apply strict discipline, including of the physical variety, to his kids to ensure their upright behaviour and success in a tough world.
Nice teacher you are.
Where have I claimed either to be a teacher or for that matter nice.
“I read it, so speak for yourself. It’s a darn good blog, and running one is different from writing comments.”
I don’t recall saying no one read it, nor that it was not a darn good blog. I have read it myself on the odd occasion, but having done so and noted that even the most popular posts are little commented upon, even less so by regular posters here then I think it fair to conclude it is not extensively read on a regular basis by the readership here, certainly not such an extent as to justifying admonishing a fellow poster from posting.
“Actually, these days, blogs can get the news out there. Does this ring any bells, Brainiac? ”
Actually Brainiac, it rings no bells whatsoever, I can honestly say that I’ve never heard of this event whatsoever. So much for your great rebuttal, yet another point scored for those who think the universe revolves around american politics
It is further perfectly clear, in context, that getting out there meant getting it out there to a wider audience not merely breaking the news. To quote your own link, “The accusations then spread over the following days into mainstream media outlets including The Washington Post,[20] The New York Times,[21] and the Chicago Sun-Times.[22]”
“It’s very different from trolling.”
By all means try it, rather than trolling a perfectly honest comment in support of Mr Neff continuing to post interesting articles as he sees fit.
Finally, it’s interesting that the only part of my comment you don’t challenge is the one where I query whether TK was in fact the person who “broke the news” as claimed rather than being a spreader of news obtained from other sources that in fact did break it.
Thanks TK,
it certainly wasn’t meant to be taken as the start of WWIII as the pulling your leg in joke indicated.
Though my comment whilst light hearted did “have a bone in it” as the koreans say, I do feel you admonishment was a little out of order, though I trust it also wasn’t meant in a serious way
It was not meant in a serious way. I just thought it was a funny coincidence, and I know Mr. Neff didn’t mean anything by it either. He was quick to recognize that I put it up first in the other thread about SNSD and Iowa Hawkeyes.
And for the record, I find most of your ribbing to be pretty darn funny.
Apologies tK – it was very late when I made this posting and for some reason your blog did not come up on my initial search. I thought I had read something similar to this post elsewhere but could not place it. Again my apologies and I have acknowledged my error in the main text.
RN
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