There are now about 15,000 North Korean defectors in
"The thing is, most of the defectors now are poor, no skills," Tom O'Neill, a National Geographic writer says. "
O'Neill says that defectors "miss their homeland," even if they had lost their parents to starvation, had dead-end jobs or were starving, themselves, when they lived there.
“It's not a Hollywood ending, that's for sure."
ABC News reports South Korea’s concern about the improved accuracy of North Korea's ballistic missile launches.Old tests were fraught with problems of reliability and accuracy, but new tests at the weekend have military chiefs worried. South Korean intelligence say five out of the seven ballistic missiles hit their target area after flying nearly 500 kilometres.
Rodong missiles have the capability of striking anywhere in South Korea, not to speak of reaching Tokyo.
As to the reaction on the street in Seoul, few South Koreans seem to bat an eyelid when the North breathes its fire and brimstone.
"I think they are just bluffing," one person says.
"I think the threat is now a little bit more serious than before, but it's not that serious that I have to worry."
"I don't feel threatened by their missile launches at all," another man says. "This is the way North Korea conducts diplomacy.”
The US informed Seoul that Mr Kim had been staying at the villa in Wonsan since mid-May, the South Korean Joong Ang Ilbo Sunday newspaper said.
The report said US military satellites, which closely monitor Mr Kim's personal vehicles, had detected his moves.
A South Korean official said it was "certain" Mr Kim was not in Pyongyang. Wonsan is close to a launch facility where South Korea said the North test-fired seven ballistic missiles on Saturday, defying UN resolutions.
Russia, China and the US have all called for calm after North Korea test-fired a series of missiles on July 4th.
Seven Scud-type ballistic missiles with a range of about 500km (312 miles) were fired in an apparent act of defiance against the US on the 4th of July. This follows an underground nuclear test in May, and a launches of a number of missiles since the test, including four short-range missiles on Thursday.
Saturday's launches came from a base on its east coast. Three were fired in the morning, a fourth around noon local time and three more in the afternoon, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
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Some analysts suggest Pyongyang's bellicosity could be linked to internal issues, amid questions over the health of leader Kim Jong-il after his apparent stroke last year. Some believe the nuclear and missiles tests could be a show of strength aimed at securing internal support for his plans.
The flexing of its military muscle is not winning North Korea any friends in the international community. In fact, there has been virtually no international food aid to the starving state since Pyongyang's second nuclear test last May 25, according to the World Food Program. As a result, the U.N. agency has drastically cut food distributions in North Korea to 4,500 tons per month, from a planned 50,000 tons per month.
If Pyongyang continues to refuse 333,000 tons of grain from the United States, foreign assistance will only amount to 120,000 tons and the shortfall may reach 1.17 million tons.
A government expert said that the only way to alleviate the grave situation is for Seoul to give aid. The Lee Myung-bak administration has not shipped rice and fertilizer aid to the North since assuming office. While acknowledging the need for food assistance to the North, the government says its hands are tied because of the unfavorable public opinion in the South, particularly since the second nuclear test in May and the subsequent missile launches.
[The Korea Herald]
Crossing Heaven’s Border reveals the plight of three North Korean defectors. With access to the Underground smuggling network, the reporters follow a group of defectors on a grueling 10-day journey through China and Southeast Asia in the hope of settling as free citizens in South Korea.
Most defectors flee from North Korea’s poor border regions into northeast China, where they live in hiding, work illegally and have no access to education or medical care. More than three quarters of the defectors are women, many of whom work in the sex industry. If caught by Chinese authorities, they are repatriated to North Korea, where they face severe punishment: persecution, torture, even execution in prison camps.
Aaron Brown further explores the plight of refugees from North Korea in a post-film interview with Debra Liang-Fenton, a human rights expert with the United States Institute of Peace, and the former Executive Director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea.
Chosun Ilbo provides some background on Robert King, who has been designated as the Barack Obama administration's North Korea Human Rights Special Envoy. King was previously chief secretary to former House Foreign Relations Committee chairman Tom Lantos (assisting Lantos for 25 years until his death in February last year) and participated in foreign policy issues at the House of Representatives.