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Google CEO to visit North Korea

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 14:04:00 +0000

Google's executive chairman is preparing to travel to one of the last frontiers of cyberspace: North Korea.

Eric Schmidt will travel to the country on a private, humanitarian mission led by former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson as early as this month.

The trip would be the first by a top executive from US-based Google, the world's largest internet search provider, to a country considered to have the most restrictive internet policies in the world.

North Korea is in the midst of what leader Kim Jong-un called a modern-day industrial revolution in a New Year's Day speech.

He is pushing science and technology as a path to economic development for the impoverished country, aiming for computers in every school and digitised machinery in every factory.

However, giving citizens open access to the internet has not been part of North Korea's strategy. While some North Koreans can access a domestic intranet service, very few have clearance to freely surf the web.

It remains highly unlikely Google will push to launch a business venture in the country, according to Victor Cha, a former senior Asia specialist in the Bush administration.

"Perhaps the most intriguing part of this trip is simply the idea of it," said Cha, an analyst with the Centre for Strategic and International Studies thinktank in Washington. Kim Jong-un "clearly has a penchant for the modern accoutrements of life", he said.

"If Google is the first small step in piercing the information bubble in Pyongyang, it could be a very interesting development."

It was not immediately clear whom Schmidt and Richardson expect to meet in North Korea, a country that does not have diplomatic relations with the US.

North Korea has almost no business with companies in the US, which has banned the import of North Korean-made goods.

Schmidt, however, has been a vocal advocate of providing people around the world with internet access and technology.

Kim Jong Un stresses economy not war

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 13:25:00 +0000

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Tuesday called for improving the economy and living standards of his impoverished nation with the same urgency that scientists showed in successfully testing a long-range rocket recently.

Kim's first New Year's speech, delivered on state TV, was peppered with rhetoric, with calls for boosting the military's capabilities and making the science and technology sector world class. But other passages in the speech were also an acknowledgement of the poor state of the country's economy that has long lagged behind the rest of the region.

North Korea has little arable land, is prone to natural disasters and struggles to grow enough food for its 24 million people.

The annual New Year's Day message lays out North Korea's policy goals for the year. But Kim gave no indication whether he plans to introduce economic reforms or allow free enterprise, except to say the economy should be underpinned by science and technology.

"The industrial revolution in the new century is, in essence, a scientific and technological revolution, and breaking through the cutting edge is a shortcut to the building of an economic giant," he said.

13 bold predictions for Asia in 2013

Wed, 26 Dec 2012 13:30:00 +0000

In the newsroom — or wherever the news took me, over a long career in journalism — mid-December invariably brought reflections on the great events of the year gone by, and prognostications of what was to come. A year ago, just back from a Damascus interview with Syria’s beleaguered Bashar Al-Assad, we wondered just how beleaguered he was, how long he would last, and whether the so-called "Arab Spring" had hit a wall, or was just getting started. We wondered whether Greece would last in the Eurozone — and if it didn’t, would it drag Spain and others down with it? We guessed about troop levels in Afghanistan and levels of violence after the U.S. departure from Iraq. And naturally we wondered — ancient history, now — who would prevail as the Republican nominee for the White House and how he or she (remember Michele Bachman?) would fare when the general election came.

Kim Jong Un will not be Time’s Person of the Year

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 17:32:00 +0000

4chan pranksters may have been able to hack the Time Magazine reader's poll to declare North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un the top candidate for "Person of the Year," but editors at Time have ignored the joke. Time released its short list today, which does not include the supreme leader. Instead, potential candidates include the likes of Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo; Mohammed Morsi, president of Egypt; and Malala Yousafazi, the Pakistani teen activist who survived an attack by the Taliban (visit Time for the full list).

Time readers pick Kim Jong Un as “Person of the Year”

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 16:23:00 +0000

In advance of its "Person of the Year" issue, Time magazine took an informal poll to find out who readers wanted to see get the top honor, and 5.6 million people said Kim Jong Un.

From Time:

This doesn’t mean Kim is TIME’s Person of the Year. That choice is made by the editors of TIME and will be revealed Dec. 19 on the Today show, on TIME.com and via TIME’s Twitter handle. The poll allows readers to weigh in on the people—and things (Hello, Curiosity Rover!)—whom they think influenced the news, for better or worse, in 2012.

“While we don’t make our selection based on the poll results,” said TIME executive editor Radhika Jones in a recent interview, “it’s always interesting to see where some of our preferred candidates end up.” (For more on how TIME editors choose the Person of the Year see our full Q&A with Jones here)

This continues Kim Jong Un's streak of winning meaningless awards this year, following his selection as The Onion's Sexiest Man Alive.

Global condemnation falls on deaf ears in North Korea

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 16:40:00 +0000

As NPR's Louisa Lim put it Wednesday morning, North Korea's launch of a long-range missile has been met with a "global chorus of condemnation."

The U.S. condemned the "highly provocative act"; Japan called the launch "extremely regrettable"; South Korea said it was "a clear violation of the U.N. Security Council resolutions ... and a threat to peace to the Korean Peninsula and around the world." The U.N.'s Ban Ki Moon concurred. China, North Korea's closest ally in the region, even offered a tepid criticism: "We hope relevant parties stay calm in order to maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula," said a spokesperson from the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

But, as commentators have noted, international censure falls on deaf ears in Pyongyang. As NPR's Lim said, "There's little left to sanction, and so far, international condemnation has done little to sway Pyongyang from its path." Sanctions on the poverty-stricken country will nonetheless be tightened unilaterally following the launch, according to reports.

North Korea launches a long-range rocket

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 12:33:00 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) — North Korea's successful launch of a long-range rocket caught the world by surprise after the secretive regime in Pyongyang claimed technical issues had caused a delay. It drew immediate condemnation from the U.S.

North Korea declared the launch of a rocket and satellite a success early Wednesday local time. Three hours later, the U.S. military confirmed that an object appeared to achieve orbit.

The White House called it a "highly provocative act."

On Saturday, North Korea had widened the dates during which it might conduct the launch of its Unha-3 rocket, citing a technical problem. Washington says the launch is a cover for testing technology for missiles that could be used to strike the United States. The previous four attempts all failed.

"It was a surprise in terms of the timing," said Bruce Bennett, senior defense analyst with the RAND think tank. "They had talked about postponing for a week. To recover so quickly from technical problems suggests they have gotten good at putting together a missile."

North Korea has also conducted two nuclear tests since 2006, deepening international concern over its capabilities, although it is not believed to have mastered how to mount a nuclear warhead on a missile.

Chinese paper references Onion article calling Kim Jong Un “Sexiest Man Alive”

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 18:31:00 +0000

Sometimes, satire becomes reality. The People's Daily, a state-run newspaper in China, has referenced a satirical Onion article that named the North Korean dictator 2012's "Sexiest Man." The article boasts a 55-page slideshow displaying Kim Jong Un's sexiness, putting the Onion's upcoming "16-page spread on Kim" to shame. The paper quotes the Onion article, which describes the dictator's "unmistakable cute, cuddly side."

Not Gangnam’s style: The kitsch and soul of Kim Jong-Un country

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 18:10:00 +0000

I was thinking about North Korea — officially, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea — as South Korean megahit “Gangnam Style” made its rounds. Culture watchers have already dissected the video, pointing out that Gangnam is the wealthiest neighborhood in Seoul, the iconic showcase of South Korea’s rise. But people haven’t said much about the literal meaning of “Gangnam.” The word means “south of the river,” more precisely the Han River that runs across Seoul like an ugly, more turgid Seine. As K-pop rapper PSY's music video suggests, the southern half of the capital is ritzier and cooler than the northern half — a sad but accurate encapsulation of the Korean peninsula itself.

Music by Kim Jong Un’s wife

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0000

The latest from North Korea is that Kim Jong Un has taken a wife, although no one’s sure exactly when, and, oh hey, maybe they had a daughter like two years ago, and… well, as William Goldman once famously said of Hollywood, “nobody knows anything.”

The woman in question was first reported to be a North Korean pop star named Hyon Song-wol, frontwoman for the Bochonbo Electronic Music Band, who had a hit a few years back with a song called “Excellent Horse-Like Lady” (“Girl From the North Country” was taken).

It’s since been confirmed that it was actually a singer named Ri Sol Ju, seen here performing “Footsteps of Soldiers,” a song whose title is the only thing about it that sounds like Black Flag. Of course, as NPR’s Two-Way blog points out, it’s entirely possible that Hyon Song-wol and Ri Sol-ju are the same person, and the voice on “Excellent Horse-Like Lady” does sound a little like the woman singing “Footsteps of Soldiers.”