They responded that they will only discuss this issue sooner if North Korea makes moves towards dismantling its nuclear weapons program.

Yahoo Reports.

He said that althought North Korea had become politically and militarily powerful, much is to be desired in terms of people’s quality of life.

North Korea had to adopt a Military-first policy after the country faced economic meltdown in the 90’s. To remain in control of the country, they had to adopt this policy. No North Korean is allowed to leave the country. Few foreigners are allowed to enter; and their access is extremely limited.

Since then, North Korea’s political priority has been the military and the country continues to experience horrific food shortages.

The key to the North Korean Government’s survival is to keep propoganda pumping out, which there is no shortage of, and keep a strong hold of the military, even if it’s people suffer. This is how Kim Jong-Il stays in power, how he remains a God in the DPRK people’s eyes, and blinds them from the reality and what lies on the outside.

It seems fortunate that Kim Jong-Il is now at least acknowledging the failures to his people.

“The president has said that people should be allowed to eat white rice and meat soup, wear silk clothes and live under tiled roofs,” Kim Jong-Il was quoted as saying by Rodong.

“But we’ve so far failed to carry out this goal,” he said. “I will certainly resolve the issue of people’s livelihood within the shortest possible period and achieve the president’s last wish,” he said.

Kim Jong-Il at the 15th anniversary of his fathers death

Various news agencies are reporting that Kim Jong-Il ‘could have months to live’, speculating that he could die by the end of the year.

Recently Kim Jong-Il appeared at the 15th anniversary of his  fathers death and he looked frail, thin, weak, and reportedly walked with a limp and one side of his mouth was perculiar.

“He does not have all that much longer to live and my sources say the doctors’ diagnosis is that he will die before the end of the year,” Professor Toshimitsu Shigemura, an expert on North Korean affairs at Waseda University.

He is still being treated for the main problem, which is complications arising from his diabetes, and it had been expected that he could die as soon as this summer.”
Shigemura, an expert on North Korean affairs at Waseda University

He cited personal sources within Kim’s extended family.

North Korea regularly performs public executions by firing squad

Beside the vocal aggression and somewhat sadism that comes out of North Korea, here is something I read on NKnet:

In North Korea, public execution, which has been infrequent due to international criticism, is happening again. In Pyongsung city, February 18, two officials from Ministry of Electric Industry were public shot to death. Their crime was shutting down electricity supply to Sungjin Steel Mill located in Kimchaek city in North Hankyong Province. At Sungjin Steel Mill, steel is rolled and sent to Kimchaek Iron Works, and then it is exported to China.

Kim Jong Il ordered the Ministry of Electric Industry, in December 2008, to redirect electricity from the steel mill to Pyongyang city. And two officials from the ministry followed the order, thus causing great damage to Sungjin Steel Mill. Sungjin Mill had been provided electricity barely enough to continue operation.

However, authorities, after hearing the reports from the Steel Mill, arrested the two officials on Feb. 18, and executed in two days.

KCNA, the state-run North Korean news service which has its website’s domain name under the Japanese TLD (.co.jp), often pumps out aggressive, somewhat naive, and blatant propaganda. So let’s try to piece together recent KCNA news:

Our revolutionary armed forces, as they have already declared, will regard the Lee Myung Bak group of traitors’ “full participation” in the PSI as a declaration of war against the DPRK.

A sadist approach to what any conforming country would see as it’s international duty to prevent the trading of nuclear weapons.

They should bear in mind that the DPRK has tremendous military muscle

North Korea’s army wields an outdated arsenal; it’s fleet is technologically out-gunned by the South and the majority of it’s aircraft are from the 1950’s and 60’s. They also suffer from fuel shortages and cannot maintain effective training because of this.

The only ‘tremendous’ is the quantity of troops they have, however it is apparently reported that their troop army is malnourished. The soldiers lucky (and trusted) enough to be selected for the DMZ are made sure to be well-fed and muscley.

North Korea’s only major strategic advantage versus South Korea (but not the US) is its fleet of Submarines, which exceeds the South’s fleet many times over.

its own method of strike able to conquer any targets in its vicinity at one stroke

Meaning non-standard and somewhat dirty weapons such as chemical and nuclear weapons. North Korea uses these weapons as it’s normal doctrine.

3. For the present, we will not guarantee the legal status of the five islands under the south side’s control (Paekryong, Taechong, Sochong, Yonphyong and U islands) in our side’s territorial waters northwest of the extension of the Military Demarcation Line in the West Sea of Korea and safe sailing of warships of the U.S. imperialist aggression forces and the south Korean puppet navy and civilian ships operating in the waters around there.

Meaning a hypothetical militarily enforced incorporation (invasion) of those islands into North Korea and that civilian ships are not safe.

It is preposterous for the Lee group to have opted to fully participate in the PSI under the pretext of the underground nuclear test of the DPRK for self-defense.

It is nothing strange and quite natural for a nuclear weapons state to conduct a nuclear test.

Not entirely preposterous, because the main reason for the PSI is to prevent the trade of these nuclear weapons, so removing the naive-thinking propaganda and thinking logically, it makes sense that South Korea works toward preventing North Korea trading these weapons (and thus becoming terrorist payloads to further reaches of the world!)

Wouldn’t it be perfect for North Korea to arrange the detonation of a nuclear device in one of it’s unsuspecting enemies cities and not have the finger prints to prove that they did it.

Is this really how the North wants to show itself to the world? In the past, distasting regimes threw propaganda showing how their side was the best side, but North Korea’s nonsensical approach shows the world that it will murder civilians, be mercilessly aggressive, and that their late President Kim Il-Sung is the North Korean equivalant of God and Kim Jong-Il of Jesus.

As circumstances show, provocations of war on the part of the U.S. and South Korea have gone well beyond the risky level. It’s a matter of time when a fuse for war is triggered.

North Korea's Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun with Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez

North Korea and Cuba have signed a series of accords during the DPRK Foreign Minister’s visit to Cuba.

Pak Ui-chun and his Cuban counterpart, Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla met on Monday and held a series of meetings however details have not been released on the content of these. Both parties have said they are happy with the discussions.

Pal also laid a wreath for Cuba’s national hero, Jose Marti.

Communist comrades North Korea and Cuba have kept friendly ties, however long distance relationships for sanction-hit North Korea are difficult due to understandable reasons.

Kaesong's contracts have been scrapped by the North

North Korea has announced that all contracts with the South for the Kaesong Industrial Complex are to be scrapped.

Kaesong is used by over 100 South Korean companies and employs around 38,000 North Koreans, giving North Korea a major source of income and South Korea a source for local and cheap labour.

North Korea wants to decide more policies in Kaesong such as tax, etc, and this is the North’s way of protesting to the South. Sanction hit North Korea should tread carefully and must think about the economic impact that it’s fondling with Kaesong will have. It seems the free market explorations the North has dabbled with have been unsatisfactory for the communist state, which suffers chronic food shortages and one of the poorest economies in the world.

However, Kaesong is also a risk to the North’s cloak of the grim realities that are of life in North Korea, as North Korean workers are able to mix with South Korean company workers in the industrial complex – which is also apparent with the recent incident with a South Korean citizen being arrested for apparently putting the North’s political system and trying to persuade a female North Korean to defect.

Kim Jong-Un is Kim Jong-Il's youngest son and most likely successor

Kim Jong-Un has been appointed to the National Defense Commission, which indicates that he is the most likely successor of Kim Jong-Il.

Kim Jong-Il has three sons by two women. The oldest is Kim Jong Nam who was considered his favorite until he tried to sneak into Japan using a fake Dominican passport and visit Tokyo’s Disney resort in 2001.

The middle son, Kim Jong Chol, apparently was never a favorite as Kim Jong-Il, according to his former sushi chef, thought of him as too ‘girly’.

Kim Jong-Un’s appointment means that he has most likely embarked upon vigorous training to become successor, and is expected to gain higher and higher posts.

There are no photos of Kim Jong-Un – he has never been seen in public and no bibliographies have ever been published about any of Kim Jong-Il’s sons.

Sergei Lavrov is going to Pyongyang to reinvigorate talks

Russia has sent Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to North Korea for a 2 day visit in an attempt to re-stimulate North Korea to return to international disarmament talks, which NK pulled out of not so long ago.

North Korea has recently threw out UN monitors and has said that it will work hard to improve its nuclear deterrent at whatever costs and that it’d never return to talks, according to KCNA.

Sergei Lavrov is expected to hand over a letter from Russian President Dmitri Medvedev to the North Korean leader.