Basketball Matches Held in Pyongyang; Friendly Inter-Korean Games First Since 2003

Photo courtesy KCNA.

PYONGYANG/SEOUL, July 4 (Joint Press Corps-Yonhap) — South and North Korean basketball players played two friendly matches in Pyongyang on Wednesday amid a thaw in inter-Korean relations.

The games were played in the afternoon at Ryugyong Chung Ju-yung Gymnasium between a “peace” team and a “prosperity” team made up of a mixture of North and South Korean players. The women’s teams played first followed by the men’s. They were part of four planned games scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.

The women’s “prosperity” team managed to win 103-102. Ro Suk-yong of the North was key to the victory, scoring 18 points.

This pool photo taken July 4, 2018, shows South Korean and North Korean women’s basketball players competing in a friendly game at Ryugyong Chung Ju-yung Gymnasium in Pyongyang. (Yonhap)

The men’s game was tied at 102-102. With less than a second left on the clock, North Korea’s Choe Sung-ho hit a game-tying three-pointer for the “prosperity” team. Another North Korean Won Yun-sik, meanwhile, had the game-high 17 points for “peace” team.

This is the fourth time that the two Koreas have held friendly basketball matches. The last such games were played in October 2003.

This pool photo taken on July 4, 2018, shows North Korean spectators watching a friendly basketball game featuring mixed teams of South Korean and North Korean players at Ryugyong Chung Ju-yung Gymnasium in Pyongyang. (Yonhap)

The event was arranged after high-level officials from the two Koreas met in June to discuss sports exchanges in line with the spirit of the April 27 summit, where their leaders promised to expand cross-border exchanges and contacts.

Inter-Korean relations have been thawing since early this year when the North sent athletes to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics hosted by the South.

The rapprochement led to summit meetings between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in April and May.

The North’s leader, known to be an avid fan of basketball, was not seen at the gymnasium. It is unclear whether he will attend the other planned matches.

The delegation is to return home on Friday.

 

Singapore Summit Hotel is Magnificent: Capella Hotel on Sentosa Island

Capella Hotel on Sentosa Island will be the official location of the historic summit between President Donald Trump and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un. The hotel is a combination resort and spa located on 30 acres of land, including a rainforest and bordered by the South China Sea.

This unique resort is a combination of British colonial buildings dating to the 1880s combined with a modern extension designed by architects Foster + Partners. The extension includes private villas.

Aerial and exterior views:

 

Courtesy Ray OJ Photography.
Courtesy Capella, Facebook.
Courtesy Capella.
Tiered pools, courtesy Capella, Facebook.
Courtesy Capella, Facebook.
Colonial buildings and historical bungalows named Tanah Merah or red earth in Malay. Photo courtesy Chris Travel Blog. Facebook.
Integrating two beautifully restored Tanah Merah military buildings dating back to 1880s, Capella Singapore seamlessly fuses history with modern amenities and creature comforts. Facebook.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Courtesy Capella Singapore:

Tanah Merah I and Tanah Merah II, now home to Capella Singapore, were given conservation status on 7 Aug 2000 under the Conservation of Built Heritage.

They were built in the 1880s to accommodate the British Officers of the Royal Artillery, Coastal Defence Command based on Sentosa Island.

The Officers Mess was where the officers and their families had their meals and recreational activities such as dining, wining, dancing and tennis. There was a tennis court beside the block. ‘Mahjong’ was also a game which the British soldiers picked up from the locals on the island.

Christmas and New Year parties were celebrated at the Officers’ Mess. Formal table settings extended out to the wide corridors of the block and band performances were held in the room at the entrance. From the Officers’ Mess, there was a good view of Singapore harbour and it was a practice for the officers and their families to welcome in the new year with the loud horning from the ships in the harbour.

Parties were commonly held at the Officers’ Mess. When an officer’s tour of duty on the island was up, a farewell party was held before he returned to England and a tankard was normally given as a farewell gift. Farewell parties were also held for wives of commanding officers returning to England.

There was an interesting legend of buried treasures remembered by all the officers who served on the island. It was said that in the last days before the British surrendered on 15 Feb 1942, the British officers quickly buried their Regimental silver in the lawn in front of the Officers’ Mess. Part of the silvers was recovered in Port Dickson in Malaysia in 1950 but the where about of the rest is still unknown, and possibly still lying under the lawn.

After the war, the 1st Singapore Royal Regiment Artillery (1st SRRA) was set up in 1948 and the British officers in command continued to use these blocks as living quarters and mess. In 1956 the British Government authorised the disbandment of all their overseas coast artillery and by 1 Nov 1958 the 1st SRRA at Sentosa Island was disbanded.

According to Capella’s Facebook page, the Colonial Manors are the go-to location for VIPs and dignitaries:

COLONIAL MANORS

For a truly unique take on the Capella Singapore experience on Sentosa Island, our Colonial Manors offer Singapore luxury villa accommodations with three bedrooms in our beautifully restored buildings.

Each of our spacious Colonial Manors are 436 square metres and come complete with a stately dining room, a study, lounge room, fully equipped kitchen and a mini lap-pool.

Colonial Manor has hosted countless dignitaries, Capella, Facebook.

All photos courtesy Capella, Singapore:

Colonial Manor poolside.
Living room
Family room.
Master bath.
Master bedroom.
Colonial manor bath.
Colonial manor bedroom.

Colonial Manor also features more contemporary versions of accomodations:

 

North Korea’s Statement Prompts Summit Cancellation: “Political dummy” Pence “spat out nonsense”

Courtesy North Korea’s Central News Agency:

At an interview with Fox News on May 21, US Vice-President Pence made unbridled and impudent remarks that North Korea might end like Libya, military option for North Korea never came off the table, the US needs complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation, and so on.

As a person involved in the US affairs, I cannot suppress my surprise at such ignorant and stupid remarks gushing out from the mouth of the US vice-president.

If he is vice-president of “single superpower” as is in name, it will be proper for him to know even a little bit about the current state of global affairs and to sense to a certain degree the trends in dialogue and the climate of détente.

We could surmise more than enough what a political dummy he is as he is trying to compare the DPRK, a nuclear weapon state, to Libya that had simply installed a few items of equipment and fiddled around with them.

Soon after the White House National Security Adviser Bolton made the reckless remarks, Vice-President Pence has again spat out nonsense that the DPRK would follow in Libya’s footstep.

It is to be underlined, however, that in order not to follow in Libya’s footstep, we paid a heavy price to build up our powerful and reliable strength that can defend ourselves and safeguard peace and security in the Korean peninsula and the region.

In view of the remarks of the US high-ranking politicians who have not yet woken up to this stark reality and compare the DPRK to Libya that met a tragic fate, I come to think that they know too little about us.

To borrow their words, we can also make the US taste an appalling tragedy it has neither experienced nor even imagined up to now.

Before making such reckless threatening remarks without knowing exactly who he is facing, Pence should have seriously considered the terrible consequences of his words.

It is the US who has asked for dialogue, but now it is misleading the public opinion as if we have invited them to sit with us.

I only wonder what is the ulterior motive behind its move and what is it the US has calculated to gain from that.

We will neither beg the US for dialogue nor take the trouble to persuade them if they do not want to sit together with us.

Whether the US will meet us at a meeting room or encounter us at nuclear-to-nuclear showdown is entirely dependent upon the decision and behavior of the United States.

In case the US offends against our goodwill and clings to unlawful and outrageous acts, I will put forward a suggestion to our supreme leadership for reconsidering the DPRK-US summit.

Kim gives enthusiastic response to South Korean concert

Photo/Selfie Book: Red Velvet is an all-female pop band based in South Korea. The group performed for Kim Jong Un and his wife as well as other guests as part of a cultural exchange between the two Koreas.

2018/04/02 07:56

Courtesy Yonhap News Agency

SEOUL, April 2 (Yonhap) — North Korea’s state media reported Monday that its leader Kim Jong-un and his wife watched South Korean musicians’ rare performance in Pyongyang a day earlier.

Kim warmly welcomed the South Korean art troupe’s visit to Pyongyang and gave an enthusiastic response to its concert, which was held under the name “Spring Comes,” according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

South Korea’s art group held the performance Sunday that involved 11 teams, including contemporary pop legendary Cho Yong-pil and girl group Red Velvet, and plans to hold a joint gig Tuesday.

The KCNA said that Kim attended Sunday’s performance as he could not probably arrange time due to the hectic schedule for political events in early April.

A South Korean media pool report showed that Kim proposed the two Koreas hold more cultural events, suggesting it would be better to hold a concert in Seoul around fall under the title of “Autumn Comes.”

The Pyongyang concerts reciprocate a North Korean art troupe’s performances in South Korea to celebrate the PyeongChang Winter Olympics last month. President Moon Jae-in attended one of the two concerts held by the North’s “Samjiyon Orchestra.”

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (L) waves and South Korean Culture Minister Do Jong-whan claps before a South Korean art troupe holds a concert in Pyongyang in this image captured from pool footage taken on April 1, 2018. (Yonhap)North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (L) waves and South Korean Culture Minister Do Jong-whan claps before a South Korean art troupe holds a concert in Pyongyang in this image captured from pool footage taken on April 1, 2018. (Yonhap)

North Korean charm offensive goes operational at PyeongChang Olympics

GANGNEUNG, South Korea, Feb. 8 (Yonhap) —

Journalist Chang Dong-woo reports for Yonhap that the performance today by the North Korean cheer squad performed in front of the international media at Gangneung Olympic Village.

An 80-strong marching band within the contingent made its South Korean debut at a welcome event for the North’s national team at the athletes’ village in Gangneung, a sub-host city of the Olympics.

An all-female North Korean marching band arrives at PyeongChang Olympic Village in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, on Feb. 8, 2018. (Yonhap)

An all-female North Korean marching band arrives at PyeongChang Olympic Village in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, on Feb. 8, 2018. (Yonhap)

The spotlight, normally reserved for athletes, was dominated by the marching band, comprised mostly of young ladies in their 20s, as they lightened up the initially tense and guarded atmosphere by its first-ever performance in the South.

The medley commenced with “Nice To Meet You,” an iconic North Korean traditional number that is widely known to South Koreans, later followed by “Arirang,” a famous Korean folk song that will also be played during the joint entrance of the two Koreas at Friday’s opening ceremony.

Without any intervals or comments, the band continued with “Poongnyeonga,” “Song of the Sea” and “Ongheya.” Despite the limited space at the event, the ladies showed off some light choreography, walking around and moving their arms while playing their instruments. The band capped off the performance with “Kwaejina Ching Ching Nane” and “Youth Hymn.”

An all-female North Korean marching band is seen at a welcome event held for the North's Olympic squad at the Gangneung Olympic Village in Gangneung, a venue for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, on Feb. 8, 2018. (Yonhap)

An all-female North Korean marching band is seen at a welcome event held for the North’s Olympic squad at the Gangneung Olympic Village in Gangneung, a venue for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, on Feb. 8, 2018. (Yonhap)

The North Korean athletes, who initially looked tense and rigid, even declining to dance together with South Korean dancers at the event, but later smiled and loosened up while the music played.

An all-female North Korean marching band performs at a welcome event for the North's Olympic squad at the Gangneung Olympic Village in Gangneung, a venue for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, on Feb. 8, 2018. (Yonhap)

An all-female North Korean marching band performs at a welcome event for the North’s Olympic squad at the Gangneung Olympic Village in Gangneung, a venue for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, on Feb. 8, 2018. (Yonhap)

North Korean Olympic Cheering Squad Expected to be “Army of Beauties”

North Korean, Iranian athletes denied Samsung smartphone handout due to international sanctions

GANGNEUNG, South Korea, Feb. 7 (Yonhap) — PyeongChang Olympic organizers won’t provide North Korean and Iranian players with Samsung smartphones, which are available free to all other athletes, for fear of violating international sanctions on the countries, officials said Wednesday.

Samsung Electronics has offered some 4,000 units of the Galaxy Note 8 Olympic Edition to all athletes and International Olympic Committee officials visiting PyeongChang.

But they will not given to 22 North Korean and four Iranian athletes, as such handouts may violate United Nations’ sanctions that ban providing the countries with luxury goods and products that can potentially be used for military purposes, the committee said.

The Galaxy Note 8 is the latest flagship smartphone released by Samsung, boasting the signature S Pen stylus and a dual-lens camera setup.

The special edition comes with an Olympic-themed wallpaper, along with an application that provides details about the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

The price tag of a 64-gigabyte Galaxy Note 8 normally sits at around 1.09 million won (US$1,045) in South Korea.

This photo released by Samsung Electronics Co. on Jan. 17, 2018, shows the Galaxy Note 8 Olympic Edition. (Yonhap)

This photo released by Samsung Electronics Co. on Jan. 17, 2018, shows the Galaxy Note 8 Olympic Edition. (Yonhap)

First member of North Korea’s ruling dynasty to set foot in the South

Photo released by North Korean State Media shows Kim Jong Un’s sister at a table with other high-ranking government officials.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in (second from R) shakes hands with Kim Yo-jong, a sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, at the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games in the city located some 180 kilometers east of Seoul, on Feb. 9, 2018. Kim arrived in South Korea earlier in the day as part of a 22-member delegation led by the North’s ceremonial head of state Kim Yong-nam (L). (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Feb. 9 (Yonhap) — South Korean President Moon Jae-in briefly encountered North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s sister on Friday at the opening of the Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang.

Moon and Kim Yo-jung shook hands at their first-ever encounter during the ceremony. Kim arrived in the country earlier Friday as part of a delegation led by the North’s ceremonial head of state Kim Yong-nam.

She is the only member of the North’s ruling family to have ever visited South Korea.

The North Korean delegates are scheduled to attend a lunch meeting hosted by Moon on Saturday.

SEOUL, Feb. 7 (Yonhap) — Kim Jong-un’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, is set to become the first member of North Korea’s ruling dynasty to set foot in the rival South this week.

The Unification Ministry in Seoul announced Wednesday that Kim Yo-jong, presumed to be aged about 30, will be part of a high-ranking government delegation attending the Winter Olympic opening ceremony slated for Friday.

The team will be led by Kim Yong-nam, the nominal head of state. Kim Yo-jong is widely believed to be powerful and close enough to the leader to directly represent his views.

Kim’s visit could further boost the reconciliatory mood between the Koreas. Seoul wants to pave the way for the restoration of relations and possibly to talks for the denuclearization of the North.

Kim’s high status in the North Korean leadership and close blood tie with the leader raised expectations that she may serve as the reclusive brother’s representative to the South Korean government.

Kim Yo-jong is Kim Jong-un’s only sibling who is part of the North Korean leadership. Kim Jong-chol, the leader’s older brother, went out of the public eye after his younger brother took over the leadership. Kim Jong-nam, the leader’s half brother, was assassinated by apparent North Korean agents at Kuala Lumpur international airport in Malaysia last year.

Eric Clapton Super Fan? Who is Kim Jong Chol?

Unlike her ill-fated brothers, Yo-jong climbed the North Korean regime’s power ladder at an unprecedented speed.

Assassination of Kim Jong Nam Trial: What We Know So Far

She reportedly joined the Kim Jong-un regime in its initial stage, in 2012, before taking up a deputy director post in the Workers’ Party of Korea’s central committee about two years later. Ever since, Yo-jong has frequently been seen standing close to her brother at major state events, an indication of her closeness with him and the regime.

The Unification Ministry currently presumes that she is also serving as deputy chief of the all-important ruling party propaganda and agitation department.

Experts here said that having started early in her 20’s, Yo-jong’s role inside the current North Korea regime has already far exceeded what Kim Kyong-hui, once-powerful sister of late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, did for her brother’s regime in the past.

She is also known to have spent two years together with the leader studying in Switzerland in the 1990s.

Such a special profile is expected to make Yo-jong the mouth and ears of Kim Jong-un when she meets with South Korean officials, especially at a time when Seoul is desperately handling the difficult task of broker talks between the North and the United States for denuclearization.

Trump Should Be Sent to Lunatics Asylum, Has Nasty Smell, America Will Go to the Hell

Photo Courtesy KCNA.
Commentary courtesy Rodong Sinmun, North Korea State Media.
In the recent “State of the Union Address”, old lunatic Trump said that the DPRK is threatening the U.S. mainland by “reckless nuclear and missile pursuit”. Not content with slandering the DPRK over “degeneration” and “oppression”, he took issue with the non-existent “human rights”.

This is the intolerable politically-motivated provocation and tyrannical blackmail of the boss of gangsters and hysteric fit of a lunatic against the DPRK.

No matter how desperately Trump may try to defame the dignified and just system in the DPRK with worst invectives, he can not deodorize nasty smell from his dirty body woven with frauds, sexual abuses and all other crimes nor keep the U.S. from rushing to the final destruction.

There is a foolish attempt to make pretence for provocation and pave the road for invasion ahead of conducting the military adventure “bloody nose strategy” in the invectives of Trump recalling Bush’s reckless remarks of “axis of evil”.

Dolt-like Trump should know that his backbone would be broken, to say nothing of “bloody nose”, and the empire of America would go to the hell and the short history of the U.S. would end forever, the moment he destroys even a single blade of grass on this land.

It is the only way for the U.S. and the world concord and peace to urgently detain Trump, who is putting the U.S. and the world in turmoil, in the isolated hospital of psychopaths.

Pak Chol Jun

North Korean art troupe rehearses for rare performances in South Korea, first since 2002

 

GANGNEUNG, South Korea, Feb. 7 (Yonhap) — North Korea’s art troupe on Wednesday held a rehearsal for its upcoming performances in South Korea, which will celebrate the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

The 140 member-strong Samjiyon Orchestra traveled to the South by ferry Tuesday to perform in Gangneung, a sub-host city of the Feb. 9-25 Winter Games, on Thursday, and in Seoul on Sunday.

It will be the first performance by North Koreans in the South since 2002, when Pyongyang sent a cohort of 30 singers and dancers from several music and performance groups to Seoul for a joint event.

North Korean art troupe arrives in South Korea for Olympic celebrations

After having lunch in their Mangyongbong-92 ferry, which is docked at the South Korean eastern port of Mukho, the North Koreans showed up at the Gangneung Arts Center, the venue of their first performance, at about 3:40 p.m. on Wednesday in an atmosphere quite different from that of the morning.

They changed to casual attire from the stylish red coats and black fur hats and ankle boots for female members and from black coats and hats for males.

Including its head Hyon Song-wol, the band members were wearing identical comfortable red round-neck t-shirts with a small North Korean flag on the left chest and black pants, apparently for the rehearsal.

They looked nervous and uncomfortable when they first arrived at the arts center in the morning to check instruments and stage equipment for about two hours. When South Korean reporters said “hello” to them at a distance, the members just walked past them without saying a word.

But in the afternoon, some members waved back and smiled brightly to the welcoming reporters with some others responding, “Nice to meet you.”

Around 10 residents of the city also shouted, “Nice to meet you” and “We are one,” towards the bus of the North Korean art troupe when it was in front of the art center. Some band members waved back.

No conservative activists, who caused a disturbance at Mukho port the previous day, were spotted there. They burned the North Korean flag and a photo of the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, in protest of the North’s participation in the Winter Games.

The North’s art troupe, which includes an orchestra, dancers and singers, is scheduled to return home after the performances in Gangneung and Seoul.

Later in the day, Chun Hae-sung, South Korea’s vice unification minister, paid a visit to the rehearsal site and met with the North’s delegation, including Hyon, the Ministry of Unification said.

Chun exchanged words with Hyon and other North Korean officials over the preparation of the planned performances, the ministry said.

sshim@yna.co.kr

Another Earthquake Linked to Aftermath of Hydrogen Bomb Test in North Korea

25 Aug 2010 – “Storax Sedan” underground nuclear test – July 1962
Storax Sedan (yield 104 kt) – shallow underground nuclear test conducted by the United States on 6 July 1962 at Nevada Test Site. The main purpose of the detonation was to asses the non military dimension of a nuclear explosion. Image in the public domain

Photo: The Official CTBTO Photostream

SEOUL, Feb. 6 (Yonhap) — A 2.6-magnitude earthquake shook North Korea’s northern area on Tuesday in the aftermath of the communist country’s latest nuclear test, in September last year, the South Korean weather agency said.

The quake took place at 7:53 p.m., 46 kilometers northwest of Kilju, North Hamgyong Province, where North Korea has conducted a total of six nuclear tests, including the latest one in September last year, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA).

The depth of the tremor’s epicenter appeared to be 5 km and it is believed to have been a natural result of the sixth nuclear test, in September, the agency said.

North Korea claimed to have tested a hydrogen bomb in the Sept. 3 nuclear detonation, the most powerful of the nuclear tests the North has conducted.

The weather agency detected an artificial quake with a 5.7 magnitude at the nuclear site in the northeast area at the time of the sixth nuclear test.

The Tuesday quake occurred some 3km northeast of North Korea’s sixth nuclear test site, a KMA official said.

It was the eighth natural quake that has taken place in North Korea since the September nuclear test.