Chinese Police Foil Plot To Assassinate Kim Jong Un"s Nephew

As the two women who fatally poisoned Kim Jong Nam with a toxic nerve agent face the gallows in a Malaysian murder trial, Bloomberg is reporting that Chinese police have broken up a plot purportedly masterminded in North Korea whereby a group of men were dispatched to Beijing to murder Jong Nam’s son, 22-year-old Kim Han Sol, who is also the nephew of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Since taking the reins of the North Korean state following the death of his father in 2011, Jong Un has readily murdered members of his family to eliminate any potential challenges to his rule. Chinese police arrested two of seven North Korean agents suspected of involvement with the plot.

Jong Un executed his uncle Jang Song Thaek in 2013 on charges of graft and factionalism. Earlier this month, the leader promoted his 28-year-old sister to the ruling party’s political wing, bringing her closer to the center of power, Bloomberg reported.

Kim Han Sol

Some agents are being interrogated in special facilities on the outskirts of Beijing, a South Korean newspaper reported without elaborating on whether the other five were arrested. China’s foreign ministry didn’t immediately respond to a faxed request for comment.

Kim Han Sol identified himself as the son of Kim Jong Nam – who was poisoned in February during a brazen attack at Kuala Lumpur airport – in a YouTube video released earlier this year. Kim Jong Nam was the eldest son of late North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

South Korean government officials have speculated that Kim Jong Un was behind the murder of his half-brother, a critic of his leadership who had lived outside the country for years. The Associated Press reported that attorneys in the trial of Jong Nam’s suspected assassins have sought to pin the blame for the assassination on four shadowy North Korean figures believed to have masterminded the murder plot.

Authorities in Malaysia said the two women charged with Kim Jong Nam’s murder used the chemical weapon VX in the attack, claiming they were trained to swipe the poison on the victim’s face and knew the substance was toxic. The pair have pleaded not guilty.

From "Dotard" To "Old, Insane, B***h": Here's A List Of North Korea's Most Memorable Insults

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un unwittingly set the internet on fire Thursday night when he proclaimed that US President and purported Kim BFF Donald Trump was a “mentally deranged dotard” and a “rogue and a gangster.”

Kim’s usage of the arcane vocab word prompted hundreds of thousands of people ask Google what exactly is a dotard? (for the record, it’s a pejorative term for a senile old man).

As the Sun newspaper points out, Kim’s latest viral proclamation follows a pattern of North Korean media serving up memorable – if sometimes nonsensical – soundbites in their attacks on American politicians.

And in a list dating back to the Bush Administration - when Kim Jong Un"s father Kim Jong Il was still running the country - the Sun recounts some of North Korea"s most memorable missives to their American “imperialist” adversaries.

Cory Gardner:

When Senator Corey Gardner called Kim a “whack job” in May, the dictator was less than pleased. State media quickly responded, saying that Gardner was “human dirt”.

A statement said: "It is a serious provocation that Gardner, like a psychopath, dare to bear the evil that dares our highest dignity.

"It is America’s misfortune that a man mixed in with human dirt like Gardner, who has lost basic judgement and body hair, could only spell misfortune for the United States."

Obama:

In 2014, North Korea branded then-US President Barack Obama a "juvenile delinquent", a "clown" and a "dirty fellow.” The North’s remarks verged on outright racism when they said Obama "still has the figure of monkey while the human race has evolved through millions of years."

KCNA added that Obama "does not even have the basic appearances of a human being" and, in a particularly vile statement, called him: "a wicked black monkey".

John Kerry:

Also in 2014, an unidentified North Korean spokesperson poetically described then-Secretary of State John Kerry a "wolf donning the mask of sheep" who had a "hideous lantern jaw.”

Hillary Clinton:

Kerry’s predecessor, Hillary Clinton, was described in 2009 as "by no means intelligent" and a "funny lady".

"Sometimes she looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a pensioner going shopping," an unnamed North Korean source said.

Park Geun-Hye:

The reclusive regime has also made former South Korean President Park Geun-hye a popular target, alternately naming her as a "senile granny", a "tailless, old, insane bitch", and "a traitor for all times".

George W Bush:

North Korea famously labeled Bush a “hooligan” who “looked like a chicken soaked in rain.”

Dick Cheney:

The former vice president was accused of being “a most cruel monster and bloody-thirsty beast.” Yet no jokes about his aim.

Donald Rumsfeld

The North blasted Rummy, labeling him a “political dwarf” and “human scum.”

If there’s an upside to the US’s reluctance to foment regime change in the North, it’s that North Korea’s leader, and its ministry of propaganda, will probably keep churning out these colorful little nuggets.
 

North Korean Defector Claims Kim Jong-Un's Days Are Numbered

Authored by Mac Slavo via SHTFplan.com,

CNN allegedly found a North Korean defector through University researchers working in conjunction with the South Korean government.

The news outlet interviewed the alleged defector, who claims Kim Jong-Un’s days as “supreme leader” are numbered.

CNN says that the defector had worked among the elites in Pyongyang. In order to protect the man’s anonymity, the descriptions and his name were omitted from the interview.

He is said to fear being hunted down by North Korea and his family harmed should his identity be known. He is by far, however, the most recent defector CNN has ever interviewed; he’s only been free from North Korea for one year. But, he had a few predictions about the North’s borderline psychopathic dictator…

In 2011, Kim Jong Un’s father, Kim Jong Il, died. Kim Jong Un took over and “tried his best,” says the defector. He gave gifts, and in a public appearance, allowed his voice to be broadcast on North Korean state run television. The perception among the people was that life was about to improve inside North Korea. “It was a false image,” he says.

In December 2013, the regime announced the second most powerful man in North Korea, Jang Song Thaek, was being expelled from the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea. Jang was accused of a litany of crimes, from obstructing the nation’s economic affairs to anti-party acts. The allegations stunned for several reasons, primarily for who the regime fingered — Jang is Kim’s uncle.

“Kim Jong Un revealed his true side,” says the defector. Jang’s arrest was broadcast on state television, followed by a statement calling him “despicable human scum, worse than a dog.” State media then announced he was executed.

The defector that CNN interviewed expressed confidence in his opinion that the elites’ loyalty to Kim Jong-Un has deteriorated and will continue to do so. He says that conviction is how he was able to leave his family behind because he believes he will reunite with them one day.

“I can tell you for sure, the North Korean regime will collapse within 10 years,” he says without hesitation.

“Kim Jong Un is mistaken that he can control his people and maintain his regime by executing his enemies. There’s fear among high officials that at any time, they can be targets. The general public will continue to lose their trust in him as a leader by witnessing him being willing to kill his own uncle.”

Yet Kim Jong-Un has all the power in North Korea.  

Meaning those who lose trust in the “supreme leader” may face their ultimate and untimely demise. It’s no secret why this defector is keeping his identity well hidden.

Guam Governor Calls For North Korean "Bully" To Be "Punched In The Nose"

After suddenly being thrust into the crosshairs of an international standoff between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un last week, Guam"s governor, Eddie Calvo, doesn"t seem to be all that worried.  Using a seemingly Trumpian vernacular, Calvo compared Kim Jong-Un to a playground bully who needs a simple "punch in the nose."  Per AFP:

Guam"s leader said Monday that "sometimes a bully can only be stopped with a punch in the nose", in a spirited defence of President Donald Trump"s rhetoric against North Korea which has the island in its crosshairs.

While Trump"s critics accuse him of inflaming tensions with Pyongyang, Guam governor Eddie Calvo said he was grateful the US leader was taking a strong stance against North Korean threats to his Pacific homeland.

"Everyone who grew up in the schoolyard in elementary school, we understand a bully," Calvo told AFP.

"(North Korean leader) Kim Jong-Un is a bully with some very strong weapons... a bully has to be countered very strongly."

Calvo, a Republican, said Trump was being unfairly criticized over his handling of the North Korea crisis, which escalated when Pyongyang announced plans to launch a "simultaneous strike" on Guam by mid-August.  While noting Trump"s penchant for dramatic language, Calvo pointed out that his underlying message is not that dissimilar from Obama"s. 

Trump has responded by threatening "fire and fury", warning last week that the US military was "locked and loaded" to respond to any aggression.

"President Trump is not your conventional elected leader, what he says and how he says it is a lot different from what was said by previous presidents," Calvo said.

But he pointed out previous presidents had also used strong words to warn off Pyongyang, including Barack Obama who said last year that "we could, obviously, destroy North Korea with our arsenals".

"One president (Obama) said it one way, cool and calmly with a period... the other said fire and fury with an exclamation point, but it still leads to the same message," Calvo said.

Meanwhile, Calvo rejected the mainstream media"s attempt to compare Trump to the often unpredictable North Korean dictator.

"Well there"s only one guy that has vaporised into a red mist his uncle or a general because he fell asleep in a meeting with an anti-aircraft gun, that"s Kim Jong-Un," he said.

"There"s only one guy that"s killed his brother with one of the most toxic nerve agents ever created, that"s Kim Jong-Un."

Of course, he may have point...the "punch in the nose" diplomacy worked out pretty well for Ralphie...

North Korea Issues "Emergency Standby Orders" To Civil Defense Units: Report

With markets about to close for the next 2 days, the question on every trader"s mind is: "should i carry risk over the weekend, or should I dump it all in case North Korea fires another test, or non-test, ICBM launch which may be just the provocation Trump needs to give the green light to a squadron of B-1 bombers to begin a bombing campaign." After all, Trump himself tweeted this morning that "military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely. Hopefully Kim Jong Un will find another path!" 

While we don"t know if Kim will "find another path", late on Friday KBS World Radio, the official international broadcasting station of South Korea (which is owned by the Korean Broadcasting System), reports that according to Radio Free Asia (RFA), in a potential warning that Pyongyang may be preparing yet another imminent escalation, "North Korean authorities have dispatched emergency standby orders to the leaders of the ruling Workers’ Party committees and civil defense units."

More details:

Friday"s RFA report quotes a source in Yanggang Province as saying that the Central Military Commission of the party delivered the orders via e-mail.

The e-mail apparently arrived even before the North publicly threatened to retaliate against the U.S. “hundreds of thousands of times” over newly approved U.N. sanctions.

A separate source in the North has reportedly told RFA that the state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper carrying the North’s statement was distributed by military helicopters in Jagang Province on Tuesday. The source said it was the first time military helicopters have been used to deliver the newspaper except when the paper carried new year"s messages by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

And while the report has yet to be confirmed by other news outlets, traders are furiously hitting refresh on the website of 38North.org for the daily satellite image update of North Korea"s missile launch preparedness, which has yet to hit and which could mean the difference between another sleepy, boring open on Monday and a VIX surging above 20, 30 or more depending on what "path" Kim Jong-Un picks over the next 48 hours.

It's Time To Stop Pretending North Korea Is A Threat To The United States

Authored by James Holbrooks via TheAntiMedia.org,

North Korea is a threat, goes the narrative. And we, as loyal Americans, should fear the potentiality of that fact.

That’s why U.S. aircraft carriers, accompanied by fighter jets and warships, are currently steaming toward the Korean Peninsula.

That’s why the best soldiers the United States military has to offer are currently in South Korea, training — goes the narrative — to take out Kim Jong-un.

That’s why Japan, staunch U.S. ally, is considering deploying troops to South Korea — in preparation for the time when that evil dictator from the north will try to harm Japanese nationals in the south.

Conveniently, if Japan does deploy those troops — and, let’s be honest, they will — that will put the coalition of Japan, South Korea, and the United States together on the Korean peninsula.

Consider that for a moment.

They actually want us to believe that it would take the combined military might of the U.S., Japan, and South Korea to take out Kim Jong-un. There literally is no other way to look at it.

As in all cases when it comes to geopolitical analysis, it helps to look at a map. North Korea is sandwiched between a U.S.-occupied territory to the south and a global superpower, China, to the north.

In what universe does it make sense that Kim Jong-un would think attacking an “enemy” in the region would be beneficial? On Monday, Anti-Media reported on the fact that former Pentagon chief William Perry told CNN in November that North Korea would never strike first because, very simply, Kim doesn’t want to die.

“I do not believe the North Korean regime is suicidal,” he said. “Therefore, I don’t believe they’re going to launch an unprovoked nuclear attack on anyone.”

That’s because Kim has certainly applied to the situation what the mainstream narrative would like you to discard — common sense. With just a dash of it, any logical being can look at the events unfolding and see that North Korea poses no threat, to any surrounding nation, period.

Which poses an immediate question: Why the military buildup in South Korea?

China, incidentally, reportedly just deployed 150,000 troops to its border with North Korea. Much like Japan, the reason given was preparation. Preparation for war was the message between the words.

But it wouldn’t be war with North Korea. That tiny strip of land is merely the buffer between two military juggernauts, the United States and China. That’s World War III, friends, and it has nothing to do with Kim Jong-un.

And since we’re discussing the mainstream narrative, let’s look at the latest on that topic. From a New York Times piece that ran Tuesday:

“Just over a week ago, the White House declared that ordering an American aircraft carrier into the Sea of Japan would send a powerful deterrent signal to North Korea and give President Trump more options in responding to the North’s provocative behavior. ‘We’re sending an armada,’ Mr. Trump said to Fox News last Tuesday afternoon.

“The problem was that the carrier, the Carl Vinson, and the three other warships in its strike force were that very moment sailing in the opposite direction, to take part in joint exercises with the Australian Navy in the Indian Ocean, 3,500 miles southwest of the Korean Peninsula.”

This is a political machine that can’t even keep the narrative coherent within itself, much less the public. And they want us to believe. That’s the crux of it all. They need us to believe. If we don’t, it all falls apart — for them.

Kim Jong Nam Assassination Caught On Tape

Chilling closed-circuit security footage has emerged of the killing of Kim Jong Nam last week, showing two attackers took less than three seconds to carry out the assault on the half-brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. As the WSJ first reported, the video clips from security cameras were obtained by a Japanese media outlet and posted by a third party on YouTube.

The clip shot inside Kuala Lumpur International Airport shows Kim arriving alone at a busy, well-lit departures hall shortly before 9 a.m. on Feb. 13. Police said he had been in Malaysia about a week, and intended to take a 10:50 a.m. AirAsia flight back to his home in Macau. From an airport mall area, Kim, wearing loafers, light-blue jeans, a sport coat and a flat cap, and with a black backpack slung over his right shoulder, strides past three police officers into a crowded departures hall.

Once he arrives at the entrance of the departure lobby, he stops momentarily to look up at the flight schedules. After checking the flight schedules, he then moves to a nearby self-check-in kiosk.

In a flash, the next scene shows two women approaching Kim, one in a whitetop appearing to lunge as she places her hand over Kim’s face. There is a flurry of movement, then after a matter of two or three seconds, the three break apart. The woman in white - whose hair and dress resembles a woman dressed in a top with an “LOL” slogan who Malaysian police said was connected to the killing - walks briskly away.

Japan-based Fuji TV aired the video compilation late Sunday night. A spokeswoman declined to say how it obtained the footage, citing an obligation to protect its source. The video has since been circulated by Japanese and other media, and was viewed hundreds of thousands of times on YouTube before being removed.

As the WSJ explains, in the next clip, Kim is standing at one of the kiosks when a person that police believe was Siti Aisyah, a 25-year-old Indonesian woman who authorities said was working as a masseuse at a spa in Kuala Lumpur, approaches on his left, getting his attention. A second later, a person police believe to be Doan Thi Huong, a 28-year-old Vietnamese woman, swoops in behind Mr. Kim. She reaches up with both arms and wraps them around Mr. Kim’s head, appearing to either hold a cloth to his face or to hold him in place.

It isn’t clear what action, if any, Ms. Aisyah takes. Mr. Kim’s backpack slips off from his shoulder and he stumbles backward as both women then slide away quickly but calmly in opposite directions. Mr. Kim appears to watch Ms. Aisyah departing, seemingly never having seen Ms. Huong. He stands motionless for several seconds. Huong’s contact with Mr. Kim lasted 2.33 seconds, according a timer added to the video compilation.

The clip of the assault near the kiosks is blurrier than the previous clips, which police told The Wall Street Journal was because a camera closer to the scene wasn’t working. They said another camera that would have caught the assailants at a departure point was also out of order. 

A subsequent clip, of better quality from a different camera, shows Kim walking quickly to the nearby customer-service desk. There he tells an airport employee that two women had just wiped a wet cloth on his face, and that he feels dizzy, according to police, who have said they are also investigating whether a spray was used in the assault. The airport worker escorts him out to the hallway where Mr. Kim speaks animatedly with the police he had passed minutes earlier. Mr. Kim repeatedly motions toward his face.

The next clip shows a far less crowded area downstairs from the departures hall, where a police officer and an airport employee calmly escort Mr. Kim to a small, glass-fronted airport medical clinic. Mr. Kim, now moving less steadily, enters.

An unspecified amount of time passes, and the next clip shows Mr. Kim on a stretcher at the clinic, being moved. Police said he had a seizure, and medical workers sent him to Putrajaya Hospital. Mr. Kim died en route.

Local police arrested Ms. Aisyah and Ms. Huong last week for possible involvement in the case. Neither has been charged, and both are being detained by police for one week. Police have also arrested a North Korean man and a Malaysian man suspected of being involved in the assault, and say they are searching for others, including several North Korean men.

As reported last week, police have said they believe Kim was poisoned during the assault, but are awaiting confirmation from autopsy results. Malaysia’s health minister said results could be released as early as Wednesday. 

According to SCMP, Malaysia shot back at North Korea’s allegations that authorities were purposely delaying the investigation, including the release of Kim Jong-nam’s remains. “North Korea can say anything, but, as far as we are concerned, we follow the legal requirements of our country,” Noor Rashid said.

Pyongyang is behind the death, a South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman alleged Sunday. “The government assumes that North Korea’s regime is behind the incident,” Defense Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee said, adding that there would be no further comment while Malaysian police conduct their investigation.

Brother Of Kim Jong Un Assassinated In Malaysia; US "Strongly Believes" North Korea Behind Murder

Update: According to a U.S. government source speaking to Reuters, the U.S. strongly believes that North Korean agents murdered the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Malaysia. This, even though U.S. authorities have not yet determined exactly how Kim Jong Nam was killed, according to the source, who did not provide firm evidence to support the government"s conclusion.

* * *
Just two days after North Korea embarrassed both the US and Japan by test-firing a new, nuclear-capable ICBM with a 2000 mile range, with neither Trump nor Abe able to articulate a clear retaliation strategy, moments ago Yonhap news agency reported that the elder half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been assassinated at Kuala Lumpur airport.

Kim Jong Nam

Kim Jong Nam, 45, who had lived outside North Korea for years, was reported to have been killed by poison needle by two women who fled the scene by taxi, the reports said.

Police official Fadzil Ahmat said the cause of Kim"s death was not yet known, and a post mortem would be carried out on the body. "So far there are no suspects, but we have started investigations and are looking at a few possibilities to get leads," Fadzil told Reuters.

According to Fadzil, Kim had been planning to travel to Macau on Monday when he fell ill at the low-cost terminal of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). "The deceased ... felt like someone grabbed or held his face from behind," Fadzil said. "He felt dizzy, so he asked for help at the ... counter of KLIA."

Kim was taken to an airport clinic where he still felt unwell, and it was decided to take him to hospital. He died in the ambulance on the way to Putrajaya Hospital, Fadzil added.

He was once considered to be the heir to late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il but he fell out of favor with his father in 2001 after he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport, and was arrested at Tokyo airport, apparently en route to Disneyland. Kim Jong Nam had been critical of Kim Jong Un, reportedly saying in 2012 that he “won’t last long” because of his youth and inexperience. The two brothers have different mothers, Bloomberg reports. Kim Jong Nam did not attend his father"s funeral in 2011.

Kim Jong Nam said several times over the years that he had no interest in leading his country. "Personally, I am against third-generation succession," he told Japan"s Asahi TV in 2010. "I hope my younger brother will do his best for the sake of North Koreans" prosperous lives."

His cousin, Lee Han-young, who defected to South Korea through Switzerland in 1982, was shot and killed by North Korean agents in Seoul in 1997, according to South Korea. Kim Jong Nam"s mother was an actress named Song Hye Rim.

"My father was keeping highly secret the fact that he was living with my mother who was married, a famous movie actress, so I couldn’t get out of the house or make friends," Kim Jong Nam was quoted as saying in a 2012 book by a Japanese journalist. "That solitude from childhood may have made me what I am now, preferring freedom."

According to Reuters, South Korea"s foreign ministry said it could not confirm the reports, and the country"s intelligence agency could not immediately be reached for comment.

"We don"t know if there was a cloth or needles; the receptionist said someone grabbed his face, he felt dizzy," police official Fadzil said, when asked about the nature of the reported attack. Malaysia is one of a dwindling number of countries that has close relations with North Korea, which is under tightening global sanctions over its nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches, the latest of which took place on Sunday.

So who may be behind the murder? As BBG adds, Kim has carried out a series of executions since taking power in 2011, the most high profile of which was the 2013 killing of his uncle and one-time deputy Jang Song Thaek. If Kim Jong Nam was killed by a North Korean spy, it indicates that Kim Jong Un felt a sense of paranoia about his own future and wanted to remove any potential successors, according to Namkoong Young, who has been teaching inter-Korean politics at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies for more than 25 years.

“Jong Nam has been in exile for years away from North’s politics for a long time but he is still the eldest son of Kim Jong Il,” Namkoong said. “And if there was any move or plan by some elite there to have him replace Jong Un, he probably should be removed.”

Of course, it is just as likely that a certain spy agency could have staged the murder, making it seem like it was preemptive retaliation by Un. For now there are no further details.

A person in the Malaysian prime minister’s office, who did not want to be named, confirmed that a North Korean national had been killed at the airport and taken to hospital. The person said police were still waiting for the autopsy report. South Korean officials have yet to comment publicly on the matter. Malaysia’s foreign ministry is still waiting for information from the police on the identity of the deceased man. The death is under the purview of the home affairs ministry, she said. The police didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

In 2014, Kim Jong Un had about 50 officials executed on charges ranging from graft to watching South Korean soap operas. Two senior officials were executed with an anti-aircraft gun in August last year on Kim’s orders, South Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported, citing people it did not identify.