NK REPORT

Only at MHI-NK News: U.S. will pay “due price” if new UNSC sanctions approved: DPRK foreign ministry, By Dagyum Ji N. Korea promises U.S. “greatest pain and suffering… in its entire history” if new measures pass. The U.S. will “pay due price” if a fresh United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions resolution is passed, the North Korean foreign ministry warned on Monday. The statement, carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), comes ahead of a meeting by the UNSC in New York on Monday to vote on a new U.S.-led. Why the ROK-U.S. alliance must have an open debate on deploying nuclear weapons, By In-Bum Chun Retired South Korean LTG In-Bum Chun weighs in on the growing debate in the South. It is no surprise that North Korea tested its sixth nuclear device, and in response, calls are growing in South Korea for consideration, or the actual development, of nuclear weapons. Considering the growing threat presented by Pyongyang’s development of weapons of mass destruction, this should also come as no surprise. Ahead of possible oil embargo, fuel prices spike further in Pyongyang, By Chad O’Carroll  Price hike accompanied by restrictions on amounts drivers can purchase. Gas prices are set to further increase in North Korea as the United Nations prepares to vote Monday on a new sanctions package that may include a full oil product embargo to North Korea. Gas stations in Pyongyang told foreign residents that a new price hike is anticipated on gas supplies, informed sources told NK. YouTube continues to terminate North Korea-related channels, By Hamish Macdonald Major channels used by researchers removed for violating “community guidelines”. Update: The Youtube channels Stimmekoreas and Uriminzokkiri have since been reinstated by Google since this article was published. YouTube removed several major North Korea-related channels on Friday “for violating YouTube’s Community Guidelines”, notices on the former channels reveal, amid a broader U.S. crackdown on the country following its sixth nuclear test. The channels all regularly published content. The Phillippines bans all trade with North Korea, By Leo Byrne The country’s Foreign Secretary says the move is in line with UN resolutions. The Philippines said it suspended all trade relations with North Korea over concerns about its nuclear and weapons programs, local media reported on Friday. The country’s Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano announced the move following a meeting with U.S. Ambassador to the country. “We can say we have suspended trade relations with North Korea … Why Russia may use its veto power on new North Korea sanctions By Andrei Lankov It may be in the Kremlin’s interest to block – or slow – strong new sanctions at the UNSC . On Monday, the UN Security Council (USNC) is expected to vote on a draft resolution introducing additional sanctions on North Korea. Likely policies to be included in the draft include an oil embargo, bans on North Korean textile exports, and prohibitions on hiring North Korean laborers abroad. The meaning of North Korea’s “Foundation Day” By Fyodor Tertitskiy There is no evidence of any great event taking place on September 9. “North Korea was founded on September 9, 1948.” We hear this phrase again and again, and often say it ourselves. But rarely do we ask the question – what happened on that day? If a country has a holiday commemorating its foundation day.

Top MHI-NK Stories from around the web: Moon’s approval rating slides below 80 pct amid N. Korea dilemma(Yonhap News) President Moon Jae-in’s approval rating saw a substantial dip from last month as the government faces an increasing security dilemma over North Korea’s nuclear brinkmanship, according to a poll released Sunday…According to the poll conducted by the Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI), 78.2 percent of those surveyed said the new president was doing a good job in managing state affairs. The reading marked a 7.1 percentage-point drop from KSOI’s presidential poll announced on Aug. 20. Kono applauds Kuwait for halting visas to North Koreans (Asahi Shimbun) Foreign Minister Taro Kono praised Kuwait’s move to suspend issuing new visas for North Korean workers and other measures to strengthen pressure on Pyongyang to end its provocations…In a two-hour meeting with Kono on Sept. 10, Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah said his country is confounded by North Korea’s recent actions, according to Japanese officials. Merkel backs Iran-style diplomatic solution for North Korea (The Guardian) Angela Merkel has offered German participation in any future nuclear talks with North Korea and suggested that the 2015 agreement with Iran could serve as a model for negotiations… The chancellor’s intervention reflects growing alarm in Europe that Donald Trump is worsening one nuclear crisis by repeated threats to use military force against North Korea, and seeking to trigger a second one by torpedoing the Iran deal to which Germany, France and the UK are among the signatories. “If our participation in talks is desired, I will immediately say yes,” Merkel told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung in an interview published on Sunday. Everyday Life In North Korea (NPR) NPR’s Scott Simon talks with Sokeel Park of the refugee assistance group Liberty in North Korea about everyday life for North Koreans. The few pictures we see of North Korea are meant to impress and possibly frighten the outside world – thousands of soldiers marching in lockstep, looming portraits of a venerated leader, the leader himself applauding from a reviewing stand, as crowds shed tears of worship… In recent weeks, there’s been shots of people said to be scientists in their lab and a bulbous bomb. But what’s everyday life like away from official cameras, for most North Koreans who struggle just to get by? Sokeel Park is director of research and strategy for Liberty in North Korea, a group that works with refugees from the North. He joins us now on the line from Seoul, South Korea. September 9 Risk. Or Not. Tristan Webb on North Korean Holidays and Nuclear and Missile Tests (PIIE) Haggard reviews Tristan Webb’s analysis on the relationship between North Korean holidays and test dates. This blog loves to see new data on North Korea, and particularly data which punctures myths…Here is one that I have blithely repeated on a number of occasions without doing the homework: “watch out for the upcoming holiday (September 9), when the North Koreans are likely to celebrate with a test.” At NKPro, Tristan Webb(link is external) actually tested the proposition against a pretty lengthy list of holidays, reproduced below. The finding is simple: even if you go out to one day on either side of the test, the incidence of testing shows no statistically significant relationship with holidays. Webb does note that the North Koreans sometimes pluck a holiday out of the air (“the 107th anniversary of the Korea-Japan Annexation Treaty of 1910”!). But the fact of the matter is that there does not seem to be a holiday testing cycle; rather, factors such as the technology cycle, weather, whim and perhaps political conflicts are likely to matter.