Something is not right here, and something odd is going on in North Korea. Yes, even by their extremely odd standards to begin with. It appears North Korea is in a very serious cash crunch, and this makes sense from the sanctions imposed from the tests conducted last year. What is not making sense, and may never get an answer …

(Hat tip: Hapo) The speech at the Hamhung factory. You can see more information at One Free Korea. Enjoy!

China gets Rajin port for ten years – Rajin, the struggling special economic zone that has not seen a whole lot of activity, has been trying to restart it for quite some time. Some other special economic zones may make a little more economic sense in the way of location have been set up, but in my opinion, the regime …

Oh, wait, this is nothing new. The same game continues yet again on the failed attempt at getting Kim to get rid of his crappy nuclear program. This issue has been on the forefront of the North Korea news cycle for quite some time, and may be as tiresome as the succession issue I keep harping about. In other words, …

Via NKEconWatch:
UPDATE 3: Northeast Asia Matters has posted a copy of the DPRK constitution in English.  Click here to read.
I have been looking for this for quite some time, and now it is available. Reading through it, not huge, groundbreaking changes were made, but enough to (what I guess) a legacy for Kim. Tim will tell the real reason behind …

Yes, it has been a while since I have been regularly posting news, and maybe today is a good day to start. Some news has come from North Korea, although nothing really earth-shattering.
North Korea May Be Open to Talks (New York Times) – In a chilling turn of events, Kim is willing to go back to the table and discuss …

It has been very slow posting as of late, and I would like to apologize for that.
An ROK fishing boat has been released in a “goodwill measure” from the DPRK. The four man crew has been released along with the boat, and according to the article:
The North’s recent barrage of conciliatory gestures has been surprising, even to South Korean officials …

Update: See North Korean Economy Watch
Before I begin the entry, let me apologize for the lack of updates. However, this site may not be missed because the other Korea-centric blogs are keeping up with the news just fine. With that said…
It appears the DPRK has shuffled the NDC, and while little if nothing is known about why that is, there …

Two stories caught my eye today when browsing the news. One was regarding the asking of increased aid and the other was the supposed announcement about plutonium has been made into weapons. Now why would North Korea decide to announce the plutonium has been made into weapons-grade goodies yet look to the United States for chummy relations? The KCNA has …

If things cannot get any stranger, it could have if this offer was accepted.
North Korea offered to send its chief nuclear negotiator to next week’s inauguration of US President-elect Barack Obama, but Washington has responded coolly, South Korean news reports said Monday.
It would be historical to say the least, but would be a political disaster if it was accepted. Apparently, …