North Korea News Podcast by NK News - North Korea’s foundation day, top diplomat at UN and return of foreign teachers

Episode Date: September 3, 2024

North Korea appears to be preparing for a large-scale outdoor concert in Pyongyang to celebrate the country’s foundation day on Sept. 9, according to NK News analysis of satellite imagery. NK News CEO Chad O’Carroll joins the podcast to discuss the DPRK’s foundation holiday, as well as reports that a North Korean foreign ministry delegation […]

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O'Carroll joining me via StreamYard. Hi, Chad. Welcome on the show. Hi, good afternoon, Jacko. Chad, why don't we start off with because today is exactly a week from North Korea's national day, the Gugudjol, or September 9th. What's North Korea got prepared for September 9th this year? This is 2024, so it's not one of the fives or tens. It is 76 years since the founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. But what's North Korea look like they've got in store? Well, with me and Colin's work today, we were working on a combined piece about what

they're planning because we've noticed preparations via satellite imagery for construction of a red colored staging area adjacent to one of the main buildings in Pyongyang. The last two years, this has been erected about, you know, a week ahead of the 9-9 celebrations, DPRK's National Day, Foundation Day, and 2022 Kim Jong-un attended events there, and 2023 as well. Now what's interesting about this is that while it looks like there's going to be concerts, potentially a gala dinner, lots of pomp and splendor, the weird thing is that outside of North Korea, in the last few weeks, there have been preparations for receptions to be held at DPRK embassies around the world to celebrate the same anniversary.

But we started hearing from some of the invitees in the last couple of weeks, one by one, stating that they had been told that the events had been canceled. North Korean embassies sending notices out saying, due to the flooding situation in the northern areas, all efforts are being mobilized to support reconstruction, rehabilitation. Therefore, the anticipated nine-nine related receptions are being cancelled. So a bit of a tension here between the North Korean embassies not going ahead for anything with foreigners. But inside

North Korea, we are seeing signs for quite a grand celebration per the last couple of years. Right. This big red staging area you mentioned is just outside the Mansoode Assembly Hall, which is where they have the meetings of the Supreme People's Assembly. And they've had events there previously. They had in 2022 a big concert for the 74th day of the foundation of the republic. So this is the 76th one. And yeah, it'll be interesting to see what they end up doing there.

Are there any signs of large-scale preparations outside Pyongyang, perhaps in one of the smaller cities? Not certain about that, but we have also noticed preparations outside the May Day Stadium in Pyongyang for some kind of supportive festivities, ceremonies. We've seen people standing, preparing to depict the flag, things of that ilk. So I think it looks like there's going to be quite a big festival, but not of obviously on par with what we would see on a five-year interval.

Right, yeah, exactly. I mean, I guess it'll be a big one, what, four years from now, right, in 2028. That'll be the 80th anniversary. Yeah. And that'll be quite a big one, I imagine. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Now, moving on, I see that North Korea is scheduled to attend the UN General Assembly in New York later on this month. Yeah. So the General Assembly is, I think it's around the third week of September. And there was a question mark as to what kind of level of participation North Korea would have the last year, for example, it just sent an ambassador, one of the UN mission ambassadors to do a sort of anti-imperialist speech. This year, we've got a couple of sources who told us that North Korea will be sending a

delegation from Pyongyang. And we've also heard Choe Sun-hee, the foreign minister, might be going, which would be a pretty big deal. She would be the first foreign minister to go since I believe 2019 or 2018 in fact. Rui Yong-ho. So yeah, that will be really interesting to see. And just through chance earlier today, I was working on some analysis about North Korea's Air Korea fleet. And I found something quite interesting, which was that you may remember in January 2024, Chezon he flew to Moscow and met with President Putin. Well, I didn't realize at the time, but she actually flew an air Corio aircraft all the way there and some eagle eyed Russian

plane spotters took some photos of the aircraft in Moscow Airport, and on its way out. And for me, who I'm a sort of quasi aviation geek, what was interesting about this is this is the longest distance North Korean air Cor flight as far as I can remember. From Pyongyang to Moscow. Yeah, they haven't done flights of direct of this distance for a very very long time and what's also interesting is that one of the aviation enthusiasts got a great shot of the plane landing and you can see the windows it's just very few passengers right

basically no one on board and it raises questions about what you know would she consider flying all the way to New York City for the General Assembly on an air choreo aircraft well that would have to get permission from all the the US Civil Aviation authorities and and Air Force and whatnot I imagine it would yeah it would be but you know Iran sends jets in for the General Assembly and their airline like Air Corio is heavily sanctioned so right potentially it could happen. That would be a long flight though because even from Seoul to to New York to JFK Airport

that is a what somewhere between 13 and 15 hour flight. Yep. If I recall, she was flying on a IELTS Ilyushin 62, which is Russia's, well, it's a Soviet era long distance jet. I believe it would have no problem getting there. Wow. Don't know if she'd have much in-flight entertainment, but yeah, we'll see. Well, that certainly would be interesting. I see there that the 10th assembly of the United Nations, sorry, the General Assembly of the United Nations begins on September 10th, so that's a week from tomorrow, with high-level debate beginning later in the month on the 24th. Now obviously we probably won't know for a while exactly when Cheson will be flying in

and how, but that'll be interesting to see. She's not a stranger to New York though, she has been there before I understand. Yeah right and she you know she started off years ago as a as an interpreter. She's been deeply involved in USDPRK negotiations so one source told me they didn't think this would be likely because sending chair could potentially indirectly suggest that North Korea is, you know, potentially open for talks again. When it when if you zoom out from a bird's eye perspective, it really doesn't look that way. Another source told me a former US diplomat deeply involved in this kind of stuff said that this could be a sort of long term, long sort of zoom posturing of someone that would be involved in the future if for example Trump came back and her presence there is sort of to indicate, you know, very long term maybe we could talk. We'll see.

Yeah, wow. Okay. Moving on, we've got some news overnight that it looks like Pyongyang University of Science and Technology might be getting some teachers to come in get some visas, which would be the first time that a group of, say, non Russian tourists or, or Russian diplomats have been allowed into North Korea. Does that give you any thoughts about the likelihood of tourism reopening in North Korea and other visitors going to North Korea in the near future? Yeah, well, on the article you mentioned, I did manage to speak to a faculty member of PUST today who confirmed that that website article is accurate. So it's true. And yeah, there's been

another tour agency has come forward Young Pioneer tours in the last few days, stating that it looks likely December could there'll be something starting tourism wise. At the same time, I was just a couple of weeks ago, I wrote an article based on various sources who are quite skeptical of tourism renewing. I mean Kim Jong-un's defined December as the sort of start date for Samji Yong tours but well I think the key question is yes it might happen but would it include Western tourists that remains to be seen via China or via Russia? I don't know. But there are signs that things are slowly moving in a reopening direction, which is

good. And it should be said, this was something I did for NK Pro last week, looking at North Korean rhetoric regarding US South Korea military exercises, which just wrapped up It really looks like they've toned down their response this year compared to certainly last year big time last year and I guess the the question I asked is why you know, Jong-un's been deeply opposed to these for Many years and the only thing that I could really come up with, it may be to do with flood rehabilitation works, the topic we talked about

earlier. You know, 300,000 North Koreans were sent up north to work on that effort. At the same time, maybe it's too early to state this equivocally, because we also know from looking at North Korean responses to US rock exercises that they tend to do more more of a sort of kinetic missile based reaction after US rock exercises end so they only ended partially on Friday, there's still some ongoing now. So we may still see something. But overall, I'm actually forecasting not this year. It looks like they're not making such a big deal of it for one reason or another. Are we yet seeing any signs of Western embassies being able to reopen in North Korea or UN or other international bodies reopen their missions to Pyongyang? Yeah, I had heard a source telling me about a European country that might be going back soon, but I am trying to corroborate that right now.

Okay, so too early to reveal the name of that country, obviously. Yeah, and to be honest, the sources I've spoken to today have been stating things like, yes, there's progress and then the North Koreans kind of reversed the progress. Same story that we've heard before, but you know, I might not have spoken to the right sources yet, so we'll see, but maybe some progress. Gosh. It's interesting that it could be in fact that the PUST teachers go into Pyongyang to start teaching before any Western embassy reopens or any UN body opens its office in

North Korea. Yeah, the picture I'm getting is that, you know, when the pandemic was ongoing, we did so many articles about how the North Korea how North Korea might reopen. And we generally regularly assumed either it'll be just simultaneously at once. Or we would see diplomats first and NGOs and then tourism last. But it actually seems to be that it's going the other way round. It's backwards, isn't it? Yeah, it's almost despite us, Chad. be that it's going the other way round.

It's backwards, isn't it? Yeah, it's almost despite us, Chad. May. Yeah. And maybe it's just a message to governments in different parts of the world that, you know, you this is the price you pay for criticizing us. I don't know. Well, yeah. One last question for you, Chad. Do you know what tomorrow is?

September 3rd? It's a Tuesday. Yes, that is correct. But it is seven years to the day since North Korea did its sixth nuclear test. Oh, wow. I would not have remembered that. And we've been wondering all this time for the last seven years, when will the next one be?

Why haven't they done one sooner? We have a pre-wrote article about that seventh nuclear test. And so we- You mean it's ready to go kind of like an obituary. You write it and then you hit publish when it's gone. Yeah. And I was talking to another journalist from a US media who told me she's got her pre-write ready to two years or so.

So I wonder that those probably need quite a lot of dusting. Yeah. Dusting off. It does seem like a long time, because they did a lot. In the first 10 years, they did from 2006 to 2017, so 11 years, they did six tests, and the last three were all within 18 months of each other, and now seven years of nothing.

It does give you pause for thought, doesn't it? Yeah, maybe there won't be more coming. So, well, I guess possibly after this US election, maybe that will be a variable that comes into play. But yeah, I'm not sure. Two months from now. Let's keep watching. Thanks very much for coming on the show today, Shadow Carol. Shatter Peril. Explore the unofficial world of DPRK-inspired apparel at NK News Shop.

Dive into a captivating collection of North Korea-themed t-shirts, hoodies and more at the NK News Shop. From the popular Daedonggang beer t-shirts to the adventurous air-chordio designs, each piece offers a unique glimpse into aspects of the world. Explore our range today at shop.nknews.org. Ladies and gentlemen, that brings us to the end of our podcast episode for today. Our thanks go to Brian Betts and Alana Hill for facilitating this episode and to our post-recording producer genius, Gabby Magnuson, who cuts out all the extraneous noises, awkward silences, bodily functions and fixes the audio levels.

Thank you and listen again next time. you you you