North Korea tries to appeal to Africa using past foreign aid after US calls for isolation

[Deeq A.]

The country’s media mouthpiece, Rodong Sinmun, used the example of Kim Il-sung giving aid to Africa in a seeming attempt to counter the initiative from the US to turn the continent against Kim Jong-un.

It said: “President Kim Il-sung gave unsparing material and spiritual assistance to African nations who struggled to build a new society.

“At that time, the North were by no means richer or more abundant than other nations when we made the aid.

“Our people offered a slew of food and relief goods to poverty- and hunger-stricken African people by tightening their own belts.”
The newspaper then detailed a number of factories, farms and infrastructure it believes was built with the help of aid from the hermit kingdom.

The publication appears to be a direct counter to recent calls from US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson who recently urged African nations to play an increasing role in an initiative to isolate the hermit kingdom in an attempt to force it to disarm and halt its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Mr Tillerson’s renewed calls came after North Korean weapons were seized onboard Iranian smuggling ships on route to Somalia.

North Korea has repeatedly taken part in a series of illegal activities to fund its nuclear and missile programmes.

Speaking at a meeting with his counterparts from some 30 African countries, Mr Tillerson said: “The DPRK presents a threat to all of our nations.

“Everyone, including each country represented here today, must play a part in this peaceful pressure campaign to convince the DPRK that the only way to achieve true security and respect from the international community is to abandon its current path and choose a meaningful dialogue about a different future.

“I urge you to take additional measures to pressure the DPRK by downgrading your diplomatic relationships with the regime, severing economic ties, expelling all DPRK labourers, and reducing North Korea’s presence in your country in all other ways it may be found.”

North Korea has responded to US calls for African isolation against the hermit kingdom

The country’s media mouthpiece, Rodong Sinmun, used the example of Kim Il-sung giving aid to Africa in a seeming attempt to counter the initiative from the US to turn the continent against Kim Jong-un.

It said: “President Kim Il-sung gave unsparing material and spiritual assistance to African nations who struggled to build a new society.

“At that time, the North were by no means richer or more abundant than other nations when we made the aid.

“Our people offered a slew of food and relief goods to poverty- and hunger-stricken African people by tightening their own belts.”

North Korea says growing nuclear threat ‘only aimed at the US’

World War 3: North Korea is ‘MORE likely’ to use ‘nuclear weapons’ now

The newspaper then detailed a number of factories, farms and infrastructure it believes was built with the help of aid from the hermit kingdom.

The publication appears to be a direct counter to recent calls from US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson who recently urged African nations to play an increasing role in an initiative to isolate the hermit kingdom in an attempt to force it to disarm and halt its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Mr Tillerson’s renewed calls came after North Korean weapons were seized onboard Iranian smuggling ships on route to Somalia.

North Korea has repeatedly taken part in a series of illegal activities to fund its nuclear and missile programmes.

Shock footage stills of North Korean defector escaping across border

Dramatic footage of a North Korean soldier’s defection released on November 22 showed him racing across the border under fire from former comrades, and then being hauled to safety by South Korean troops. The defector, who ran across the border at the Panmunjom truce village on November 13, was shot at least four times and has been recovering in a South Korean hospital

North Korea soldiers gathering on the north side of the Joint Security Area of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) after the defection of a North Korean soldier

North Korean border guards firing at a defecting North Korean soldier in the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea
A North Korea defector running out from a vehicle at the Joint Security Area of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)

North Korean soldiers holding rifles and gathering in the North Korean side of the Joint Security Area at the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea

Speaking at a meeting with his counterparts from some 30 African countries, Mr Tillerson said: “The DPRK presents a threat to all of our nations.

“Everyone, including each country represented here today, must play a part in this peaceful pressure campaign to convince the DPRK that the only way to achieve true security and respect from the international community is to abandon its current path and choose a meaningful dialogue about a different future.

“I urge you to take additional measures to pressure the DPRK by downgrading your diplomatic relationships with the regime, severing economic ties, expelling all DPRK labourers, and reducing North Korea’s presence in your country in all other ways it may be found.”

North Korean defectors on life in the ‘hermit country’

It is believed that the weapons discovered on their way to Somalia earlier this week were sent by Iran in an attempt to arm militants fighting in Somalia.

The ships were intercepted in the Arabian Sea by a French vessel.

It is understood that the intercepted Type 73 machine guns were manufactured in North Korea before being sold to Iran between 1970 and 1980.

This follows another weapons seizure from the hermit kingdom last month when a huge supply of weapons was discovered in Egypt.

More than 30,000 rocket-propelled grenades discovered on board the freighter named the Jie Shun which the hermit kingdom had decorated with deceptive Cambodian colours.

Despot leader Kim Jong-un’s cargo was stopped in its tracks when the US warned Cairo about the incoming ship.

An investigation launched by the United Nations found that Pyongyang had good relations with Egyptian business executives who had ordered millions of dollars worth of North Korean weaponry.

The monumental weapons supply was disguised under bins of iron ore that were used as a front for the hugely destructive delivery.

Last month, Rex Tillerson praised political partners to the US from across the globe for helping to deliver the toughest UN sanctions to date on North Korea.

He added: “Countries must increasingly decide whether they will do business with North Korea or with the community of peace loving nations.”

North Korea was incredibly high on the agenda for Donald Trump during his recent tour of Asia where he emphasised his isolation initiative to several world leaders.

The Republican firebrand has attempted to persuade China to cut off all ties with despot leader Kim Jong-un – the nation is the country’s biggest supplier and ally.

Source: – Express