*** TIP ON NORTH KOREA

North Korea Faxing New Year's Greetings to South Koreans

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- Closing a tense year in cross-border relations, North Korea is faxing New Year's greetings to South Koreans likely to support the resumption of cross-border aid next year, an official said on Dec. 30.

   A total of 35 organizations, including local governments near the border with the North, and 15 South Korean activists, have so far received such faxes, the government official said, asking not to be identified by post or name.

   North Korea has often used fax documents this year to deny its involvement in the deadly March sinking of a South Korean warship and its responsibility for the artillery exchange between the two countries in the Yellow Sea in November.

   Two South Korean marines and two civilians were killed in the artillery attack on the island of Yeonpyeong. The latest North Korean fax offensive did not refer to the attack, but contained calls for the South to honor their past two summit deals promising economic aid and cooperation for the North, the official said.

   "We are here sending New Year's greetings. We wish you success in your patriotic activities toward the reunification of the (Korean) nation and the defense of peace and stability under the banner of the inter-Korean declarations," the fax was quoted as saying.

   North Korea has sent similar faxes to South Korea annually since 2001, according to the official. The two countries held their first summit in 2000, and the second one took place in 2007.

   The official said the recipients this year included the Incheon city government and the Gangwon provincial government, both of which are headed by liberals supporting assistance to North Korea.

   "The North also appears to be trying to create a rift and trigger an anti-government struggle among us," the official said.

   The ties between the Koreas deteriorated after a conservative government took power here in early 2008, suspending unconditional aid and pushing the North harder to take denuclearization steps.

   The two Koreas remain technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty. South Koreans are banned by law from contacting North Koreans without prior approval.

  
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N. Korea's State TV Airs British Soccer Film 'Bend It Like Beckham'

  
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- Bending its own rules, North Korea has broadcast a western-made soccer film, "Bend it Like Beckham," on its state TV.

   British Ambassador to South Korea Martin Uden posted a "tweet" on Dec. 30 night on his Twitter account that the movie produced in his country was shown on Dec. 26 in the North, becoming the first western film to air there.

   Quoting a message aired during the broadcast, BBC said the 2002 film was shown to mark the 10th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

   Beckham refers to David Beckham, the iconic British soccer star and Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder. The film, which stars Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley, is about a girl who aspires to be a soccer star, and depicts some topics considered taboo in North Korea, such as homosexuality and inter-racial relationships.

   Soccer is popular in North Korea, which sent its national squad to the South Africa World Cup earlier this year. In September, a British women's football team from a town that had hosted North Korea's World Cup squad in 1966 traveled to the North to play exhibition matches.

   "Happy Christmas in Pyongyang. On 26/12 Bend it Like Beckham was 1st ever western-made film to air on TV. Well done to UK Embassy 4 arranging," Uden wrote.

  
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Two Dead, 15 Missing as North Korean Cargo Ship Sinks: Report

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- Two sailors were killed and 15 remain missing after a North Korean-registered cargo ship sank in the Yellow Sea off China, according to a news report on Jan. 1.

   The North Korean ship Kang Bong sank on Friday morning "amid strong gales" off Lianyungang Port in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu, China's Xinhua News Agency reported.

   Three sailors had been rescued, and rescuers recovered the bodies of two deceased sailors, the report said, citing the Rescue and Salvage Center under the Ministry of Transport.

   Two helicopters and a rescue ship were searching for the missing sailors, but strong winds and high waves were hampering the search, the report said.

  
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North Korean Leader Heeds 'American Tastes' in Propaganda Show

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il told a visiting South Korean businesswoman in 2009 that he had ordered the removal of a missile launch scene from his country's mass propaganda show because "Americans did not like it," according to a U.S. diplomatic cable.

   The cable, found on WikiLeaks and released in the end of December by a New York-based blogger, offered a rare look into how the aging but omnipotent leader views the relationships with the U.S. and South Korea, both of which North Korea remains technically at war with after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce.

   Attributed to the U.S. embassy in Seoul, the cable said Hyundai Asan Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun quoted Kim as saying that some portions of the Arirang show had been altered "to fit American tastes."

   Kim also told the businesswoman, who has a large stake in inter-Korean businesses, that he had ordered more students to participate in the gymnastics show because he had been told "South Koreans did not like to see so many soldiers in the performance."

   In 2000, Kim saw the show with then U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright amid a looming detente between the sides. Its highlight was a giant mosaic displaying a soaring rocket. Kim reportedly told Albright then, "This will be our last missile."

   Kim met with Hyun in August 2009 in Pyongyang as the chairwoman struggled to revive her company's businesses in the North amid soured cross-border relations.

   According to Hyun -- whose late father-in-law and Hyundai Group founder Chung Ju-young helped open the door to inter-Korean reconciliation in the 1990's -- Kim bemoaned that the conservative government in Seoul was not tapping officials from previous liberal administrations with better experience in dealing with North Korea.

   "Kim Jong-il (KJI) groused that the Ministry of Unification... the DPRK's (North KOREA's) former 'handler,' had 'lost the driver's seat' to MOFAT (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade), an entity which KJI asserted did not understand North Korea," the cable quoted Hyun as saying.

   While her company denied on Jan. 3 evening that Hyun did not complain of her government's North Korea policy, the cable quoted her as telling U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Kathleen Stephens that she "faced more obstacles in the South than in the North."

   The U.S. embassy said in the cable that it attached a separate document containing Hyun's comments on Kim's health. Kim, who rules the communist country with an iron fist and is grooming his third son Kim Jong-un as his successor, reportedly suffered a stroke in the summer of 2008.

   "I'm still alive," Kim was quoted as saying by Hyun, according to the cable, as he stressed that the South should honor the 2000 and 2007 summit deals with the North. Both of the South Korean leaders who signed the deals have died.

   "Hyun observed that KJI said little about China, save for a comment about 'not trusting'" China, the North's foremost political and economic benefactor, the cable added.

   In a separate meeting with Hyun, a senior North Korean official argued that his country was developing nuclear arms "to prove to the United States that, while small, North Korea was a powerful country," the cable said.

   North Korea remains deadlocked with the U.S. over its nuclear development programs, which have apparently expanded to a uranium enrichment activity. In its New Year's message, the North reiterated its pledge to push for denuclearization while the U.S. said this week that Pyongyang should show its commitment through words and actions, as they explore possibilities for resuming stalled denuclearization-for-aid talks that group four other countries.

   Arirang mobilizes tens of thousands of children and is a constant source of outside criticism over the human rights conditions in the North.

   The diplomatic cable can be found at http://andocu.tistory.com/.

  
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Kim Jong-un Chosen Among WSJ's 'People to Watch in 2011'

  
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- Kim Jong-un, the heir-apparent son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, was chosen among the nine "People to Watch in 2011" selected on Jan. 3 by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

   In a brief paragraph presented with a photo, WSJ wrote that Kim Jong-un was "tapped by his father as North Korea's third dictator" but "he won't take over until after Kim Jong-il dies or is incapacitated."

   But the newspaper said that everything that the socialist state does will be "scrutinized for whether he was involved and whether it's good or bad for him."

   The junior Kim, who turns 27 or 28 this year, was made a four-star general and appointed to high-ranking government and party posts in September of last year. The moves attracted worldwide attention as they signaled the first third-generation power transfer in a socialist state.

   Among the nine were also Xi Jinping, China's vice president and presumed successor to president Hu Jintao, Dilma Rousseff, new president of Brazil and Axel Weber, current chief of Germany's Bundesbank and leading candidate to be the next president of the European Central Bank.

  
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N. Korea Ranks Lowest in Asia in Ability to Secure Outside Food: Report

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea ranks the lowest in Asia in terms of the ability to secure food from outside to meet the demand projected for this year, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on Jan. 4.

   Citing a Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report, RFA said the North needs to import about 800,000 tons of food to make up for the shortfall in food supplies needed until November this year. But the country only has the promised support of 62,000 tons of food from the U.N. this year, giving it the procurement ratio of only 7.2 percent, lower than that of Mongolia, which scored 7.7 percent.

   FAO reported in November last year that the import requirement for the North is 867,000 tons in 2011, adding that the North Korean population is expected to continue to suffer malnutrition. The situation will deteriorate further in the event of natural disasters, it added.

  
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North Korean Leader Most Active in 2010 Despite Health Woes

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il conducted the largest number of public activities last year since he inherited the socialist country from his father in 1994, according to figures aggregated by the South Korean government.

   The 68-year-old appeared in North Korea's official media a total of 161 times, the Unification Ministry said on Jan. 4 in a release that suggested Kim was trying to tamp down outside speculation over his health. About one fifth of his activities last year were joined by his third son and heir-apparent Kim Jong-un, the ministry said.

   Kim Jong-il reportedly suffered a stroke in 2008, a year during which he showed up only 97 times. Kim appeared in official media 159 times in 2009, increasing his visits to factories and other economy-related facilities. Last year, he made 63 visits to economic sites and 38 to military ones, the ministry said.

   "He seems to be trying to unite the regime by showing both internally and externally that he remains healthy and that he is focused on enhancing the living standards of people," a ministry official said, asking not to be named.

   North Korea is trying to revive its economy ahead of 2012, which marks the centennial of the birth of Kim Il-sung, who founded the country and later passed his power to Kim Jong-il upon his death.

   Outside analysts say the heavy focus on the economy is aimed at creating a setting favorable for another hereditary power succession, this time, to Kim Jong-un, believed to be about 28.

   North Korea's media have yet to report on Kim Jong-il's first public activity this year.

  
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Web Addresses Using N. Korea's '.kp' Set to Return to Internet

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- Web page addresses using North Korea's ".kp" domain appears to be ready to return to the Internet after being shut down for months for unknown reasons, according to a news report.

   Since the third quarter of last year, a handful of domain names registered under ".kp" became unavailable after domain name system (DNS) servers responsible for the web addresses went offline for unknown reasons.

   The ".kp" domain was first assigned in 2007 to Korea Computer Center Europe, a Berlin-based offshoot of the Korea Computer Center in Pyongyang.

   The German operation was reportedly run by businessman Jan Holtermann, who had reached a deal to supply a satellite Internet service to select customers in North Korea.

   According to a Jan. 3 report from IDG, a U.S.-based technology media company, the domain had been assigned to new servers by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, which oversees global IP address allocations.

   It said that the new servers as of the report did not appear to be online but pointed to North Korean Internet addresses. It also said that one of the servers carried the "kptc.kp" name, which is probably a reference to Korea Posts and Telecommunications Corp., the country's official telecommunications carrier.

   The issue regarding the downed ".kp" domain didn't affect users in North Korea. The country has a domestic Intranet that makes use of ".kp" domain names, but the network isn't connected to the Internet and has its own servers.

   Ordinary North Koreans are not allowed access to the Internet as part of the government's attempts to limit exposure to information from outside of the North.

  
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S. Korea, U.S. Reaffirm Onus Is on N. Korea Before Six-party Talks

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States agreed on Jan. 5 that North Korea should demonstrate its denuclearization commitment and improve relations with Seoul if international nuclear talks are to reopen, a senior official in Seoul said.

   Stephen Bosworth, Washington's special envoy on North Korea, and Seoul's chief nuclear negotiator Wi Sung-lac also agreed that the international community should censure the North for its newly acknowledged uranium enrichment program, the official said.

   "The South and the U.S. shared an understanding that future six-party talks should not be talks for talks' sake and, more than anything else, that the North should show sincerity about denuclearization," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

   "Both sides shared the consensus that North Korea's uranium enrichment activity is a violation of" a series of U.N. resolutions and other agreements that deserves a "stern response from the international community," he said, adding that the new nuclear program is a cause for serious concern in Washington.

   Improvement in inter-Korean relations is also a prerequisite for six-party talks, he said.

   These stances, which are not new, were reinforced as the U.S. prepares for a summit with China, which has strongly called for dialogue to reduce tensions, and as Pyongyang has shown a growing willingness to talk.

   Bosworth's discussions in Seoul reaffirmed the belief of Seoul and Washington that the onus is on North Korea to defuse tensions that the regime has created with a deadly shelling of a South Korean island and revelations of the uranium program.

   They also appear to suggest that six-party talks are unlikely to happen anytime soon.

   Bosworth also met with Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan and Unification Minister Hyun In-taek.

   The U.S. envoy's trip to the region, which will also take him to China and Japan, came ahead of a summit between U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao set for Jan. 19 in Washington where North Korea is expected to be a key topic.

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