KOREA TIMES
Jan. 31 “66 North Koreans Given Refugee Status in Canada”
Canada granted 66 North Korean defectors refugee status in 2009, which is almost 10 times higher than in 2008, a report said Saturday. Radio Free Asia, quoting a report from the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, said that more North Koreans are expected to receive the status as there are 59 defectors currently under review.
ASSOCIATED PRESS (Also in CANADIAN PRESS, KYODO)
Jan. 29 “Myanmar's Suu Kyi criticizes release date remarks”
Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has accused a minister of making remarks that could prejudice her appeal against an extension of her house arrest, her lawyer said Friday. According to news reports this week by the U.S.-government backed Radio Free Asia and other media, Home Minister Maj. Gen. Maung Oo said that Suu Kyi would be freed in November. He made the remarks last week in a speech to local officials in central Myanmar, the reports said.
CANADIAN PRESS
Jan. 29 “Myanmar's Suu Kyi says remarks that she will be freed in November 'unfair' to her appeal”
Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has accused a minister of making remarks that could prejudice her appeal against an extension of her house arrest, her lawyer said Friday.
According to news reports this week by the U.S.-government backed Radio Free Asia and other media, Home Minister Maj. Gen. Maung Oo said that Suu Kyi would be freed in November. He made the remarks last week in a speech to local officials in central Myanmar, the reports said.
KYODO NEWS
Jan. 29 “Myanmar's Suu Kyi says remarks by minister ‘unfair’”
Myanmar's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has accused a government minister of making remarks that could influence the appeal process against her house arrest extension, her lawyer said Friday.
… Washington-based Radio Free Asia, in its Myanmar-language section, earlier quoted Maung Oo as saying last week that Suu Kyi would be freed in November.
KOREA TIMES
Jan. 29 “NK Lifts Travel Ban on Americans”
North Korea lifted a travel ban imposed on Americans, Radio Free Asia reported Thursday.
ASIAN TRIBUNE
Jan. 27 “Suu Kyi party leaders skeptical on November release reports”
Reports that a top Myanmar leader has been quoted as saying detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi would be released in November, when her house arrest ends, have only lowered hopes of human rights' activists all over the world that she might be freed ahead of the elections.
… News reports on U.S.-government backed Radio Free Asia and elsewhere cited witnesses as saying Maung Oo in a Jan. 21 speech declared Suu Kyi would be freed in November. The reports said he spoke at a meeting of several hundred officials in Kyaukpadaung, a town about 560 kilometers north of Yangon. Maung Oo was also quoted as saying the elections would be “free and fair.”
XINHUA
Jan. 26 “S. Korea to provide A/H1N1 vaccines for Kaesong workers”
South Korea will start providing vaccinations for the A/H1N1 influenza to Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) workers at the inter-Korean industrial park of Kaesong, local media reported Tuesday.
… These preventive measures come on the heels of an earlier report by Radio Free Asia that three DPRK workers in Kaesong have been confirmed to be infected by the A/H1N1 disease, and that another two or three South Koreans residing inside the complex were sent back to the South after being infected by the virus earlier this month, according to Yonhap.
YONHAP
Jan. 26 “S. Koreans asked to wear masks when entering N. Korean industrial park”
North Korea is requiring South Koreans to wear masks when they enter an industrial complex in the North's border town of Kaesong in an effort to stem the spread of influenza A (H1N1) from the South, sources said Tuesday.
… Radio Free Asia reported earlier in the day that three North Koreans living in Kaesong, just north of the western section of the inter-Korean border, have been confirmed infected with the H1N1 virus.
CHOSUN ILBO
Jan. 26 “U.S. Seeks Access to Evangelical Activist in N.Korea”
The U.S. government is pushing for access to an ethnic Korean evangelical activist who has been detained in North Korea since he walked across the border in a daredevil stunt to draw attention to human rights abuses there.
The U.S. is hoping to make contact through the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang, Radio Free Asia reported Tuesday.
TODAY
Jan. 26 “Suu Kyi ‘may be freed in Nov’”
A top Myanmar government minister has said that pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be freed in November when her house arrest ends — the first remark in months by a government official on the possible date of her release.
… News reports on Radio Free Asia, a United States government-backed station, and elsewhere cited witnesses as saying that Home Minister Major General Maung Oo made the comment in a speech during a meeting with officials in Kyaukpadaung town on Jan 21.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jan. 25 “Myanmar party says report Suu Kyi will be freed in Nov. dims hope for release before election”
Reports that a top Myanmar leader said detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi would be released in November, when her house arrest ends, have only served to lower hopes that she might be freed ahead of this year's elections, her party said Monday. News reports on U.S.-government backed Radio Free Asia and elsewhere cited witnesses as saying Maung Oo in a Jan. 21 speech declared Suu Kyi would be freed in November.
KOREA TIMES
Jan. 22 “NK girl wears ‘I Love Jesus’ shift”
A recently released photo of a North Korean girl offers a contradiction to what has been known about the Communist country's religious freedom and the extent of freedom made available to outsiders. The photo made public by the Radio Free Asia based in Washington, D.C has a young girl wearing a white T-shirt with an illustration and a sentence, "I ♡ Jesus."
KBS
Jan. 22 “NK Officials to Visit Netherlands for Investment”
Radio Free Asia says a group of ranking North Korean officials will visit the Netherlands next month to attract investment.
McCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS
Jan. 14 “Google's China threat revives interest in technology bill”
Piggybacking on Google's threat to withdraw from China over censorship issues, several lawmakers in Congress pushed Thursday for a vote on a bill that would regulate U.S. information-technology firms that deal with governments that use the Internet to spy on their own citizens or to hunt down dissidents.
… Finally, the bill would forbid U.S. Internet companies from jamming U.S. government Web sites such as the Voice of America and Radio Free Asia in such countries.
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
Jan. 14 “Hailing Google, US lawmakers seek Internet law”
US lawmakers on Thursday sought to prevent Internet companies from censoring information overseas, hailing Google's threat to pull out of China as a turning point but saying it needed official support.
… The bill would also prohibit companies from cooperating in jamming US government websites such as US-funded broadcasters Voice of America and Radio Free Asia.
BLOOMBERG
Jan. 13 “North Korea to reopen borders to tourists on Jan. 15, RFA says”
North Korea will reopen its borders to foreign tourists on Jan. 15, Radio Free Asia reported, citing the head of a company that runs tours to the communist nation.
WAUSAU DAILY HERALD (Wis.)
Jan. 11 “Worries about Hmong deported from Thailand continue here
Communication from a group of Hmong people deported from Thailand two weeks ago has been both spotty and disturbing, say family members here.
… Radio Free Asia reported last week that a Lao government spokesman said the concerns for the safety of the Hmong people were groundless, and they would be housed in resettlement villages.
IRISH TIMES
Jan. 9 “State casts shadow over China's cinema boom”
It’s been a bumper week for cinema in China, with figures showing a massive opening for James Cameron’s Avatar and that the movie business grew at a record rate last year.
… Dhondup Wangchen, producer of Leaving Fear Behind , was sentenced by the Xilin People’s Court after a secret trial on charges of “splitting the motherland,” Radio Free Asia reported.
JOONG ANG DAILY
Jan. 6 “Recovery of remains top agenda item”
South Korea will push to put recovering the remains of South Korean soldiers killed during the Korean War at the top of the agenda in future inter-Korean military talks, military officials said yesterday.
… Separately, Larry Greer, spokesman for the Defense POW and Missing Personnel Office at Pentagon, said the United States also hopes to retrieve remains of American soldiers killed in action during the Korean War. “It is our goal to discuss this matter with the DPRK [North Korea] whenever conditions are satisfactory for such negotiation in 2010,” Greer told Radio Free Asia.
CHOSUN ILBO
Jan. 5 “Birthday of Kim Jong-il Heir ‘to Become National Holiday’”
North Korea has reportedly designated Jan. 8, the birthday of leader Kim Jong-il's third son and heir apparent, as a national holiday, according to a group of North Korean defectors on Tuesday.
… Quoting another North Korean source, Radio Free Asia reported North Korea will hold massive celebrations on Kim Jong-un's birthday.
PHNOM PENH POST
Jan. 5 “Adhoc activist returns to Ratanakkiri”
A human rights activist from local rights group Adhoc has returned to his post in Ratanakkiri despite criminal charges pending against him, claiming he has enough evidence to prove his innocence.
… Thor Saron said in September that Pen Bonnar and Radio Free Asia journalist Ratha Visal could face disinformation charges for accusing him of corruption.
IRRAWADDY
Jan. 1 “Taking over the airwaves”
Almost every household in Burma has a radio on nowadays.
… “Before, we all used to listen to the BBC’s Burmese service, Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA),” said Myo Maung, an office worker in Rangoon.
NEW TANG DYNASTY TELEVISION
Jan. 1 “CCP Official Responsible for Toxic Milk Scandal Reappointed”
In September last year, Li Changjiang resigned as the head of China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. The agency was held responsible for the toxic milk scandal which killed six infants and caused at least 300,000 to become ill.
…. Jiang Ya-ling’s three-year-old daughter developed kidney stones from drinking the milk which was laced with melamine—a chemical for making plastic. She told Radio Free Asia there is no justice in any of it.
