North Korea

A two-day memorial for former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il began on Wednesday with the new leader, his son Kim Jong-un walking alongside the hearse carrying the late dictator.

Ahead of the memorial, news agencies and expert analysts made predictions on what the late ruler’s funeral will be like, with many agreeing that it will be modeled after his father Kim Il-sung’s own memorial, which took place in 1994.

From the tens and thousands of people unreservedly weeping, whether out of authentic grief or not, to choreographed parades displaying the country’s military power, Wednesday’s ceremony proved to be the same. more >>

A Christian group in South Korea has cancelled plans to light Christmas trees near their border with North Korea as a goodwill gesture toward the country following the death of Kim Jong-il.

North Korea had threatened “unexpected consequences” if the group lit the display, which could be seen easily from North Korean cities along the DMZ border.

Tak Sejin, a spokesman for the Yoido Full Gospel Church and one of the organizers of the effort, said the decision to remove the displays was a gesture of compassion. more >>

As Kim Jong-un solidifies his status as North Korea's newest leader, prominent South Korean personalities appear to be making an effort for both countries to begin new relations on the right note.

Despite the controversies surrounding the fallen North Korean dictator, Lee Hee-Ho, widow of late South Korean president Kim Dae-Jung, and Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jung-Eun, each paid their respects to late leader Kim Jong-il and expressed condolences to new leader Kim Jong-un, Al Jazeera reported. Kim Jong-un is the third son Jong-il.

"I hope that our visit to the North will help improve South-North relations," Lee told reporters before crossing the border that divides the two countries. more >>

South Korea’s former first lady, Lee Hee-ho, has met with North Korea’s new leader, Kim Jong-un.

In a trip to Pyongyang, Lee met Jong-un to offer her condolences upon the death of his father, leader Kim Jong-il. Jong-un has assumed power and has met with military leaders in order to establish his authority following the "dear leader's" death more than a week ago.

South and North Korea have been at odds since the 1950s, when Russia and China began supporting North Korea, and the United Nations and United States were backing South Korea. North Korea is a communist country, while South Korea is a democracy. According to reports, the Korean War began with the march of North Korean troops into South Korea. more >>

Some think the death of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il has opened a window of opportunity for the international community to take a stand against the atrocities committed against the North Korean people, and well-known activist Robert Park is one of them.

Park, a Korean-American missionary and activist who endured torture after illegally entering North Korea two years ago, says genocide is occurring in the highly secretive nation, yet little is being done about it.

Genocide And Other Crimes Against Humanity more >>

On my desk I keep a jar filled with dirt. It comes from an Orwellian land where information has long been fanatically controlled. Since 1948, its cruel dictators have been venerated as gods, first the father and then his son. Meanwhile, most of its 24 million people subsist on tree bark, grass and whatever they can scavenge from this dirt. Though the elite are well cared for, the harvests are always poor. It is illegal to leave this nightmarish country, even to feed one’s family. Some 3 million have died.

The dirt, of course, comes from North Korea, which has topped the Open Doors World Watch List of the worst persecutors of Christians nine consecutive times. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) says the nation has established “a quasi-religious cult of personality centered on the late Kim Il-sung and his son Kim Jong-il.”

On Sunday, North Korea announced the death of Kim Jong-il. His son Kim Jong-un is now the "Great Successor." more >>