North and South Korea at Chinese V Day Parade

N. Korean delegation get little attention at China’s Victory Day celebration While South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye was pictured standing at a prime position during the main military parade – alongside President Vladimir Putin of Russia – North Korea’s Choe Ryong Hae stood at least 40 people away from Xi, a picture of the viewing gallery at Tiananmen Square showed. The difference can partly be explained by the fact Pyongyang chose not to send a head of state to the event. Visit NK News for more Singapore firm building major new commercial building in N. Korea A Singaporean-linked company is building a major new commercial building in Pyongyang, which will incorporate a large department store and office space, sources in North Korea have told NK News. “As far as I know it’s a Singaporean company that’s funding the entire thing … they will be opening their own stores there,” one resident said, adding that rumors in-country suggest it will house “Pyongyang’s largest department store.”  Visit NK News for more S. Korea accelerates Eurasia Initiative: MOLIT The South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) highlighted the Eurasia Initiative at a meeting with foreign journalists in Seoul on Thursday. MOLIT pointed to the economic benefits of connecting the railroad from Busan to Europe, not only decreasing transportation fees but also developing foothold cities in the middle of the railroad. It also suggested possible sources of funding for the various projects involved, including from the AIIB and NADB. Visit NK News for more North Korean nostalgia in a unified Korea, By Benjamin R. Young Based on the growing wave of nostalgia for the Soviet era that has spread throughout the former USSR, Benjamin Young predicts that similar phenomena are likely in North Korea if and when unification is achieved. The statues of the Kims are unlikely to be toppled by mass demonstrations, but are more likley to become linked in the popular imagination with national pride rather than overwheening dictatorship. Visit NK News for more Pastor: Young N. Korean defectors can bridge the gap, By David Tian NK News spoke to Yosep (Joseph) Cho is a senior pastor and former professor at the Police Academy in Seoul, teaching about North Korean refugees adapting to South Korea. He has been working with North Korean defectors for more than 20 years and his church, Muldaedongsan Church in Seoul, provides resettlement services as well as  church services to North Korean defectors in South Korea. He argues that current North Korean defectors in South Korea are the key to bridging the two Koreas if and when reunification occurs. Visit NK News for more

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NK's Choe Ryong-hae sits at end during Chinese military parade (Korea Times)
A close aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is seated at the end of a row of leaders watching the Chinese military parade marking the end of World War II on Thursday.

Seoul-Beijing summit highlights N.K. isolation (The Korea Herald)
President Park Geun-hye’s trip to China this week further underscored Pyongyang’s deepening isolation and estrangement from Beijing.

Economic revival appears to be behind push for dialogue with S. Korea (Yonhap News)
North Korea is believed to have used the latest military standoff with South Korea to get inter-Korean talks started so as to win economic cooperation and investment.

North Korean choir gives military-inspired concert in Russia (Washington Post)
The North Korean National Choir has performed for the first time in the Russian capital, putting on a military-inspired concert.

UN Rapporteur for N.Korea Rights to Visit Seoul (Chosun Ilbo)
A senior human rights investigator at the UN will visit South Korea on Sunday to look into the human rights situation in North Korea.