Revelation:Kim Jong Un's bizarre childhood

Kim Jong Un may be fond of fiery anti-Western rhetoric, but in fact the North Korean dictator is obsessed with the European and American lifestyle, according to a man who has known him since he was a little boy.

Kenji Fujimoto, who served as the personal sushi chef of Kim's father Kim Jong Il for 13 years, has revealed that the 30-year-old despot is a fan of the Beatles and longs to look like Hollywood star Jean-Claude Van Damme.

                       Warlike: The 30-year-old dictator has issued a series of thundering pronouncements directed at the West

Kim also drinks Bordeaux wine, smokes Cartier menthol cigarettes and has enjoyed driving around his palace in a Mercedes since he was just seven years old.

He also enjoys Hollywood hits, and the Beatles are his favourite Western band.

One film in particular had a big impact on Kim, when a Jean-Claude Van Damme karate movie inspired him to start bulking up so he could look more like the Belgian star.

Kenji Fujimoto

When the future leader was a child, he learned how to drive a Mercedes and would take it for a spin around the grounds of the presidential palace.

'He drove it perfectly when he was only seven,' Mr Fujimoto told The Sun. 'They made a special seat for him because he could not reach the pedals

Mr Fujimoto has known Kim for more than two decades after he was hired to cook delicacies from his native Japan for Kim Jong Il in 1988.

He managed to defect in 2001 by pretending to travel to Japan in search of a rare type of sea urchin, and has since written a series of books about the secretive North Korean regime.

North Korea's newest batch of future soldiers: Scrawny 11-year-olds with freshly shaved heads punch the air as they practice taekwondo

Rare pictures show images of North Korea's future soldiers as children as young as 11 are taught combat training in a military academy.

11-year-old pupils at the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School in Pyongyang, North Korea wear military uniforms and are prepared for war

New recruits with shaved heads are seen preparing for war in the grounds of Mangyongdae Revolutionary School in Pyongyang as they practise their taekwondo.

Young children with shaven heads learn taekwondo at the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School where former leader Kim Jong Il once studied

'I really think that's how I can get my revenge on the American imperialists: by getting top marks in class.

One pupil named Jo Chung Hyok said: 'Because of the present situation, I am trying to study harder.

‘It's my revolutionary duty,’ Jo said. ‘I'm working extra hard to get top marks in military subjects like tactics and shooting.’ 

              Pupils dressed in military uniforms chant: The respected Marshal Kim Jong Un is our father.' at the school in Pyongyang

The government-run school, where former leader Kim Jong Il was educated during the Korean War, indoctrinates students with criticisms of America and South Korea.

PSY unveils new 'arrogant dance' as he performs second single Gentleman

South Korean rapper PSY performed his new single and accompanying new dance at a concert on Saturday as he spoke about how he hopes North Koreans will enjoy his music even as tensions remain high on the Korean Pennisula

PSY released his latest single, Gentleman, in 119 countries on Friday, hoping to replicate the success of Gangnam Style, the smash YouTube hit that made him an international star almost overnight last year.

 The choreography for Gentleman - including the arrogant dance, as PSY called it - was unveiled at a concert in Seoul on Saturday before more than 50,000 fans. The music video has now been uploaded onto YouTube in the hope it can.

North Korea:U.S. Will Take 'All Necessary Steps' To Protect Its People

President Obama

President Barack Obama says now is the time for North Korea to end its belligerence. He says the United States will take, in his words, "all necessary steps" to protect its people.

But Obama also says that no one wants to see a conflict on the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea ratcheted up its threats against the U.S. after the U.N. Security Council levied new economic sanctions on the isolated nation. The penalties were in response to a February rocket launch.

Obama spoke alongside U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon after the two met in the Oval Office.

North Korean killers in heels: Female soldiers spotted patrolling border

It came on another tense day on the Korean peninsula, where images of four female soldiers in heels and Soviet-style hats were released in the latest act of bravado from madman dictator Kim Jong Un.

They were accompanied by a fresh round of rhetoric by the pariah state which claims it had 'powerful striking means' on standby for a launch.The official statement is the latest in a torrent of warlike threats seen outside Pyongyang as an effort to raise fears and pressure Seoul and Washington into changing their North Korea policy.

North Korea was however today warned it faced fresh sanctions if it went ahead with a predicted missile test in the escalating nuclear stand-off with its neighbours and their Western allies.Following a meeting of the G8 nations in London, foreign ministers said they had committed themselves to 'further significant measures' if the went ahead with the tests.

I murdered 115 people on order of North Korea

Ex super-spy Kim Hyun-hee, 51, spoke from a secret location in South Korea , unveiling how she was snatched from her family at a young age to serve the secretive state (top right). She was singled out to become a spy and was forced to go through rigorous training in North Korean camps (bottom right) before she was asked to blow up flight KAL 858, killing 115 people.

North Korea behind hacking attack in March, claims Seoul

North Korea was behind the cyber attack in March that wiped hard drives on more than 30,000 PCs in TV stations and disrupted banks in south Korea, a spokesman for its internet security agency said on Wednesday, ratcheting up the tension between the two sides another notch.

The agency said six computers in the north accessed computer servers in the south using more than a thousand access points on the internet, called IP addresses, based overseas. Those were then used to set up the attack.A spokesman told the Associated Press that the attack, planned up to eight months earlier, had similarities to past North Korean hacking attempts, which he said were carried out by an espionage agency run by the military there.

That will raise concerns that even a minor conflict between the two nations could be presaged by a cyber attack aimed at critical infrastructure in the south, which is one of the most networked nations in the world – in stark contrast to the north, which is one of the least networked.

North Korea has been using increasingly aggressive language in public statements: on Tuesday it warned foreigners to leave South Korea for "safe places", implying a nuclear war was imminent. The two nations have never signed a peace treaty; the three-year-long Korean war ended in a ceasefire, but not a peace treaty. They have thus remained at war despite the peace that has reigned since July 1953.

The online realm has become the most active frontier in what is so far a phoney war between the two nations. North Korea's Twitter feed was hacked last week, apparently by hackers from the Anonymous collective.

I have looked at all the scenarios. It seems to me like these poor guys( North Korea) just want to bother the rich guys(South Korea, US, Japan) andvto what end?

North Korea: US and Seoul brace for missile test

The US and South Korean combined forces command in the South has stepped up surveillance of the North and added intelligence staff as the region prepares for an expected missile test.

The joint command has increased its alert level one notch above the standard status, an unnamed military official told the South's Yonhap news agency, while Seoul's foreign minister, Yun Byung-se, told parliament the prospects of a launch were "very high".

While tensions on the peninsula have escalated rapidly in recent weeks, with Pyongyang issuing a series of threats and withdrawing workers from a joint industrial zone, analysts believe the North is simply trying to exert pressure on other countries in the hope of a security guarantee and aid."

China halts some North Korea tours

Chinese tourism authorities have told travel agencies to call off some visits to North Korea, it has been reported, amid escalating tensions on the peninsula.
But other trips are to go ahead, companies in China have said.

The development came as the South's Yonhap news agency reported the North could launch several missiles without warning and at any time, citing national security officials who said satellite imagery showed more mobile launchers on the country's east coast in addition to the two already thought to have been deployed.

Any launches are expected to be tests, possibly timed to key dates in the North's political calendar – notably the upcoming anniversary of the birth of its founder, Kim Il-sung.

Despite the weeks of threats analysts say there is no sign of mass troop movements near the Korean border and point out that the North has a history of bellicose rhetoric.

"If history is any guide, in a few weeks' time things will calm down … It does not make sense to credulously take their fake belligerence at face value and give them the attention they want now," wrote Andrei Lankov of Kookmin University.

I believe Kim Jong Un wanted to be noticed. He should now put his people into consideration

'North Korean madman is just young and showing off'

North Korea's former top female spy, who blew up a civilian plane that killed 115 people, has spoken about the reasons behind the rogue nation's warmongering, as it emerged that its nuclear missile system is 'primed and ready to launch'.

Kim Hyun-hee, who tried to kill herself with poison after her capture by the South Koreans and later escaped the death sentence, spoke at a secret address in the South, surrounded by bodyguards.

Speaking to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the 51-year-old former terrorist said she believes all the latest threats from Pyongyang are nothing more than attempts to shore up support for the new young leader, Kim Jong Un.

'Kim Jong Un is too young and too inexperienced,' she said. 'He's struggling to gain complete control over the military and to win their loyalty.'That's why he's doing so many visits to military bases - to firm up support.' She said there were good reasons for the North threatening a thermo-nuclear war.

'North Korea is using its nuclear programme to keep its people in line and to push South Korea and the United States for concessions.

US confident it can intercept North Korean missiles

Navy Admiral Locklear

The United States could intercept a ballistic missile launched by North Korea, the top US military commander in the Pacific said Tuesday, as the relationship between the West and the communist government hit its lowest ebb since the end of the Korean War.

Admiral Samuel Locklear, commander of US Pacific Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Pyongyang's pursuit of nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles represented a clear threat to the United States and its allies in the region.

But he said that the US was "ready" if North Korea attempted a strike and that it had the capability to thwart a North Korean missile.

South Korea Largely Ignores Latest North Korean Threat

North Korea has urged foreigners to leave South Korea to avoid a possible military conflict, but Pyongyang's latest warning apparently has done little to disrupt life in Seoul.

But businesses in Seoul were operating normally after the threat, and there was no sign of unusual traffic leaving the city.

My advice-The North Korean leadership would be wiser to focus on developing its economy and assisting the North Korean people who suffer under this kind of leadership that chooses development of missile programs and nuclear weapons rather than the feeding of its own people

North Korea warns foreigners to leave South

As the world waits to see if North Korea launches a ballistic missile, the regime has attempted to raise tensions further, warning foreigners living in South Korea to make evacuation plans because the peninsula is on the brink of war.

"We do not wish harm on foreigners in South Korea should there be a war," the official KCNA news agency quoted an official from a North Korean organisation calling itself Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee as saying.

Analysts noted that Pyongyang had issued similar threats in the past, adding that this latest warning is designed to elicit aid and political concessions from Seoul and Washington.

Amid the bluster of recent weeks – during which the North has threatened to launch a nuclear attack on the US – the regime appears to have made good on its threat to withdraw its workers from the Kaesong industrial complex.None of the 53,000 North Korean workers at the site, located just north of the border, arrived for work on Tuesday morning – a day after Pyongyang accused the South of turning the jointly run zone into "a hotbed of war".

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm! Time will tell

North Korea to recall her workers as 4th nuclear test feared

 North Korea plans to recall 51,000 workers and temporarily shut down its operations at the Kaesong Industrial Park that it runs jointly with South Korean companies just north of the border.

Analysts in South Korea see the moveea as a leap in Pyongyang's determination to make sacrifices amid its increasingly belligerent rhetoric, including indications of a fourth nuclear test.

North Korea has been threatening a nuclear strike against the United States and South Korea for weeks in protest of ongoing joint military drills in the south and the latest U.S.-led U.N. sanctions over its Feb 12 nuclear test.

The South Korean government today mentioned the possibility of a fourth nuclear test coming soon at the Gilju area, northeastern province of Hamkyong. Citing recent activity and movement of soldiers and cargo detected in that area, the Ministry of Defense spokesman Kim Min-Seok confirmed that "North Korea is always ready and prepared to launch another nuclear test" at one of the two underground tunnels.

North Korea: Seoul says fourth nuclear test is not imminent

South Korea has retracted claims that North Korea is preparing to conduct a fourth nuclear test, hours after the unification minister in Seoul said there were signs of increased activity at the North's main testing site.

But as officials in Seoul dampened speculation over a nuclear test, North Korea said it would withdraw its workers from the Kaesong industrial zone, a venture with the South located north of the heavily armed border separating the countries.

The South's defence ministry said the reported movements around the Punggye-ri site were routine and did not signal an imminent test. "We found there had been no unusual movements that indicated it wanted to carry out a nuclear test," a defence ministry spokesman said.

Earlier on Monday, the South Korean unification minister, Ryoo Kihl-jae, was reported as having told a meeting of MPs that Seoul had acquired evidence of increased movement of vehicles and personnel at Punggye-ri.

South Korea Confirms 'Sign' North Korea Making Nuclear Test Preparations

North Korea could be preparing to conduct a fourth nuclear test, following signs of activity at the country's main testing site, South Korea's unification minister, Ryoo Kihl-jae, said on Monday.

Ryoo told a meeting with MPs at the national assembly that Seoul had acquired evidence of increased movement of vehicles and personnel at Punggye-ri, the Yonhap news agency said.

The site on North Korea's north-east coast is where the country's three previous controlled nuclear detonations – in 2006, 2009 and on 12 February this year – took place

This is getting serious huh!

South Korea prepared for North Korea

While North Korea isn't backing away from threats of nuclear war, neighboring countries are taking precautionary measures for a possible missile test launch.

South Korea's presidential office told reporters Sunday that they take Pyongyang's surprise warning to foreign embassies and international organisations there to evacuate before April 10 as a sign that North Korea may test-fire its missile that day.

"We're thoroughly preparing for this, leaving all possibilities open," said Kim Jang-Soo, chief of the National Security Office, during a meeting at the presidential office, according to spokeswoman Kim Haing.

Diplomats in North Korea Stay Put

Foreign diplomats stationed in North Korea appeared to be staying put at their embassies in Pyongyang Saturday, despite the government's public suggestion that they should leave the capital for security reasons.

Reports received in Western capitals from foreign embassies in Pyongyang indicate diplomats are disregarding the warning to leave, and that most foreigners saw the warning message North Korea circulated Friday as a gesture intended to heighten tensions on the Korean peninsula.

North Korea had told embassies and international groups it could only guarantee their safety until April 10 in the event of open hostilities.

Everybody seems to believe that Kim Jong Un just wants to be bellicose! Time will tell

Kim Jong un has been noticed!?

Kim Jong un

At the end of a week in which North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shattered the illusion that his rule would mark a departure from bellicosity, signs are emerging that there may be method in his apparent madness.

His motivation is not war, but simple regime survival, top-level defectors in the South have said.

The 20,000 North Koreans who have made new lives in the South since the end of the Korean war in 1953 are among the few people placed to give reliable insights into a country that often generates more speculative heat thananalytical light.

While they are divided on how far Kim will to go in his campaign to pressure the US and South Korea into offering talks on aid and a peace treaty, they say he is as aware as officials in Washington and Seoul that all-out war and the continuation of his dynasty are mutually exclusive.

"Kim Jong-un's aim is to unite the North Korean military and people around his regime and win their trust," said Jang Se-yul, a former mathematics professor who spent 10 years in the cyberwarfare unit of the North Korean army in Pyongyang. "They don't trust Kim yet, and they're looking for strong signals from him."

All for trust? This young ruler is truly mad.

North Korea warns embassies over safety following missile threat

North Korea has warned foreign embassies in Pyongyang that it cannot guarantee their safety from the threat of conflict after 10 April, and has advised them to consider pulling their staff out of the capital.

The message to diplomats came as tensions in the region continued to escalate despite international efforts to defuse the situation