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Jeongmin Kim Profile picture
Jeongmin Kim
@jeongminnkim
Editorial Director @southkoreapro & Lead Correspondent @nknewsorg of Korea Risk Group • Previously @Reuters @CSIS • RT not endorsement
Dec 7 • 43 tweets • 12 min read
🧵: South Koreans are masters of memes.

Koreans are traditionally talented in finding a sense of humor even in the darkest of times. In 2016 & today, I saw how this culminated into bringing even the most politically indifferent people to the streets.

The art of protest flags: Image
Image
Image
Image "National Overweight Cat Association"

Nov 19, 2022 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
This is big. Kim decided to bring his daughter to the Hwasong-17 ICBM launch day. This is the first time we are seeing her introduced on state media. Rodong confirms she’s his child:

Kim “went out to the historic site of important strategic weapon test-firing, a crucial milestone in strengthening the nuclear force of DPRK, together with his beloved child & wife”

Child & wife (자제분과 여사님-Madame) are honorifics in Korean
Nov 8, 2022 • 12 tweets • 5 min read
THREAD: South Korean media outlets reported on the fire department PMR (walkie-talkie) records of the night of the Itaewon crowd crush.

From 10:15pm, fire department reportedly asked for more backup from police 29 times. Per Yonhap and JTBC:

yna.co.kr/view/AKR202211… 10:18pm | 1st time requesting police backup
10:20, 24pm | ‘pls pester police to come’
10:31pm | Head of team on the ground requesting to ask police to get the crowd in front of the alley out
10:26pm | told situation room that there are 15 reports
Nov 8, 2022 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Jam-packed line 5 subway station.

Maybe it’s just me but something I’ve never seen before at busy commute time here — people lining up towards up the stairs as well rather than just standing and waiting randomly And when headed home usually the train is packed as hell esp after passing Yeouido, one of the busiest. I often get stuck in crowd and miss my stop.

But just now trying to get off, stuck in the corner again, a harabeoji (elderly man) saw me and shouted: She has to go through!
Nov 1, 2022 • 24 tweets • 8 min read
Itaewon tragedy:

11 written records of 112 emergency police report calls that night have been released, from 6:30 pm to just a couple minutes before what authorities have been referring to as the time the "accident" happened -- 10:15pm.

I am translating them here. Thread: (1) 22.10.29 6:34 pm

= ... that alley, people going up and down, looks so precarious. People can't come down and [others are] keep being pushed upwards, feels like [ppl] would be crushed do death. I barely got out, so much crowd, think [police] control needed
Oct 31, 2022 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
My latest @southkoreapro — what we know so far on the Itaewon crowd crush, and what’s to come

On Monday, many written messages left at memorials to the victims made a point to push back against victim-shaming narratives: “It is not your fault,” they read.
Image And in a nation as divided as ROK, officials now face the daunting task of determining exactly what went wrong, assigning blame & devising countermeasures in a way that allows people in mourning to find answers and make sense of the shocking loss of life.

nknews.org/koreapro/2022/…
Oct 30, 2022 • 18 tweets • 4 min read
Tsai Ing-wen sends condolences to ROK citizens Biden:
Oct 29, 2022 • 17 tweets • 5 min read
I’m speechless.

Yonhap cites gov confirming 59 deaths, 150 injuries in Itaewon after the crushes among Halloween crowds Itaewon stampede: The number is now at 149 deaths, 19 gravely injured, 57 injured.

Authorities say that most casualties are from people in their 10-20s.

Among foreigners: 2 deaths, 15 injured

Aug 9, 2022 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
Trending on South Korean twitter: 멀쩡한 청와대 (fine Blue House, as in why did you leave BH)

Context -- people slamming his absence at emergency control center because reportedly he was trapped in his apartment(?). Biggest rain in 80 yrs & flood led to casualties, missing ppl His apartment last night:
Jan 11, 2022 • 12 tweets • 5 min read
New Year presser — I’ve asked Yoon Suk-yeol his views on addressing DPRK hypersonic missile threat.

Yoon said it’s near impossible to intercept hypersonic speed nuke missile attack, so should respond w/ Kill Chain preemptive strike before launch.

That QnA in Korean (Yonhap TV) Yoon camp’s top aide told @nknewsorg this would be rational decision when signs of imminent attack identified

Although hypothetical, Lee Jae-myung camp still said Yoon comments “inappropriate,” saying it risks NK’s military action out of fear&misjudgment

nknews.org/2022/01/yoon-s…
Jan 8, 2022 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Kim Jong Un's likely 38th day has come and gone without a mention in state media so far, but experts say precedents show formalizing his bday may come much later

Kim Jong Il:
- received a DPRK “hero” title marking his 40th
- KIS ratified his son's bday as holiday marking 50th And as many are aware, the world got to know about the young leader's birthday because of... a hbd-song by @dennisrodman in 2014. (Photo BBC bbc.com/news/world-asi…)

Read more here: nknews.org/2022/01/for-10… Image
Jan 28, 2021 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
Here's my previous thread about the symbolisms seen during Ri Sol Ju and Kim Jong Un's paektu visit:
Sorry, here:
Jan 26, 2021 • 8 tweets • 5 min read
I’ve talked to humanitarian workers with years of experience working in/on North Korea.

When asked what the worst hurdles were during Trump, many pointed to top 3:

1) travel ban,
2) limited scope & logistics of OFAC license,
3) lack of banking channel. nknews.org/2021/01/north-… “During the Trump administration, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) faced some of the biggest hurdles in our 40 [years of] history working in the DPRK,” @DJasper_ @afsc_org said. “U.S. policies were the biggest obstacle.”

nknews.org/2021/01/north-…
Jan 25, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
A bit of a concerning development: the weekly WHO COVID report just reiterated North Korea’s “no case” claim, not reporting on any number whatsoever re: tests/quarantine two weeks in a row today. Hope it’s not DPRK’s new strategy to keep info off public knowledge... It could also be coming from the lack of relevant UN staff in NK after the exodus of foreign staff. But then, they probably still have ways to regularly report to WHO remotely... we still don’t know the test number around the time of 8th party congress, the mass gathering
Apr 24, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
The WORST day to click on the 'publish' button by mistake:

Joongang Ilbo's prewritten article on Kim Jong Un's death seems to have been accidentally published at 15:32 KST. It's deleted now but... the preview still on Google.

Hope the headline does not get picked up by any international media outlets, that's gotta be a big chaos🤦‍♀️
Apr 21, 2020 • 20 tweets • 9 min read
OK let's all calm down for a moment while we get the facts straight Let's go back a bit & check again

1/ When did this rumor about Kim Jong Un's health start?

- When North Korean state media broke precedent and did not report whether Kim visited Kumsusan Palace of the Sun event for Kim Il Sung's birthday (April 15).

Apr 19, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
BREAKING: North Korean foreign ministry says that Pyongyang did not send any 'letters' to @realDonaldTrump in recent days.

"The relations between DPRK-U.S. leaders...should not be used for selfish purposes" and should not be discussed lightly, it says. More soon @nknewsorg The 'nice note' the DPRK foreign ministry is referring to: nknews.org/2020/04/trump-…
Jan 14, 2020 • 9 tweets • 4 min read
I thought I’d get used to it by now but sometimes I can't get over the fact that this is such a weird country ??? wot
Oct 24, 2019 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
THREAD: some thoughts on the Mt. Kumgang visit

IMO the most notable line was: “He made a sharp criticism of the very wrong, dependent policy of the predecessors who were going to rely on others when the country was not strong enough." Here's why.
nknews.org/2019/09/if-dip… Kim's explicit criticism towards the 'predecessors (선임자)' is something to keep an eye on, in terms of his domestic legitimacy. 'Predecessors' may be referring to officials, but criticizing the inter-K policy is bound to also mean that Kim Jong Il's policy was "wrong" too.
Mar 23, 2019 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
This phenomenon displayed in a new Korean slang 시발비용(fuckit-expense) is real. Econ problems are not making millennials more frugal; rather, they’re making them give up on long-term goals like housings & spend away salaries on small stuffs that make daily life slightly happier My “fuckit-expenses (시발비용)” list: 1) sushi delivery after surviving on bananas the whole day, 2) spending a whole week-worth of salary on a cute humidifier on my desk, 3) getting a MacBook Pro for reading and then surviving on bananas again (and then back to 1).