1 Issue 16-03B (No. 705) March 8, 2016 1. H.R. 757 2. NOT ME! 3. DISSATISFACTION GUARANTEED 4. WHERE THERE IS A WILL..
1. H.R. 757 2 [ 1 ] Summary: H.R.757 114th Congress (2015-2016) North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act of 2015 This bill requires the President to investigate any credible information of sanctionable activities involving North Korea and to designate and apply sanctions with respect to any person (including entities) knowingly engaging in or contributing to activities in North Korea, through export or import, which involve weapons of mass destruction, significant arms or related materiel, significant luxury goods, money laundering, censorship, or human rights abuses. The President shall exercise authorities under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act with respect to such persons and the government of North Korea. The President also has discretionary authority to designate and apply sanctions to persons involved in certain other kinds of conduct. Real or personal property will be subjected to civil forfeiture if it is involved in any attempted or actual violation of this Act, or which constitutes or is derived from proceeds traceable to such a violation. The Secretary of the Treasury is required to: determine whether reasonable grounds exist for concluding that North Korea is a jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern; and, if so, impose one or more special measures with respect to the jurisdiction of North Korea. The sense of Congress is declared about ensuring the consistent enforcement of United Nations Security Council resolutions and financial restrictions on North Korea. A validated license is required for export to North Korea of any goods or technology subject to the Export Administration Regulations, which shall also be subject to a presumption of denial. Specified prohibitions and restrictions of the Arms Export Control Act shall be applied to any provision of munitions to North Korea regardless of whether it is designated as a state sponsor of terrorism. The President must withhold assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to any country that provides lethal military equipment to, or receives it from, the government of North Korea. U.S. government contracts with designated persons are forbidden. The Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) shall require enhanced screening procedures to determine if physical inspections are warranted of any cargo bound for or landed in the United States that has been transported through a foreign seaport or airport whose inspections are deficient if there are reasonable grounds to believe that such cargo contains goods prohibited under this Act.
Seizure or forfeiture is also authorized for vessels or aircraft used to facilitate sanctionable activities. 3 Visas are denied to designated aliens, and the issuing consular officer, the Secretary of State, or DHS must revoke any visas or other entry documentation already issued to them. Certain exemptions to designations and waivers of designations and sanctions will be allowed. The President must report to Congress on: significant activities undermining cyber security conducted, or otherwise ordered or controlled, directly or indirectly, by the government of North Korea; and a detailed plan for making unrestricted, unmonitored, and inexpensive radio, Internet, and electronic mass communications available to the people of North Korea. The Secretary of State is required to report to Congress certain information on: each political prison camp in North Korea; and the identity of each person responsible for serious human rights abuses or censorship in North Korea, along with a description of those abuses or censorship. Circumstances for suspension or termination of sanctions are also specified. [ 2 ] Dong-A Ilbo, February 20, 2016 The United States' first bill targeting only North Korea was put into effect Thursday (local time) after U.S. President Barack Obama signed them into law. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet also concluded independent sanctions on the North on Friday. It was extremely exceptional that the U.S. administration put into effect a North Korean sanctions law just 37 days after the House of Representative passed the bill it had made. It took six weeks for the government to sign the Patriot Act after the September 11, 2011 terror attacks. With the law's effectuation, Washington has finished its legal preparations for imposing stronger independent sanctions on Pyongyang. The law's "secondary boycott" clause enables the U.S. government to sanction third-party individuals and corporations related with the North's weapons of mass destruction, human rights abuses and cyber hacking attacks. In this case, Chinese companies will likely be hit hard, as the North depends on China for nearly 90 percent of its external business transactions. Washington's new sanctions target not only the North but also China.
2. NOT ME! 4 What malnutrition? What starvation? Not me! Feb. 19, 2016 Women carry firewood as they walk along a highway in Sinpyong County in North Hwanghae province June 20, 2014 People rest next to the railroad tracks in a town in North Korea s North Hamgyong Province.
3. DISSATISFACTION GUARANTEED 5 BloombergBusiness, February 19, 2016 Dissatisfaction Guaranteed: World s Worst Airline Four Things to Look Out for When You Fly With Air Koryo, the World's Worst Airline, the Only One-Star Airline Here are four reasons to book your ticket now, before the thrill of flying the world's only one-star airline vanishes forever. (And as long as you don't mind helping fund Kim's nuclear-weapons program.) The in-flight entertainment The communal screens that drop down from the ceiling will keep you entertained with propaganda broadcasts and concerts by supreme leader Kim Jong Un's favorite allfemale band, Moranbong, who sing patriotic songs about, well, Kim Jong Un. Bring noise-cancelling earphones. There's no volume control. The planes An Air Koryo Russian-made Tupolev Tu-204 jet plane in Pyongyang You don't often get tour agents who will arrange a trip to a country just to fly in its planes, but in North Korea this is possible. London-based Juche Travel Services offers an aviation-themed tour. Air Koryo recently acquired two Russian-built Tupolev Tu- 204s for international routes, with an economy ticket costing about 900 yuan ($137) for the two-hour journey from Beijing. Once in Pyongyang, you can hop into Soviet-era aircraft such as a Mil Mi-17 transport helicopter for a buzz over the capital, or a view of the mountains.
"It s a very different experience, traveling back 20, 30 years,'' says Sam Chui, an aviation enthusiast who's flown Air Koryo about 20 times. 6 Airport queues The new international airport terminal building at Pyongyang airport While you may suffer the inconvenience of long queues and immigration hassles at your point of departure on your way to North Korea, once you arrive in the Democratic People's Republic, it should be a breeze. No longer do you have to shuffle through the strange temporary shed that has been masquerading as an airport terminal for the past five years: now the capital has a sleek, brand-new building. And with fewer than half a dozen international flights a day, and little chance of delays due to strikes, the airport bus may deliver you on time to an almost deserted building. The burger While the food, especially in the new business-class lounge, has improved, the mostphotographed component of an Air Koryo trip remains the famous "mystery-meat" burger. "The burger has been going on for so many years, everyone s making fun of it," says Chui, who has eaten at least 10 of them. To put to rest the long-running dispute over the source of the protein, we contacted Air Koryo's office in Beijing for clarification. The airline's representatives didn't respond.
7 A hamburger offered on Air Koryo Welcome to the world's worst airline: Air Koryo has been named the world's worst airline for the fourth year in a row, and is even worse than Iran Air and even Ryan Air, according to Skytrax
4. WHERE THERE IS A WILL.. 8 Issue 16-03B (No. 705) March 8, 2016