2015 in North Korea explained

Events from the year 2015 in North Korea. The year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea.^[1] The year was celebrated as the year of DPRK-Russia friendship.^[2]

Incumbents

• Premier

Pak Pong-ju

• Supreme Leader

Kim Jong-un

Events

January

• January 2 – The United States enacts financial sanctions on the North Korean Special Operation Force and 10 government officials in retaliation for the Sony Pictures Entertainment hack.^[3]

February

• February 7 – North Korea test fires a new "ultra-precision" intelligent anti-ship missile which is to be deployed across its navy.^[4]

March

• March 2 – North Korea lifts restrictions on entry into the country imposed ostensibly to stop the spread of the Ebola virus.^[5]
• March 9 - A North Korean diplomat is caught smuggling $1.7M of gold bars into Bangladesh.^{[6] [7]}

August

• August 15 – North Korea adopts UTC+08.30, or Pyongyang Standard Time to "eliminate Western imperialism". The time was previously used by both Koreas until the enactment of UTC+09.00 in 1961.

Elections

• 2015 North Korean local elections

Deaths

December

• December 29  - Kim Yang-gon, politician and a senior official of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea. (b. 1942)

Further reading

• Hayes. P.. Cavazos. R.. North Korea in 2015: 'Yes I Can!' Byungjin and Kim Jong Un's Strategic Patience. Asian Survey. 56. 1. 2016. 68–77. 0004-4687. 10.1525/as.2016.56.1.68. 156734114 .

External links

• "2015, Year of Great Victory" at Naenara
• "DPRK Sportspersons Win about 250 Medals in 2015 Int'l Games" at Naenara
• "North Korea's Official 2015 Calendar Revealed" at Daily NK

Notes and References

1. Web site: Isolated Kim Relies on Old North Korea Tensions Playbook . Leonid Petrov . Leonid Petrov's KOREA VISION . 28 August 2015 . 2015-09-04 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20151018033556/https://leonidpetrov.wordpress.com/2015/08/28/isolated-kim-relies-on-old-north-korea-tensions-playbook/ . 18 October 2015 .
2. Web site: Year of DPRK-Russia Friendship Closes . KCNA . . 15 October 2015 . 17 October 2015 .
3. Web site: U.S. slaps more sanctions on North Korea after Sony hack . . 2 January 2015 . 3 January 2015 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20150102215646/http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/02/us-northkorea-cyberattack-sanctions-idUSKBN0KB16U20150102 . 2 January 2015 .
4. Web site: North Korea test-fires 'intelligent' anti-ship rocket: KCNA . 7 February 2015 . Agence France Presse . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150208134824/http://www.france24.com/en/20150207-north-korea-test-fires-intelligent-anti-ship-rocket-kcna/?aef_campaign_date=2015-02-07&aef_campaign_ref=partage_aef&ns_campaign=reseaux_sociaux&ns_linkname=editorial&ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter . 8 February 2015 . 8 February 2015 .
5. Web site: North Korea lifts four-month travel ban to prevent Ebola . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20150305214056/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-31704999 . 2015-03-05 .
6. News: Bangladesh: North Korean Diplomat, Found With Gold Stash, Is Expelled . Reuters . New York Times . USA . March 9, 2015 . March 22, 2017 . https://archive.today/20170402210541/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/10/world/asia/bangladesh-north-korean-diplomat-found-with-gold-stash-is-expelled.html?_r=0 . April 2, 2017 . live .
7. News: Bangladesh seizes gold from North Korean diplomat . BBC . United Kingdom . March 6, 2015 . March 22, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160127005322/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-31768756 . January 27, 2016 . live .