SEOUL: North Korea held a conference of its journalists union for the first time since 2001, state media said Wednesday, as the isolated regime ramps up nuclear threats despite reported food shortages.
The official Korean Central News Agency said the conference took place "at a critical time", with attendees urged to redouble their efforts to push leader Kim Jong Un's ideological line.
The Kim family has ruled the country for more than seven decades with an iron fist wrapped in a pervasive personality cult, propagated via state media.
The North is regularly rated one of the worst countries in the world in terms of press freedom.
The conference, held on Monday and Tuesday in Pyongyang, was the first time the union has convened since Kim was declared leader in 2011.
It emphasized that journalists "should become ardent believers, staunch defenders and thorough implementers of the revolutionary idea of" Kim, KCNA said.
Last year the North declared itself an "irreversible" nuclear power, and Kim this year ordered his military to intensify preparations for a "real war".
The impoverished country has also been struggling to tackle chronic food shortages, with some reports of starvation emerging.
Wednesday's KCNA report said conference attendees were told a political and ideological campaign must be "vigorously launched" to inspire "the entire country" to implement the regime's rural development strategy.
"In North Korea, journalists are the elite warriors of the party's political propaganda," said An Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies.
"It's an order from the regime to write articles that are much more fierce and loyal to Kim. The fact that the North feels it needs more propaganda may signify that its food situation is not getting any better."
An told AFP the convention could also suggest another nuclear test was coming, "perhaps on April 15th -- the birth anniversary of (the North's) founder Kim Il Sung".
"The regime may have wanted to prepare its reporters before the massive coverage of the test."
North Korea journalists union holds first meeting in 22 years
https://arab.news/c9h5r
North Korea journalists union holds first meeting in 22 years
- Attendees have been urged to fully adopt and implement Kim Jong Un's ideological line
- Reports revealed emerging starvation as the country struggles to tackle food shortages
Bondi Beach attack hero says wanted to protect ‘innocent people’
DUBAI: Bondi Beach shooting hero Ahmed Al Ahmed recalled the moment he ran toward one of the attackers and wrenched his shotgun away, saying the only thing he had in mind was to stop the assailant from “killing more innocent people.”
Al-Ahmad’s heroism was widely acclaimed in Australia when he tackled and disarmed gunman Sajid Akram who fired at Jewish people attending a Hanukkah event on December 14, killing 15 people and wounding dozens.
“My target was just to take the gun from him, and to stop him from killing a human being’s life and not killing innocent people,” he told CBS News in an interview on Monday.
“I know I saved lots, but I feel sorry for the lost.”
In footage viewed by millions of people, Al Ahmed was seen ducking between parked cars as the shooting unfolded, then wresting a gun from one of the assailants.
He was shot several times in the shoulder as a result and underwent several rounds of surgery.
“I jumped in his back, hit him and … hold him with my right hand and start to say a word like, you know, to warn him, ‘Drop your gun, stop doing what you’re doing’,” Al Ahmed said.
“I don’t want to see people killed in front of me, I don’t want to see blood, I don’t want to hear his gun, I don’t want to see people screaming and begging, asking for help,” Al Ahmed told the television network.
“That’s my soul asked me to do that, and everything in my heart, and my brain, everything just worked, you know, to manage and to save the people’s life,” he said.
EXCLUSIVE: Ahmed al Ahmed, the man hailed as a hero for tackling one of the gunmen behind an antisemitic attack on Australia's Bondi Beach earlier this month, is speaking out in the aftermath of the massacre.
— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 28, 2025
"I know I saved lots, but I feel sorry still for the lost." pic.twitter.com/gFUfJvv7c6
Al Ahmed was at the beach getting a cup of coffee when the shooting occurred.
He is a father of two who emigrated to Australia from Syria in 2007, and works as a fruit seller.
Local media reported that the Australian government has fast-tracked and granted a number of visas for Al Ahmed’s family following his act of bravery.
“Ahmed has shown the courage and values we want in Australia,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement.
One of the gunmen, Sajid Akram, 50, was shot and killed by police during the attack. An Indian national, he entered Australia on a visa in 1998.
His 24-year-old son Naveed, an Australian-born citizen, remains in custody on charges including terrorism and 15 murders, as well as committing a “terrorist act” and planting a bomb with intent to harm.
(with AFP)
