scientists are hoping to be able to explore further than ever before. go to our website www.aljazeera.com and you can watch us live by clicking on the "watch live" i con icon, once again, www.aljazeera.com. . >> again, we're standing by, we'll be back with that news conference begins.

>> this type of exercise takes place every year but for the north korean government they consider this a provocation and a threat. >> north korea is still a flash point. we're still at a state of war with north korea. this is 1953 armistice. >> if there was someday heaven forbid a real war here we would need to work very closely. we are always practicing together always working together >> thankfully we have helped stabilize and ensure the security of the peninsula for the last 61 years, but in spite of that long time we have to be ready to fight tonight and that really is our mantra.

>> north korea is under new leadership. >> kim jong-un looks funny he is overweight and sometimes does strange things. but he is smart. when his father died 7 top officials, 4 generals and 3 civilian bureaucrats, walked next to the coffin of his father in december 2011. in two years time, none of them was alive and in a high levelit >> when it comes to international relations, kim jong-un's rule has been described as erratic. since coming into power, he's launched a long-range rocket and carried out a nuclear test. most recently, the u.s. accused the north of orchestrating a cyber attack on sony pictures last fall, fault lines was granted rare access inside the country. we went to understand what

if anything, has changed since kim jong un came to power, and how u.s-north korean relations look from the other side. >> our visit to north korea was part of a highly controlled press tour sponsored by the government. our guides decided where we went who we spoke to and they were with us at all times. >> "my name is kang __" [korean-on loud speaker]

>> so we have to wear this to identify ourselves as international press, and we have to use it while working on the streets. the kim family and the worker's party have ruled north korea for over 6 decades. apparently today is the 17th anniversary that kim jong il was elected secretary of the party and people are coming to these statues to pay their respects." >> a lot of people from different walks of life. army soldiers. they come... north korea has one of the largest standing armies in the

world. men are conscripted for up to 10 years. it's because of the idea of "songun" which means "military first." >> we are headed to the border between north and south korea. it's one of the most heavily fortified border areas in the world. we just passed three checkpoints but we were not allowed to film because of security concerns we went to meet lt. colonel nam tong ho, of the korean people's army >> on this side is north korea and the other is united states and south korea.

>> the west is always saying north korea has to dismantle their nuclear weapons program... north korea has to do this... ...and has to do that... what would it take? we were told the nuclear deterrent - as they call it - means the government can focus on other things, like development. >> we are building more fancy looking buildings on the river. a man who has made a success or

priority to go there. >> our guides brought us to one of these new buildings that we were told is for families of professors at kim il sung university. sin gyong-ju lives there with her daughter son in law and grandson. she was worried about the health of kim jong un who had not appeared in public for several weeks. >> you're going to cry too we're all crying >> then the conversation turned to the united states. she told us the americans provoke and threaten north korea

regularly, but she is certain they will not attack - because they would lose. >> do you think that there's the possibility that there can be a war again? >> throughout our visit, it was difficult to know where the propaganda ended and genuine sentiment began. to try and get a fuller picture of life under kim jong un, we had to leave the country.

>> watch more "faultlines" on demand or visit aljazeera.com/faultlines. >> in north korea we spoke only to people chosen by the government, so to get a sense of what life was really like under kim jong un, at least for some, we traveled to seoul. we're on our way to meet a

couple from north korea who've left the country after kim jong un came to power. the husband apparently has just arrived to south korea. neither of them have spoken to the media before. kim jong un has tightened border security. and less north koreans have managed to defect in recent years. we've been asked not to reveal their identities or where they live because even though they have left the country they are still afraid. we are changing their names and distorting their voices at their request. kim min-su ("kim min soo") and ahn su-bin (on soo bin") escaped separately across the river to china.

>> did you ever feel in danger? >> su-bin told us she had wanted to leave north korea ever since her father was swept up in a purge when she was 14. >> she said after her father disappeared her family was exiled from pyongyang.

>> the government only allowed us to speak to people that were approved by them. of the people you know what is the general feeling among the population? >> in 2013 the united nations released a groundbreaking report on human rights abuses in north korea concluding their abuses - including forced labor deliberate starvation, torture, and the complete denial of the right to freedom of thought quote "have no parallel in the contemporary world"

when he was only 9 years old kang chol kwan said he was imprisoned at the yoduk political prison camp with his family. when he was released 10 years later, he escaped to the south >> so there are entire families kept in these places? >> 80 to 120,000 people are reported to be held in these camps on life sentences. the north korean government denies that political prisons exist.

>> we wanted to raise the issue of human rights while on our visit to north korea >> you're all welcome to korea to see the reality of korea. which will be different for you from what you've heard. by the way have you found people that have horns, and red face? >> (laughs) no we haven't. we were given one chance to sit down and ask questions with party members. our guides insisted it wasn't an interview, just a conversation >> in the western world, especially in the united states, there is a lot of criticism of this country about what happens to those who oppose the government so we wanted to know his opinion about what other countries say about human rights here in this country.

>> in december the un general assembly voted to refer north korea to the international criminal court for alleged crimes against humanity. the question is now on the permanent agenda of the security council. kim il sung square was filled with thousands of people in a government rally against the united states and the united nations.

>> andrei lankov is a historian who has studied north korea for decades. >> north korea is a notorious human rights abuser. arguably the world's worst human rights abuser. having said that these resolutions have no impact whatsoever. because they understand: it's official now: if they lose they are not going to be spared. so they are going to fight and they are going to be even more repressive, not less. >> in seoul, kim ji-woo ("kim jee oo") - not

her real name - told us she had been arrested and tortured by the north korean security police after she was falsely accused of being a spy. she said she defected in 2013 and that her family is still in north korea. ji-woo told us that when kim jong il died many people had a secret hope his son would bring change

but she says it could not be said publicly and they had to fake their grief but she said that hope didn't last long. >> did you ever see something like that? did you see executions?

>> there is a small dirty secret. there is very little resistance in an efficient and sufficiently brutal dictatorship state. resistance is possible when repression doesn't work properly. and if you have a well-run repressive state nobody dares to say anything. >> watch more "faultlines" on demand or visit aljazeera.com/faultlines.

>> welcome everyone to al jazeera america. i'm tony harris in new york. there is a bit of a scrum going on right now in ferguson, missouri. we're about to bring a news conference from ferguson. on the resignation of the city's police chief. thomas jackson would be the sixth city employee to either step down or be fired in the wake of last week's scathing justice department report. now that report followed the police shooting death of michael brown and uncovered a history of racial bias in policing. we talk about some of the details, and we certainly learned that racist e-mails from city officials the report found that the police department discriminateed against african-americans, that blacks were stopped more often than whites and blacks were ticketed

and treated differently in court. in the aftermath of all this, the court clerk her name is mary ann twitty. she resigned. the police captain rick hennick, and william mudd all resigned. john shaw, and municipal judge ronald brockmeyer also resigned. let's take you back now to ferguson. there you see the mayor, james knowles iii. he'll make the announcement. let's listen in. >> good afternoon the city of ferguson and police chief thomas jackson have agreed to a mutual separation which involves the police chief's resignation. this was a mutual decision both

by the chief of police and the city's administration. chief jackson will receive a self severance payment with health insurance for one year. the lt. col. will resume the duty as acting chief of police as of march 15th, 2015. in search of our new city manager we'll begin conducting a nationwide search for a new police chief. as you are aware one week ago today the city of ferguson received it's final report from the department of justice. the city has been committed to, and be contied to be committed to address each item outlined in the report. it is the city council's goal to continue to be transparent as we strife to be a vibrant and diverse community. on a final note i would like to say this, to ferguson residents business owners, a and to the entire country the city of ferguson looks to become an example of how a community can

move forward in the face of adversity. we're committed to keeping our police department and having one that exhibits the highest degree of professionalism and fairness. i'll open it up for questions. >> how much was that severance payment. >> i believe his annual salary is $96,000--roughly $100,000. >> what can you tell bus the acting police chief will there be interaction with the residents of fergusen. >> he was rather new to the city of ferguson. he started in august right before the events in august. lieutenant colonel icoff i knows has over the last six months spent a great deal of time working with the people of ferguson and the police department. our officers seem to have a very

high degree of respect for the professionalism and the abilities of lieutenant and we'll blessed that he'll take the reins while we look for a new police chief. >> does the severance seem like a lot to you? >> some of those conversations employee discussions personnel discussions, i think it's fair to say that in many executive level private industries you would get a similar treatment. >> so, i think we've all been

very candid over the last several months that we have explored every option. the city manager myself, the chief, as far as what is the best way forward how can we lesson the frustration during the unrest. how can we bring this community together so we can move forward. you know, the chief is the kind of honorable man you don't have to go to. he comes to you when he knows that this is something that we have to seriously discuss. after a lot of soul searching and it is hard for him to leave and for us to have him leave he felt this was the best way forward. and doing this not only for the city, but also for the men and women who served under him in the police department, because he is, and he has been committed to making sure that the city of ferguson keeps of ferguson

police department. that was his thought process when he decided to make an exit. >> can you talk about of the department will the city be able to keep the department and the financial burdens. >> those are recommendations from the justice department. >> yes sure. >> the city of ferguson are looking at those recommendations. we're engaging consultants to tell us what that price tag might be. and what are those--try to tell us what is realistically what we need to be working on. so as we move forward we'll continue to keep all that in mind as we make decisions going forward. [ inaudible question ] >> we engaged several experts on these issues, rough estimates

and things going forward, i would say that we believe it's something that we can do. we're exited to making that happen, and we'll always make the decision that's best for the city, both financially and for the future of the city. and so right now what we're seeing going forward absolutely, to keep the police department. >> mayor, you talked about the chief being an honorable man and the protesters outside can you talk about and evaluate the job he did as police chief after the doj report, the scathing report of how he ran the police force? >> again, as i said, we continue to go through that report, and talk about where the breakdown was. again, the chief being an honorable man decided we need to talk about the way moving forward was