Category Archives: Kim Jong Un

North Korea holds key meeting as US sends nuclear submarine to South Korea

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Kim Jong-un attended the conference to review defence strategies and the country’s struggling economy

North Korea opened a key political conference with leader Kim Jong-un in attendance to discuss improving its struggling economy and reviewing defence strategies in the face of growing tensions with rivals, according to state media reports.

The enlarged plenary meeting of the ruling Workers’ party’s central committee came as the US sent a nuclear-powered submarine to South Korea in the allies’ latest show of force against the North, which has ramped up its testing of nuclear-capable missiles to a record pace in recent months.

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North Korea: Kim Jong-un sister says Joe Biden is ‘in his dotage’ as she criticises nuclear pact

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Kim Yo-jong’s broadside came after US and South Korea enhance nuclear cooperation and Biden warns Pyongyang an attack would end the regime

The powerful sister of North Korea’s leader has said her country will stage more displays of military might in response to a new US-South Korean nuclear deterrence agreement and compared Joe Biden’s comments about it as a “nonsensical remark from the person in his dotage”.

Kim Yo-jong’s broadside came after Biden attended a summit with the South Korean president, Yoon Suk-yeol, on Wednesday. The US president said later that any North Korean nuclear attack on the US or its allies would “result in the end of whatever regime” took such action.

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North Korea missile launch was new kind of ICBM, regime says, as first images emerge

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Kim Jong-un hails development of new solid-fuel rocket that can be deployed more quickly

North Korea claims it has successfully tested a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the first time – a breakthrough that the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, warned would make its enemies “suffer in endless fear”.

South Korea’s military said it had detected the launch on Thursday morning of one “medium-range or longer” ballistic missile on an elevated trajectory from near the North Korean capital Pyongyang.

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North Korea fires short-range ballistic missiles as regional tensions rise

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Number of weapons tests have accelerated as the US and South Korea engage in joint military exercises

North Korea has fired two short-range ballistic missiles, South Korea’s military has said, the latest in its flurry of weapons tests in recent weeks.

The launch comes as the South carries out joint amphibious landing exercise with the US, and a few days after they wrapped up their largest combined military drills in five years.

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North Korea continues run of weapons tests with ballistic missile launch

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Firing of short-range weapon comes as the US and South Korea stage major military drills

North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile, Seoul’s military has said, in the fourth such weapons test in a week, which comes as South Korea and the United States stage major military drills.

“Our military detected one short-range ballistic missile fired from around the Tongchang-ri area in North Pyongan province at 11.05 am towards the East Sea,” South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said on Sunday, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.

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North Korea’s Kim Jong-un sounds alarm on agriculture amid reports of food shortages

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Leader says agriculture needs ‘fundamental transformation’ and makes hitting grain targets a priority as country isolated by sanctions struggles

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has urged government officials to engineer a “fundamental transformation” in agricultural production, state media reported, amid fears that the country’s food shortage is worsening.

Kim said hitting grain production targets this year was a priority and emphasised the importance of stable agriculture production during the second day of a key meeting of the Workers’ party, the state news agency KCNA said on Tuesday.

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North Korea launches more missiles as Kim sister warns Pacific could become ‘firing range’

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Kim Yo-jong blames escalation on US forces in the region, as head of South Korea’s ruling party calls for Seoul to have its own nuclear deterrent

North Korea fired two ballistic missiles off its east coast Monday, South Korea’s military said, as the powerful sister of the North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, warned the nuclear-armed state could turn the Pacific into a “firing range”.

The tests prompted the head of the ruling party in South Korea to warn that continued provocations by Pyongyang would only strengthen calls for the South to develop its own nuclear deterrent – a move that would dramatically raise tensions on the peninsula.

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North Korea puts on biggest ICBM display yet, with Kim Jong-un’s daughter centre stage

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Kim Ju-ae attends anniversary military parade and banquet at which Kim Jong-un praises ‘strongest army in the world’

North Korea has put on its biggest display yet of long-range missiles at a parade to mark a key military anniversary, as speculation grows that the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, is grooming his daughter as a possible successor.

State media said the nuclear-armed North displayed multiple long-range missiles at a parade late on Wednesday to mark the 75th anniversary of its army, with analysts saying they included what appeared to be a new, solid-fuelled intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

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Kim Jong-un vows to ‘exponentially’ increase nuclear warhead production

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North Korean leader marks New Year with fresh ballistic missile launch just hours into 2023

Kim Jong-un has vowed to ramp up the production of nuclear warheads and build a more powerful intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), while singling out South Korea as his country’s “undoubted enemy”, North Korean state media reported on Sunday.

In a sign of deepening animosity towards the US, South Korea and Japan, Kim called for an “exponential increase” in the regime’s nuclear arsenal during an address at a plenary meeting of the ruling Workers’ party that ended on Saturday.

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North Korea fires three ballistic missiles in latest tests

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Launches come five days after country reportedly flew drones into South Korea’s airspace

North Korea fired three ballistic missiles towards the sea east of the Korean Peninsula on Saturday, the South Korean military said.

The launches were the latest in an unprecedented number of missile tests conducted by North Korea this year, as Pyongyang presses on with weapons development amid speculation it could test a nuclear weapon for a seventh time.

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Kim Jong-un dogs end up at South Korean zoo after care costs row

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Moon Jae-in gave up hunting dogs claiming government refused to cover food and veterinary bills

A pair of dogs gifted four years ago by the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, have ended up at a zoo in South Korea after a dispute over who should pay for the animals’ care.

Kim had given the two white Pungsan hunting dogs – a breed indigenous to North Korea – to the then South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, as a gift after their summit talks in Pyongyang in 2018.

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Kim Jong-un daughter inspects another ICBM as leader hails North Korea’s nuclear power

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Kim is joined by young daughter on inspection of his forces, increasing speculation that he is paving way for next generation of Kim dynasty

Kim Jong-un has said North Korea intends to have the world’s most powerful nuclear force as the leader was again pictured with his daughter while inspecting troops and an intercontinental ballistic missile.

North Korea’s “ultimate goal is to possess the world’s most powerful strategic force, the absolute force unprecedented in the century”, Kim said in an order promoting dozens of military officers involved in the launch last weekend of a new ballistic missile, state media reported on Sunday.

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Symbolism or succession clues? Debut of Kim Jong-un’s daughter sparks speculation over North Korea’s future

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Reveal of Ju Ae raises questions over whether Kim, who is in his 30s and has battled poor health, is starting to think about his successor

Kim Jong-un’s carefully crafted image as a man of the people, armed with nuclear weapons, came full circle at the weekend with his daughter’s surprise appearance at the launch of a long-range missile.

Images showing Kim holding the hand of the young girl eclipsed the test-firing of a Hwasong-17, the regime’s biggest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) to date, and sparked speculation about the future of the dynasty that has ruled North Korea for more than seven decades.

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reveals daughter at ballistic missile test

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Pictures show dictator viewing an ICBM launch site with girl whose existence has never been confirmed before

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been pictured with his daughter for the first time in photographs showing the pair hand in hand inspecting the launch of the country’s largest ballistic missile.

North Korea test-fired a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Friday, state news agency KCNA reported on Saturday.

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North Korea launches ballistic missile, threatens ‘fiercer’ military response

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The latest missile test comes on the back of expanded military exercises between the US and South Korea

North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile Thursday toward its eastern waters, South Korea’s military said, hours after the North threatened to launch “fiercer” military responses to the US bolstering its security commitment to its allies South Korea and Japan.

South Korea’s military detected the launch from the North’s eastern coastal Wonsan area at 10:48am local time, the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. It said South Korea has boosted its surveillance of North Korea while maintaining a military readiness and a close coordination with the United States.

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The Ukraine war is deepening Russia’s ties with North Korea as well as Iran

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Moscow’s growing need for armaments from Pyongyang is likely to lead to greater alignment of diplomatic and military interests

Russian arms procurement from Iran and North Korea heralds an increasing convergence of military and diplomatic interests between Moscow and two countries regarded as international pariahs.

Amid renewed accusations from Washington that Russia is attempting to procure large amounts of artillery ammunition from Pyongyang, on top of the missiles and kamikaze and other drones it has already bought from Iran, Moscow’s arms procurement blitz has flagged up the mounting logistical problems in Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine.

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Nuclear attack on US or allies would end Kim regime, says defense secretary

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Lloyd Austin makes remark while Kim Jong-un’s government in Pyongyang has in recent days mounted a number of missile tests

The US defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, said on Thursday any nuclear attack on the US or its allies by North Korea would “result in the end of the Kim regime”.

Kim Jong-un’s government in Pyongyang has in recent days mounted a number of missile tests. The South Korean military said a test of an intercontinental ballistic missile on Thursday may have ended in failure. Japan called the launch “outrageous and absolutely intolerable”.

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North Korea ICBM launch may have been a failure, South’s military says

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Intercontinental ballistic missile is believed to have suffered in-flight malfunction, says Seoul, as Japan PM criticises ‘outrageous’ launch

North Korea’s launch of a suspected new type of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) may have been a failure, military chiefs in South Korea have said. The missile was one of three fired on Thursday morning.

The ICBM was fired from the suburbs of Pyongyang but then appeared to have failed during normal flight after the separation of the propellant and warhead sections, defence sources told multiple South Korean media outlets.

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North Korea fires missile and flies warplanes near border, says Seoul

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Latest in spate of ballistic missile launches further raises animosities between the two countries

North Korea has launched a ballistic missile toward its eastern waters and flew warplanes near the border with South Korea, the South’s military said, further raising animosities triggered by the North’s recent barrage of weapons tests.

South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said the launch happened early on Friday local time but gave no further details including how far the weapon flew.

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North Korea says it tested cruise missiles able to carry ‘tactical nukes’

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Kim Jong-un says tests are a warning to Pyongyang’s enemies and its nuclear combat forces were at ‘full preparedness for actual war’

Kim Jong-un supervised the launch of two long-range cruise missiles, North Korean state media said, adding that the weapons were equipped to carry tactical nukes and had already been deployed to some army units.

Pyongyang has conducted a blitz of ballistic missile tests recently, which it described as tactical nuclear drills that simulated taking out airports and military facilities across South Korea.

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