Projectiles fired at dawn on Saturday from area around north-eastern city of Hamhung, South Korea’s military says
North Korea fired two unidentified projectiles into the sea off its eastern coast on Saturday, South Korea’s military said.
The latest launch comes shortly after the US president, Donald Trump, said he had received a “very beautiful letter” from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Continue reading...Pyongyang says US-South Korea military drills are ‘flagrant violation’ of efforts to reach peace
North Korea has fired two unidentified projectiles into the sea from South Hwanghae province, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The launches came as Pyongyang described Washington and Seoul’s war games as a “flagrant violation” of efforts to reach peace on the Korean peninsula which reflected a lack of “political will” to improve relations.
Continue reading...Three launches in eight days point to ulterior motive amid strained relations between its neighbours and Washington
The series of short-range missile tests by North Korea over the last eight days could be an attempt by Pyongyang to exploit strained US-Japan-South Korea relations, analysts have said.
The latest launches, at about 3am on Friday from North Korea’s east coast, involved the firing of two unidentified projectiles into the Sea of Japan. They follow two tests in the past eight days.
Continue reading...Projectiles were fired early Wednesday, Yonhap news agency reported, citing South Korean military’s joint chiefs of staff
North Korea fired multiple unidentified projectiles early on Wednesday, less than a week after firing two new short-range ballistic missiles, the South Korean military’s joint chiefs of staff (JCS) said.
The latest launches were from the Hodo peninsula on North Korea’s east coast, the same area from where last week’s were conducted, the JCS said in a statement. It said it was monitoring the situation in case of additional launches and maintaining a readiness posture.
Continue reading...Australian student who was detained by the regime breaks his silence
Alek Sigley, the Australian student who was detained by North Korea for a little over a week before being released, has rejected the regime’s accusation that he was a spy.
Sigley, 29, returned to social media late on Wednesday, where he released a brief statement after assuring everyone he was well, mentally and physically.
Continue reading...Pyongyang’s news agency said Alek Sigley had spread propaganda against the regime
North Korea has said an Australian student who it detained for a week had spread anti-Pyongyang propaganda and engaged in spying by providing photos and other materials to news outlets with critical views about the country.
Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA, said on Saturday that North Korea had deported Alek Sigley on Thursday after he pleaded for forgiveness for his activities, which the agency said infringed on the country’s sovereignty.
Continue reading...It remains unclear why the student, who says he will not be doing media interviews, was detained in North Korea
Alek Sigley, the 29-year-old Australian who was freed from detention in North Korea on Thursday after going missing for more than a week, has released a statement pleading for privacy and saying he wants to return to “normal life”.
Sigley has reunited with his wife Yuka Morinaga in Tokyo following his departure yesterday, he said in the statement, adding that he would not be holding a news conference or doing any media interviews.
Continue reading...Donald Trump has been accused of taking nepotism to alarming new depths after giving his daughter, Ivanka, a prominent role in meetings with the G20 and Kim Jong-un.
Related: #Unwantedivanka: awkward moment at G20 prompts slew of Trump parodies
Continue reading...US-North Korea negotiations are back on – but will they lead anywhere?
As it turned out, it was more than a photo op. Donald Trump not only shook hands again with Kim Jong-un and became the first incumbent US president to enter North Korea but also, instead of the expected exchange of pleasantries, sat down with his counterpart and talked for an hour in the demilitarised zone (DMZ) between the Koreas. And there was a tangible outcome.
Meetings between US and North Korean working groups will restart four months after they broke down at the Hanoi summit in February. Real negotiations are back on. The question, as ever, is whether they will lead anywhere.
Continue reading...US president hails ‘great honour’ of crossing border at impromptu meeting
Donald Trump has invited Kim Jong-un to the US after becoming the first sitting American president to enter North Korea.
The apparently impromptu meeting came about after Trump tweeted an invitation to Kim on Saturday from the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan.
Continue reading...The US president has met North Korea’s leader, becoming the first US president to set foot on North Korean soil. The meeting was held in the demilitarised zone. ‘I just want to say this is my honour,’ Trump said, adding: ‘Stepping across that line is a great honour – great progress has been made, great friendships have been made and this has been, in particular, a great friendship.’ The president also took the opportunity to invite Kim to the US
Continue reading...President tweeted invitation to ‘say hello’ to Kim and says ‘a handshake means a lot’
So we are now just waiting for Donald Trump’s handshake meeting with Kim Jong-un, which Trump said would happen in four minutes (roughly 10 minutes ago).
Confirmation that Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are in the DMZ with the president.
Yeah, Javanka there. Iron-clad stares. https://t.co/CqTunSPTDI pic.twitter.com/8Nfs6JgosG
Continue reading...Scott Morrison says world leaders at G20 summit have offered assistance to help find Sigley
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, says Australian authorities are still attempting to establish what happened to Perth student Alek Sigley, who disappeared in North Korea several days ago.
Morrison told reporters at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, on Saturday evening that he had been in contact with Sigley’s family. He said world leaders at the summit had offered their assistance in attempts to locate the young man.
Continue reading...Department of Foreign Affairs confirms it is providing support to family of a man detained
An Australian student has reportedly been arrested in North Korea. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed it is providing consular support to the man’s family.
South Korean and Japanese media identified the man as 29-year-old Alek Sigley, a university student living in Pyongyang.
Continue reading...Xi Jinping is greeted warmly in North Korea on his first state visit there as China’s president. He has backed North Korea’s new focus on economic development, saying in a speech in the capital that the nation under leader Kim Jong-un had ‘initiated a new strategic line of economic development and improving people’s livelihoods, raising socialist construction in the country to a new high tide.’ North Korea remains heavily dependent on aid, mainly from China and food security is a constant concern.
Continue reading...Experts say region is losing the battle to stop the biggest animal disease outbreak the planet has ever faced
South-east Asia is battling to contain the spread of highly contagious African swine fever, known as “pig Ebola”, which has already led to the culling of millions of pigs in China and Vietnam.
African swine fever, which is harmless to humans but fatal to pigs, was discovered in China in August, where it has caused havoc, leading to more than 1.2m pigs being culled. China is home to almost half of the world’s pigs and the news sent the global price of pork soaring.
Continue reading...Kim’s sister reappears after reports she was out of favour, as he lambasts organisers of gymnastics show
Kim Jong-un’s influential younger sister has appeared in public for the first time in more than 50 days, attending the “Mass Games” propaganda displays that the North Korean leader later criticised for their “wrong spirit”.
Kim Yo-jong, who was by Kim’s side throughout both of his meetings with the US president, was shown seated next to her brother at the event in Pyongyang on Monday evening.
Continue reading...Photo shows Kim Yong-chol attended an art performance with Kim Jong-un on Sunday
A senior North Korean official who was reportedly sent to a labour camp has attended a concert alongside the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, state media have said.
There had been speculation about the fate of Kim Yong-chol after a South Korean newspaper reported last week that he had been subjected to forced labour and “ideological education”.
Continue reading...South Korean paper claims Kim Hyok-chol has been killed and senior negotiator Kim Yong-chol subjected to forced labour
North Korea’s special envoy to the US, who was credited with paving the way for nuclear talks with Washington, has reportedly been executed over the failure of the recent summit between North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, and Donald Trump.
The South Korean Chosun Ilbo newspaper cited unnamed sources as saying that Kim Hyok-chol and foreign ministry officials who conducted working-level preparations for February’s doomed Trump-Kim summit in Hanoi, were executed in March.
Continue reading...Defector calls on European tourists and online viewers to shun cultural displays that take children out of school
The highest-ranking official to defect from North Korea has called for Europeans to stop being an audience for the “child exploitation” in the country’s famous mass games.
Thae Yong-ho, the former deputy ambassador to the UK, who defected in 2016, said travel companies and tourists should boycott the cultural displays, which attract large numbers of visitors and social media viewings. He said North Korean children already faced appalling rates of malnutrition, brainwashing and forced labour and the displays were yet another act of cruelty.
Continue reading...