Category Archives: North Korea

North Korean projectiles land in Japan’s exclusive economic zone

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Tokyo says there’s no damage from what appear to be ballistic missiles ahead of US-North Korea talks resuming this weekend

North Korea has launched two projectiles, one of which landed in waters inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, the Japanese government said on Wednesday, after what appears to have been a show of strength by Pyongyang before it resumes nuclear talks with the US at the weekend.

Japan’s government said the projectiles appeared to be ballistic missiles, adding that there were no immediate reports of damage to shipping or aircraft.

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‘We have to get along’: Japan’s Korean residents at sharp end of diplomatic row

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Worsening relations between the two countries now affecting trade, security, tourism and day-to-day life

Long lunchtime queues form outside restaurants serving samgyeopsal (barbecued pork belly) and sundubu jjigae (a tofu stew). Groups of teenage girls brave the drizzle and eat Korean-style hotdogs on street corners after shopping for cosmetics and K-pop merchandise.

This is not Seoul, but Shin-Ōkubo, a little slice of Korea in central Tokyo. It is home to a large ethnic Korean community, some the descendants of people at the heart of a dispute between Japan and South Korea that local business owners fear is turning them into collateral victims.

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Kim Jong-un invites Donald Trump to visit Pyongyang – report

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Letter from North Korean leader comes as talks between the men have stalled

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un invited US president Donald Trump to visit Pyongyang in a letter sent in August, a South Korean newspaper reported on Monday, citing diplomatic sources.

The letter pre-dates North Korea’s latest launch of short-range projectiles a week ago and is the second Trump received from Kim last month amid stalled denuclearisation talks between the two countries,

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How will John Bolton’s dismissal affect US foreign policy?

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Trump’s anti-interventionist instincts likely to come to the fore in flashpoint countries

Donald Trump’s abrupt dismissal of John Bolton, his national security adviser, may reflect the near breakdown in personal relations between the two men, as well as Bolton’s rivalry with the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, but it will also have implications for US foreign policy in a range of flashpoints.

Related: John Bolton fired as Trump's national security adviser – live news

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G7: Trump’s demands for Russia’s readmission cause row in Biarritz

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US president argues Putin should be included in discussions on Iran, Syria and North Korea

Donald Trump has rowed with his fellow G7 leaders over his demand that Russia be readmitted to the group, rejecting arguments that it should remain an association of liberal democracies, according to diplomats at the summit in Biarritz.

The disagreement led to heated exchanges at a dinner on Saturday night inside the seaside resort’s 19th-century lighthouse. According to diplomatic sources, Trump argued strenuously that Vladimir Putin should be invited back, five years after Russia was ejected from the then G8) for its annexation of Crimea.

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North Korea fires two suspected missiles after branding Pompeo a ‘toxin’

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Launch comes day after regime called US secretary of state ‘impudent’ and questioned his ability in nuclear talks

North Korea fired two suspected short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast on Saturday in the seventh weapons launch in a month, South Korea’s military said, a day after it threatened to remain America’s biggest threat in protest against US-led sanctions on the country.

The North had been expected to halt weapons tests because 10-day joint US-South Korean military exercises ended earlier this week. Pyongyang regards these drills as an invasion rehearsal.

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North Korea now able to miniaturise nuclear warheads – Japan defence report

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Upcoming review out of Tokyo will reportedly say missile programme poses ‘serious and imminent threat’

Japan’s government will reportedly state that North Korea is capable of miniaturising nuclear warheads in a forthcoming defence report, it has emerged.

Tokyo will upgrade its estimate of the regime’s nuclear capability, having said last year only that the technical feat was a possibility, the conservative Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper said on Wednesday, without citing sources.

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North Korea fires more projectiles and says talks with ‘impudent’ South are over

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Regime says Pyongyang and Seoul have nothing to talk about while South Korea continues military drills with US

North Korea has fired at least two unidentified projectiles into the sea off its east coast, shortly after it denounced South Korea’s military drills with the US and declared that inter-Korean talks were over.

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff [JCS] said the North conducted the launch early on Friday from a site near the city of Tongchon. It has conducted six rounds of weapons launches since 25 July, apparently in retaliation for military drills involving South Korean and US forces.

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Why Trump’s ‘maximum pressure’ foreign policy yields minimum results

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The president is heading into 2020 with no major successes and looming crises – so many expect him to attempt to reverse the trend with dramatic deals

Donald Trump is heading into the 2020 elections with no clear-cut foreign policy successes, some dramatic failures and a string of looming crises around the world that could undermine his bid for re-election.

For that reason, many expect the president to try to reverse the trend with dramatic interventions around the globe with uncertain outcomes – which will make the next 16 months even more volatile than his presidency so far.

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North Korea fires two projectiles shortly after Trump dismissed earlier launches

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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.

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North Korea fires more projectiles, says it may be ‘compelled to seek new road’

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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.

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North Korea missile tests could be effort to divide US, Japan and South

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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.

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North Korea fired multiple unidentified projectiles, South Korean report says

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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.

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Alek Sigley denies he was a spy and laments he may never see North Korea again

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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.

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North Korea accuses released Australian student of spying

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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.

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Alek Sigley: Australian released from North Korean detention wants to return to ‘normal life’

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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.

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Trump nepotism attacked after ‘out-of-her-depth’ Ivanka given key summit role

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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

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Trump and Kim’s DMZ meeting proves more than just a photo op

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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.

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Donald Trump invites Kim Jong-un to US after entering North Korea

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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.

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Kim Jong-un welcomes Donald Trump to North Korea – video

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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

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