Category Archives: North Korea

North Korea says drills by South Korea, US and Japan show nations have developed ‘Asian Nato’

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Pyongyang calls ‘Freedom Edge’ drills involving fighter jets and nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier ‘provocative’

North Korea has criticised a joint military exercise by South Korea, Japan and the US held this month, state media have said, saying such drills show the relationship among the three countries has developed into “the Asian version of Nato”.

On Thursday, the three countries began the large-scale joint military drills called “Freedom Edge”, involving navy destroyers, fighter jets and the nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, aimed at boosting defences against missiles, submarines and air attacks.

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Seoul’s airport runways closed by rubbish-filled balloons sent from North Korea

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Several balloons were spotted in and around the airport boundaries, as one balloon landed on the tarmac near passenger terminal two

Takeoffs and landings at South Korea’s Incheon international airport have been disrupted for about three hours because of balloons launched by North Korea filled with refuse, an airport spokesperson said.

One balloon landed on the tarmac near passenger terminal two and the three runways at Incheon were temporarily shut down on Wednesday, the spokesperson said.

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‘A return to the cold war’: Putin and Kim have joined forces as global delinquents | Andrew Roth

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The defiant Russia-North Korea friendship pact raises big questions for Washington and Seoul – but also for Beijing

A quarter of a century ago, Vladimir Putin flew to Pyongyang to sign a ­“friendship treaty” with Kim Jong-il that helped revive Russia’s relations with North Korea without obliging the two sides to come to each other’s aid in case of a military attack.

With his visit last week, Putin has in effect gone further into the past, signing a deal with Kim Jong-un reminiscent of the 1961 security pact that existed under the Soviet Union during the cold war. But today Russia is engaged in a hot war in Ukraine that Putin has made his ­foreign policy priority, and a nuclear North Korea has become a crucial lifeline of munitions for his military.

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Russia-Ukraine war: EU to open enlargement talks with Ukraine and Moldova next week – as it happened

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Countries in the 27-nation bloc formally approve the launch of accession negotiations on Tuesday

A member of Russia’s lower house of parliament said law enforcement authorities need to do more to protect civilians from ex-convicts who have returned home from fighting in Ukraine.

Nina Ostanina, a Communist Party deputy who has been sanctioned by Western countries over Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, told the gazeta.ru newspaper in an interview that violent crimes involving decommissioned soldiers “will be even more numerous” if authorities do not act.

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US ‘incredibly concerned’ over Putin’s threat to supply weapons to North Korea after Asia tour

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State department warns such a move could destabilise the peninsula, as South Korea considers arming Ukraine

Vladimir Putin’s suggestion that Russia could supply weapons to North Korea is “incredibly concerning”, a senior US official has said, days after Putin and North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, signed a defence pact that requires their countries to provide immediate military assistance if either is attacked.

Matthew Miller, a US state department spokesperson, said the provision of Russian weapons to Pyongyang “would destabilise the Korean peninsula, of course, and potentially … depending on the type of weapons they provide … violate UN security council resolutions that Russia itself has supported”.

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Putin arrives in Vietnam for state visit condemned by US

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Russian president’s trip comes after he signed mutual defence pact with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un

Vladimir Putin has arrived in Vietnam for talks with its communist leaders on the final stop of his two-nation tour of Asia after signing a defence pact with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un.

The Russian president’s plane touched down at Hanoi airport where he was met on a red carpet by Vietnamese deputy prime minister Tran Hong Ha and top party diplomat Le Hoai Trung.

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Russia and North Korea sign mutual defence pact

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Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un’s agreement raises western alarm about possible Russian help for nuclear programme

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, have signed a pact that includes a clause requiring the countries to come to each other’s aid if either is attacked, a move that has raised western concerns about potential Russian aid for Pyongyang’s missile or nuclear programmes.

The inclusion of a mutual defence clause in their comprehensive strategic partnership, which Kim described as an “alliance”, will add to the west’s alarm over growing economic and military ties between North Korea and Russia. The deal was finalised on Wednesday after hours of talks in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.

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Putin and Kim keep quiet on details of mutual aid agreement

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Russian leader’s visit to Pyongyang seen as a meeting of minds, but long-term military consequences are unclear

As state visits go, Vladimir Putin’s arrival in North Korea on Wednesday was relatively low-key. There was no long line of senior government officials on the airport tarmac in Pyongyang and only a small guard of honour. Beneath an ink-black sky, the Russian president stepped off the plane to be greeted by a handshake and a hug from Kim Jong-un, before being presented with a bouquet by a woman in traditional hanbok dress. But the modesty of the occasion was deceptive.

Putin arrived in the North Korean capital from Moscow, via the Russian far east, in darkness, the leaders’ motorcade making its way through “charmingly lit” streets to the Kumsusan state guesthouse in the early hours of Wednesday.

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Vladimir Putin receives warm welcome in North Korea

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Russian president makes first visit to country in 24 years as anti-west relationship deepens

Vladimir Putin has arrived in North Korea for a summit with Kim Jong-un, amid US warnings against any agreement that could add to military pressure on Ukraine and raise tensions on the Korean peninsula.

Making his first visit to the reclusive country since 2000, the Russian president flew to Pyongyang early on Wednesday to be greeted by huge welcome banners and Russian flags. Russian state media said his plane touched down in Pyongyang at about 2.45am local time after a stopover in Russia’s far east.

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Russia and North Korea: what can they do for each other?

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The Russian president’s visit to Pyongyang signals a deepening relationship between two isolated countries

China accounts for more than 90% of North Korea’s trade and has been its most dependable aid donor and diplomatic ally. But as Vladimir Putin’s imminent visit to Pyongyang proves, the secluded state’s behaviour is being increasingly influenced by its security and economic ties with Russia.

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Putin praises North Korea’s ‘firm support’ for war ahead of Pyongyang visit – as it happened

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China has urged Nato to “stop shifting blame” over the war in Ukraine after the western military alliance’s chief accused Beijing of worsening the conflict through support of Russia.

Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, on Monday called for China to face consequences for what US officials have called a major export push to rebuild Russia’s defence industry.

There are reports Putin will be staying at the Kumsusan guesthouse in Pyongyang, which also housed Chinese leader Xi Jinping during a 2019 state visit to North Korea in 2019.

The mansion is located near the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where Kim Jong-un’s father Kim Jong Il, and grandfather Kim Il Sung, lie in state.

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Putin praises North Korea for Ukraine support ahead of visit to Pyongyang

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Russian leader will have talks with Kim Jong-un with shared aim of expanding security and economic cooperation

Vladimir Putin has praised North Korea for supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine, as he travels to Pyongyang to seek continued military support from one of the world’s most isolated nations.

In his first visit to North Korea since 2000, Putin will meet Kim Jong-un for one-on-one talks in Pyongyang as the two leaders pledge to expand their security and economic cooperation in defiance of western sanctions against both countries.

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US and South Korea sound warning amid reports Putin is headed to North Korea

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Civilian aircraft have been cleared from Pyongyang’s airport and there are signs of preparations for a possible parade in Kim Il-sung Square

The US and South Korea have warned Vladimir Putin against forging closer military ties with North Korea, as speculation grows that the Russian leader will visit the secretive state in the coming days.

Putin is planning to meet the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, in a reciprocal visit following Kim’s weeklong trip to Russia last September, media reports said. During that trip, the two leaders are believed to have agreed that North Korea would receive Russian help with its space programme in return for providing Russia with armaments for the war in Ukraine, in violation of UN resolutions.

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South Korea to resume propaganda broadcasts after North sends hundreds more rubbish balloons

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Seoul says it will install loudspeakers on the border with North Korea after detecting 330 more balloons in its territory

South Korea says it will restart loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts into the North, after Pyongyang sent hundreds more rubbish-filled balloons across the border.

“We will install loudspeakers against North Korea today and carry out the broadcast,” the president’s office said in a statement on Sunday.

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North Korea sends 600 more rubbish-filled balloons across border, South says

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About 20-50 balloons an hour incoming, warns Seoul’s military, urging public to report but don’t touch

North Korea has sent about 600 more rubbish-filled balloons containing everything from cigarette butts to plastic across the border, Seoul’s military said on Sunday, adding that security personnel were collecting them as they landed.

“North Korea has resumed launching waste balloons towards South Korea” since around 8pm on Saturday, Seoul’s joint chiefs of staff (JCS) said.

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North Korea accused of sending balloons carrying excrement into the South

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South Korea has warned residents to be alert after the military released photos showing inflated balloons with plastic bags tethered to them

South Korea has warned residents living near the border with North Korea to be on alert, after accusing the regime of sending balloons containing what appeared to be rubbish and faeces into its neighbour’s territory.

Photographs released by the South Korean military on Wednesday showed inflated balloons with plastic bags tethered to them. Other images appeared to show trash strewn around collapsed balloons, with the word “excrement” written on a bag in one photograph.

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North Korea spy satellite explodes in flight as latest launch fails

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Cause of accident was ‘operational reliability of engine’, says Pyongyang, after two failed attempts last year

North Korea’s latest attempt to put a spy satellite into orbit ended in a mid-air explosion, Pyongyang said late Monday, hours after its announcement of a planned launch was criticised by Seoul and Tokyo.

Japanese broadcaster NHK ran footage of what appeared to be a flaming projectile in the night sky, which then exploded into a fireball. NHK said the footage was taken from northeast China at the same time as the attempted launch.

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South Korea bans viral song glorifying Kim Jong-un due to ‘psychological warfare’ link

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Song about North Korean leader titled Friendly Father includes lines like ‘let’s brag about Kim Jong-un’

South Korea’s media regulator has banned access to a North Korean propaganda music video that it said idolised and glorified leader Kim Jong-un as a “great leader”.

The catchy tune titled Friendly Father has become an unlikely social media hit around the world, going viral on short-form video app TikTok and other platforms.

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Kim Ki-nam, North Korean propaganda chief who shaped dynasty’s personality cult, dies aged 94

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Kim Ki-nam was known as ‘the North Korean Goebbels’ in the South due to his role as head of propaganda department

Kim Ki-nam, the propaganda chief who served all three generations of North Korean leaders and cemented their political legitimacy, has died, official media have said.

Kim Ki-nam died on Tuesday aged 94 from multiple organ failure, official KCNA news agency reported.

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Experts dismiss Kristi Noem’s ‘dubious’ claim to have met Kim Jong-un

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South Dakota governor says she met North Korean dictator in same book in which she describes killing her dog

The South Dakota governor, Republican vice-presidential hopeful and self-confessed dog-killer Kristi Noem’s bizarre claim in a new book to have met the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un has been dismissed by experts as “dubious” and not “conceivable”.

The Dakota Scout first reported Noem’s claim, which is in her forthcoming book, No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong With Politics and How We Move America Forward.

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