Air Koryo flight from Pyongyang cancelled two hours after its scheduled arrival in Beijing
North Korea’s national airline’s first commercial flight since it largely closed itself off from the world in early 2020 in response to the Covid pandemic has been abruptly cancelled.
Journalists gathered on Monday at Beijing’s Capital international airport to await Air Koryo flight JS151 from Pyongyang, due to arrive at 9.50am.
Continue reading...National security adviser Jake Sullivan makes comments as US, Japan and South Korea agree to new security pledge
The United States is “concerned” about the national security implications of North Korea and Russia reportedly cooperating on nuclear missile technology, the Biden administration said, as the US welcomed the leaders of Japan and South Korea to Camp David on Friday for an unprecedented trilateral summit.
The US, Japan and South Korea agreed to a new security pledge committing the three countries to consult with each other in the event of a security crisis or threat in the Pacific, according to the Biden administration.
Continue reading...Travis King entered the country while on tour of a border village on 18 July, becoming the first American detained in nearly five years
North Korea asserted Wednesday that a US soldier who bolted into the North across the heavily armed Korean border last month did so after being disillusioned at the inequality of American society.
It is North Korea’s first official confirmation of the detention of Private 2nd class Travis King, who entered the North while on a tour of a Korean border village on 18 July. He became the first American detained in the country in nearly five years.
Continue reading...State media urges citizens to focus on ‘ensuring the safety’ of propaganda relating to the Kim dynasty
North Koreans have been told to do everything possible to protect portraits of the Kim dynasty, as the country braces for heavy rain and strong winds caused by tropical storm Khanun.
The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the ruling Korean Workers’ party, said people’s “foremost focus” should be on “ensuring the safety” of propaganda portraits of its current leader, Kim Jong-un, his father, Kim Jong-il, and his grandfather and North Korea’s founder, Kim Il-sung.
Continue reading...Dictator tours factories making drone engines and rocket launchers and calls for ‘rapidly expanding production capacity’
Kim Jong-un visited several major North Korean arms factories this week, including facilities making engines for strategic cruise missiles, and called for increased weapons production, state media has reported.
The three-day inspection of the factories comes less than two weeks after the dictator attended a major military parade with Russian and Chinese officials, showcasing North Korea’s newest weapons, including intercontinental ballistic missiles and spy drones.
Continue reading...Decision means Travis King, who is detained in North Korea, is not covered by prisoner of war protections
The US has declined so far to classify army soldier Travis King as a prisoner of war (PoW) despite his being detained in North Korea after he crossed into the country last month, four American officials told Reuters.
The decision, which could mean King is not covered by the protections entitled to prisoners of war under the Geneva conventions, is highly sensitive for the US military given its commitment to leave no soldier behind enemy lines.
Continue reading...Drones at military parade were said to have similar look to US drones as Japan warns that Kim Jong-un’s regime posed a more serious threat than ever
North Korea has carried out demonstration flights of new military drones, state media reported, as leader Kim Jong-un shared centre stage with senior delegates from Russia and China in a show of unity at a parade in the capital.
State media said on Friday that Kim rolled out his most powerful, nuclear-capable missiles during the “Victory Day” parade in Pyongyang to mark the 70th anniversary of the armistice that stopped fighting in the Korean War.
Continue reading...British general says US-led United Nations Command gives few details of contacts over Travis King who crossed line on 18 July
The US-led United Nations Command has initiated talks with North Korea about the American soldier who ran into that country and crossed one of the most militarized borders in the world, according to an official.
But a British lieutenant general who helps lead the UN command stopped short of saying exactly when talks about Travis King began, whether they have been constructive or how many exchanges there have been. The lieutenant general, Andrew Harrison, also would not address any known details about King’s health condition.
Continue reading...South Korean armed forces condemn the two launches as a ‘grave provocation’
North Korea has fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast, adding to a recent streak of weapons testing that is apparently in protest against the US sending naval assets to South Korea.
In its third round of launches since last week, North Korea fired the missiles from an area near its capital, Pyongyang, South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said early on Tuesday local time. It said the missiles travelled about 250 miles (400km) before landing in waters off the Korean peninsula’s eastern coast.
Continue reading...Travis King had finished prison term in South Korea for assault and was supposed to be returning to Texas
North Korea is not responding to US attempts to discuss the American soldier who crossed the heavily armed border and whose prospects for a quick release are unclear when military tensions are high and communication channels inactive.
Pte Travis King, who was supposed to be heading to Fort Bliss, Texas, after finishing a prison sentence in South Korea for assault, ran into North Korea while on a civilian tour of the border village of Panmunjom on Tuesday. He is the first known American to be held in North Korea in nearly five years.
Continue reading...Soldier, identified by US and Korean officials as Travis King, gave ‘out a loud “ha ha ha”’, member of tour group says
A US soldier who crossed into North Korea while on a tour group after escaping military detention was laughing as he fled over the inter-Korean border, according to media reports.
US and Korean officials identified the soldier as Private 2nd Class Travis King, according to CBS News. King, 23, was being held in custody by South Korea at the airport in Incheon, near Seoul, and in the process of being expelled when he fled.
Continue reading...US and UN officials working to ‘resolve incident’ after private crossed border at truce village without authorisation
An American soldier being sent back to the US to face possible disciplinary action crossed in to North Korea during a tour of the demilitarised zone, US officials have said, becoming the first American detained in the North in nearly five years.
Private 2nd Class Travis King had served nearly two months in a South Korean prison for assault before being released to be sent home to Fort Bliss, Texas, on Monday, where he potentially faced additional military disciplinary actions and discharge from the service.
Continue reading...Rocket went 1,000km, says South Korea, after Kim Jong-un’s sister threatened ‘shocking’ consequences for alleged US spy plane flights
North Korea fired a ballistic missile off its east coast towards Japan on Wednesday, South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said, in a move that followed threats of retaliation for alleged US spy plane flights.
The missile flew about 1,000km (621 miles) before crashing into the water, South Korea’s military said. Japan’s chief cabinet secretary said the missile came down about 250km west of Okushiri island in Japan’s northernmost Hokkaido prefecture, after a flight taking 74 minutes that reached an altitude of more than 6,000km.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...State media say the projectile plunged into the sea, after briefly sparking emergency warnings in South Korea and Japan
North Korea’s first spy satellite launch has ended in failure after its second stage malfunctioned, sending the projectile plunging into the sea, with the regime vowing to conduct another launch soon.
The launch sparked emergency warnings on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa and in the South Korean capital Seoul, where the city briefly issued an evacuation warning in error. Both alerts were later lifted.
Continue reading...Tokyo says any missile entering its territory will be destroyed as Pyongyang completes preparations to launch first military spy satellite
Japan’s military has said it will destroy any North Korean missile that violates its territory and is making preparations to do so, after Kim Jong-un’s regime told Tokyo it plans to launch a satellite between 31 May and 11 June.
Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Hirokazu Matsuno, said any launch by North Korea, even if termed a satellite launch, affected the safety of Japanese citizens. “The government recognises that there is a possibility that the satellite may pass through our country’s territory.”
Continue reading...US, Japan and South Korea tighten monitoring of North’s missile launches; meanwhile South puts first commercial satellite in space on own rocket
North Korean media has criticised as “sinister measures” plans by South Korea, the United States and Japan to share real-time data on missile launches by Kim Jong-un’s regime – with the North lashing out as its neighbour this week undertook its largest-ever live-fire exercises with the US.
The leaders of South Korea, the US and Japan met at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, last weekend and discussed new coordination in the face of North Korea’s illicit nuclear and missile threats. North Korea has undertaken a series of missile and weapons tests in recent months, most recently a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The North’s missile and nuclear weapons programmes are banned by the UN security council.
Continue reading...Dictator visits assembly facility as state media says satellite will be ready for loading after final checks
Kim Jong-un has inspected North Korea’s first military spy satellite and given the go-ahead for its “future action plan”, according to state media.
Kim met the “non-permanent satellite launch preparatory committee” on Tuesday before viewing the satellite, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...Yoon Suk-yeol meets Joe Biden in Washington amid concerns in South over North’s nuclear buildup
The US and South Korea have reaffirmed their alliance, agreeing that nuclear-armed submarines would resume port visits and threatening a “swift, overwhelming and decisive response” to any North Korean nuclear attack, including retaliation in kind by the US.
The South Korean president, Yoon Suk Yeol, said that response would include US nuclear weapons, making explicit an element of the alliance that normally remains unspoken.
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