Category Archives: North Korea

South Korea apologises after missile fired in response to North Korea test crashes

Posted on by

Live-fire drill with the US supposed to be a show of strength, but ended in embarrassment and caused alarm among nearby residents

South Korea’s military has apologised after a missile it launched during a drill on Tuesday malfunctioned and crashed to the ground, causing alarm among nearby residents who thought they were under attack from North Korea, which had test launched a missile earlier in the day.

The live-fire drill, involving South Korea and the US, was supposed to be a show of strength by the allies, hours after the North sent an intermediate-range missile over northern Japan.

Continue reading...

North Korea fires missile over Japan prompting warnings for residents to shelter

Posted on by

Launch is the first time the North has apparently sent a missile over Japanese territory since 2017

North Korea has launched a intermediate-range ballistic missile over northern Japan for the first time in five years, prompting the government to urge people to shelter from falling debris, in an apparent escalation of recent weapons tests by Kim Jong-un’s regime.

Japan’s government had activated its J-Alert system on Tuesday morning for residents in the northernmost main island of Hokkaido and the country’s north-eastern Aomori prefecture. Train services were temporarily halted in the region.

Continue reading...

North Korea fires ballistic missiles in fourth launch in a week after naval drills

Posted on by

Launch follows joint military drills by South Korea, Japan and the US and visit by Kamala Harris

North Korea has fired two more ballistic missiles, South Korea’s military said, its fourth such launch this week as Seoul, Tokyo and Washington ramp up joint military drills.

The launch early on Saturday came after the navies of South Korea, the United States and Japan staged trilateral anti-submarine exercises on Friday for the first time in five years, and the US vice-president, Kamala Harris, made a visit to the region this week.

Continue reading...

Kamala Harris hits out at North Korea’s ‘provocative nuclear rhetoric’ on DMZ visit

Posted on by

Pyongyang fired ballistic missiles into the sea just hours before US vice-president arrived in Seoul

The US vice-president, Kamala Harris, has condemned North Korea’s “provocative nuclear rhetoric” during a trip to South Korea that included a visit to the heavily armed border dividing the peninsula.

Harris arrived in Seoul on Thursday, hours after North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea, in a move that underlines Washington’s struggle to rein in the regime’s weapons programme.

Continue reading...

Kamala Harris to visit Korean demilitarised zone as naval drills stoke tensions

Posted on by

DMZ trip comes days after North Korea warned that the South and the US risked ‘triggering conflict’ with joint naval drills

The US vice-president, Kamala Harris, is to visit the heavily armed border separating North and South Korea on Thursday, amid rising tensions on the peninsula.

Harris will arrive at the demilitarised zone (DMZ) on the southern side of the border, days after the regime in Pyongyang warned that South Korea and the US risked “triggering a conflict” following the launch of large-scale naval exercises for the first time in five years.

Continue reading...

North Korea fires ballistic missile towards sea, says South Korean military

Posted on by

Launch of an unidentified missile is the latest in a record-breaking blitz of weapons tests by nuclear-armed Pyongyang this year

North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile on Sunday towards its eastern seas, extending a provocative streak in weapons testing as a US aircraft carrier visits South Korea for joint military exercises in response to the North’s growing nuclear threat.

South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said the missile launched from the western inland town of Taechon flew 600km (370 miles) cross-country on a maximum altitude of 60km (37 miles) before landing in waters off North Korea’s eastern coast.

Continue reading...

Mystery over new woman in Kim Jong-un’s inner circle

Posted on by

Woman has been pictured at North Korean leader’s side in recent months, often carrying a handbag

Often spotted in an understated suit dress, glasses, and carrying a black handbag, there’s a new character in the inner circle of Kim Jong-un in nuclear-armed North Korea. But her identity, for now, remains a mystery.

She was at Kim’s side last week during a massive outdoor concert and was also seen carrying folders at a speech to the country’s parliament, the Supreme People’s Assembly, in which Kim vowed never to give up nuclear weapons.

Continue reading...

Kim Jong-un says new law guarantees North Korea will never give up nuclear weapons

Posted on by

Leader says North Korea’s nuclear status is now ‘irreversible’, with military allowed to ‘automatically’ use atomic weapons

North Korea has passed a law enshrining the right to “automatically” use preemptive nuclear strikes to protect itself, a move leader Kim Jong-un said makes its nuclear status “irreversible” and bars any denuclearisation talks, state media has reported.

The move comes as observers say North Korea appears to be preparing to resume nuclear testing for the first time since 2017, after historic summits with then-US president Donald Trump and other world leaders in 2018 failed to persuade Kim to abandon his weapons development.

Continue reading...

Russia buying millions of rockets and shells from North Korea, US intelligence says

Posted on by

Official says deal shows Russia continues to face supply shortages as invasion of Ukraine grinds on

Russia is buying millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea to support its invasion of Ukraine, according to a newly declassified US intelligence finding.

A US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said on Monday that the fact Russia’s defence ministry had turned to Pyongyang demonstrated that “the Russian military continues to suffer from severe supply shortages in Ukraine, due in part to export controls and sanctions”.

Continue reading...

US and South Korea begin largest military drills for years as North ramps up tensions

Posted on by

The show of force is expected to prompt an angry response from Pyongyang and follows failure of Trump-era policy of engagement

The US and South Korea have begun their biggest joint military drills in years – a show of force that is expected to raise tensions with an increasingly hostile North Korea.

The exercises, known as Ulchi Freedom Shield, are being seen as a sign of the allies’ determination to restore large-scale training after they cancelled some regular drills and scaled down others to facilitate nuclear talks, and because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Continue reading...

North Korea – a model for Grant Shapps’ bicycle licence plate proposal?

Posted on by

The secretive state demands each cycle display a registration number – although officially women are banned from bikes

• UK cyclists could be made to have registration plates

If the British transport secretary, Grant Shapps, is looking for a “model” for his bicycle registration plates proposal he could turn to one of the world’s most illiberal countries: North Korea.

After decades of being frowned upon as a primitive means of transport for citizens of a modern, socialist paradise, cycling gained official acceptance in the secretive state in 1992 – although it is officially banned for women.

Continue reading...

Japan ministers visit war shrine as South Korea calls for end to historical tensions

Posted on by

Japan PM Fumio Kishida sends offering but stays away from Yasukuni, which honours dead including class-A war criminals

Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, sent a ritual offering to a controversial war shrine on Monday – the anniversary of Japan’s defeat in the second world war – as one of its wartime victims, South Korea, called for an end to historical tensions.

Kishida apparently decided to stay away from the Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo to avoid antagonising South Korea and China, but three of his ministers have made the pilgrimage in recent days.

Continue reading...

Kim Jong-un fell ‘seriously ill’ during North Korea Covid crisis, his sister says

Posted on by

Kim Yo-jong says regime leader had a ‘high fever’, a byword for coronavirus in the country, as it claims victory over the virus

North Korea has declared a “shining victory” in its battle with Covid-19, amid suggestions from Kim Jong-un’s sister that he was among those who contracted the virus.

Speaking at a meeting of health workers and scientists in Pyongyang, Kim called for preventive measures to be eased and described the official death toll of 74 as an “unprecedented miracle in the history of the world health community”, state-run media said on Thursday.

Continue reading...

US sanctions Tornado Cash over fears of aiding North Korean hackers

Posted on by

US treasury says popular cryptocurrency service reportedly laundered more than $7bn worth of virtual currency

The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on Tornado Cash, a popular cryptocurrency service that allows users to mask their transactions, accusing it of helping hackers, including from North Korea, to launder proceeds from their cybercrimes.

A senior treasury department official said Tornado Cash, one of the largest virtual currency “mixers” identified as problematic by the treasury, has reportedly laundered more than $7bn worth of virtual currency since it was created in 2019.

Continue reading...

Nancy Pelosi in Taiwan: calls for calm in Asia as US-China tensions rise

Posted on by

South Korea calls for dialogue and Japan conveys concerns over drills, while North Korea praises China

The historic visit to Taiwan of the US House of Representatives speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has provoked a furious response from China, and heightened fears of a crisis in the Taiwan strait. In Asia and beyond, the visit has put governments on edge.

Continue reading...

Japan sees increasing threat to Taiwan amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Posted on by

Defence ministry also sounds alarm at prospect of Beijing-Moscow ties deepening amid expectations Tokyo will boost defence spending

Japan’s defence ministry has said it is alarmed at fresh threats from Russia and has growing worries about Taiwan, in an annual report that comes as Tokyo considers significantly increasing military spending.

The document includes a chapter on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which it says risks sending the message “that an attempt to unilaterally change the status quo by force is acceptable”.

Continue reading...

North Korean labour could be sent to rebuild Donbas, Russian ambassador says

Posted on by

Alexander Matsegora tells Russian newspaper there are ‘a lot of opportunities’ for economic cooperation, despite UN sanctions

North Korea could send workers to two Russian-controlled territories in eastern Ukraine, according to Russia’s ambassador in Pyongyang – a move that would pose a challenge to international sanctions against the North’s nuclear weapons programme.

According to NK News, a Seoul-based website, ambassador Alexander Matsegora said North Korean workers could help rebuild the war-shattered infrastructure in the self-proclaimed people’s republics in Donetsk and Luhansk.

Continue reading...

North Korea dam water release forces South Koreans near border to evacuate

Posted on by

Rising water levels on the Imjin River caused by suspected release prompts holidaymakers and residents to leave

North Korea appears to have released water from a dam near its border with South Korea, prompting vacationers in the neighbouring country to evacuate over rising water levels on the Imjin River.

The water level at a bridge across the river in the South’s border county of Yeoncheon surpassed 1 metre on Monday afternoon, requiring visitors on the riverbank to evacuate.

Continue reading...

North Korea says it may boost military to counter US, South Korea and Japan pact

Posted on by

Pyongyang accuses US of seeking ‘military supremacy’ over Asia-Pacific amid reports North ready for first nuclear test in five years

North Korea has denounced the United States, South Korea and Japan for pushing to boost their trilateral military cooperation targeting the North, warning that Pyongyang may need to consider reinforcing its own military capability.

A North Korean foreign ministry spokesperson said on Sunday: “The reality clearly shows that the real purpose of the US spreading the rumour about ‘threat from North Korea’ is to provide an excuse for attaining military supremacy over the Asia-Pacific region.”

North Korea has long cited what it calls hostility by the US and its allies as a reason to pursue a nuclear program. Sunday’s comments, reported by state news agency KCNA, come as North Korea’s neighbours say the country is ready for its first nuclear test in five years as part of its provocative run of weapons tests this year.

Continue reading...

North Korea blames Covid-laden balloons sent from South for virus outbreak

Posted on by

Experts sceptical of claim, as state media urge citizens to watch out for ‘alien things coming by wind’

North Korea has blamed its Covid-19 outbreak on balloons sent over its border with the South by groups of defectors, in an apparent attempt to shift the blame onto its neighbour.

After two years of insisting that it had not recorded a single case of the virus, the North admitted its first infections on 12 May, sparking fears of a public health disaster in the impoverished country.

Continue reading...