North Korea

Xi tells Kim Jong-un to bolster 'strategic guidance' over bilateral ties

The remarks came as Kim received a message from Xi as the latter thanked the North Korean leader for congratulating him on his re-election as president of China

North Korea claims to test underwater nuclear attack drone 'Haeil-2'

The system will serve as an advantageous and prospective military potential of the armed forces of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)

South Korea, US, Japan call for support of ban on North Korea workers

South Korea, the US and Japan called for stronger international support of efforts to ban North Korea from sending workers abroad and curb the North's cybercrimes as a way to block the country's means to fund its nuclear program. The top South Korean, US and Japanese nuclear envoys met in Seoul on Friday in their first gathering in four months to discuss how to cope with North Korea's growing nuclear arsenal. The North's recent weapons tests show it is intent on acquiring more advanced missiles designed to attack the US and its allies, rather than returning to talks. Despite 11 rounds of UN sanctions and pandemic-related hardships that have worsened its economic and food problems, North Korea still devotes much of its scarce resources to its nuclear and missile programs. Contributing to financing its weapons program is also likely the North's crypto hacking and other illicit cyber activities and the wages sent by North Korean workers remaining in China, Russia and elsewhere despite

S Korea, US, Japan hold anti-N Korea submarine drill over missile threats

The South Korean, US and Japanese navies began their first anti-submarine drills in six months on Monday to boost their coordination against increasing North Korean missile threats, South Korea's military said. The two-day drills come as North Korea's recent unveiling of a type of battlefield nuclear warhead prompted worries the country may conduct first nuclear test since 2017. The maritime exercises in international waters off South Korea's southern island of Jeju involved the nuclear-powered USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and naval destroyers from South Korea, the US and Japan, South Korea's Defence Ministry said in a statement. The training was arranged to improve the three countries' capacities to respond to underwater security threats posed by North Korea's advancing submarine-launched ballistic missiles and other assets, the statement said. It said the three countries were to detect and track unmanned South Korean and US underwater vehicles posing as enemy submarines and other

Kim Jong-un wants North Korea to make more nuclear material for bombs

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for his nuclear scientists to increase production of weapons-grade material to make bombs to put on his increasing range of weapons. The report in state media on Tuesday followed a series of missile launches seven launch events in this month alone and rising threats to use the weapons against his enemies. North Korea's weapons tests and US-South Korea military exercises have intensified in a tit-for-tat cycle, underscoring heightened tensions in the region. Officials say North Korea could further up the ante in coming weeks or months with more provocative displays of its military nuclear program, possibly including its first test detonation of a nuclear device since September 2017. The Korean Central News Agency said Kim during a meeting on Monday with officials and scientists at a state nuclear weapons institute stressed the need to ramp up bomb fuel production to meet his goals to expand his nuclear arsenal exponentially, and issued ..

North Korea test-fires 2 more missiles as tensions rise with South

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missile toward waters off its eastern coast Monday, adding to a recent flurry in weapons tests as the United States prepared to deploy an aircraft carrier strike group to neighboring waters to step up military exercises with the South. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles flew cross-country after being fired from a western inland area south of the North Korean capital of Pyongyang but didn't immediately release specific flight details. Japan's coast guard said it believed both weapons landed outside Japan's exclusive economic zone. The launches were the North's seventh missile event this month and underscore heightening military tensions in the region as the pace of both North Korean weapons tests and the U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises has accelerated in recent months in a cycle of tit-for-tat responses. The allies last week completed an 11-day exercise that included their biggest field training in years. But ..

Nuclear drone to generate 'radioactive tsumani' tested: North Korea

North Korea claimed on Friday to have tested a nuclear-capable underwater drone designed to generate a gigantic radioactive tsunami that would destroy naval strike groups and ports. Analysts were skeptical that the device presents a major new threat, but the test underlines the North's commitment to raising nuclear threats. The test this week came as the United States reportedly planned to deploy aircraft carrier strike groups and other advanced assets to waters off the Korean Peninsula. Military tensions are at a high point as the pace of both North Korean weapons tests and US-South Korea joint military exercises has accelerated in the past year in a cycle of tit-for-tat responses. Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said the new weapon, which can be deployed from the coast or towed by surface ships, is built to stealthily infiltrate into operational waters and make a super-scale radioactive tsunami through an underwater explosion to destroy naval strike groups and majo

North Korea simulates nuclear attacks with underwater drone, missiles

North Korea said Friday its latest cruise missile launches this week were part of nuclear attack simulations that also involved a test of a purported underwater attack drone as leader Kim Jong Un vowed to make his rivals plunge into despair. North Korea has stepped up its weapons demonstrations this month in a tit-for-tat response to the United States' expanding military exercises with ally South Korea aimed at countering the North's growing nuclear threat. The allies completed an 11-day exercise that included their biggest field training in years on Thursday, but North Korea is expected to continue its weapons tests as the United States reportedly plans to send an aircraft carrier in coming days for another round of joint drills with the South. Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said Kim supervised a three-day exercise through Thursday that simulated nuclear counterattacks against enemy naval assets and ports that involved detonations of mock nuclear warheads. KCNA said

S Korea co-sponsors UN resolution on Pyongyang rights after 5-yr hiatus

South Korea has co-sponsored a UN draft resolution on North Korea's human rights violations for the first time in five years, a diplomatic source said on Thursday.

North Korea test-fires cruise missiles towards Eastern water, says S Korea

South Korea says North Korea has test-launched multiple cruise missiles toward the North's eastern waters. The launches on Wednesday are the North's fourth weapons tests since the US and South Korean militaries began large-scale military drills last week. North Korea views the drill as a preparation to attack it. The US-South Korean military drills are to end on Thursday. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea fired several cruise missiles from its northeastern coastal town of Hamhung. It says the South Korean and US intelligence authorities were analysing further details of the launches.

N Korea launches latest missile simulated nuclear counterattack on S Korea

North Korea said Monday it simulated a nuclear attack on South Korea with a ballistic missile launch over the weekend that was its fifth missile demonstration this month to protest the largest joint military exercises in years between the US and South Korea. The North's leader Kim Jong Un instructed his military to hold more drills to sharpen the war readiness of his nuclear forces in the face of aggression by his enemies, state media reported. The South Korean and Japanese militaries detected the short-range missile being launched Sunday into waters off the North's eastern coast less than an hour before the US flew long-range B-1B bombers for training with South Korean warplanes. The North characterizes the US-South Korea exercises as a rehearsal to invade, though the allies insist they are defensive in nature. Some experts say the North uses the exercises as a pretext to advance its weapons programmes. Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said the missile, which flew ..

North Korea criticizes UN, US for raising Pyongyang's human rights issue

The mission stressed that it defines the "pressure campaign" as a violation of the dignity and sovereignty of the North and "resolutely denounces and rejects it,"

US B-1B strategic bomber returns to S.Korea as N.Korea fires missile

A B-1B bomber was previously deployed to the peninsula on March 3, Yonhap news agency reported

About 800,000 civilians willing to join military to fight US: North Korea

North Korea claimed that about 800,000 civilians have volunteered to join the nation's military to fight against the US, CNN reported.North Korea's state newspaper Rodong Sinmun newspaper reported that around 800,000 students and workers alone have expressed their desire to join the military to counter the US.The claim came after North Korea on Thursday launched its Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in response to ongoing US-South Korea military drills, reported CNN.North Korea launched the intercontinental ballistic missile, (ICBM) Hwasongpho-17, amid the ongoing South Korea-US Freedom Shield (FS) exercise, which the country has decried as "preparations for a war of aggression" against it, according to Yonhap News agency.After the launch of the missile, North Korea confirmed they had fired it, adding that it was a "stronger warning" to the US and South Korea for their provocative and aggressive large-scale war drills.In the state news agency, KCNA, North Korea ...

Kim accountable for North Korea's human rights violations: US Ambassador

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un should be held accountable for North Korea's gross human rights violations as the leader of the country, the US Ambassador to the United Nations has said

West puts spotlight on North Korea rights abuses; China, Russia oppose

The United States, its Western allies and experts shone a spotlight on the dire human rights situation and increasing repression in North Korea at a UN meeting on Friday that China and Russia denounced as a politicised move likely to further escalate tensions on the Korean peninsula. China blocked the US from broadcasting the informal Security Council meeting globally on the internet, a decision criticised by US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield as an attempt to hide North Korea's atrocities from the world. Webcasting requires agreement by all 15 council members. But the US envoy said Beijing's effort was in vain because the meeting will be made public, and the US and many others will continue to speak out against Pyongyang's human rights abuses and threats to international peace. James Turpin, a senior official in the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the ongoing tensions on the Korean peninsula pose a threat to regional and international peace and security

Launched ICBM to give stronger warning to US, S Korea over drills: N Korea

North Korea said that launch of the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Hwasongpho-17 was a stronger warning to the US and South Korea for their provocative and aggressive large-scale war drills

Japan needs South Korea to defend against North Korea's missile tests

The prosecutor-turned-politician Yeol made it a high priority six months ago to find a way to pay people forced to work at Japanese colonial-era mines and factories that was acceptable to Tokyo

N Korea launches ICBM before S Korea-Japan summit to display military might

North Korea test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile in a display of military might Thursday just hours before the leaders of South Korea and Japan were to meet at a Tokyo summit expected to be overshadowed by North Korean nuclear threats. The launch, the North's first ICBM test in a month and third weapons testing this week, also comes as South Korean and U.S. troops continue joint military exercises that Pyongyang considers a rehearsal to invade. South Korea's military said the North Korean ICBM flew toward the Korean Peninsula's eastern waters after being launched from North Korea's capital, Pyongyang, around 7.10 a.m. The statement said South Korea's military is maintaining readiness in close coordination with the United States. The Sunan neighbourhood is the site of Pyongyang's international airport and has emerged as a major testing site where the North launched most of its ICBMs in recent years, all flown on a high angle to avoid the territory of neighbours. Japan

North Korea fires another missile toward eastern waters: South Korea

North Korea launched another ballistic missile toward its eastern waters Thursday, South Korean officials said, the third such weapons test this week. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the launch occurred in the morning but did not immediately give further details, such as how far the missile flew. Pyongyang had already staged two launch events this week amid joint military exercises being held by South Korea and the United States. North Korea views such drills as a rehearsal for invasion.