[Herald Interview] Unfazed by warnings, defector vows to continue leaflet campaign

The practice of sending anti-North Korean propaganda flying across the border attached to hot air balloons has become a thorny issue amid worsening tensions between the two Koreas. 　 Enraged by the defector groups sending leaflets condemning North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and the country’s reclusive regime, Pyongyang publicly blew up the inter-Korean liaison office in its border city Kaesong on Tuesday, and warned that it would take further action if Seoul failed to stop the balloon lau

June 18, 2020

Seoul and Washington’s nuclear envoy to discuss North Korea

Seoul and Washington’s point men on North Korea are to meet and discuss the developments on the Korean Peninsula, Seoul’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Thursday. According to the ministry, Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, will meet with Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun and discuss the situation on the peninsula and the allies’ response. It did not give details on whne or where the discussions would take place. A

June 18, 2020

Pompeo said Trump's North Korea diplomacy had 'zero probability of success': Bolton's memoir

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo thought that President Donald Trump's nuclear diplomacy with North Korea has "zero probability of success," Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton was quoted as saying in his unpublished memoir. In the book, titled "The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir," Bolton revealed that Pompeo made the remark a month after the historic 2018 summit between Trump and the North's leader Kim Jong-un, The New York Times reported o

June 18, 2020

Ex-UN investigator slams NK destruction of liaison office as 'wanton, useless, tantrum-driven'

The former chief of the UN inquiry into North Korean human rights abuses decried North Korea's recent "wanton, useless, tantrum-driven" destruction of a joint liaison office Thursday, calling for South Korea to reconsider its "old strategy" toward the recalcitrant regime. Michael Kirby, the former chairman of the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) on Human Rights in North Korea, made the remarks during an online discussion organized by the civic group, the Committee for Human R

June 18, 2020

S. Korea still committed to stopping leaflet campaign: ministry official

South Korea remains committed to stopping defector groups and activists from sending leaflets into North Korea, a unification ministry official said Thursday. North Korea has been lashing out at South Korea almost daily since early June over anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets flown from the South. Tensions further escalated when it blew up a joint liaison office earlier this week and vowed to beef up its military presence in the border areas. "The government's stance in stopping the flyi

June 18, 2020

War remains recovery project in DMZ resumes after brief suspension

The military on Thursday resumed a war remains excavation project in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas after a brief suspension following the North's threat to take military action against the South. The excavation project on Arrowhead Ridge was halted the previous day, one day after North Korea blew up an inter-Korean liaison office in the western border town of Kaesong on Tuesday. The military appears to have concluded that the work can resume despite the heightened ten

June 18, 2020

N. Korean troops seen at empty border guard posts: sources

North Korea appears to have dispatched soldiers to some empty guard posts inside the Demilitarized Zone, sources said Thursday, following its warnings that it would beef up its military presence in border areas. On Wednesday, the General Staff of the (North) Korean People's Army vowed to set up "civil police posts," which had been withdrawn from the DMZ under an inter-Korean military agreement, as part of next steps against South Korea after the demolition of the inter-Korean liaison

June 18, 2020

NK paper warns next step could go 'far beyond imagination'

North Korea's official newspaper said Thursday that this week's demolition of an inter-Korean liaison office was just the beginning, warning there could be additional retaliatory steps against South Korea that could go "far beyond imagination." North Korea has been lashing out at South Korea almost daily in recent weeks over anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets flown from the South. It has vowed to deal with Seoul as an enemy, cut off cross-border communication lines and even blew up

June 18, 2020

Trump extends existing sanctions on N. Korea for 1 year

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump on Wednesday extended existing US sanctions on North Korea for another year, citing the continued "unusual and extraordinary" threat posed by the regime. In a routine notice sent to Congress, Trump wrote that he is continuing the "national emergency with respect to North Korea" that was first declared on June 26, 2008, by Executive Order 13466. The executive order, which was further expanded under Trump and previous administrations,

June 18, 2020

Ex-USFK commander says he would increase military pressure on N. Korea

WASHINGTON -- A former US Forces Korea commander said Wednesday he would respond to North Korea's recent provocations with increased pressure, such as bringing strategic assets into the Korean Peninsula and conducting joint military exercises as planned. Ret. Gen. Vincent Brooks, who headed the 28,500-strong USFK from 2016 to 2018, said the North Koreans need to feel "agitated" about the consequences of their actions against South Korea, which in recent days have included the destruc

June 18, 2020

Religious group calls for calm amid heightened inter-Korean tensions

A South Korean group representing the country's six major religions issued a statement Wednesday, calling on all sides to maintain calm amid heightened tensions following North Korea's demolition of a joint liaison office. The Korean Conference of Religions and Peace (KCRP) said the destruction of the joint office in the North Korean border city of Kaesong on Tuesday, threats by Pyongyang to redeploy troops in key areas along the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two sides and demands for

June 17, 2020

NK leader's personal plane makes rare flight amid heightened tensions

An aircraft used by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un flew from Pyongyang to the eastern part of the country on Wednesday, an aviation tracker said, sparking speculation that the leader may reemerge into public view for possible military action amid heightened inter-Korean tensions. The An-148 twin-engine jet was spotted flying northeastwards at around 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, Aircraft Spot said. It said the plane's signals disappeared near North Hamkyong Province. North Korea watchers have said

June 17, 2020

Seoul hits back at Pyongyang, warns of consequences

Seoul expressed deep concern Wednesday over North Korea’s words and actions, calling them “senseless” and warning again that Pyongyang will have to bear the final consequences. “We clearly warn that North Korea’s senseless words and actions will not be tolerated anymore,” said Yoon Do-han, President Moon Jae-in’s senior public relations secretary. He was referring to the remarks from Kim Yo-jong -- sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un -- critic

June 17, 2020

Peninsula returns to era of confrontation

Relations between the two Koreas have abruptly hit their worst point in more than 20 years, as the North blew up a joint liaison office on Tuesday. There have been ups and downs in inter-Korean relations since the two adopted the June 15 Joint Declaration at their first historic summit in 2000, but this is the first time everything the two countries built together is on the verge of destruction. The North’s demolition of the joint liaison office, an outcome of the Panmunjom summit betwe

June 17, 2020

[News Analysis] Tough-talking Kim Yo-jong takes lead in NK actions

Giving Kim Yo-jong -- sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un -- the lead in raising tension with the South is a move with several implications, experts say. Pyongyang has been raising tensions with Seoul in recent days, blowing up the inter-Korean liaison office and warning of reestablishing military presence in Kaesong industrial park and Kumgangsan resort. Such moves could set inter-Korean relations back by two decades. While North Korea’s actions, and warnings, have far-reaching

June 17, 2020

[Newsmaker] ‘Our worst fear has turned into reality’

Tuesday was a devastating day for a group of South Korean businessmen who once ran factories inside the Kaesong industrial park, a now-shuttered joint manufacturing zone in North Korea’s border city. When Pyongyang blew up the inter-Korean liaison office there, it shattered their last hope of a dramatic breakthrough in cross-border ties that would have allowed their factories to resume operation. 　 “This is tragic. We are devastated that our worst fear has come true,” Chung

June 17, 2020

Recent NK provocation aims to solidify Kim Yo-jong's status as No. 2: lawmaker

North Korea's recent detonation of an inter-Korean liaison office may aim to consolidate its economically struggling citizens under the emerging leadership of Kim Yo-jong as the country's No. 2 leader, a former North Korean diplomat-turned-South Korean lawmaker said Wednesday. "So far, there hasn't been a third person between the North Korean military and (North Korean leader) Kim Jong-un, but there's Kim Yo-jong now," Rep. Tae Young-ho of the main opposition United Future Party sai

June 17, 2020

N. Korea could redeploy artillery, armored units to border areas: experts

North Korea could forward deploy artillery and armored units equipped with self-propelled guns and multiple rocket launchers if it sends troops to the inter-Korean industrial complex in the western border town of Kaesong and the Mount Kumgang tourism zone on the east coast, experts said Wednesday. Earlier in the day, the North's General Staff of the Korean People's Army (KPA) issued a statement, saying that it will deploy regiment-level units and other necessary firepower sub-units with defens

June 17, 2020

NK leader absent from public eye amid escalating inter-Korean tensions

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been out of the public view for more than a week as his younger sister has been leading Pyongyang's hard-line handling of relations with South Korea, including the blowing up of a joint liaison office. Kim was last seen presiding over a politburo session of the North's ruling Workers' Party on June 7, as was reported by its state media the following day. During the meeting, Kim called for an improvement of the country's chemical sector for fertilizer product

June 17, 2020

S. Korea temporarily halts war remains recovery project in DMZ

  The military temporarily suspended a war remains excavation project in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas on Wednesday, the defense ministry said, following the North's threats to take military action against the South in anger over anti-Pyongyang leaflet campaigns. Under a bilateral military accord signed on Sept. 19, 2018, South and North Korea agreed to launch a joint excavation project on Arrowhead Ridge inside the DMZ, but the South has carried out the project a

June 17, 2020