Defectors to send leaflets, pop music to NK

A Seoul-based North Korean defectors' group on Monday said it would send more leaflets and digital copies of popular South Korean songs across the border in a growing cross-border tit-for-tat that most recently saw Pyongyang send balloons loaded with waste to the South. North Korea sent hundreds of balloons last week, threatening to send more if balloons carrying South Korean leaflets entered its territory again. The civic group Fighters for a Free North Korea revealed its plans to respon

June 3, 2024

N. Korea says it will stop sending trash-filled balloons, will resume if S. Korea sends leaflets

North Korea said Sunday it will temporarily stop sending trash-filled balloons across the border to South Korea, though it also threatened to resume such operations if Seoul sends more anti-Pyongyang leaflets. In a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), North Korean Vice Defense Minister Kim Kang-il claimed Pyongyang had sent 3,500 balloons, carrying 15 tons worth of debris, toward South Korea between Tuesday night and Sunday morning. Kim offered to temporarily halt

June 2, 2024

N. Korea sends some 720 more trash-carrying balloons to S. Korea, continues GPS jamming for 5 days

North Korea has sent around 720 more balloons carrying trash to South Korea and continued jamming GPS signals for five straight days against the South, Seoul's military said Sunday, as South Korea's presidential office was considering taking countermeasures. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it has detected some 720 balloons that floated across the Military Demarcation Line separating the two Koreas and fell in different parts of the country between 8 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. The

June 2, 2024

Seoul envoy lambasts N.Korea satellite launch as 'one of the most expensive fireworks'

South Korea's top envoy to the UN denounced North Korea's failed satellite launch this week as "one of the most expensive fireworks" on Friday, stressing that it has used its scarce resources for the launch despite persistent food shortages. Ambassador Hwang Joon-kook made the remarks as the UN Security Council (UNSC) held an open meeting to discuss the North's launch of the satellite on Monday, which Seoul, Washington and others criticized as a violation of UNSC resolut

June 1, 2024

N. Korea continues GPS jamming attack for 4th day

North Korea attempted to jam GPS signals near the western sea border for the fourth consecutive day Saturday, the South's military said. The military detected the jamming signals directed toward the islands near the Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea, the de facto western maritime boundary between the two Koreas, starting at about 6 a.m., according to a South Korean military official. The latest attempt has not hindered any military operations, the official said, although similar recent

June 1, 2024

S. Korea, US, Japan condemn N.Korea launches, reaffirm peninsula denuclearization goal

Senior diplomats of South Korea, the United States and Japan "strongly" condemned North Korea's recent satellite and missile launches, and reaffirmed their commitment to the "complete" denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula as they held trilateral talks in Virginia on Friday. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano issued a joint statement after the meeting at Campbell's p

June 1, 2024

S. Korea warns of 'unendurable' actions against N. Korea unless it stops provocations

The unification ministry warned Friday that "unendurably" painful measures would be taken against North Korea if it continues to stage "irrational" provocative acts, such as this week's sending of balloons carrying trash to South Korea. Earlier this week, North Korea flew hundreds of large balloons carrying trash and manure into South Korea and staged GPS jamming attacks in waters near South Korea's northwestern border islands for a third straight day until Friday.

May 31, 2024

N. Korea conducts GPS jamming attack for 3rd day

North Korea staged GPS jamming attacks in waters near South Korea's northwestern border islands for a third straight day on Friday, the South's military said, in the latest in a series of provocative acts this week. The military detected the jamming signals from about 8 a.m. directed toward the islands near the Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea, the de facto western maritime boundary between the two Koreas, according to a South Korean military official. The latest attempt has not h

May 31, 2024

US military condemns NK missile launches, calls for return to dialogue

The US military on Wednesday condemned North Korea's latest round of ballistic missile launches and called on the recalcitrant regime to refrain from "unlawful" and "destabilizing" acts. US Indo-Pacific Command issued a statement after Pyongyang fired some 10 short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea on Thursday morning (Korea time), a day after sending hundreds of large balloons carrying trash and manure into the South. "The United States condemns these acti

May 30, 2024

UN Security Council to convene this week over NK satellite launch: Seoul official

The UN Security Council will convene an open meeting this week to discuss North Korea's recent launch of a military reconnaissance satellite that ended in failure, a Seoul official said Wednesday. The official at South Korea's Permanent Mission to the UN said that the meeting is slated to take place on Friday after Pyongyang's attempt to launch a satellite-carrying rocket failed due to the midair explosion of the rocket on Monday. The recalcitrant regime pressed ahead with the lau

May 30, 2024

N. Korea fires 10 projectiles into East Sea, conducts GPS jamming

North Korea on Thursday fired at least 10 projectiles believed by South Korea to be short-range ballistic missiles, as Pyongyang continued military provocations following the three-way talks between the leaders of South Korea, Japan and China earlier on Monday. According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea's military, the projectiles, fired at around 6:14 a.m., flew 350 kilometers from the Sunan district in northwestern Pyongyang, before falling into the East Sea. Seoul and other po

May 30, 2024

N. Korea appears to be struggling to secure parts for spy satellite: presidential office

North Korea's botched attempt to launch a military spy satellite was likely due to its difficulties in procuring related parts and developing technology because of ongoing sanctions, a presidential official said Wednesday. North Korea made a failed attempt to launch a space rocket carrying a reconnaissance satellite hours after leaders of South Korea, Japan and China met in Seoul on Monday for a summit, the first since December 2019. The North denounced Seoul's reaffirming a commitment

May 29, 2024

Kim Jong-un says South's use of force as 'very dangerous provocation'

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un slammed South Korea's show of force against Pyongyang's attempted spy satellite launch as a "very dangerous provocation" that cannot be overlooked, the Korean Central News Agency reported Wednesday. Kim also said that a spy satellite is needed to safeguard the country's sovereignty, adding that South Korea had "shown hysterical madness" over its satellite launch attempt despite having complied with international regulations by no

May 29, 2024

Garbage, dung cross DMZ as NK responds with balloons of its own

More than 150 balloons distributed by North Korea carrying apparent propaganda leaflets as well as trash and excrement were detected across South Korea, Seoul's military said Wednesday. Earlier this week, North Korea vowed "tit for tat action" after human rights activists launched balloons carrying anti-Pyongang pamphlets and USB flash drives filled with South Korean pop culture content into the North. The balloons crossed the border since Tuesday night, landing in locations acros

May 29, 2024

S. Korean military vets presumed N.Korean propaganda leaflets

South Korea's military said Tuesday it is vetting objects assumed to be propaganda leaflets distributed by North Korea. "The military is taking measures after unidentified objects assumed to be North Korean propaganda leaflets were found in border areas in Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces," the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a notice sent to the press. The JCS advised residents in the areas to refrain from accessing the objects and report to nearby military or police authorities in

May 29, 2024

N. Korea says spy satellite launch failed due to midair blast during first-stage rocket flight

North Korea said Tuesday that its latest attempt to launch a new rocket carrying a military reconnaissance satellite ended in failure due to the midair explosion of the rocket during the first-stage flight this week. The vice general director of the North's National Aerospace Technology Administration said the rocket carrying the satellite, the Malligyong-1-1, exploded after it lifted off from the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground on the country's northwest coast on Monday, according to

May 28, 2024

N. Korea decries S. Korea's commitment to 'denuclearization' after trilateral summit

North Korea denounced South Korea on Monday for stating its commitment to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a joint declaration with Japan and China following their trilateral summit, casting it as a "mockery" of the region and the international community. The North's foreign ministry issued the statement hours after President Yoon Suk Yeol, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese Premier Li Qiang held the trilateral summit in Seoul and reaffirmed their commitm

May 27, 2024

N. Korea notifies Japan of plan to launch satellite before June 4: Kyodo

North Korea has notified Japan of a plan to launch a space rocket carrying a satellite between Monday and midnight of June 3, Kyodo News reported, citing Japan's coast guard. The notice on the eight-day window came as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are set to hold a trilateral meeting in Seoul on Monday, where evolving North Korean threats are likely to figure prominently. It designated three areas where debris will f

May 27, 2024

US girding for possibility of N. Korea taking most provocative military actions in decade near election: NBC

WASHINGTON -- US officials are bracing for North Korea to potentially take its "most provocative" military action in a decade ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election, possibly at the urging of Russian President Vladimir Putin, NBC News reported Friday. Citing six senior US officials, the broadcaster also said that the United States has contingency plans to respond in the event of Pyongyang taking aggressive action in the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, or shelling South

May 25, 2024

N. Korea to convene key party meeting next month

North Korea has decided to convene a key ruling party meeting next month to review progress in its ongoing projects for the first half of the year, state media reported Saturday. The North's leader Kim Jong-un led a politburo meeting of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) on Friday, which decided to convene a plenary meeting of the party's central committee late next month, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). "Kim Jong-un referred to the necessity to convene the

May 25, 2024