N. Korea's Kim orders launch of military reconnaissance satellite as planned

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said Pyongyang has completed building its first military spy satellite and ordered final preparations to launch the satellite as planned, the North's state media reported Wednesday, in a move that is expected to further heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Kim made the remarks during an on-site inspection to the North's space development agency a day earlier, as Pyongyang has vowed to complete preparations of the launch of a military spy satellite by the end

April 19, 2023

NK’s Lazarus Group hacked 61 S. Korean media, organizations: police

North Korea’s state-sponsored hacking group conducted a series of cyberattacks targeting South Korean public and private organizations by leveraging websites of South Korean media outlets to distribute malware, the South Korean police said Tuesday. But South Korea has foiled the Lazarus Group’s potential attempts to launch hacking attacks on a massive scale. The Lazarus Group hacked into 61 organizations, including eight South Korean media outlets, as well as biomedical and defense c

April 18, 2023

Images show North running inter-Korean factories

Infrared thermal cameras picked up signs that North Korea could have been unilaterally resuming factory operations at the suspended inter-Korean industrial park, a breach of an agreement that South Korea says will have consequences. At least four factories in the Kaeseong Industrial Complex seem to be in operation, according to Radio Free Asia. It said Tuesday that factory activity at one of those plants, which makes rice cookers, looks exceptionally high, citing an expert on satellite images. T

April 18, 2023

S. Korea urges 'extraordinary responsibility' from UNSC over N. Korea's nuclear provocations

NEW YORK -- South Korea's top envoy at the United Nations called Monday on permanent members of the UN Security Council to take "extraordinary responsibility" to curb North Korea's nuclear provocations. Addressing a session of the council, Ambassador Hwang Joon-kook stressed that Pyongyang is the "first and only case" that has flouted the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) regime and openly developed nuclear weapons and delivery systems. Hwang

April 18, 2023

French Navy frigate Prairial in Korea

French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna reiterates French government priorities and solidarity with Korea during a reception aboard Prairial, the French Navy's Floreal-class frigate docked in Incheon on Saturday. The Floreal-class frigate is the French Navy's light surveillance warship, designed after the end of the Cold War in 1989.

April 18, 2023

[NK Hunger] A closer look at North Korea’s post-COVID food shortages

This article is the first installment of a two-part series investigating North Korea's food shortages and the political and socioeconomic implications for the people living in the reclusive regime, as well as their geopolitical impact. -- Ed. In North Korea, acute and chronic food shortages have been exacerbated following the triple whammy of economic sanctions, self-imposed border closures and years of extreme weather events. The reclusive state appears to be at a crossroads in regards to

April 17, 2023

N. Korean leader celebrates completion of building more new homes in Pyongyang

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has attended a ceremony to mark the completion of building 10,000 homes in Pyongyang, state media said Monday, describing the project to supply more homes as "the most important" one. Kim attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for completing the first stage of the housing project in the Hwasong district of the capital Sunday, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. The ceremony came around one year after the North began the construction in Fe

April 17, 2023

S. Korea fires warning shots over North border

South Korea fired warning shots at a North Korean patrol boat that crossed the maritime border in the West Sea on Saturday, amid escalating tension prompted by the North’s latest missile test Thursday. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Sunday that it fired the shots after the North had not responded to warnings, pushing the boat back to the North from the de facto sea boundary known as the Northern Limit Line. The NLL, disputed by Pyongyang since 1953 when it was drawn up foll

April 16, 2023

N. Korean leader apparently skipped visit to mausoleum on his late grandfather's birthday

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un does not appear to have visited a mausoleum for his late grandfather on the occasion of the national founder's 111th birthday. The country's state media on Sunday did not carry any reports of Kim paying tribute at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun the previous day, where the bodies of Kim Il-sung and the current leader's late father Kim Jong-il lie in state. Flanked by senior officials, Kim usually visited the mausoleum to pay respect to his late grand

April 16, 2023

N. Korea set to mark late founder's birthday

North Korea appears set to hold celebrations for the 111th birth anniversary of its late founder Kim Il-sung on Saturday with dance performances in its capital and fireworks. The North's state-run Korean Central Television reported that a slew of events will be held at Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang to mark the Day of the Sun holiday later in the day. But it did not mention large-scale performances and events. As the North usually marks every fifth and 10th political anniversaries with maj

April 15, 2023

S. Korea, US, Japan agree to hold missile defense, anti-sub drills regularly to counter NK threats

South Korea, the United States and Japan agreed to hold missile defense and anti-submarine exercises regularly to counter growing North Korean threats during their senior-level defense talks in Washington earlier this week, Seoul's defense ministry said Saturday. They reached the agreement at a session of the Defense Trilateral Talks on Friday, amid tensions caused by Pyongyang's recent weapons tests, including that of what it claims to be a solid-fuel Hwasong-18 intercontinental balli

April 15, 2023

N. Korea says it conducted first test launch of new solid-fuel ICBM

North Korea claimed Friday that the country had successfully test-fired a new-type solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time on Thursday., under the guidance of the country’s leader Kim Jong-un. It labeled the ICBM as its “powerful, strategic attack means.” The South Korean military also confirmed that the test-launch aimed to develop a solid-propellant ICBM, although it assessed that North Korea still has a long way to go to complete the weapon developme

April 14, 2023

Ministry officially uses term 'N. Korea's denuclearization' in white paper on unification

South Korea's unification ministry officially used the term "North Korea's denuclearization" in the first white paper on inter-Korean affairs issued by the conservative Yoon Suk Yeol administration Friday. In the annual Unification White Paper, the ministry also stressed the need to improve the North's human rights situation, and used terminology that was not used under the former liberal government in an apparent bid to highlight the government's tough stance on th

April 14, 2023

N. Korea says it tested new solid-fuel ICBM to improve nuclear counterattack posture

North Korea on Friday said the missile used in its recent launch was its new solid-fuel "Hwasong-18" intercontinental ballistic missile, with leader Kim Jong-un claiming that the launch significantly improved its nuclear counterattack posture. Kim guided Thursday's launch and said the new ICBM "radically promote the effectiveness of its nuclear counterattack posture and bring about a change in the practicality of its offensive military strategy," the North's officia

April 14, 2023

North Korea fires suspected new solid-fuel ballistic missile

North Korea appears to have fired a new, solid-fuel, intermediate- or long-range ballistic missile Thursday, the South Korean military said hours after the launch. The initial assessment suggested that Pyongyang conducted its first test-launch of a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile in the run-up to the anniversary of the birth of the country’s late founder. North Korea fired the intermediate- or long-range ballistic missile into waters off its east coast from an area on the out

April 13, 2023

N. Korea fires intermediate-range or longer ballistic missile toward East Sea: S. Korean military

North Korea fired an intermediate- or longer-range ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Thursday, South Korea's military said, following its continued refusal to answer what used to be daily cross-border calls. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected the launch in the vicinity of Pyongyang at 7:23 a.m. It did not elaborate further pending an analysis. "While strengthening its monitoring and vigilance, our military is maintaining a full readiness posture in close cooperation with

April 13, 2023

N. Korea unresponsive to regular contact via inter-Korean liaison line for 6th day

North Korea remained unresponsive to daily routine calls with South Korea through an inter-Korean liaison communication channel for the sixth straight day Wednesday, Seoul's unification ministry said. The North was unresponsive to the 9 a.m. routine opening calls, and has not answered the calls from the South since last Friday, according to the ministry. Seoul's opening call via the militaries' East and West seas communication lines also went unanswered. The two Koreas typically h

April 12, 2023

N. Korea vows to initiate vibrant space projects amid worries over potential spy satellite launch

North Korea vowed Wednesday to pursue more space development projects on the occasion of the International Day of Human Space Flight, according to state media, amid concerns over its potential launch of a military spy satellite this month. North Korea has an "unwavering" willingness to turn itself into a global space powerhouse as outer space belongs to all mankind, not something monopolized or possessed by a specific country, according to the Korean Central News Agency. The Internatio

April 12, 2023

Unification minister issues ‘strong warning’ to N.Korea

The South Korean unification minister on Tuesday strongly warned that North Korea’s unilateral severance of cross-border hotlines will eventually put itself in a predicament, urging North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to stop heightening tensions and make a “wise decision.” Unification Minister Kwon Young-se made the remarks in a rare public statement after North Korea refused to take regularly held inter-Korean calls from South Korea for five days without explanation since last Fr

April 11, 2023

N. Korea unresponsive to regular contact via inter-Korean liaison line for 5th day

North Korea remained unresponsive to daily routine calls with South Korea through an inter-Korean liaison communication channel for the fifth straight day Tuesday, according to Seoul's unification ministry. The North was unresponsive to routine opening calls at 9 a.m. since it stopped answering calls from the South last Friday, the ministry said. The ministry earlier said it is putting weight on the possibility of Pyongyang's "unilateral" suspension of the liaison communicati

April 11, 2023