Former US envoy for N. Korea tapped to lead Pacific Island talks

Joseph Yun, a former US point man on North Korea, has been appointed to lead the Joe Biden administration's negotiations with three small Pacific Island countries, according to the Department of State on Tuesday. Biden picked the former Korean-American career diplomat as Special Presidential Envoy for Compact Negotiations, it said in a press release. "Ambassador Yun has more than 33 years of diplomatic experience, including as the US special representative for North Korea policy and as the

March 23, 2022

N. Korea works with all kinds of cyber criminals, including Russians: Sullivan

North Korea possesses significant cyber capabilities and works with all kinds of cyber criminals including those from Russia, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Tuesday. The remarks came after President Joe Biden warned of Russian cyber attacks. "All I can say generally is that North Korea cyber capabilities have been manifest in the world and they work with all kinds of cyber criminals around the world, including Russian cyber criminals," Sullivan said in a press briefing

March 23, 2022

Security alert issued against NK threat, Russia-Ukraine cyberwar

The South Korean government has issued a cybersecurity alert against North Korea’s growing cyber threat, hacking attempts during the presidential transitional period, and escalating cyberwarfare after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. South Korea’s Defense Ministry announced that it has increased the Cyber Protection Condition or CPCON level by one notch higher as of 9:00 a.m. on Monday as part of widespread government-level efforts. Under the raised warning, the South Korean m

March 21, 2022

NK keeps mum after suspected artillery firing

North Korea stayed mum Monday regarding artillery shots fired the previous day, which were seen as part of an ongoing wintertime military exercise.   　 The North fired suspected artillery pieces into the West Sea from an unspecified location in South Pyongan Province on Sunday, likely from multiple rocket launch systems, according to South Korea’s military.   　 The North’s state media outlets, including the Korean Central News Agency and Rodong Sinmun, have not reported

March 21, 2022

NK hackers stole $400m in cryptocurrency last year: report

North Korean hackers launched at least seven attacks on cryptocurrency platforms last year and stole nearly $400 million worth of digital assets, according to a blockchain data firm report submitted to the US Senate. 　 The heist marked a 40 percent increase from 2020 when it stole about $300 million, according to Jonathan Levin, co-founder of Chainalysis, in a written testimony submitted to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban affairs for a hearing on digital assets and illicit fi

March 20, 2022

NK fires 4 suspected shots from multiple rocket launchers into Yellow Sea: officials

North Korea on Sunday fired four suspected shots from multiple rocket launchers into the Yellow Sea, South Korean military officials said, the latest in a series of provocations that could heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula. “There were shots believed to be that of North Korea’s multiple rocket launchers this morning,” an official of the South Korean military said. “We are maintaining our defense readiness posture while closely following related developments,&rdq

March 20, 2022

N. Korea fires 4 suspected shots from multiple rocket launchers into Yellow Sea: officials

North Korea on Sunday fired four suspected shots from its multiple rocket launchers into the Yellow Sea, South Korean military officials said, the latest show of force that could heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula. South Korea's National Security Council (NSC) held an emergency vice-ministerial meeting over the four shots that fell into the western waters during a span of an hour from 7:20 a.m. from an unspecified location in South Pyongan Province, according to officials. Park Kyung-me

March 20, 2022

1,500 N.Koreans are at risk of being repatriated by China: UN investigator

The United Nations’ independent investigator on human rights in North Korea urged China and Russia to stop forcibly repatriating North Korean refugees and abide by the requirements of UN conventions forbidding refoulement. Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, expressed his concerns over the perennial but weighty issue in his report which will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council on Mar. 2

March 18, 2022

UN rapporteur urges provision of vaccines to N. Korea

The UN special rapporteur on North Korea's human rights has repeated his call for the international community to send enough COVID-19 vaccines to the reclusive country, a report showed Friday. Tomas Ojea Quintana described it as a "new way" to engage with the North in his report on its human rights situation to be submitted to the UN Human Rights Council next week, with his six-year term ending in August. "A new way of thinking needs to take hold," the report read. "This

March 18, 2022

Kim Jong-un views US military presence as ‘bulwark’ against China threat: Pompeo

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un views US forces stationed in South Korea as a counterweight and “bulwark” against China’s “real threat” to his sovereignty, former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday. The former top US diplomat underscored that a critical lesson he learned from nuclear talks with Pyongyang is Kim’s perception of the United States Forces Korea, although the Trump administration “didn’t get all the way to try to convinc

March 17, 2022

N. Korea silent about apparent missile launch failure

North Korea's state media stayed mum Thursday on the country's latest suspected missile test, a day after the South Korean military said the launch appeared to have failed. The North fired a projectile from the Sunan area in Pyongyang that appeared to have exploded in midair at an altitude below 20 kilometers, according to informed sources. The North's tightly controlled official media, including the Korean Central News Agency and the Rodong Sinmun newspaper, did not carry any reports on the lau

March 17, 2022

US condemns N. Korea's ballistic missile launch, urges Pyongyang to engage in dialogue

The United States on Wednesday condemned North Korea's latest missile launch while confirming the North has fired a ballistic missile. "The United States condemns the DPRK's ballistic missile launch," a spokesperson for the US Department of State told Yonhap News Agency in an email. Seoul earlier said the North fired an unidentified projectile early Wednesday (Seoul time) but that more analysis was required to determine the type of missile launched. "Like the DPRK's recent test of

March 16, 2022

Kim inspects major housing project site in Pyongyang

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected a major housing construction site in the country’s capital, state media reported Wednesday, stepping up domestic activities amid the regime’s continued weapons launches threatening the security in the region. 　 The Korean Central News Agency on Wednesday said Kim visited the construction site of 10,000 apartments in Songsin and Songhwa districts of eastern Pyongyang that is nearing completion. Kim had attended the groundbreaking ceremony of

March 16, 2022

N. Korea launches unidentified projectile in first test since presidential election

North Korea on Wednesday fired an unidentified projectile, in its first launch since the conservative People Power Party’s Yoon Suk-yeol’s win in the March 9 presidential election. But, the launch appears to have failed immediately after liftoff, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday. According to South Korea’s military, North Korea launched the projectile at 9:30 a.m. from an airfield in Sunan, an airfield outside the North Korean capital of Pyongyang. The projectile,

March 16, 2022

UN aviation agency voices concern over recent NK missile launches

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) expressed concern Wednesday about North Korea's continued missile launches, stressing the move poses a "serious risk" to international civil aviation. The Montreal-based UN agency's governing body reiterated its concern over the North's recent "unannounced missiles launches which pose a serious risk to international civil aviation," according to a statement posted on its website. "As an ICAO Member State, the DPRK is e

March 16, 2022

N. Korea seems to have failed in projectile launch: S. Korean military

North Korea on Wednesday fired an unidentified projectile, but the launch appears to have failed soon after liftoff, South Korea's military said. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the North launched the projectile from the Sunan area in Pyongyang at 9:30 a.m. Other Details were not immediately available. "The intelligence authorities of South Korea and the US are conducting an additional analysis," the JCS said in a text message sent to reporters. Speculation has been widespread tha

March 16, 2022

N. Korean leader inspects housing construction site in Pyongyang

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited the site of a major housing project in the country's capital ahead of its completion, state media reported Wednesday. Kim inspected the construction of 10,000 apartments in the Songsin and Songhwa areas of Pyongyang that is nearing completion after a groundbreaking in March last year, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). "He noted with pleasure that the architecture of the country has developed onto a higher plane through the c

March 16, 2022

Concrete slabs spotted at airfield in Pyongyang for potential ICBM launch

North Korea could be preparing to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile soon, with satellite imagery showed a new concrete structure laid at Sunan airfield near Pyongyang, according to a media report. 　 Citing photos taken Saturday by Planet Labs, Voice of America reported Tuesday that the North has built two concrete slabs between the airfield’s runways and taxiways designed to support a transporter erector launcher, or TEL, used for launching missiles. 　 The report said the stru

March 15, 2022

US govt. raises alarm for financial institutions against business with N. Korea

The US Treasury Department has advised the country's financial institutions to be cautious about doing business involving North Korea, citing a recent decision of an intergovernmental body tasked with combating money laundering and terrorism financing, the department's website showed Tuesday. The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) kept North Korea and Iran on the list of "high-risk jurisdictions" in the March 4 move, according to the department's Financial Crimes Enforcemen

March 15, 2022

2.0 magnitude natural quake hits central N. Korea: KMA

A 2.0 magnitude natural quake struck central North Korea early Tuesday, South Korea's state weather agency said. The quake struck 20 kilometers north of the county of Songchon at 12:22 a.m., according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. The epicenter was at a latitude of 39.42 degrees north and a longitude of 126.19 degrees east at a depth of 12 km.

March 15, 2022