Dutch Embassy declines to comment on Kim Han-sol

Regarding the whereabouts of Kim Han-sol, the son of Kim Jong-nam, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s half brother who was assassinated at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia on Feb. 13, the Dutch Embassy in Seoul told The Korea Herald said it is “aware of these reports” but added that the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs “will not comment on this matter.” A 40-second clip was posted on YouTube on Wednesday in which a man claiming to be the son of the late Kim says in English, “My nam

March 9, 2017

Netherlands' Embassy declines to comment on son of slain Kim

The Netherlands' Embassy in South Korea declined to comment Thursday on its alleged involvement in helping the son of the slain half brother of the North Korean leader escape from the North's threat. Kim Han-sol, the 22-year-old son of Kim Jong-nam, appeared in a recently posted YouTube clip in which he said he is with his sister and mother but didn't mention where. This image captured from a video posted on YouTube on March 8, 2017 shows a man believed to be the son of Kim Jong-nam, the murdere

March 9, 2017

US envoy: N. Korea leader 'not rational person' to talk to

The US ambassador to the United Nations on Wednesday rejected calls for opening negotiations with North Korea to defuse escalating tensions, saying North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is "not a rational person." Amb. Nikki Haley also turned down China's suggestion that the US halt annual joint military exercises with South Korea in exchange for Pyongyang's suspension of its nuclear and missile activities. She also said the US is reviewing all options on the table."I appreciate all of my counterparts

March 9, 2017

US senators strongly criticize China for raising objections over THAAD

US senators have strongly criticized China for raising unfair objections to the deployment of the US THAAD missile defense system in South Korea, saying it's a defensive system designed to guard against a threat that Beijing has long abetted.China angrily reacted to the arrival in South Korea earlier this week of the first elements of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery that the US and the South agreed to install to bolster defenses against growing missile threats from North Korea.Beij

March 9, 2017

Statue remembering Korea's comfort women erected in Germany

A statue of a girl symbolizing victims who were sexually enslaved by Japanese troops during its occupation of the Korean Peninsula (1910-45) was erected in Germany's southeastern municipality of Wiesent on Wednesday. The erection ceremony of the "comfort women" statue was held at the Nepal Himalaya Pavillon, a park in Wiesent, which is part of the district of Resenburg. It was attended by some 100 local German officials and representatives from the Suwon City government and civic groups from Sou

March 9, 2017

Korean sailor with anti-piracy unit found dead in Oman

A sailor from the South Korean naval unit dispatched to the Gulf of Aden on an anti-piracy mission was found dead in Oman's southern port city of Salalah, the defense ministry said Wednesday. The 27-year-old petty officer first class, only known by his family name Park, was found lying on the floor of a local swimming pool in Salalah on Tuesday afternoon (local time). He was pronounced dead on arrival to a local hospital, a ministry official said in a briefing. Cheonghae Unit sailors (Yonhap)"Th

March 8, 2017

UNSC unanimously condemns N. Korea's recent missile provocation

The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a press statement strongly condemning North Korea's recent multiple missile launches, South Korea's foreign ministry said Wednesday.The statement approved on Tuesday (US time) in an emergency UNSC meeting in New York expressed grave concerns over Pyongyang's "increasingly destabilization behavior" and prodded the country to comply with UNSC resolutions banning its ballistic missile launches, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and news reports

March 8, 2017

US official: Kim Jong-nam 'assassinated presumably by or at behest of N. Korea'

The United States denied visas for North Korean diplomats set to travel to New York for unofficial talks because the half brother of North Korea's leader was "assassinated presumably by or at the behest of North Korean authorities," a senior US diplomat said Tuesday.The remark by Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel is believed to mark the first time that a senior American official has publicly blamed the North for the Feb. 13 killing in Malaysia of Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half brother

March 8, 2017

UN urges calm between N. Korea, Malaysia

The United Nations urged calm between North Korea and Malaysia on Tuesday as a diplomatic row between the two countries dramatically escalated over the killing of the estranged half brother of North Korea's leader."We call for calm and for both parties to settle any differences through established diplomatic practice," UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said at a regular briefing.Relations between the North and Malaysia have soured seriously in the wake of the Feb. 13 killing in Malaysia of Kim Jong

March 8, 2017

US expert urges reopening talks with N. Korea to curb nuclear, missile threats

Reopening talks with North Korea is the only way for the administration of US President Donald Trump to head off the specter of the communist nation perfecting its capabilities to strike the continental US with nuclear weapons, a US expert said Tuesday.Leon Sigal, director of the Northeast Asia Cooperative Security Project at the Social Science Research Council in New York, made the appeal in a CNN op-ed piece, arguing that neither sanctions nor Chinese pressure will curb Pyongyang's nuclear and

March 8, 2017

White House reaffirms THAAD deployment in S. Korea

The United States is working to deploy the THAAD missile defense system to defend better against missile threats from North Korea, the White House said Monday.White House press secretary Sean Spicer made the remark during a press gaggle with reporters, a day after the North fired four ballistic missiles in its second such launches since President Donald Trump took office. White House press secretary Sean Spicer (Yonhap)"The Trump administration is taking steps to enhance our ability to defend ag

March 7, 2017

N. Korean launches could have involved more than four missiles: Pentagon

North Korea's latest missile launches could have involved more missiles than the four known, but the communist nation did not attempt to carry out a threatened test of an intercontinental ballistic missile, the Pentagon said Monday."There were four that landed. There may be a higher number of launches that we're not commenting on. But four landed and splashed" in the East Sea, Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters without elaborating, according to Reuters.(Yonhap)The remark suggests

March 7, 2017

US urges citizens to avoid all travel to N. Korea

The US State Department on Monday issued a "Worldwide Caution" advising Americans to take due caution when traveling abroad, singling out North Korea as a destination to avoid due to "the serious risk of arrest and long-term detention.""US citizens are urged to avoid all travel to North Korea/the Democratic People's Republic of Korea due to the serious risk of arrest and long-term detention under North Korea's system of law enforcement," the department said in the advisory.(Yonhap)The North was

March 7, 2017

US senator calls for tough measures to 'stop madman in Pyongyang'

A US senator has urged President Donald Trump to get tough with North Korea and "stop the madman in Pyongyang" after the communist nation fired a barrage of ballistic missiles in violation of UN sanctions.The North fired four missiles Monday morning local time in the second such launches after the Feb. 12 test-firing of a newly developed intermediate-range ballistic missile. The missiles flew about 1,000 km before crashing into Japan's exclusive economic zone waters.The launches were seen as a s

March 7, 2017

Malaysia mulling over further steps against Pyongyang following expulsion of NK envoy: report

After ending a bilateral visa-waiver deal and expelling the top envoy, Malaysia hinted it would take additional steps against North Korea in an escalating spat over the death of leader Kim Jong-un's half brother, a media report said Monday. On Saturday, Malaysia gave 48 hours to North Korean Ambassador to Kuala Lumpur Kang Chol to leave the country. Earlier last week Malaysia canceled a visa-free travel deal with Pyongyang in response to the North's criticism that Malaysia colluded with South Ko

March 6, 2017

US strongly condemns N. Korea's missile launches

The United States strongly condemned North Korea's missile launches Sunday, reaffirming its commitment to defend itself and South Korea by using the "full range of capabilities at our disposal.""The United States strongly condemns the DPRK's ballistic missile launches tonight, which violate UN Security Council Resolutions explicitly prohibiting North Korea's launches using ballistic missile technology," State Department acting spokesman Mark Toner said. (Yonhap)Toner said the US calls on all cou

March 6, 2017

Malaysian mission in Pyongyang should be closed: ex-diplomat

A former ranking Malaysian diplomat has asserted that his country should shut down its embassy in Pyongyang as a countermeasure against North Korea's alleged assassination of Kim Jong-nam, a half brother of the North's leader Kim Jong-un, a US broadcaster reported Monday.The Pyongyang-based Malaysian mission which is virtually of no use should be surely closed as a strong message to the North that the acts it is now conducting can never be accepted, Dennis Ignatius was quoted as saying in a phon

March 6, 2017

US Strategic Commands confirms N. Korean missile launch

The US Strategic Command confirmed North Korea's missile launch, but did not give any assessment on the missile's type, including whether it involved an intercontinental ballistic missile."US Strategic Command systems detected and tracked what we assess was a North Korean missile launch at 4:34 p.m. CST (7:34 a.m. Korean time)," the command said in a statement. "The North American Aerospace Defense Command determined the missile launch from North Korea did not pose a threat to North America." (Y

March 6, 2017

Cyberattacks on N. Korea's missile program shows US is on cutting edge: ex-defense chief

The reported US cyber strikes that disrupted a series of North Korean missile tests shows the United States is "on the cutting edge" of such technology, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Sunday.The New York Times has reported that the administration of former President Barack Obama used cyber attacks, such as remotely manipulating data inside the North's missile systems, starting three years ago to disrupt test launches so as to delay the North's development of an intercontinental balli

March 6, 2017

Trump administration shouldn't stand in way of talks with N. Korea: US expert

Refusing to talk to North Korea won't make the nuclear and missile threats the communist nation poses go away, a US expert said, criticizing the administration of President Donald Trump for refusing to issue visas for North Korean diplomats set to visit for unofficial talks.Choe Son-hui, director-general at the North Korean Foreign Ministry in charge of US affairs, had planned to visit New York sometime this month for talks with former American officials, such as former US nuclear negotiator Rob

March 6, 2017