China’s top nuclear envoy criticized the US-led initiative to use UN sanctions as a tool to hold North Korea responsible for continuing banned ballistic missile launches, warning that it could be “adding fuel to the fire.” Liu Xiaoming, special representative of the Chinese government on Korean Peninsula affairs, voiced opposition in a series of talks with the US senior officials over the situation on the Korean Peninsula during a rare trip to Washington between April 4 to 7.

North Korea April 10, 2022

South Korea’s Unification Ministry views North Korea’s recent warning that it would strike South Korean conventional forces with nuclear weapons as an “existential threat,” while keeping close tabs on potential accidental conflicts between the two Koreas. Kim Yo-jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s powerful younger sister, on Tuesday warned that the country will inevitably use nuclear weapons to “annihilate” South Korean conventional forces if South

North Korea April 6, 2022

North Korea warned that it will inevitably use nuclear weapons to “annihilate” South Korean forces if South Korea chooses a military confrontation and launches a preemptive attack. Kim Yo-jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s powerful sister, issued another but detailed press statement on Tuesday to censure South Korean Defense Minister Suh Wook’s remarks at an event marking the reinforcement of the Army Missile Strategic Command. Suh said the South Korean military &

North Korea April 5, 2022

South Korea aims to master technology for solid-propellant rocket vehicles by 2025, enabling the country to launch a constellation of military and civilian microsatellites at lower costs, South Korean military officials said Monday. Seoul “successfully” test-launched an indigenous solid-fuel space rocket for the first time last Wednesday at the initiative of the state-run Agency for Defense Development. The initial test was conducted to verify core technologies for space launch v

Defense April 4, 2022

South Korea civic groups and lawmakers put their heads together to find ways to embrace and empower young ethnic Koreans residing overseas, who are as-yet-untapped but critical resources for the country. The Korea Herald on Friday co-hosted a forum to push forward the “Korean Youth Diaspora Project,” with independent lawmaker Rep. Yang Hyang-ja, the Godowon Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to youth mentoring, and the Blue Tree Foundation, a nongovernmental organizatio

Foreign Affairs April 1, 2022

Seoul and Washington have agreed on a planning directive to develop a new operational war plan to address North Korea’s mounting threats and a changing security environment, allowing their militaries to begin the process in earnest. Chairman of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Won In-choul and his US counterpart Gen. Mark Milley made the decision during their in-person bilateral meeting held on Wednesday afternoon (local time) at the US Indo-Pacific Command Headquarters, Ca

Defense March 31, 2022

A senior US diplomat called for China to lend its support and join the US-led move to hold North Korea responsible for its ballistic missile launches amid growing concern over the UN Security Council’s continuous failure to take concerted actions. US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield held a rare face-to-face meeting with China’s Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Affairs Liu Xiaoming on Wednesday in New York. “Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield emphasized the

North Korea March 31, 2022

South Korea “successfully” test-launched a homegrown solid-fuel space rocket for the first time, taking one significant step to further develop and launch microsatellites for military surveillance and reconnaissance. The state-run Agency for Defense Development said it conducted the test-firing to “verify the performance” of the solid-propellant carrier rocket developed with indigenous technologies on Wednesday at its own testing site in Taean, South Chungcheong Provinc

Defense March 30, 2022

North Korea has been restoring access to a yet unused tunnel at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in a potential attempt to expedite a seventh nuclear weapons test, said Open Nuclear Network, a Vienna-based research institute. Commercial satellite images have shown “signs of increasing activities” since last December especially at the South Portal and the main administrative area within North Korea’s only known underground nuclear test site, according to the institute’s r

North Korea March 29, 2022

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said the country will develop and deploy more powerful means of attack, while seeking to bolster up its “nuclear war deterrent more expeditiously,” according to state media Monday. In an article published in Monday’s edition of the Rodong Sinmun, Kim stressed that “genuine defense capability equates to powerful attack capability” while taking a group photograph with officials, scientists, and defense industry workers who contributed

North Korea March 28, 2022

The US has continued clashing with China and Russia on how to stop North Korea from developing missile and nuclear programs and jump-start dialogue, notwithstanding Pyongyang’s launch of the purported largest intercontinental ballistic missile in four years. The UN Security Council urgently held an open meeting on North Korea for the first time since 2017 on Friday afternoon at the request of the US, Albania, France, Ireland, Norway and the UK. North Korea on Friday announced that it t

North Korea March 27, 2022

South Korea has launched a project to “drastically” improve the Air Force’s command and control system, intending to enhance the military’s capabilities to detect and respond to air-based threats and its adaptability for the future battlefield. Defense contractor Hanwha Systems has begun developing the system to upgrade the function and capabilities of the Master Control and Reporting Center, which serves as a front-line unit in air defense, the Defense Acquisition Progr

Defense March 24, 2022

North Korea on Thursday fired an intercontinental ballistic missile after more than a four-year hiatus, breaking its self-imposed moratorium on ICBM and nuclear tests. Pyongyang launched an ICBM-class projectile that flew more than one hour and 10 minutes toward the East Sea at 2:34 p.m. from the Sunan area of the capital city Pyongyang. The ICBM flew around 1,080 kilometers at an altitude of 6200 km or higher, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, adding that the missile is presumed to have been f

North Korea March 24, 2022

China reported that it had provided around 91,900 barrels of refined petroleum to North Korea last year, tantamount to 18 percent of the UN-mandated oil import cap, while Russia claimed that it had no longer supplied oil in the same period. The UN Security Council sanctions committee on North Korea has recently updated the total amount of refined petroleum products that were exported and transferred by Beijing and Moscow to Pyongyang last and this year. Under UNSC Resolution 2397, North Korea

North Korea March 23, 2022

The South Korean defense minister on Tuesday publicly warned of “various and overlapping difficulties” in relocating and dispersing the military departments and units on a tight schedule, noting the necessity to “minimize” security vacuum at a critical juncture. President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s transition team on March 15 asked the Defense Ministry to come up with ways to vacate the building by the end of this month by using its existing facilities, the ministry sa

Defense March 22, 2022