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

North Korea March 21, 2022

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

North Korea March 18, 2022

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

North Korea March 17, 2022

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said the country would launch “a large number of reconnaissance satellites” by 2025 to monitor the “hostile” military activities of the US forces and its allies in the region, state media reported Thursday. The North Korean leader laid out the plan in a rare visit to the National Aerospace Development Administration, which came after Pyongyang claimed it conducted an “important test” for developing a reconnaissance satellite o

North Korea March 10, 2022

North Korea has paved the way for resuming intercontinental ballistic missile and nuclear tests this year, as part of the country’s actions to “reshape the regional security environment” in its favor, the US intelligence community has said. The US Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Monday released its report on annual worldwide threat assessment before the House Intelligence Committee’s hearing on the matter. The report assessed that Pyongyang’s

North Korea March 9, 2022

A North Korean military patrol ship retreated after breaching the disputed inter-Korean western maritime border Tuesday morning, marking the first such case since 2018, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The patrol boat crossed the Northern Limit Line at 9:49 a.m. while it tracked another purportedly stray vessel that violated the NLL and crossed into South Korean waters around 15 minutes earlier, according to South Korean military officials. The patrol boat traveled about 1 kilometer south of

North Korea March 8, 2022

Satellite imagery shows “very early signs of activity” at the previously shuttered Punggye-ri nuclear test site for the first time since 2018, while a UN watchdog said North Korea appears to have continued fissile material production at its major nuclear facilities. The California-based James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies on Monday said the commercial satellite images taken on March 4 suggest that Pyongyang has resumed construction activities at the nuclear test site i

North Korea March 8, 2022

South Korea aims to develop swarm-capable, insectlike microrobots for covert military surveillance and reconnaissance by 2027, the government-run military technology agency announced Monday. The state-led research project is the country’s first move to design and manufacture advanced, miniaturized military spy robots to prepare for future warfare with advanced technologies. The goal of the project is to develop “microrobots that can perform surveillance and reconnaissance mission

Defense March 7, 2022

The South Korean government has been reviewing how to provide humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine, but it does not consider sending lethal weapons as a feasible option, according to South Korea’s Defense Ministry. Ukraine recently made an official request to the South Korean government asking for humanitarian assistance and military supplies to combat Russia’s invasion. “We are currently reviewing possible ways to provide assistance at the government level,” minis

Foreign Affairs March 7, 2022

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman will make his first visit to Saudi Arabia on Saturday to boost military exchange and defense industrial cooperation and attend the country’s inaugural international defense exhibition. JCS chairman Gen. Won In-choul was invited by Saudi Arabia’s Chief of the General Staff Gen. Fayyadh bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili for the four-day trip, the South Korean military said in a statement. This marks the first time that a South Korean JCS chairma

Defense March 4, 2022

Presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea will build up an efficient and powerful military prepared for future warfare, his adviser said in an interview with The Korea Herald. South Korea has faced rapidly mounting North Korean nuclear and missile threats and new and emerging security challenges across all domains. The intricate regional dynamics in the Indo-Pacific have been compounded by the growing US-China rivalry and the heated arms race. At this junctu

Defense March 2, 2022

The South Korean vice foreign minister committed to the country’s active participation in the international community‘s concerted efforts to “curb” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while strongly condemning Russian aggression. Second Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-moon on Monday delivered his statement at the UN Conference on Disarmament’s three-day High-Level Segment, which kicked off on the same day in Geneva, Switzerland. “The Korean government stron

Foreign Affairs March 1, 2022

UN Security Council members and nonmember states on Monday condemned North Korea’s ballistic missile launch “in the strongest terms” and issued a joint statement, notably with South Korea’s participation. The UNSC swiftly held a closed-door consultation around a day after Pyongyang conducted its 10th ballistic missile launch on Sunday. But the Security Council’s 15 members once again failed to concur on concerted action against North Korea’s consecutive ball

North Korea March 1, 2022

North Korea on Monday said it conducted an “important test” for developing a spy satellite, which the country’s leader Kim Jong-un previously pointed to as a key task in its defense development plan. North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency said the National Aerospace Development Administration and the Academy of Defense Science “conducted an important test Sunday under the plan of developing a reconnaissance satellite.” The test confirmed the &ld

North Korea Feb. 28, 2022

North Korea fired one ballistic missile toward the East Sea from Pyongyang on Sunday morning and resumed its show of force after a one-month pause. “Our military detects one ballistic missile being fired toward the East Sea from the Sunan area in Pyongyang at around 7:52 a.m.,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a written statement. Pyongyang reportedly launched the ballistic missile from a transporter erector launcher (TEL) at Sunan airfield toward a target on the east coast.&nbs

National Feb. 27, 2022