South Korea and the United States committed to enhancing military and security cooperation to deal with challenges in the Indo-Pacific region at the high-level defense talks, reaffirming the importance of maintaining peace and stability on the Taiwan Strait. South Korea’s Defense Ministry and the US Defense Department held the 21st Korea-US Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) on Tuesday and Wednesday in Seoul with the participation of key defense and foreign affairs officials. Both sides

Defense Aug. 17, 2022

North Korea-affiliated hacking groups stole around $1 billion worth of cryptocurrency just from decentralized-finance protocols in the first seven months of this year, a US blockchain analysis firm said Tuesday. Cryptocurrency theft by North Korean hackers accounted for more than 50 percent of the total losses arising from cryptocurrency hacks, according to an online report released by blockchain data platform Chainalysis. Stolen cryptocurrency in hacks of various services amounted to $1.9 b

North Korea Aug. 17, 2022

North Korea fired two suspected cruise missiles from South Pyongan Province toward the western sea on Wednesday early morning as South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol marked his 100th day in office. “North Korea is presumed to have launched two cruise missiles near Onchon County, South Pyongan Province early this morning,” a South Korean military official told reporters on condition of anonymity, without sharing further details including flight distance and time. “Our militar

North Korea Aug. 17, 2022

South Korea and the United States on Tuesday kicked off preliminary military drills in the run-up to revived large-scale military exercises while holding high-level defense talks on the alliance’s deterrence and readiness against North Korean missile and nuclear threats. The crisis management exercises led by South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff are scheduled to be conducted for four days, according to the South Korean military. The drills aim to practice and master procedures to

Defense Aug. 16, 2022

South Korea’s president on Monday proposed an “audacious initiative” to provide economic compensation in return for North Korea’s “substantive process for denuclearization.” President Yoon Suk-yeol reiterated the significance and legitimacy of achieving North Korea’s denuclearization in his speech marking Korea’s 77th National Liberation Day on Aug. 15. “Peace on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia is an important prerequisite for w

North Korea Aug. 15, 2022

The South Korean President and the UN chief had a “candid” discussion on the North Korean nuclear issue and shared their view that the country’s development of missile and nuclear weapons posed a “major challenge” to regional and world peace. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had a luncheon meeting that lasted for 2 hours and 20 minutes on Friday in Seoul, the South Korean presidential office said. Both sides discusse

Foreign Affairs Aug. 12, 2022

South Korea and the United States will discuss how to bolster the alliance’s deterrence and readiness against North Korea at an upcoming high-level defense talk, South Korea’s Defense Ministry announced Friday. South Korea’s Defense Ministry and the US Defense Department will hold the 21st Korea-US Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) between Aug. 16 and 17 in Seoul with the participation of key defense and foreign affairs officials. Deputy Minister for National Defense Polic

Defense Aug. 12, 2022

South Korea’s first independently developed fighter jet soared into the sky in July, making a huge leap forward in the aerospace and defense industry. But the giant step took nearly 20 years, after the South Korean military decided to develop the indigenous advanced fighter aircraft in 2002. Retired Brig. Gen. Jung Kwang-sun recalled countless twists and turns that South Korea’s defense procurement agency and defense contractors went through to develop supersonic fighter jets from

Defense Aug. 12, 2022

The South Korean defense minister said Thursday that he braced for the possibility of North Korea conducting local provocations for the foreseeable future, assessing that North Korea has sought to make a pretext of provocations. Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup provided an affirmative response when asked if the statement by Kim Yo-jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s powerful sister, could be a foreshadowing of “imminent local provocations” during his first news conference.

Defense Aug. 11, 2022

North Korea’s ruling party condemned the US House speaker’s recent visit to Taiwan as a “grave threat to regional peace and stability,” pledging to provide unwavering and full support to China’s resolution on the Taiwan issue. The Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea sent a “solidarity letter on the Taiwan issue” to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Tuesday, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said Wednesda

North Korea Aug. 10, 2022

The US Treasury Department on Monday sanctioned the popular cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash for alleged use by North Korea’s notorious hacker group and other actors to launder ill-gotten cryptocurrencies. The Tornado Cash mixer platform has been exploited by malicious cyber actors to launder more than $7 billion worth of proceeds from cybercrimes since its establishment in 2019, the Treasury Department announced in a statement. North Korea’s state-sponsored Lazarus Group was no

North Korea Aug. 9, 2022

North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament has revised and supplemented the space development act while announcing its plan to hold a full-scale meeting in early September in the run-up to its National Foundation Day. The decisions were made at the plenary meeting of the Standing Committee of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly, held at the Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang on Sunday. Choe Ryong-hae, chairman of the Standing Committee of the SPA, presided over the meeting, the state-run

North Korea Aug. 8, 2022

The South Korean and Australian defense chiefs agreed to enhance defense cooperation in a wide range of areas, including the arms industry and military exercises. The two leaders also noted the significance of defense partnerships between like-minded countries in maintaining regional stability. South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup and Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles met Thursday in Canberra, Australia, and discussed a wide range of security issues, So

Defense Aug. 4, 2022

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is to meet with ranking South Korean officials Thursday, amid US-China tensions heightened by her trip to Taiwan. Pelosi’s stop in Taiwan sparked backlash and military actions from China. North Korea and Russia also pitched in and launched a blistering criticism of the US, showing a glimpse of the regional security complex that will be compounded by the visit. South Korea is the fourth leg of the US congressional delegation’s trip to the Indo-Pacific r

Foreign Affairs Aug. 3, 2022

The South Korean and Australian defense chiefs will discuss a wide range of issues including North Korea, Indo-Pacific strategy and defense cooperation in Canberra this week. South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup kicked off his first five-day trip to Australia Tuesday at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles. Lee and Marles are set to meet Thursday and “share an assessment of the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the region,&rdq

Defense Aug. 2, 2022