Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn on Wednesday pledged to redouble sanctions, pressure and deterrence to force North Korea to “change its calculations” and desert nuclear weapons, reaffirming plans to deploy advanced US missile defense assets this year. In his Independence Movement Day address, the prime minister focused on castigating Pyongyang for its constant advancement of nuclear and missile capabilities and human rights violations. He called the recent assassination in Malaysia of Kim Jong-na

North Korea March 1, 2017

In the wake of Kim Jong-nam’s killing, the US has set out to consider redesignating North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism, a senior Seoul official said Tuesday. The US side floated the idea at the talks of the chief nuclear negotiators of South Korea, the US and Japan in Washington, during which they reviewed and coordinated responses to the Feb. 13 assassination in Malaysia of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, as well as a recent test of a new mid-range ba

North Korea Feb. 28, 2017

The recent killing of Kim Jong-nam was an act of terror concocted by North Korea’s state security and foreign ministries under the command of his half brother and leader Kim Jong-un, Seoul’s spy agency said Monday. At a parliamentary briefing, the National Intelligence Service said it has concluded that four officials from the North’s State Security Ministry and two from the Foreign Ministry were involved in the Feb. 13 assassination in Malaysia, shifting from its initial view that the Reconnais

North Korea Feb. 27, 2017

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se slammed North Korea’s suspected use of a nerve agent in the murder of Kim Jong-nam at a UN conference in Geneva on Monday, calling it a violation of Malaysia’s sovereignty and international law barring chemical weapons. The top diplomat landed in the Swiss city earlier in the day to take part in the UN Human Rights Council and the Conference on Disarmament until Tuesday. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se (Yonhap)Through a keynote speech at the HRC, the minister sought t

North Korea Feb. 27, 2017

With North Korea accused of having used a banned toxin in the murder of Kim Jong-nam, Seoul is poised to highlight the Kim Jong-un regime’s unbridled breaches of international law and inhumane activities at the UN this week. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se on Sunday left for Geneva to attend the UN Human Rights Council and the Conference on Disarmament from Monday to Tuesday.Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se (Yonhap)Through a keynote speech at the HRC session, he will express concerns about the “unpre

North Korea Feb. 26, 2017

The independent counsel’s tightly rewoven bribery charges propped up by fresh evidence including a new batch of a presidential aide’s diaries were seen among key factors that had driven the court to issue an arrest warrant for Samsung’s de facto chief Lee Jae-yong on Friday. The decision means the court saw that Lee was behind the tech giant’s donation of 43.3 billion won ($37 million) to President Park Geun-hye’s confidante Choi Soon-sil in exchange for business favors. Cheong Wa Dae is accused

Social Affairs Feb. 17, 2017

Unfazed by the global furor over Kim Jong-nam’s death, North Korea celebrated the 75th anniversary of the late leader Kim Jong-il’s birth Thursday. The incumbent ruler Kim Jong-un, who was seen stone-faced and staring into space throughout a party-government-military assembly in television footage a day earlier, paid tribute at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, which houses the embalmed bodies of his father Kim Jong-il and grandfather Kim Il-sung, the official Korean Central News Agency said. The

North Korea Feb. 16, 2017

Malaysian authorities said Thursday they have detained an Indonesian woman and a Malaysian man in connection with the murder of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s half brother, one day after arresting a woman with a Vietnamese passport. The second woman, 25-year-old Siti Aishah from Serang in Banten province, was alone and carrying an Indonesian passport when caught by the authorities. Khalid Abu Bakar, Malaysia’s inspector general of police, said in a statement that they had “positively identifi

North Korea Feb. 16, 2017

South Korea’s spy agency Wednesday confirmed the killing of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s half-brother, saying Kim Jong-nam had faced murder attempts for the past five years that prompted him to “beg for mercy.” 　Kim, 46, asked for help while queuing to board a flight to Macau at the international airport in Kuala Lumpur at around 9 a.m. on Monday, after two women approached to poison him, National Intelligence Service Director Lee Byung-ho told lawmakers, citing CCTV footage. He was pronoun

North Korea Feb. 15, 2017

In May 2001, a man was rounded up after trying to smuggle himself into Narita International Airport in Tokyo, alongside his son and two women, using fake Dominican Republic passports. The incident introduced Kim Jong-nam, the slain older half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, to the outside world. But his yearning 16 years ago to visit Tokyo Disneyland blew his chances to succeed in the reclusive dynasty, incurring the wrath of his father and longtime strongman Kim Jong-il.Shown is a f

North Korea Feb. 15, 2017

Japan on Tuesday stepped up its claim to Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo through a new educational guideline for primary and middle schools, in another move fanning territorial spats amid unabated historical tension over a “comfort woman” statue. Tokyo’s Education Ministry unveiled a draft of its updated educational guideline in which it stipulates for the first time the islets are “indigenous Japanese territory,” along with the Senkaku/Diayou islands and the Northern Territories -- claimed

Foreign Affairs Feb. 14, 2017

The UN Security Council late Monday unanimously condemned North Korea’s latest ballistic missile test, as debate heats up here over Seoul’s missile defense capabilities. The 15 council members issued a press statement after an emergency meeting in New York upon a request from Seoul, Washington and Tokyo. Sunday’s launch was a grave violation of UNSC resolutions banning the North’s nuclear and missile tests, they said, deploring all the activities that boost the country’s nuclear capabilities and

North Korea Feb. 14, 2017

North Korea on Monday claimed its latest intermediate-range missile test heralded the birth of a “new strategic weapon system,“ triggering a UN Security Council emergency meeting and international criticism, including from China. The Pukguksong-2, which flew some 550 kilometers before falling into the East Sea on Sunday, was a result of efforts led by leader Kim Jong-un to develop a land-based ballistic missile with a greater range built on the experiment of a submarine-launched ballistic missil

North Korea Feb. 13, 2017

Ahead of the presidential election, debate over the Kaesong Industrial Park is expected to kick into high gear this year as leading contenders call for a resuscitation of the symbol of inter-Korean rapprochement. One year after the park’s closure, the issue remains highly contentious across society, with cross-border exchanges at a standstill and the losses of 123 forced-out South Korean firms snowballing. The Kaesong Industrial Park in North Korea is seen from South Korea’s Dorasan Observatory

North Korea Feb. 12, 2017

Moscow will take steps to protect its national security if US missile defense assets are deployed here as planned, the Russian ambassador to South Korea said Friday, warning it will bring a “dangerous impact” to the peninsula and the region. Alexander Timonin’s remarks came as the defense chiefs of South Korea and the US agreed during their talks in Seoul to complete the installment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system as scheduled for this year. They stressed the equipment was “onl

Foreign Affairs Feb. 3, 2017