Seoul and Washington said Friday they plan to complete the stationing of advanced U.S. missile defense assets in the South within next year, adding that this will help counter North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile threats. Following five months of consultations, the two countries said they have decided to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system here and expect to unveil the site “within a couple of weeks.” Despite Beijing’s stringent opposition, the allies reiterated that the p

Defense July 8, 2016

The U.S. put North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on its sanctions blacklist for the first time Wednesday, ramping up pressure on the regime over human rights abuses.Kim is among 15 officials and eight entities identified in the blacklist unveiled by the State Department and Treasury. The report was in line with a mandate in the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act -- Washington’s strongest standalone sanctions legislation against Pyongyang -- which was enacted last February. It is the fi

North Korea July 7, 2016

After days of torrential rain, North Korea on Wednesday released water from a dam near its border with the South without warning, stoking concerns of flooding among residents in riverside regions and prompting local officials to spread evacuation notices. The North started opening the floodgates of Hwanggang Dam in the upper part of the Imjin River at around 6 a.m., Seoul’s military officials said, adding that the size of discharge flow was to be seen. Satellite images also found that the breadt

North Korea July 6, 2016

Retired and in-service members of the U.S. Forces Korea plan to launch a fraternity group this year to foster camaraderie and support the two countries’ alliance, Seoul defense officials said Tuesday. The Korea Defense Veterans Association will be reportedly chaired by Walter Sharp, a former USFK commander from 2008-11, and joined by other ex-generals including Leon Laporte and James Thurman.  Former USFK commander Walter Sharp (Yonhap)Last month, Kim Jong-wook, chairman of the KATUSA Veterans A

Defense July 5, 2016

Following last week’s government overhaul, North Korea’s armed forces ministry appears to have been relocated under the cabinet supervised by its prime minister, as leader Kim Jong-un continues to curb the military’s sway, an analyst said Monday. State media’s recent dispatches signaled the shift in their introductions of Minister of People’s Armed Forces Pak Yong-sik. The ministry had been overseen by the National Defense Commission, the communist state’s potent top governing body, which was di

North Korea July 4, 2016

North Korea has sold fishing rights totaling $30 million to China this year in a bid to earn hard currency that has dried up amid international sanctions, the National Intelligence Service told lawmakers on Friday. The rampant poaching by Chinese fishing vessels has long been a thorny issue for Seoul every blue crab season as it wipes out fisheries in the West Sea and mars the livelihoods of residents on border islands. Then the boats began violating neutral waters in the estuary of the Hangang

North Korea July 1, 2016

Tomas Ojea Quintana, a former U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, has been nominated as the multinational body’s new envoy to examine the rights conditions in North Korea, diplomatic sources said Friday. Tomas Ojea Quintana (United Nations)The Argentinian human rights lawyer and former University of Buenos Aires professor will succeed Marzuki Darusman, who served six years in the position until Thursday. Choi Kyong-lim, Seoul's ambassador at the mission to the U.N. in Geneva and

North Korea July 1, 2016

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is forecast to tighten his grip with yet another title as chief of the new state affairs body and shore up diplomacy following a parliamentary assembly, Seoul officials and experts said Thursday. The Supreme People’s Assembly convened a session Wednesday introducing the creation of the State Affairs Commission and naming Kim its chairman, which is the “top position” in the country, according to state media. The rubber-stamp parliament also relaunched the Committee

North Korea June 30, 2016

North Korea was poised to open a meeting of its rubber-stamp parliament on Wednesday, seeking to consolidate Kim Jong-un’s leadership and set in motion follow-up measures in line with a fresh economic plan unveiled during last month’s party congress. While no agenda or detailed schedule was announced by state media, the 13th Supreme People’s Assembly’s fourth session was likely to restore the long-defunct Central People’s Committee and name Kim as its head, some experts say.Though the presumed c

North Korea June 29, 2016

Experts from international agencies and academia on Monday called for a more systematic and long-term solution to resolve North Korea’s human rights violations, looking beyond the naming-and-shaming tactics against its ruler. Marking the first anniversary of its launch, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights’ Seoul office brought together dozens of specialists on human rights, international law and North Korea for a one-day symposium. Michael Kirby, chair of the U.N. Commission of Inquiry a

North Korea June 27, 2016

In January 2015, an 18-year-old who went missing in Turkey shook South Korean society after being found to have illegally crossed the border to Syria to join the Islamic State extremist group. The boy, identified by his surname Kim, had deliberately planned his trip and vanished with the help of a Turkish man he met online, Seoul authorities said. The police retrieved more than 50 images from his computer of IS jihadists, IS flags and Muslim women, on top of a flurry of related Web search eviden

Foreign Affairs June 26, 2016

In the wake of the U.K.’s vote to leave the European Union, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said Friday that he will examine its impact on free trade and other existing pacts and take steps to minimize any fallout. “Though some experts see that its impact (on Korea) will be limited given our relatively low trade and finance ties with the U.K. such as compared with the U.S., Brexit will significantly affect the global economy and we’re not free from that,” Yun said at a meeting of the parliamentary

Foreign Affairs June 24, 2016

North Korea on Thursday claimed its intermediate-range ballistic missile soared as high as 1,400 kilometers during Wednesday’s test, with its leader Kim Jong-un boasting the country now has the “overall, practical” ability to strike U.S. military bases throughout the Pacific.  State media said the missile, formally Hwasong-10, or better known as Musudan, climbed 1,413.6 kilometers before falling into the “exact target area” in the sea 400 kilometers away. The experiment, the sixth involving the

North Korea June 23, 2016

About two months after fleeing their oppressive homeland, 12 former workers of a North Korean restaurant in China on Tuesday faced a legal debate over the legitimacy of their stay here under state protection. The Seoul Central District Court opened a hearing to review a request by the Lawyers for a Democratic Society, better known as Minbyun, to determine whether the 12 had defected on their own free will and thus whether the government’s current holding of them is lawful. The liberal lawyers’ a

North Korea June 21, 2016

North Korea on Monday lambasted the South’s joint crackdown with the U.N. Command on Chinese boats illegally fishing in neutral waters, threatening another provocation similar to the 2002 scuffle in the West Sea. In its first reaction to the operation, Pyongyang’s state media condemned it as a “military provocation,” saying it will never accept such a “reckless maritime intrusion.” Calling it a “vicious, evil plot,” the official Korean Central News Agency said that the campaign is aimed at escal

North Korea June 20, 2016