South Korea’s retail conglomerate Lotte Group on Monday approved a land-swap deal with the military for stationing a US anti-missile system battery here, a move that will accelerate the government’s efforts to deploy the battery amid objections from China. The directorate board of Lotte International, which owns a golf club to be used for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery, signed off on an exchange of its property for a piece of land owned by the military, Seoul’s Defense Ministry

North Korea Feb. 27, 2017

The use of nerve agent VX in the murder of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, represented that the Stalinist regime has developed a “whole new type” of terrorist method, a former North Korean agent said Monday. Kim Dong-sik, a former North Korean spy who defected to the South after being captured in 1995, said the apparent assassination case bears a hallmark he had rarely seen in the North, which has boasted a long history of terror tactics ranging from poisoned n

North Korea Feb. 27, 2017

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s estranged half brother was killed with a highly toxic chemical weapon known as VX, Malaysian police announced Friday, offering evidence that might unravel the mystery surrounding the death of Kim Jong-nam. 　Citing preliminary analysis from the nation’s Chemistry Department, Malaysia’s police chief said the nerve agent was detected on the eyes and face of Kim Jong-nam, who died last week after being attacked by two women who approached him from behind and wiped h

North Korea Feb. 24, 2017

North Korea on Thursday dismissed the Malaysian investigation into the mysterious death of the half brother of the North’s leader Kim Jong-un, accusing the Southeast Asian country of conspiring with South Korea to sabotage the regime. In its first official reports since the death of Kim Jong-nam, the state-run KCNA news agency claimed Malaysia had initially told them that the victim died of a supposed “heart stroke,” but changed its position after “false reports” surfaced in South Korea that he

North Korea Feb. 23, 2017

With the North Korean ruler’s estranged half brother killed in an apparent assassination, attention is now on the safety of Thae Yong-ho, one of the remaining high-profile critics of the ruthless Kim Jong-un. South Korea’s spy agency said Tuesday that it has heightened security for Thae, Pyongyang’s former deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom who defected to Seoul last August, following the killing last week of Kim Jong-nam. This photo taken on Feb. 9, 2017, shows Thae Yong-ho, a former North

North Korea Feb. 21, 2017

Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn on Monday blamed North Korea for the murder of its leader Kim Jong-un’s estranged half brother Kim Jong-nam, criticizing the incident as an act of terrorism and urging the international community to condemn the regime. During a National Security Council meeting, Hwang said the North is behind the death of Kim Jong-nam, who died a week ago after being attacked with poison by two women at Kuala Lumpur International Airport while waiting for his flight to Macau.  Memb

North Korea Feb. 20, 2017

Malaysia‘s senior police officials said Sunday they are looking for four more North Korean suspects linked to the mysterious murder of Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Malaysia’s deputy national police chief Noor Rashid Ibrahim said in the press conference that the authorities identified all four suspects, who he said had left the country on Feb. 13 -- the same day when Kim Jong-nam died after being attacked with poison by two women at Kuala Lumpur air

North Korea Feb. 19, 2017

Investigators probing into the murder of Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, found evidence linking the case to North Korea, according to local news reports citing police sources on Sunday.The New Straits Times, an English-language newspaper published in Malaysia, quoted an unidentified senior police official as saying that the investigator had “solid” evidence that can draw the death of Kim Jong-nam to a North Korean citizen identified as Ri Jong-chol wh

North Korea Feb. 19, 2017

The murder of Kim Jong-nam, the exiled half-brother of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, in broad daylight at a busy international airport, has spawned various theories about the motive behind the killing. South Korean intelligence said that the assassination of the elder Kim was a standing order from Kim Jong-un for the past five years, but many suspect there may have been a more urgent need to carry it out now.  Kim Jong-nam, the exiled half-brother of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un (Yonhap)

North Korea Feb. 16, 2017

The murder of Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, could have been engineered by a North Korean faction loyal to the current chief to eliminate a possible threat to the regime, South Korean experts said Wednesday. 　In interviews with The Korea Herald, the pundits also asserted that the killing may have been motivated by Kim Jong-un’s concern that the elder Kim may seek political asylum in other countries and become the most high-profile dissenter of th

North Korea Feb. 15, 2017

With its test of a new intermediate-range ballistic missile, North Korea appears to be making progress in its efforts to refine its ballistic missile technologies and secure various delivery methods for nuclear weapons, Seoul officials and analysts said Monday. The North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency said that through Sunday’s launch, the country succeeded in test-firing the Pukguksong-2 -- a surface-to-surface medium- and long-range ballistic missile -- and proving rocket technology th

Defense Feb. 13, 2017

North Korea launched an intermediate ballistic missile off its east coast Sunday, marking its first provocation since US President Donald Trump took office, South Korea’s military officials said. 　The missile lifted off at 7:55 a.m. from Banghyeon, North Pyongan Province, a town from which the regime previously fired an intermediate-range Musudan missile in October. Having reached an altitude of 550 kilometers, it flew about 500 kilometers before falling into the East Sea, according to Seoul’s J

North Korea Feb. 12, 2017

The defense chiefs of Seoul and Washington on Friday vowed to deploy an advanced US anti-missile system here as planned this year to better counter North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats, dismissing the claims of China and Russia that it is directed at them. During their bilateral talks, South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo and his US counterpart James Mattis reaffirmed their commitment to the alliance, warning North Korea of an “overwhelming response” should it stage additional military

Defense Feb. 3, 2017

    US President Donald Trump could strike a surprise deal with North Korea over its nuclear program, while adopting a more hawkish policy toward China, Pyongyang’s main ally, said Park Hwee-rhak, the dean of the graduate school of politics and leadership at Kookmin University.The most concerning situation, he said, is that Washington might acknowledge Pyongyang’s current nuclear capability in exchange for getting the reclusive regime to agree to stop building nukes capable of hitting the US con

Defense Jan. 22, 2017