The Korea Times

ANALYSIS What will happen to US soldier held in North Korea?

This July 19, 2022, file photo shows the Joint Security Area of Panmunjeom inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas. An American soldier is now believed to be in North Korean custody after “willfully” crossing the inter-Korean border on Tuesday. AP-YonhapPyongyang will likely deport him due to criminal charges: expertsBy Jung Min-hoAn American soldier is now believed to be in North Korean custody after “willfully” crossing the inter-Korean border on Tuesday, creating a new problem that could further complicate Washington's efforts to deal with Pyongyang.Asked about what will happen to Pvt. Travis King, analysts on North Korea and human rights experts said on Wednesday that he is likely to face deportation due to criminal charges pending in the U.S. and the little utility it can expect by holding him.Before crossing the border during his Panmunjeom tour, King was reportedly released on July 10 from a South Korean prison where he had spent two months over assault charges. Further military disciplinary action awaited him in the United States.

Jul 19, 2023By Jung Min-ho

EXCLUSIVE US soldier who fled to NK skipped flight claiming missing passport: sources

North Korea

ANALYSIS Is North Korea ready to talk?

Kim Yo-Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, gives a speech during a party meeting held in Pyongyang in this Aug. 10, 2022, file photo. After years of escalating tensions with weapons development, Pyongyang now appears to be entering “a new phase” in its approach to handling Seoul and Washington, according to analysts on Tuesday. YonhapPyongyang specifies demands in sign of entering 'phase for negotiation': expertsBy Jung Min-hoAfter years of escalating tensions with weapons development, Pyongyang now appears to have entered “a new phase” in its approach to handling Seoul and Washington, according to analysts on Tuesday. Kim Yo-jong, the politically powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said the previous day that U.S. efforts to strengthen “extended deterrence” would only push North Korea further from the negotiating table and, even if the two sides agreed to talk, its denuclearization would not be on the agenda. She then added North Korea would not buy into “U.S. lies” such as promises to pull its military forc

Jul 18, 2023By Jung Min-ho

[ANALYSIS] Is North Korea ready to talk?

Foreign Affairs

EXCLUSIVE IAEA defends its UN status as some lawmakers question relevance

Rafael Grossi, right, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), shakes hands with Rep. Wi Seong-gon of the Democratic Party of Korea during a meeting with the opposition party's lawmakers at the National Assembly in Seoul, July 9. The IAEA defended its status as an international organization “within the United Nations system" after some lawmakers questioned the agency's relevance in an apparent bid to undermine the credibility of its Fukushima report. AP-YonhapNuclear watchdog maintains radiation dose from Fukushima water 'will be undetectable and negligible'By Jung Min-hoThe International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) defended its status as an organization “within the United Nations system” after some Korean lawmakers questioned the agency's relevance in an apparent bid to undermine the credibility of its report that gave the green light to releasing into the ocean treated wastewater from a crippled nuclear plant in Fukushima.In response to inquiries recently sent by The Korea Times, Sinead Harvey, the agency's press officer, also expressed c

Jul 17, 2023By Jung Min-ho

[EXCLUSIVE] IAEA defends its UN status as some lawmakers question relevance

Society

Children trapped in limbo between North and South Korea

North Koreans hold cards to make an image depicting North Korean children during a mass game performance of "The Land of the People" at the May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this June 25, 2019 photo. Human rights activists in South Korea have called on policymakers to better protect North Korean defectors' children who were born in third countries before coming here. AP-YonhapHuman rights activists call for better protection of those born in third countriesBy Jung Min-hoNorth Korean women escaping oppression in their country cross the border to China in search of freedom and a better life. What awaits them there, in many cases, is the opposite ― even less freedom and a life of constant fear of deportation.Without a legal identity, such women are not allowed to work, which makes them vulnerable to human trafficking, sexual violence and other crimes. As a means of protecting themselves, many end up marrying a Chinese citizen, while others are coerced into such relationships by marriage brokers.Lee Su-min (not her real name), 41, was one of those women. Before arriving in So

Jul 16, 2023By Jung Min-ho

Children trapped in limbo between North and South Korea

North Korea

ANALYSIS Is North Korea perfecting solid-fuel ICBM technology?

This photo released Thursday shows North Korea's new Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile being test-launched the previous day. YonhapPyongyang takes one more step toward acquiring harder-to-detect missiles: expertsBy Jung Min-hoNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un vowed to develop more efficient and reliable weapons as he supervised the second “successful” test of his regime's solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) designed to strike the U.S., according to state media on Thursday.The Hwasong-18, fired on a lofted trajectory the previous day, flew 1,001.2 kilometers at a maximum altitude of 6,648 kilometers for 74 minutes before falling into a “targeted area” in waters off its east coast, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. The flight time was the longest ever for any North Korean missile. If launched on a standard angle, it could fly more than 15,000 kilometers ― enough to reach the U.S. homeland.Analysts told The Korea Times that Pyongyang appears to be making progress in developing missiles with built-in solid fuels, which woul

Jul 13, 2023By Jung Min-ho

[ANALYSIS] Is North Korea perfecting solid-fuel ICBM technology?

Defense

North Korea fires ballistic missile during NATO summit

A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's missile launch during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, Wednesday. AP-YonhapYoon calls for international solidarity against threats from PyongyangBy Jung Min-hoNorth Korea launched a long-range ballistic missile toward its eastern waters on Wednesday, two days after warning of the consequences of what it claimed was a “provocative” flight by a U.S. reconnaissance plane.During an emergency National Security Council (NSC) meeting in Lithuania, where he is visiting to attend a NATO summit, President Yoon Suk Yeol called for international solidarity against increasing threats from the regime, saying the North will pay the price of all of its “illegal activities.”According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the suspected intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), fired on a lofted trajectory from the North Korean capital area around 10 a.m., flew about 1,000 kilometers before falling into the East Sea.It was North Korea's first weapon test since June 15, when it fired two short-range ballistic missile

Jul 12, 2023By Jung Min-ho

North Korea

China urged not to repatriate North Korean refugees

Lee Jung-hoon, the new chief of the Unification Future Planning Committee, an advisory body to the unification minister, speaks during a roundtable discussion, titled “2023 Report on North Korean Human Rights,” at the Press Center in Seoul, Tuesday. NewsisRights experts urge Seoul to work with like-minded states to pressure BeijingBy Jung Min-hoThe 2019 decision by the previous administration to repatriate two fishermen back to North Korea against their will ― in a clear violation of U.N. treaties ― shocked human rights experts around the world. Yet no one raised the issue, at least not openly, in China, a nation that has been doing the exact same thing for decades.According to human rights organizations, more than 2,000 North Korean defectors will likely suffer the same fate once the remaining border restrictions that had been set up between the two countries during the COVID-19 pandemic are removed. What awaits them in North Korea is no secret ― years of incarceration in political prison camps, torture or worse.This must be stopped, said Lee Jung-hoon, the new chief of

Jul 11, 2023By Jung Min-ho

North Korea

More North Koreans find freedom as China eases border restrictions

North Korean defectors attend a bakery class at Hanawon, a government-run adjustment and education center for North Koreans, in Anseong, Gyeonggi province, Monday. Joint Press Corps'If there was safe route to South Korea, everyone would come here,' escapee saysBy Jung Min-hoANSEONG, Gyeonggi Province ― As the COVID-19 pandemic prompted countries around the world to tighten their borders, the number of North Korean escapees arriving in South Korea plummeted from more than 1,000 a year to 63 in 2021 and has remained at that level since. The number is expected to swell this year as the world, particularly China, emerges from the health crisis. According to three North Korean women who shared their stories on Monday, leaving China became imaginable only because it started easing draconian virus restrictions, which had largely kept them away from public places over the past three years.Life was tough for everyone during the pandemic, but it was especially so for North Koreans living in China, where officials can deport them back to North Korea against their will. The women ― who all arriv

Jul 10, 2023By Jung Min-ho

More North Koreans find freedom as China eases border restrictions

Politics

Main opposition party attacks IAEA's credibility over Fukushima report

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi, right, listens to Rep. Wi Seong-gon of the Democratic Party of Korea, during his meeting with main opposition party lawmakers at the National Assembly in Seoul, Sunday. YonhapDPK calls report 'tailored for Japan'; PPP slams DPK for fighting against scienceBy Jung Min-hoAfter two years of safety inspections on Japan's plan to release treated wastewater from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, the final report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was supposed to settle the argument.However, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) rejected its conclusions on Sunday, expressing regret over the IAEA's report, claiming it was “tailored for Japan” and attacking the credibility of the international organization.Speaking directly to IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi at the National Assembly in Seoul, Rep. Woo Won-shik accused him of conducting research with a “predetermined conclusion.” “I think there was a lack of neutrality and objectivity from the beginning,”

Jul 9, 2023By Jung Min-ho

Main opposition party attacks IAEA's credibility over Fukushima report

Opposition lawmakers depart for Japan to protest Fukushima water release

Defense

1st Korea-US Nuclear Consultative Group meeting set for July 18

President Yoon Suk Yeol looks at a special exhibition on the 70th anniversary of the South Korea-U.S. alliance at the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History in downtown Seoul, June 25, making the 73rd anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War. Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hoonBy Jung Min-hoThe inaugural meeting between South Korea and the United States on the operation of U.S. nuclear weapons in response to North Korea's growing security threats will be held in Seoul on July 18.According to the presidential office, Saturday, the meeting of the Nuclear Consultative Group will be co-chaired by Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo, White House Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell and U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition Cara Abercrombie.The allies had initially planned to appoint deputy minister-level delegates to lead the talks but decided to elevate the discussions to the vice minister level for the upcoming session, officials in Seoul said.“Issues including information-sharing, consultation mechanisms as well as joint planning and

Jul 9, 2023By Jung Min-ho

Jung Min-ho

Read more

ANALYSIS What will happen to US soldier held in North Korea?

ANALYSIS Is North Korea ready to talk?

EXCLUSIVE IAEA defends its UN status as some lawmakers question relevance

Children trapped in limbo between North and South Korea

ANALYSIS Is North Korea perfecting solid-fuel ICBM technology?

North Korea fires ballistic missile during NATO summit

China urged not to repatriate North Korean refugees

More North Koreans find freedom as China eases border restrictions

Main opposition party attacks IAEA's credibility over Fukushima report

1st Korea-US Nuclear Consultative Group meeting set for July 18

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