NK leader inspects cruise missile test as S. Korea-US military drills begin North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, right, inspects a navy unit's test launch of cruise missiles in this Aug. 21 photo carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency. Yonhap North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited a navy unit and inspected a cruise missile test aboard a warship, Pyongyang's state media reported Monday, as South Korea and the United States began their annual joint military drills.The North's leader visited the Navy flotilla tasked with defending the east coast and watched the seamen on a patrol ship stage a launching drill of "strategic" cruise missiles, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, without disclosing the date of his visit."At the drill aimed to reconfirm the combat function of the ship and the feature of its missile system and make the seamen skilled at carrying out the attack mission in actual war, the ship rapidly hit target without even an error," the KCNA said in an English-language report.South Korea and the U.S. kAug 21, 2023
N. Korean taekwondo athletes stage demonstration performances in Kazakhstan North Korean taekwondo athletes stage demonstration performances celebrating the opening of the ITF Taekwon-Do World Championships held in Astana, Kazakhstan, Saturday. YonhapNorth Korean taekwondo athletes have staged demonstration performances in Kazakhstan, after the North's team made a rare border crossing into China from North Korea last week to attend a taekwondo event following a years-long COVID-19 border closure.The North's demonstration team conducted performances Saturday (Kazakhstan time) for about an hour at the opening ceremony of the ITF Taekwon-Do World Championships held in Astana, Kazakhstan. The ITF stands for the North Korean-led International Taekwondo Federation."We've gathered here for peace and friendship. There are no failures, we are all champions," ITF chief Ri Yong-son said.The North's athletes arrived in Beijing on Thursday, after a pair of buses carrying them crossed from the North Korean border city of Sinuiju into China on Wednesday. They flew from Beijing to Kazakhstan to participate in the taekwondo championships, which kicked off Saturday and will rAug 20, 2023
North Korean hackers targeted S. Korea-US military drills: police gettyimagesbankBy Lee Hyo-jinNorth Korean hackers carried out cyberattacks throughout the last several months targeting combined military drills between South Korea and the United States, according to Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency, Sunday.Despite the continued cyberattacks, the police confirmed that no military-related information was compromised.Through a months-long investigation, law enforcement authorities found that the hacking attempts were orchestrated by “Kimsuky,” a state-backed North Korean hacking group.Beginning April 2022, the North Korean hacking group sent malicious emails to employees of a domestic War Game operating company, who were dispatched to the South Korea-U.S. combined military exercise battle simulation center since February this year. In January, the hackers succeeded in installing a malicious code on one of the company's computers after hijacking the email account of a staff member. Since then, the hackers were able to spy on emails sent and received by the employees of the War Game operating company on a real-time basis and gained unAug 20, 2023By Lee Hyo-jin
NK slams UN human rights meeting as US 'scheme' Kim Il-hyeok, a North Korean defector, speaks during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss the situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, at United Nations headquarters, Aug. 17. AP-YonhapNorth Korea slammed a recent United Nations meeting about its human rights record, asserting the United States used the international organization for a "scheme" against Pyongyang, state media KCNA reported Saturday.The U.N. Security Council discussed human rights abuses in North Korea, Thursday, with the U.S. ambassador criticizing leader Kim Jong Un for using "repression and cruelty" to develop nuclear weapons and missiles.U.S. President Joe Biden and the leaders of South Korea and Japan agreed at Camp David, Friday, to deepen military and economic cooperation in facing China's growing power and nuclear threats from North Korea. They also agreed to hold military training exercises annually and share real-time information on North Korean missile launches by the end of the year.China, North Korea's major ally, opposed the meeting of the 15-member council on abuses Aug 19, 2023
N. Korea warns of action against US spy plane's 'intrusion' The North Korean flag flutters at the North Korea consular office in Dandong, Liaoning province, China, April 20, 2021. Reuters-YonhapNorth Korea accused the United States, Friday, of flying a surveillance aircraft into its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) before being chased off by its warplanes earlier this week and threatened to take action to guard its sovereignty.The accusation by the spokesperson of the General Staff Department of the North's Korean People's Army came as the leaders of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan were set to meet for a trilateral summit at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, the same day.North Korea claimed a U.S. military spy aircraft "intruded" in the area over its EEZ three times between 5:38 and 6:37 a.m. Thursday to conduct what it claimed to be "aerial surveillance activity," according to the statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).The North scrambled military jets, and the U.S. aircraft retreated at around 7:15 a.m., it added.Calling the move a "dangerous military provocation" that occurred just 20 days aAug 19, 2023
NK scrambled jets after US spy aircraft approached: KCNA A U.S. high-altitude intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft U-2S 'Dragon Lady' flies into the U.S. Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 60km south of Seoul in this undated photo. EPA-YonhapNorth Korea's military said it had scrambled warplanes after a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft intruded into its economic zone off its east coast, state news agency KCNA reported on Friday.The incident, which occurred on Thursday, was "a dangerous military provocation" and North Korea was considering measures to deter future incursions, an unnamed spokesperson of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army said in the report.The incident came ahead of a summit on Friday of the United States, South Korea and Japan. A South Korean lawmaker, citing that country's intelligence agency, said on Thursday that North Korea may launch an intercontinental ballistic missile or take other military action to protest the meeting.President Joe Biden will meet at Camp David in Maryland with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, hoping to tighten ties between Seoul anAug 18, 2023
Latest NK missile sparks new debate over possible Russian role In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, right, with Russian delegation led by its Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visits an arms exhibition in Pyongyang, North Korea Wednesday, July 26, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the armistice that halted fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War. AP-YonhapNorth Korea's latest Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile ― its first ICBM to use solid rocket fuel ― has ignited new debate over a possible Russian role in the nuclear-armed state's dramatic missile development.In a report published on Thursday by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, Theodore Postol, professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, argued that the Hwasong-18 ICBM is likely the result of technical cooperation sourced to Russia.The Hwasong-18 has been tested twice, including on July 12 in what was the longest flight time ever for a North Korean missile test.It is the North's first ICBM to use solid propellants, which can enable faster and easier deployment of missiles durAug 18, 2023
NK appears to be cracking open its sealed border with dispatch of sports delegation North Koreans line up to check in for a flight to Astana at the Capital Airport in Beijing, Friday, Aug. 18. A team of North Korean Taekwondo athletes are reportedly travelling via China to Astana, capital of Kazakhstan, to compete in a Taekwondo competition. AP-YonhapNorth Korea appears to have cracked open its borders in the first significant way since they were shut at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, with the impoverished nation sending a large group of taekwondo athletes and officials through Beijing to an international competition.The group of around 80 men and women wearing white track suits with the North Korean flag on the front were in the departure hall of Beijing's international airport. They reportedly arrived Wednesday or Thursday.The group was expected to take an Air Astana flight to Kazakhstan to compete in the International Taekwon-do Federation World Championships, according to Japanese and South Korean media. The competition is being held in Astana through Aug. 30.North Korea has very limited air connections at the best of times, and international Aug 18, 2023
NK leader calls for efforts to minimize typhoon damage to crops North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, inspects farms in the typhoon-hit county of Anbyon in Kangwon Province in this Aug. 18 photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency. YonhapNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called for efforts to minimize damage to crops by the recent Typhoon Khanun, while mobilizing choppers and aircraft for recovery work in flood-hit regions, state media reported Friday.Kim visited farms in Anbyon County in the eastern Kangwon Province, where farmlands were flooded due to heavy rains brought by the typhoon that swept through the Korean Peninsula last week, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).The KCNA reported Monday that Kim had carried out a similar inspection in the typhoon-hit region, while berating local officials as being "irresponsible" and "insensitive" over their failure to prevent damage from the typhoon.During the latest visit, helicopters and light transport aircraft from the country's air force were mobilized for spraying pesticides in flooded fields, as personally ordered by Kim, it added.The North appears Aug 18, 2023
Will North Korea agree to hold joint military drills with Russia? North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, front right, talks with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, left, during a military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the armistice that halted fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War, on Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang, July 27, in this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency. AP-YonhapMoscow proposes Pyongyang to conduct joint military exercise: NISBy Lee Hyo-jin As Pyongyang moves to forge closer ties with Moscow, South Korea's spy agency suggested that Russia has proposed North Korea conduct joint military exercises. But analysts were divided on whether Pyongyang ― which has not held a combined military exercise with other nations since the end of the Cold War ― will accept the proposal. South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said, Thursday, that Moscow proposed Pyongyang conduct joint military drills and the related talks supposedly took place during Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu's visit to Pyongyang last month when he met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.“Intelligence reports show that Russia recently pAug 18, 2023By Lee Hyo-jin
