North Korea threatens military action as South, US plan drills Pyongyang citizens pay respect to North Korean leaders of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il in front of their statues on Mansu Hill on the occasion of the 81st birth anniversary of Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, Feb. 16. AP-YonhapNorth Korea threatened on Friday an "unprecedentedly persistent, strong" response as South Korea and the United States gear up for annual military exercises as part of efforts to fend off the North's growing nuclear and missile threats.The North's foreign ministry accused the United States of stoking tension and of using the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) as "a tool for illegal hostile policy" to pressure Pyongyang.North Korea had "refrained from any special military action" this year except for regular activities, but the allies' scheduled drills would create a "grave vortex of escalating tension," the ministry said."If it is the U.S. option to show its muscle and counter everything with muscle, the same is true of the DPRK's option," the ministry said in a statement carried by state media KCNA.The ministry used the acronym of the country's officiFeb 17, 2023
N. Korea labeled 'enemy' again in S. Korea's defense white paper This photo, released on Feb. 9 by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, shows weapons being showcased at a major military parade in Pyongyang. YonhapSouth Korea's defense ministry has referred to the North Korean regime and military as an "enemy" in its new white paper, for the first time in six years, according to officials Thursday, apparently in consideration of the North's evolving nuclear and missile threats.In the 2022 Defense White Paper, the ministry also described Japan as a "close neighbor" in line with Seoul's move to improve bilateral security ties and offered a new assessment on Pyongyang's growing stockpile of plutonium, a fissile material used to build nuclear bombs.The biennial policy document was first published under the conservative Yoon Suk Yeol administration launched in May last year. Yoon took office with a pledge to get tough on North Korean provocations and achieve "peace through strength.""As the North defined us as an 'undoubted enemy' at the plenary meeting of the ruling party's Central Committee in December 2022, and continues to pose a militFeb 16, 2023
NK leader attends groundbreaking ceremony for housing project in Pyongyang North Korean leader Kim Jong-un participates in a groundbreaking ceremony for a greenhouse farm in Pyongyang, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, Feb. 16. Yonhap North Korean leader Kim Jong-un participated in a groundbreaking ceremony to build 10,000 homes in Pyongyang, the country's state media reported Thursday, part of the nation's five-year project to supply more housing.Kim attended the ceremony for the second stage of the housing project in Hwasong District, Wednesday, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).The North plans to build 50,000 new homes in Pyongyang by 2025 under the project announced at the eighth congress of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in 2021. Kim has attended previous groundbreaking ceremonies for the project over the past two years."The project for construction of 50,000 flats in Pyongyang City is an important item decided by the 8th Congress of the WPK to build as soon Feb 16, 2023
US takes N. Korea as serious as all other challenges: State Dept. State Department Press Secretary Ned Price speaking during a daily press briefing at the state department in Washington, Feb. 15. YonhapThe United States considers and is dealing with North Korea issues with the same level of urgency as all other challenges facing the country and its allies, a state department spokesperson said Wednesday.The spokesperson, Ned Price, insisted the U.S. simply did not have the "luxury of being able to prioritize" the challenges."All of these issues are important," Price told a daily press briefing. "All of these same issues are made of the same plot. All of these challenges that we face, very different challenges that we face from the PRC (People's Republic of China), from Iran, from Russia, from the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea), in some ways, this all boils down to the rules-based order," added Price, referring to China and North Korea by their official names.The department spokesperson was reacting to a question whether the U.S. takes the threat posed by North Korea as serious as other challenges, given that President Joe Biden had faiFeb 16, 2023
S. Korean ministry says N. Korea's food shortages apparently worsening This Oct. 17, 2019 file photo shows employees harvesting grain crops at the Koh Chang cooperative farm near Pyongyang. YonhapNorth Korea's food shortages appear to be worsening, South Korea's unification ministry said Wednesday, amid a news report that the North has recently cut rations to the military.The North has acknowledged the seriousness of its food shortages as it has called agricultural development a "very urgent" task for this year, according to the ministry handling inter-Korean affairs.The Dong-A Ilbo, a daily newspaper, reported Wednesday the North has cut daily rations to soldiers to 580 grams from 620 grams per person, marking the first reduction in the 2000s.Speaking at a parliamentary committee session, Unification Minister Kwon Young-se said the North is said to have asked the World Food Program to offer food assistance, as its food crisis has been apparently deteriorating."But the North's situation does not seem to have reached a point where people are dying of starvation, something like what was seen during the Arduous March (in the 1990s)," Kwon said.North Korea Feb 15, 2023
Resolution introduced calling for Korean Americans' reunion with separated NK families A mother who lives in South Korea cries while hugging her son who lives in North Korea at the 21st reunion held at Mount Kumgang hotel in 2018. YonhapBy Lee Yeon-wooRep. Young Kim, a Korean American congressman and the chair of the Indo-Pacific Subcommittee of the United States, has introduced a joint resolution that calls on the U.S. and North Korea to reunite Korean Americans with their separated families who were dispersed by the 1950-53 Korean War. On Wednesday (local time), Kim announced that she and Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove introduced a bipartisan resolution urging both countries to reunite Korean American separated families with immediate relatives as a humanitarian policy of immediate concern.“We must continue our momentum to reunite Korean Americans with their war-torn loved ones in North Korea before it's too late,” Kim said.Rep. Young Kim / Korea Times file“As Indo-Pacific Subcommittee chair, I look forward to ensuring timely implementation of the Divided Families Reunification Act and I am proud to lead this bipartisan resolution to demonstrate united sFeb 15, 2023By Lee Yeon-woo
N. Korean leader calls for strong defense power in meeting with army activists A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean Supreme leader Kim Jong-un and his daughter Kim Jue-ae viewing a military parade at Kim Il Sung Square to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Army (KPA), the revolutionary armed forces of the Worker's Party of Korea (WPK), in Pyongyang, North Korea, Feb. 8. EPA-YonhapNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called for the strengthening of the country's defense during a meeting with local activists who support the nation's army, according to Pyongyang's state media Wednesday.Kim made the remarks in a photo session Tuesday with "activists in the traits of assisting the army," who were invited to Pyongyang as special delegates to last week's military parade marking the 75th founding anniversary of the armed forces, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).Kim praised them as patriots who are well aware "that the building of a powerful nation can be unthinkable without the powerful national defense and that assisting the army is the most vivid expression of patrioFeb 15, 2023
JCS chief calls for 'bold' punishment against potential enemy provocations This Dec. 16, 2022 file photo, released, by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), shows JCS Chairman Gen. Kim Seung-kyum visiting an Army border observation post. NewsisSouth Korea's top military officer called on front-line troops Tuesday to carry out a "bold" punishment against potential enemy provocations, his office said, as Seoul is striving to sharpen its deterrence against evolving North Korean nuclear and missile threats.Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Gen. Kim Seung-kyum made the call as he visited the Army's 2nd Corps for discussions on "concrete action plans to achieve a victory in a potential fight against an enemy," according to the JCS."(Kim) instructed troops to build a 'decisive combat posture' for each enemy provocation type, and carry out a punishment in a bold manner on the ground should an enemy provoke," the JCS said in a press release.Kim also visited a border unit of the 15th Infantry Division to inspect its readiness.There, he warned that the "enemy would provoke in a situation that the South can hardly predict.""In a contingency, troops should obliterate the Feb 14, 2023
N. Korea unveils stamp featuring leader's daughter Ju-ae for 1st time This image, captured from the website of the North's Korea Stamp on Feb. 14, shows the design of a new stamp featuring North Korean leader Kim Jong-un taking a photo with his daughter Ju-ae to mark the firing of a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile in November last year. YonhapNorth Korea on Tuesday unveiled the designs of a new stamp featuring the daughter of the North's leader Kim Jong-un, known as Ju-ae, for the first time.The stamp designs uploaded on the website of the North's Korea Stamp Corporation show photos of the North's leader and his daughter attending the test-firing of a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in November last year.It marked the first time that the North has released stamp designs featuring Ju-ae, Kim Jong-un's apparent second child, since she was first exposed to the public last year.Of eight stamps, five designs contained Ju-ae's public appearance, including her walking with the North's leader hand in hand in front of a missile on a mobile launcher and taking a photo with troops.This image, captured from the website of thFeb 14, 2023
China's defense chief sends congratulatory message to N. Korea over army anniversary This image, captured from footage of North Korea's Korean Central Television on Feb. 9, shows the North holding a military parade at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang the previous day to mark the 75th founding anniversary of its armed forces. YonhapChina's defense minister has sent a congratulatory message to his North Korean counterpart on the occasion of the North's 75th founding anniversary of its armed forces last week, Pyongyang's state media said Tuesday.In the letter to North Korean Defense Minister Kang Sun-nam, China's defense chief Wei Fenghe pledged efforts to promote the ties of the two nations' armies and defend regional peace, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).The message said the two countries' traditional friendly relationship will be "everlasting" and military ties between Beijing and Pyongyang, an integral part of the bilateral relations, have been solidly developing.Wei expressed a "willingness to enhance friendly relations between the armies of the two nations and promote peace and stability in the region," the KCNA said.North Korea has been deepeniFeb 14, 2023
