N. Korea threatens to take 'overwhelming' military steps against S. Korea, US A TV screen showing a news program reporting about North Korea's missile launch with file footage, is seen at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Nov. 5. AP-YonhapNorth Korea's military said Monday it will take "sustained, resolute and overwhelming" practical military measures in response to joint military drills of South Korea and the United States amid speculation that Pyongyang will likely soon carry out another nuclear test.In a "report" carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, the General Staff of the Korean People's Army (KPA) labeled the allies' Vigilant Storm exercise last week as an "open provocation aimed at intentionally escalating the tension.""The recent corresponding military operations by the KPA are a clear answer of the DPRK that the more persistently the enemies' provocative military moves continue, the more thoroughly and mercilessly the KPA will counter them," the KPA said. The DPRK is the acronym for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea."The KPA General Staff once again clarifies that it will continue to corNov 7, 2022
N. Korea fires four short-range ballistic missiles toward West Sea: S. Korean military North Korea fires ballistic missiles in these file photos released by its state media. YonhapNorth Korea fired four short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) toward the West Sea Saturday, the South Korean military said.The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launches from Tongrim County in North Pyongyan Province between around 11:32 a.m. and 11:59 a.m.The missiles flew about 130 kilometers at an apogee of 20 km with a top speed of Mach 5, it added. The North's latest provocation came on the last day of the extended large-scale combined air drills of the South and the United States.On Saturday two B-1B strategic bombers joined the Vigilant Storm exercise alongside four South Korean F-35A stealth fighter jets and 4 U.S. F-16 fighters, the JCS said.It marked the first time the B-1B Lancer has been deployed to the Korean Peninsula since 2017, in a demonstration of Washington's firm commitment to extended deterrence for South Korea and the allies' combined defense posture, JCS added.The North has launched a barrage of ballistic missiles into the East Sea and the West Sea, includNov 5, 2022
US urges UNSC action to punish NK over recent provocations, China and Russia again refuse U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks during an arria-formula meeting regarding the ongoing protests in Iran, at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on Nov. 2. AFP-Yonhap The United States on Friday called on the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) to hold North Korea accountable for its recent provocative actions that included the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield also stressed the importance of fully implementing the existing UNSC sanctions on the recalcitrant country."Over the last week and a half the DPRK has exacerbated an extremely worrisome trend that we've seen all year; an increasing number of (missile) launches in flagrant violation of the Security Council Resolution, destabilizing and threatening rhetoric and continue escalation," the U.S. diplomat said at an emergency meeting of the Security Council held in New York."The United States condemns, in the strongest possible termNov 5, 2022
Parliamentary committee adopts resolution against NK provocations This photo provided by the North Korean government purports to show a missile test at an undisclosed location in North Korea, Oct 10. APSouth Korea's parliamentary defense committee on Friday passed a resolution denouncing North Korea's missile provocations and urging Pyongyang to refrain from what would be its seventh nuclear test.North Korea has been ramping up its military threats, firing 81 ballistic missiles on 34 occasions in violation of an inter-Korean military tension reduction agreement signed in September 2018, as well as U.N. Security Council resolutions.On Thursday, Pyongyang fired an intercontinental ballistic missile and two short-range missiles toward the East Sea, just a day after it launched a barrage of missiles, including one that flew across its de facto maritime border with the South for the first time since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.Committee members called on North Korea to immediately cease its military provocations."If North Korea continues with its provocations, it is certain they will bring forward the state's international isolation and self-destrNov 4, 2022
US offers $5 mil. reward for arrest of Singaporean businessman helping N. Korea evade sanctions Paul Houston, deputy assistant secretary and assistant director of the Diplomatic Security Service for Threat Investigation and Analysis, is seen holding a press conference at the Foreign Press Center in Washington, Nov. 3. YonhapThe United States on Thursday announced a reward of up to $5 million for information that leads to the arrest of a Singaporean national who is suspected of engaging in illegal transfers of oil and luxury goods to North Korea.The Singaporean, identified as Kwek Kee Seng, is the director of a Singapore-based shipping agency who is suspected of being engaged in an "extensive scheme" to evade U.S. and U.N. Security Council sanctions on North Korea, according to Paul Houston, deputy assistant secretary and assistant director of the Diplomatic Security Service for Threat Investigation and Analysis."As alleged, Kwek and his co-conspirators sought to obscure their activities by conducting financial transactions through a series of shell companies based in Panama, Singapore and other locations," Houston told a press briefing organized by the Washington Foreign Press Nov 4, 2022
North Korea fires 3 more short-range ballistic missiles toward East Sea In this Aug. 16, 2019, file photo carried by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency, a short-range missile is launched from Tongchon County in Gangwon Province, North Korea. YonhapNorth Korea fired three more short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea Thursday night, the South Korean military said, about an hour after Pyongyang slammed Seoul and Washington's decision to extend joint air drills as a "very dangerous and wrong choice."The missiles were launched from Koksan County in North Hwanghae Province at around 9:35 p.m., according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).The JCS later said the North Korean missiles flew some 490 kilometers at apogees of some 130 kilometer at a top speech of Mach 6.North Korea also fired some 80 artillery shells from around 11:30 p.m. Thursday into the military buffer zone in the East Sea, violating the 2018 agreement with South Korea designed to reduce military tension, according to the JCS.Earlier in the day, the North fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and two short-range ballistic missiles.The late night missile laNov 3, 2022
North Korea slams US, S. Korea's decision to extend air drills as 'dangerous and false choice' Pak Jong-chon, secretary of the Central Committee of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party / YonhapNorth Korea on Thursday denounced South Korea and United States for extending their joint combined air exercise as a “very dangerous and wrong choice.”“It was reported that the U.S. and South Korea decided to extend the combined air drill Vigilant Storm,” Pak Jong-chon, secretary of the Central Committee of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party, said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency. “It is a very dangerous and false choice.”“The irresponsible decision of the U.S. and South Korea is shoving the present situation caused by provocative military acts of the allied forces to an uncontrollable phase,” he added.South Korea's Air Force earlier announced plans to extend the five-day massive air exercise of the allies that kicked off Monday, following the North's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). (Yonhap)Nov 3, 2022
North Korea's record single-day missile launch flurry cost as much as $75 million North Korean flags are carried during a celebration of its 73rd founding anniversary in Pyongyang, in this Sept. 9, 2021, file photo. AP-YonhapBy Jung Min-hoNorth Korea may have spent as much as $75 million on the missiles fired in its record single-day test, according to a military expert.The North launched 25 missiles Wednesday, including one that landed near the South's waters, in protest of a series of combined military exercises between Seoul and Washington over the past several weeks.Bruce Bennett, a senior defense analyst at the Rand Corporation, a California-based policy think tank, told Free Asia Broadcasting that the total cost of North Korea's missile launches, including of short-range ballistic and surface-to-air types, was between $50 million and $75 million.The amount far exceeds North Korea's September exports to China ― $14.2 million ― and is equivalent to the amount of money the North had spent on importing rice from China in the year before the COVID-19 pandemic. In July, the North imported 10,000 tons of rice worth about $5.1 million, Chinese customs data showed.&lNov 3, 2022By Jung Min-ho
North Korea's ICBM launch ends in failure North Korean leader Kim Jong-un walks around what Pyongyang says is a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile on a launcher at an undisclosed location in North Korea, March 24, in this photo distributed by the North Korean government. AP-YonhapSouth Korea, US to extend Vigilant Storm air exercise amid NK provocationsBy Kang Seung-wooNorth Korea continued its saber-rattling for the second day straight, Thursday, by firing at least six missiles, but its military show of force ended up being compromised after the launch of the country's largest and most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) failed while in flight.The unsuccessful ICBM launch may cause further delays to the possible next nuclear test by the North, which is believed to have been fully prepared for it since May, as it is still short of putting the United States on high alert or gaining its attention, according to diplomatic observers. According to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), North Korea launched what was presumed to be an ICBM from the Sunan area of Pyongyang at 7:40 a.m., then two shorNov 3, 2022By Kang Seung-woo
US condemns N. Korea's ICBM launch, urges int'l community to fully implement UN sanctions This file photo, released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, shows an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) being launched from North Korea's Pyongyang International Airport on March 24. YonhapDepartment of State spokesperson Ned Price also called on all countries to fully implement U.N. Security Council sanctions on North Korea."The United States condemns the DPRK's intercontinental ballistic missile launch," the spokesperson said in a released statement, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea."This launch is a clear violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions and demonstrates the threat the DPRK's unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs pose to its neighbors, the region, international peace and security, and the global non-proliferation regime," he added.The rare statement from the State Department spokesperson came after North Korea test-fired an ICBM early Thursday (Seoul time), marking its seventh ICBM launch this year and first since May.North Korea fired mNov 3, 2022
