South Korea to create 'strategic command' to lead 'three-axis' system against North Korea's threats President Yoon Suk-yeol presides over a meeting of top military commanders at the Gyeryongdae military headquarters, 160 kilometers south of Seoul, July 6. YonhapSouth Korea will push to launch a "strategic command" as an overarching organ to implement its "three-axis" defense system aimed at countering North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile threats, the defense ministry said Wednesday.President Yoon Suk-yeol and top commanders discussed the issue and other key defense priorities during their meeting at the Gyeryongdae military headquarters, 160 kilometers south of Seoul. He presided over the top brass' session for the first time since assuming office in May.The push for the envisioned unit comes as the South is striving to sharpen deterrence following a series of North Korea's ballistic missile launches and preparations for what would be its seventh nuclear test."They discussed the issue of creating the strategic command in phases to ensure it can effectively command and control the three-axis system and lead the efforts for the systematic force development," the ministry said iJul 6, 2022
North Korea may not conduct nuke test 'right away' due to rainy season: outgoing JCS chief Gen. Won In-choul, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) / Korea Times fileThe outgoing top South Korean military officer on Tuesday said North Korea may not find it easy to press ahead with a nuclear test "right away" due to the rainy season, though it has made preparations for it.Gen. Won In-choul, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), was speaking to reporters during a brief farewell meeting amid speculation over the possibility and timing of the North carrying out what would be its seventh nuclear test at the mountainous Punggye-ri site.Experts have said the current rainy season could affect a related schedule, given that pieces of equipment used for such an underground experiment are sensitive to humidity."As the rainy season has also come in the North, bringing heavy rainfall there, it may not be easy to carry out a nuclear test right away," Won said. "When the rainy season is over, we should look at various situations.""(North Korea) would not carry out a nuclear test based simply on one condition. It entails various strategic goals," he added. "Preparations have been mJul 5, 2022
INTERVIEW 'Repatriation puts fear in eyes of all North Koreans,' rights expert says In this June 4, 2020, file photo, Suzanne Scholte, left, the chairwoman of the North Korea Freedom Coalition and a Seoul Peace Prize winner, and other human rights activists prepare to send balloons carrying pro-democracy messages to North Korea from Paju, a city near the border with the North. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-sukScholte calls for reinvestigation into decision to send fishermen to 'their deaths'By Jung Min-hoSouth Korea's 2019 decision to repatriate two North Korean fishermen was a violation of its U.N. treaty obligations and investigators should find out who was behind sending them to a North Korean torture chamber, if not worse, according to a human rights expert.Suzanne Scholte, the chairwoman of the North Korea Freedom Coalition and a Seoul Peace Prize winner, told The Korea Times that checking whether the fishermen are alive could be a first step toward uncovering the truth.“Based on the testimonies of thousands of eyewitnesses, we know the fishermen (probably) faced execution ― the South Korean authorities knew that too ― because they were seeking resettlemeJul 4, 2022By Jung Min-ho
South Korea closely watching North Korea's summer military drills A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean soldiers gathering to pledge to complete their mission at the Ministry of National Defense in Pyongyang, May 16. South Korea is keeping close tabs on movements related to North Korea's ongoing summertime military drills. EPA-YonahpSouth Korea is keeping close tabs on movements related to North Korea's ongoing summertime military drills, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Monday, amid lingering concerns about possibilities of Pyongyang's provocations."Although there were torrential rains recently, the North Korean military has usually held its summer training starting in July," Col. Kim Jun-rak, the JCS spokesperson, told a regular press briefing. "We are paying keen attention to related movements."The South's military has yet to detect any full-fledged activities related to the drills, like the movement of a large number of troops or heavy equipment, but there have been related maneuvers, an informed source said.The North's training raised speculation that the recalcitrant regime could sJul 4, 2022
N. Korea lashes out at closer security ties among S. Korea, US, Japan U.S. President Joe Biden, center, flanked by U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, center right, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, center left, sits with South Korea's President Yoon Suk-Yeol, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, during a tri-lateral meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit at the Ifema congress center in Madrid, on June 29. AFP-YonhapNorth Korea lambasted South Korea, the United States and Japan on Sunday for their move to strengthen trilateral security cooperation highlighted in a rare group summit of their leaders last week.Pyongyang's foreign ministry strongly condemned discussions on three-way military drills that President Yoon Suk-yeol held with his American and Japanese counterparts ― Joe Biden and Fumio Kishida ― on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Spain."The recent NATO summit more clearly proves that the U.S. pursues a plan to contain Russia and China at the same time by realizing the 'militarization' of Europe and forming a military alliance like NATO in the Asia-Pacific region and keeps the U.S.-Japan-South Korea tripartiteJul 3, 2022
North Korea blames balloons from South for COVID-19 outbreak In this Oct. 10, 2014, file photo, activists promoting human rights for North Korea release balloons carrying leaflets condemning the North's regime in Paju, a South Korean city near the border with the North. North Korea on Friday blamed “alien things coming by wind” from South Korea for its outbreak of COVID-19. AP-YonhapPyongyang always finds something to blame for faults, expert saysBy Jung Min-hoNorth Korea has blamed balloons from South Korea for its COVID-19 outbreak, claiming that two people in the border area started showing symptoms after coming into contact with “alien things coming by wind” from the South. Citing health authorities, the Korean Central News Agency, Pyongyang's official mouthpiece, reported Friday that a soldier, 18, and a child, 5, at Ipho-ri in Kumgang County were its first official COVID-19 patients. The broadcaster did not specify what they touched but, in a warning, it added that people living in border areas should be cautious of balloons and “the things attached to the balloons.”The warning is in line with North KoJul 1, 2022By Jung Min-ho
N. Korea's first COVID-19 cases traced to area bordering S. Korea: state media A sign depicting a scene of medical products transportation is displayed at the empty street, amid growing fears over the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this photo released by Kyodo, May 23. Reuters-YonhapNorth Korean health authorities have concluded its COVID-19 outbreak originated in an area near the inter-Korean border as local residents came into contact with "alien" stuff there, state media reported Friday, a move seen as aimed at ascribing the virus crisis to South Korea and using it for political purposes.The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) cited a probe into the transmission route of the omicron variant outbreak, which Pyongyang made public on May 12."The investigation results showed that several persons coming from the area of Ipho-ri in Kumgang County in Kangwon Province to the capital city in mid-April were in fever," it said in an English-language article. "A sharp increase of fever cases was witnessed among their contacts and that a group of fevered persons emerged in the area of Ipho-ri for the first time."The KCNA adJul 1, 2022
North Korea slams global anti-money laundering body over 'high-risk' blacklist North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presides over a meeting of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party in Pyongyang, June 27. YonhapNorth Korea lambasted an intergovernmental anti-money laundering body Thursday over its recent decision to keep the country on its list of "high-risk" jurisdictions, accusing the organization of following the U.S.' "hostile policy" against it.During its plenary meeting in Berlin from June 14 to 17, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) decided to maintain North Korea and Iran on the list of "high-risk jurisdictions subject to a call for action," defined as having significant deficiencies in countering money laundering, terrorist financing and financing of proliferation."This is an unjust behavior of the organization overtly following the anti-DPRK policy of the U.S. which tries to disgrace the image of the DPRK," said Ri Jong-chol, section chief of the North's National Coordination Committee for Anti-money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism, in an English-language article carried by the Korean Central News Agency. DPJun 30, 2022
Koreas hold daily hotline contact; North mum on South's call for prior notice on dam water discharges The Botong River basin in Pyongyang is seen flooded after three days of torrential rain, in this June 29 photo captured from North Korea's Central TV. The network reported that 233.7 millimeters of rain hit the area between 7 p.m. June 27 and 5 a.m. June 29, with the river's water level reaching as high as 5.57 meters and surpassing the danger level of 5.46 meters. YonhapNorth Korea has remained unresponsive for the second day to South Korea's attempt to deliver a formal request asking it to give prior notification before releasing water from dams near their border during the summer rainy season, according to Seoul's unification ministry, Wednesday."At around 9 a.m. today, the regular phone call via the inter-Korean joint liaison office was held as usual," the ministry announced.The North, however, did not mention whether it was willing to accept the formal note from the South Korean government, it said.On Tuesday morning, the North did not respond to a regular hotline call through the joint liaison office apparently due to technical glitches on its side. The ministry handling inter-Jun 29, 2022
North Korea maps out emergency measures to prevent flood damage amid pandemic North Korean Premier Kim Tok-hun, 2nd from right, inspects the State Hydro-Meteorological Administration, in this undated photo released by the North's Korean Central News Agency, June 29. YonhapNorth Korea is taking emergency measures to prevent damage from flooding as the country braces for the summer rainy season amid its fight against COVID-19, according to state media, Wednesday.The country's "central emergency anti-epidemic sector" took steps to ensure medical supplies in thousands of emergency medical units set up at hospitals across the country and urged disinfection work in evacuation centers to prevent the outbreak of an "enteric illness," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.The North is also taking measures to disinfect regions affected by natural disasters to block the spread of the "malicious" coronavirus.On Tuesday, Premier Kim Tok-hun urged efforts to minimize damage from typhoons and heavy downpours by improving the accuracy of weather forecasts as he inspected the State Hydro-Meteorological Administration, the country's state weather agency, and the CJun 29, 2022
