Biden, Singaporean leader urge North Korea to engage in dialogue Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong speaks alongside U.S. President Joe Biden in the East Room of the White House, March 29. AP-Yonhap U.S. President Joe Biden and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called on North Korea to engage in serious dialogue Tuesday, reaffirming their commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.The call comes after a series of North Korean missile tests that included Pyongyang's first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch in over four years."The leaders reaffirm a shared commitment to the goal of the complete denuclearization and the establishment of a permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula," they said in a joint statement."Both leaders call on the DPRK to engage in serious and sustained diplomacy and emphasize the importance of full implementation of relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions," they added.DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's offiMar 30, 2022
North Korea seems to have fired Hwasong-15 ICBM last week, Seoul's military tells lawmakers North Korea's state media reported that the country conducted a test-firing of a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on March 24, as seen in this Pyeongyang-distributed photo. YonhapNorth Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launched last week is assessed to be the same type it test-fired in 2017, Seoul's defense ministry told lawmakers here Tuesday, formally dismissing Pyongyang's claim that it was a brand-new one.In a briefing to the National Assembly, the ministry said the ICBM in question is more similar to the Hwasong-15 missile than the newest Hwasong-17. It cited an analysis of the missile's flight characteristics and footage released by the North's state media.The North has claimed success in launching the Hwasong-17 ― an ICBM dubbed a "monster" for its size. The new missile is known to have a range of around 15,000 kilometers, about 2,000 km longer than the Hwasong-15."Although the projectile fired on March 24 looks like the Hwasong-17 due to the increase in its top altitude and flight time, our assessment is that it is more similar to the HwasoMar 29, 2022
North Korea's leader calls for ramping up ideological campaigns People at the Jonsung Station of Pyongyang Metro in Pyongyang, North Korea, look at a copy of the North Korean newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, March 25, showing a report about the test-launch of a missile. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called for a propaganda campaign to increase popular support for the country's ideology of self-reliance amid "the worst difficulties," the country's state media KCNA said Tuesday. AP-Yonhap North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called for a propaganda campaign to increase popular support for the country's ideology of self-reliance amid "the worst difficulties," the country's state media KCNA said Tuesday.Kim sent a letter to ruling Workers' Party officials attending a workshop Monday that aimed to boost motivation for socialism and advance innovation in the party's ideological work, the KCNA said.In the dispatch, Kim said the party has been "advancing in the face of the worst difficulties" and stressed the need to spread its visionMar 29, 2022
North Korea opens photo exhibition marking decade of leader's rule North Korean officials look at photos at an exhibition in Pyongyang marking the 10th anniversary of Kim Jong-un formally assuming the country's leadership, March 28, in this undated photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. Yonhap North Korea has kicked off a photo exhibition commemorating a decade of its leader Kim Jong-un's rule, state media reported Monday, working up a festive mood ahead of major political anniversaries next month.An opening ceremony for the exhibition marking 10 years since Kim took the helm of the nation was held in Pyongyang the previous day, according to the North's main newspaper Rodong Sinmun.Kim was named "first secretary" of the ruling Workers' Party, April 11, 2012, and the first chairman of the National Defense Commission two days later, following the death of his father Kim Jong-il in Dec. 2011. North Korean officiaMar 28, 2022
Kim says Pyongyang will further develop 'powerful strike means': state media North Korean leader Kim Jong-un smiles following a test-firing of what the North said was a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile, at an undisclosed location in North Korea, March 24, in this photo distributed by the North Korean government. Yonhap North Korean leader Kim Jong-un stressed that his country will further develop a "powerful strike means" to reinforce national defense capabilities, state media reported Monday, days after Pyongyang claimed to have launched a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).Kim made the comments during a photo session with officials and scientists who contributed to the "successful" testing of a Hwasong-17 ICBM, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)."We must be strong under whatever circumstances to defend peace, accelerate socialist construction and be responsible for the security of the rising generations, free from any threat," Kim was quoted as saying.He added that Pyongyang will "continue tMar 28, 2022
Allies believe North Korea launched Hwasong-15 ICBM, not Hwasong-17: sources The alleged test-firing of a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from an undisclosed location in North Korea, March 24, is seen in this photo distributed by the North Korean government. AP-Yonhap South Korea and the United States regard North Korea as having disguised its launch of an existing intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) last week as that of a new larger one, informed sources said Sunday.The allies believe that the North again tested a Hwasong-15 ICBM, Thursday, the same type it fired in late 2017, according to the sources. The North has publicly claimed success in the launch of a Hwasong-17 missile.Their intelligence analysis suggested that like the Hwasong-15, the ICBM in question had two engine nozzles, whereas the Hwasong-17 has four nozzles. The engine combustion time of the first-stage rocket was also similar to that of the Hwasong-15. The analysis was based on data from the allies' intelligence assets, including from a satelliteMar 27, 2022
North Korea carrying out construction at Punggye-ri nuclear test site: sources The northern and western side of the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in North Korea's mountainous North Hamkyong Province, are seen in this satellite image taken by Airbus Defence & Space, Sept. 17, 2020, and released by 38 North Sept. 24 that year. Yonhap North Korea seems to be working on a "shortcut" to a tunnel at its nuclear test site in Punggye-ri, apparently aimed at making speedy preparations for a seventh underground nuclear detonation, according to government sources in South Korea, Sunday. If carried out, it would be the secretive nation's first known nuclear test in four-and-a-half years.South Korea's military and intelligence authorities have detected signs of the country focusing on restoring Tunnel 3 in the mountainous northeastern area, they said."(The North) abruptly stopped its initial construction work to restore the entrance to Tunnel 3, and it is digging up the side (of the tunnel)," a source said, requesting anonymity. "In this way, it seems like Mar 27, 2022
North Korea propaganda outlet slams Yoon's approach toward Pyongyang A news report on a North Korean missile launch is aired on a TV screen at Seoul Station in Seoul, March 24. YonhapA North Korean propaganda outlet on Sunday criticized South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's policy stance on the Kim Jong-un regime as a move to revive "confrontational" approaches by former conservative administrations in Seoul.The Tongil Voice claimed that Yoon is poised to follow the policy lines of two former presidents, Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye, who took tougher approaches than current liberal President Moon Jae-in."Yoon is struggling to resurrect the anti-republic confrontational policies that past conservative forces promoted," the outlet said in a piece titled, "A poisonous plant gives rise to a poisonous herb."It also claimed that Yoon's policy is to use inter-Korean dialogue as a means only for the North's denuclearization, keep strong sanctions until the North's denuclearization and start cross-border cooperation only when the regime takes actual denuclearization steps like its declaration of nuclear arms.During his presidential campaign, Yoon proMar 27, 2022
China, Russia cool to US aim for more North Korea sanctions 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-YonhapNorth Korea's test of a big new intercontinental ballistic missile prompted the United States to press for stiffer U.N. sanctions Friday, but China and Russia showed little appetite for tightening restrictions that they have been trying to ease.A day after North Korea's first long-range missile test since 2017, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield urged the council to condemn the launch and encourage Pyongyang to return to negotiations.``It was an egregious and unprovoked escalation'' that threatens the world, said Thomas-Greenfield, whose country joined Albania, France, Ireland, Norway and the United Kingdom in calling for the meeting. Thomas-Greenfield added that the U.S. would propose a measure ``to update and strengthen'' sanctions. She declined to give specifics after the meeting. The Security Council originally imposed sanctions Mar 26, 2022
US will introduce new UNSC resolution to strengthen sanctions on North Korea The alleged test-firing of a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile from an undisclosed location in North Korea, March 24, in this photo distributed by the North Korean government. AP-Yonhap The United States will introduce a new U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolution that will update and strengthen UNSC sanctions against North Korea, the head of the U.S. mission to the U.N. said Friday.Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield also called for full implementation of the existing sanctions on North Korea to prevent Pyongyang from engaging in further provocations."And because of DPRK's increasingly dangerous provocations, the United States will be introducing a chapter seven Security Council resolution to update and strengthen the sanctions regime," the U.S. envoy said in a UNSC meeting held in New York to discuss North Korea's latest missile launch, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.Pyongyang launched an intercontMar 26, 2022
