North Korea launches suspected long-range ballistic missile toward East Sea People watch a TV screen showing a news program reporting about North Korea's missile with file footage, at a train station in Seoul, March 16. AP-YonhapNorth Korea launched an apparent long-range ballistic missile toward the East Sea, Thursday, according to the South Korean military.The North appears to have launched the projectile at an elevated angle, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), which did not provide other details. The North's move came four days after it fired four projectiles into the Yellow Sea, apparently using a multiple launch rocket system, from Sukchon, north of Pyongyang.Also last week, the North unsuccessfully launched an apparent long-range missile.Concerns have persisted that the North could engage in provocative acts down the road as it made a veiled threat in January to lift its years-long self-imposed moratorium on nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missile tests. (Yonhap)Mar 24, 2022
North Korea to hold major festivals for anniversary of late founder's birth An evening gala of young people and students takes place with fireworks to celebrate the Day of the Sun, at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, April 15, 2021. AP-YonhapNorth Korea plans to hold various large-scale celebratory events, both online and offline, on the occasion of the 110th anniversary of its late founding leader's birth next month, according to its state media, Thursday.The North will hold a major spring festival in Pyongyang with magic shows and performances by art troupes around mid-April to commemorate Kim Il-sung, the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un, April 15, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported."(The festival) will inspire us on our powerful march and help make this meaningful year a revolutionary year of celebrations," the North's main newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, also said.Pyongyang will stage another major international art festival online this year amid COVID-19 concerns. The April Spring Friendship Art Festival, which started in 1982, is a biennial event that invites art troupes from other countries to celebrate the late founder's birthday.The Mar 24, 2022
Unification ministry won't be abolished: transition team An inside view of the Ministry of Unification / Yonhap By Kang Hyun-kyungPresident-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's transition team denied media reports about the doomed fate of the Ministry of Unification, saying it never considered abolishing the ministry.In fact, the opposite is true, according to deputy spokesman Won Il-hee.Won said during a regular press briefing on Wednesday that the transition committee is preparing a plan to diverge from the current policies led by the Moon Jae-in administration and implemented by the ministry, to reinforce the ministry's inherent duties and functions, such as inter-Korean exchange and cooperation as well as humanitarian aid.“Some media reported that the Ministry of Unification would be abolished, but that has never been considered. The transition committee members will ponder ways to help the ministry regain its inherent role and functions and work autonomously,” he said.When asked what he meant about the ministry's inherent role and Mar 23, 2022By Kang Hyun-kyung
North Korean leader sends letter of sympathy to Xi over jet crash Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un / YonhapNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a letter of sympathy to Chinese President Xi Jinping over a Chinese passenger jet crash earlier this week, Pyongyang's state media reported Tuesday.In the letter delivered the previous day, Kim "expressed deep sympathy and condolences to Xi Jinping and the Chinese party, government and people as well as to the bereaved families of the victims, according to an English-language report of the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).A China Eastern Airlines jetliner carrying 123 passengers and nine crew members reportedly crashed in the mountains in southern China's Guangxi region Monday afternoon. There has been no report of any survivor.Kim "sincerely hoped that the Chinese people would eradicate the aftereffects of the accident as early as possible and the bereaved family members would overcome sorrow and lead a stabilized life" under Xi's leadership, the KCNA added. (Yonhap)Mar 22, 2022
Defense Ministry to seek permanent deployment of US strategic assets in South Korea The Ministry of National Defense / YonhapDefense minister rebuffs President-elect over NK’s violation of military accord By Kang Seung-woo The defense ministry is set to discuss with Washington the rotational deployment of strategic U.S. assets on the Korean Peninsula under the new South Korean administration to deter North Korea's provocations.Strategic assets refer to long-range bombers, nuclear-powered submarines or aircraft carriers.The Ministry of National Defense gave a policy briefing to the transition committee of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol on Tuesday and said it will seek to resume regular meetings of the Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group (EDSCG) to ensure the presence of U.S. strategic assets. Yoon has pledged to enhance South Korea's deterrence against Pyongyang's nuclear and missile threats. The EDSCG, established by the two-plus-two foreign and defense ministerial meeting between the allies in October 2016, is a high-level consultative mechanism to achieve North Korean denuclearization through steadfast deterrence. Extended deterrence refeMar 22, 2022By Kang Seung-woo
North Korea stays mum over suspected multiple missile launches North Korean leader Kim Jong-un / AP-Yonhap North Korea's state media remained silent Monday on the country's apparent test-firing of multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) the previous day.On Sunday, the North fired four projectiles that were suspected to come from MLRS that fell into the Yellow Sea from an unspecified location in South Pyongan Province, according to South Korean military officials.The North's official media, including the Korean Central News Agency and the Rodong Sinmun newspaper, did not carry any reports on the launches Monday morning amid a view that it seems to have been part of the country's ongoing wintertime military training. They usually report on major missile launches and new weapons tests, if presumed successful, the next morning.Pyongyang's state-controlled media also kept quiet on a suspected failed missile launch last week.Meanwhile, Seoul's Ministry of Unification, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said it will continue efforts Mar 21, 2022
North Korea launches 4 projectiles from suspected multiple rocket launchers into Yellow Sea: officials North Korean leader Kim Jong-un / YonhapNorth Korea on Sunday fired four suspected shots from its multiple rocket launchers into the Yellow Sea, South Korean military officials said, the latest show of force that could heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula.South Korea's National Security Council (NSC) held an emergency vice-ministerial meeting over the four shots that fell into the western waters during a span of an hour from 7:20 a.m. from an unspecified location in South Pyongan Province, according to officials. Park Kyung-mee, presidential office spokesperson, said the NSC meeting members stressed the need to maintain "a firm defense readiness posture" based on the South Korean military's enhanced capability and the South Korea-U.S. alliance during a time of a government power transfer."There were shots believed to be that of North Korea's multiple rocket launchers this morning," an official of the South Korean military said."We are maintaining our defense readiness posture while closely following related developments," the official added.The multiple rocket launcher firings cMar 20, 2022
Yoon's first response to North Korea provocations likely to determine course for next 5 years North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol / Korea Times photoBy Kang Seung-wooAmid signs of North Korea abandoning its self-restraint in regards to testing long-range missiles and nuclear weapons, President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's pledge to take a tougher stance and bolster South Korea's deterrence against its northern neighbor ― in close cooperation with the United States ― is likely to prolong the period of non-engagement between the two Koreas under his new administration.Furthermore, Yoon has filled the foreign policy subcommittee of his transition team with officials from the former Lee Myung-bak government, who pursued confrontational policies that almost pushed the two Koreas to the brink of war. With the new conservative administration to be inaugurated in May, Pyongyang is likely to test how much bandwidth the Yoon administration will allow in dealing with its provocative actions, and diplomatic observers say how the new government responds to this initial saber-rattling will set the tone for inter-Korean interactions for the next five years. “RelMar 20, 2022By Kang Seung-woo
UN rapporteur urges provision of vaccines to North Korea Tomas Ojea Quintana, the U.N. special rapporteur on North Korea's human rights situation, speaks during a press conference in Seoul, in this Feb. 23 photo. Yonhap The U.N. special rapporteur on North Korea's human rights has repeated his call for the international community to send enough COVID-19 vaccines to the reclusive country, a report showed Friday.Tomas Ojea Quintana described it as a "new way" to engage with the North in his report on its human rights situation to be submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council next week, with his six-year term ending in August."A new way of thinking needs to take hold," the report read. "This can begin with an offer of 60 million vaccines to tackle COVID-19 as the gateway to broader conversations on capacity development, including on food production, healthcare, and water and sanitation to improve the capacity of the state to fulfill its human rights obligations."He visited Seoul last month to gather information for the annuaMar 18, 2022
North Korea silent after missile explodes over Pyongyang North Korean leader Kim Jong-un / YonhapNorth Korea's state media was silent Thursday after a suspected missile test ended in what Seoul said was total failure, exploding mid-air in the skies above the capital Pyongyang almost immediately after launch.The North test-fired what was most likely a ballistic missile from the Sunan area of the capital, home to some three million people, early Wednesday, South Korea's military said. The projectile exploded moments after launch, with Seoul-based specialist NK News reporting that debris fell in or near Pyongyang as a red-tinged ball of smoke zigzagged across the sky.North Korea's state media ― Rodong Sinmun and KCNA news agency ― typically carry reports on successful weapons tests within 24 hours of launch, often with photographs.But state media made no mention of the test Thursday, the tenth launch this year in the face of biting sanctions. "North Korea is constantly promoting this myth that its leadership is doing a great job. They don't want to highlight any failures," Cheong Seong-chang, a senior researcher at the private Sejong InstitutMar 17, 2022
