North Korea's Kim calls for 'absolutely loyal' military officers In this September 2018 file photo, senior military officials watch a parade as portraits of late North Korean leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il are seen in the background at the main Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang, North Korea. Reuters-YonhapNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un said the country's military education system must redouble efforts to turn out officers who "remain absolutely loyal" to the country's ruling party, state media reported on Tuesday.Kim made the remarks at the Eighth Conference of Military Educationists of the Korean People's Army held in Pyongyang over the weekend, state news agency KCNA said."He underscored the need to prepare all the military educationists to be true soldiers immensely loyal to the idea and leadership of the Party and to organize and provide the military education, strictly guided by the Party's idea, policy and method so as to bring up all the cadets to be commanding officers who remain absolutely loyal to the Party Central Committee," KCNA reported.The conference also reviewed "some deviations witnessed in the military education due to the lDec 7, 2021
North Korean teen sentenced to 14-year forced labor for watching 'The Man from Nowhere': report gettyimagesbankBy Yoon Ja-youngA North Korean teenager was reportedly sentenced to 14 years' forced labor for watching just five minutes of a South Korean film. Daily NK, a media outlet specializing in news about North Korea, recently reported that a middle school student in Hyesan, a North Korean city bordering China, was sentenced to 14 years in a labor camp for watching the South Korean film “The Man from Nowhere.” It cited a source in North Korea's Yanggang Province who reported that the 14-year-old was caught five minutes into watching the movie. North Korea has been strengthening penalties on consumption of South Korean popular content, introducing a law last year which stipulates that those who watch, listen to, or keep South Korea's film, recordings, edited material, books, songs, drawings, or photos are subject to between five to 15 years of forced labor. The news outlet noted that while the law doesn't specifically mention penalties for teenagers the convicted teenager was sentenced as an adult. It added that this appears to reflect the regime's intention to warDec 6, 2021By Yoon Ja-young
Ball in Kim Jong-un's court for 'end of war' declaration North Korea leader Kim Jong-un gestures during a speech at the third plenary meeting of the Eighth Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea, which closed June 18, in this June 19 photo carried by the Korean Central News Agency. YonhapMoon may send letter to persuade North Korea to join end-of-war declarationBy Nam Hyun-wooPresident Moon Jae-in's proposal of declaring an official end to the 1950-53 Korean War now appears to hinge on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, as the U.S. and China seem to have indicated their support for such a quadrilateral declaration, which could entice Pyongyang to return to talks on its denuclearization. During a meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Thursday, Moon said, “Our administration has proposed the end-of-war declaration in order to pass on a situation, in which the U.S., South Korea and North Korea are in talks, to the next administration. Close cooperation between Seoul and Washington is more important than anything else.”In a separate meeting between Austin and his South Korean counterpart Suh Wook, also on Thursday, the Dec 6, 2021By Nam Hyun-woo
South Korean gov't to step up monitoring 'fake news' about North Korea gettyimagesbankThe South Korean government will beef up efforts to monitor “fake news” on North Korea that "distort the policy environment" for inter-Korean relations, officials said Monday.On Friday, the National Assembly approved a 1.5 trillion won ($1.27 billion) budget for the unification ministry handling inter-Korean affairs next year, including 200 million won to launch the new monitoring program. The program was suggested following "needs for a more systematic monitoring due to the frequent spread of false, fabricated information on North Korea on new media platforms which led to various negative consequences, including the distortion of policy environment," ministry spokesperson Lee Jong-joo told a regular press briefing.The ministry will consult with experts to come up with a detailed plan on the new initiative, including who will be entrusted to carry out the business, as well as the scope and method of the monitoring activities, she said.The move is the latest in a series of efforts by the ministry to prevent the spread of groundless rumors on the reclusive NoDec 6, 2021
High-ranking Chinese official expresses support for Seoul's pursuit of end-of-war declaration South Korea's national security adviser Suh Hoon, left, poses for a photo with Chinese Communist Party foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi ahead of their talks in the Chinese city of Tianjin on Dec. 2. YonhapA high-ranking Chinese official in charge of foreign affairs said Beijing supports Seoul's push for the declaration of a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War, according to South Korea's embassy Friday.Yang Jiechi, a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, delivered the message during a meeting with Suh Hoon, director of national security at Cheong Wa Dae who serves as President Moon Jae-in's national security adviser, in China's eastern city of Tianjin the previous day, the embassy in Beijing said.Yang was quoted as saying, "(We) support the push for the end-of-war declaration and believe that the end-of-war declaration will contribute to promoting peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula."Yang, China's most senior foreign policy official, and Suh also reaffirmed the two sides will seek President Xi Jinping's visit to South Korea as soon as the situations relatedDec 3, 2021
UN excludes North Korea from humanitarian aid plans for two straight years This photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, attends a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang, Dec. 1. AP-YonhapThe United Nations has excluded North Korea from its global humanitarian assistance plan for 2022, its recent report showed, apparently due to the impoverished country's prolonged border lockdown against the COVID-19 pandemic. The Global Humanitarian Overview 2022 released by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said, "Afghanistan, DPR Korea and Myanmar are facing acute food insecurity situations, which are likely to deteriorate further by the year's end." But its response plans for the Asia-Pacific region only included those for Afghanistan and Myanmar. DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.It marked the second year in a row for the annual report to exclude North Korea from its assistance plans. The decision comes as North Korea is maintaining a strict border lockdown to stave off the corDec 3, 2021
Seoul, Washington update war plans to deter evolving North Korea's nuke, missile threats U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, center left, and South Korean Defense Minister Suh Wook attend a welcoming ceremony at the Defense Ministry in Seoul, Dec. 2. AP-YonhapSouth Korea and the United States agreed Thursday to update their joint wartime contingency plans to deter North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile threats, the two sides said, in a sign of their stepped-up cooperation to reinforce deterrence against the recalcitrant regime.Defense Minister Suh Wook and his U.S. counterpart, Lloyd Austin, approved the "Strategic Planning Guidance," a document to set the tone for updated wartime operation plans (OPLANs), during the allies' annual Security Consultative Meeting (SCM).Calls have persisted for rewriting the decade-old strategic guidance that critics said has become outdated following major advancements in the North's weapons development programs, including its refined nuclear arms, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and a hypersonic missile.The strategic guidance is designed to provide the allies' Military Committee, led by their Joint Chiefs of Staff chairmen, witDec 2, 2021
Pentagon chief arrives in Seoul for annual security talks on North Korea U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin / AP-YonhapU.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Seoul on Wednesday for annual security talks with his South Korean counterpart on the envisioned wartime operational control (OPCON) transfer, North Korean threats and the bilateral alliance.Austin landed at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, for a three-day trip on the eve of the 53rd Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) at the defense ministry here.This year's SCM comes days after Washington concluded nine months of a global defense posture review, calling for tighter cooperation with allies to confront security challenges from an increasingly assertive China and a recalcitrant North Korea. At the SCM, Seoul's Defense Minister Suh Wook and Austin are expected to discuss when and how to conduct the full operational capability (FOC) assessment ― the second part of a three-phase program designed to verify if South Korea is ready to retake wartime OPCON.The allies completed the initial operational capability (IOC) assessment in 2019, but they have yet to complete the Dec 1, 2021
National security adviser to visit China to discuss end-of-war declaration National security adviser Suh Hoon / YonhapNational security adviser Suh Hoon will visit China this week to meet with Beijing's top diplomat and discuss Seoul's push to declare a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War, sources said Tuesday.Suh plans to visit the country from Thursday to Friday at the invitation of Chinese Communist Party foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi, according to the diplomatic sources. Cheong Wa Dae said it had no information to share regarding the trip.During the two-day visit, Suh is expected to brief Yang on Seoul's latest efforts to formulate an end-of-war declaration with Washington.The United States helped defend South Korea against invading North Korean forces backed by China, but the war ended in an armistice.Suh is likely to seek China's participation in the declaration and cooperation in drawing the North back to the negotiation table.The Moon Jae-in administration hopes the end-of-war declaration will be a starting point for reviving stalled peace talks with the North, as it eyes the Beijing Winter Olympics in February as a possible venue for an inter-Nov 30, 2021
North Korea slams AUKUS as US 'tool for war' gettyimagesbankNorth Korea has criticized a new trilateral security partnership among Australia, Britain and the United States as an American "tool for war" that poses "serious threats" to world peace. In a commentary posted on the North's foreign ministry website Monday, the Korea-Asia Association said the international community should be wary of the initiative, called AUKUS, that "brings dark clouds of a nuclear war to the world." "(The concerns) come from the fact that the security platform plans to transfer to Australia the technologies to build a nuclear-powered submarine from the U.S. which is the world's largest country of war and invasion," it said.Announcing the launch of the initiative in September, U.S. President Joe Biden said the member countries will consult on Australia's acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines as a first step. The announcement came amid growing competition between the U.S. and China, with Washington frequently accusing Beijing of undermining a rules-based order in the region. China has also lambasted AUKUS as a formation of a maritime "clique" thatNov 30, 2021
