Combined forces of South Korea, US fully ready to deter North Korean threats: Gen. Milley Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley / AFP-YonhapThe combined forces of South Korea and the United States stand fully ready and capable to defend against any threats from North Korea, the top U.S. military official said Wednesday.Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also said the countries closely monitor their joint readiness to make sure they are capable."The forces that we have on the Korean Peninsula, in combination with our ROK allies by the way, which is a very capable military, are in fact capable of defending and defending very. very well against the North Korean threat on the Korean Peninsula," he said in a pre-recorded speech delivered at the annual Sedona Forum hosted by the Washington-based McCain Institute for International Leadership think tank.ROK stands for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.Milley said the combined forces take their slogan ― Fight Tonight ― very seriously."You know the slogan on the Korean Peninsula is Fight Tonight, but that's very real. That's not fake. That's not just a bumper sticker," said thApr 29, 2021
South Korea to push forward US-North Korea talks gettyimagesbankSouth Korea will try to help move nuclear talks between the United States and North Korea forward and restore its own dialogue with Pyongyang, the government said Wednesday in a policy report on inter-Korean relations for this year.The report, submitted to the National Assembly, was a yearly action plan designed to carry out a five-year blueprint that lays out the objectives and directions of the government's policy on inter-Korean relations for 2018-2022. Under the latest plan, South Korea vowed to push the stalled nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang under the principle of "no war," "mutual security" and "joint prosperity.""We will work closely with the new U.S. administration and come up with a coordinated policy to make progress in achieving denuclearization and building peace," it said.The government said it will strengthen communication with China and the international community to restart the peace process on the Korean Peninsula.It also pledged efforts to restore inter-Korean talks via a video link amid the global virus pandemic.The latest plan was anApr 28, 2021
Moon says time approaching for resuming dialogue with North Korea President Moon Jae-in / YonhapPresident Moon Jae-in said Tuesday that the time is drawing near for the two Koreas to resume dialogue, stressing the significance of their historic summit deal three years earlier."The time is approaching again when (we) should end long deliberation and restart dialogue," he said during a weekly Cabinet meeting.He was speaking on the third anniversary of the signing of the Panmunjom Declaration with North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un. The agreement, reached during the Moon-Kim summit held at the border village, calls for joint efforts to achieve co-prosperity, establish lasting peace and get the two Koreas reunited."The Panmunjom Declaration is a milestone of peace that no one can undermine," Moon emphasized. "The path of peace, promised in the declaration, cannot be reversed under any circumstance."Inter-Korean dialogue and Washington-Pyongyang denuclearization talks have been stalled for more than two years.Moon cited "external conditions and realistic restraints" in making further progress on top of the accomplishment of signing the declaration.NonetheApr 27, 2021
No breakthrough for inter-Korean ties on 3rd anniversary of Panmunjeom declaration President Moon Jae-in talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on a wooden bridge during their summit at the truce village of Panmunjeom in this April 27, 2018, photo. YonhapBy Jung Da-minThree years have passed since the April 27 Panmunjeom inter-Korean Declaration was made at the first summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but inter-Korean relations have since made little progress, due to uncertainty over the domestic and international situations of both countries, North Korea watchers said Monday. Since the failure of the Hanoi summit between former U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim in February 2019, not only U.S.-North Korea relations, but also inter-Korean relations, have been stalemated. Since then, North Korea has conducted at least 21 missile tests, mostly short range ones. The Moon government has continued its diplomatic efforts to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table, but to no avail, with the North Korean side calling for sanctions waivers for the resumption of inter-Korean projects, such as the Gaesong Industrial ComApr 26, 2021
Pope Francis expresses willingness to visit North Korea Pope Francis leads a mass with Priestly Ordinations of some deacons inside the St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, April 25. The pope has expressed his willingness again to visit North Korea as he sympathized with the Korean people long separated by the 1950-53 Korean War. EPAPope Francis has expressed his willingness again to visit North Korea as he sympathized with the Korean people long separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, a senior South Korean bishop said Monday.The pope made the remarks during a meeting in the Vatican with Lazarus You Heung-sik, who heads the Daejeon diocese, saying the Korean people have been suffering the pain of living separated for 70 years, the bishop told Yonhap News Agency.The pope said he will visit North Korea if relevant preparations are completed, according to the bishop.The pope has expressed a willingness to visit the North before. A papal trip to Pyongyang gained traction in 2018 amid a peace mood created by three inter-Korean summits and a historic meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and then U.S. President Donald Trump.In October of Apr 26, 2021
US adjusts internal disagreements on North Korea policy U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at the White House in Washington, D.C., during the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate, Friday. AFP-YonhapBy Jung Da-minThe United States seems to be fine-tuning different opinions between moderates and hard-liners within the Biden administration on its policy review of North Korea, which is believed to be in its final stages, according to Pyongyang watchers, Sunday.The U.S. president was expected to complete the review as early as this month, given that the White House released its Interim National Security Strategic Guidance for this year in March. But Jalina Porter, the U.S. State Department's principal deputy spokeswoman, said Friday (local time), that there was no specific timeline for the review.“The Biden administration is conducting a through interagency review of our policy towards North Korea, and that would include the implementation of ongoing pressure measures as well as options for future diplomacy. And again, we have nothing to preview since that review is still ongoing,” Porter said.Cha Du-hyeogn, a visiting research fellow atApr 26, 2021
Bookstore chain pulls memoir of North Korean founder over controversy North Korean founder Kim Il-sung / Korea Times file South Korea's biggest bookstore chain has ceased sales of memoir of North Korean founder Kim Il-sung following a legal and political controversy surrounding the eight-volume series. On Wednesday, a local publishing company said it has begun selling the memoir, titled "With the Century," here for the first time since the books were published by the North Korean regime in the early 1990s.The memoir, which mostly feature Kim's anti-Japanese fight, have sparked controversy as they are known to contain many fabrications about his life. The North's founder is the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un.In the 1990s, a South Korean publisher tried in vain to sell the books here and came under investigation for allegedly violating the National Security Act.In a meeting held Friday, Kyobo Book Center decided to ban sales of the series and remove the memoir from its online bookstore, according to sources."Considering a SupApr 25, 2021
Publication of North Korea founder's memoir stirs controversy The cover of “With the Century,” a memoir of North Korea's founder Kim Il-sung / Courtesy of Minjok SarangbangBy Kwon Mee-yooControversy is rising over the publication of the memoir of North Korea founder Kim Il-sung here, as it was ruled anti-state material by the Supreme Court back in 2011. While the eight-volume series "With the Century” hit bookshelves in South Korea in early April, the Ministry of Unification said it would look into how the books are being sold and whether this violates the National Security Law.Local publisher Minjok Sarangbang, operated by a private organization promoting inter-Korean exchanges, released the memoir in early April. The books are unabridged, according to the publisher.The eight-part memoir covers Kim's early life from his birth in 1912 to armed struggles against Japan before Korea was liberated in 1945. The first volume was published in 1992 on the occasion of Kim's 80th birthday ― four more were released during Kim's lifetime and three posthumously through 1998.The book series has been known for glorifying Kim's life with the Apr 23, 2021By Kwon Mee-yoo
Military fully ready to deter any aggression from North Korea: US commander Adm. Charles Richard, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, speaks during a briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, April 22. APThe United States is ready and able to deter any aggression from North Korea, the chief of the U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) said Thursday, also highlighting the U.S. security commitment to South Korea.Adm. Charles Richard, however, said the best way to resolve issues with North Korea is with diplomacy."I will tell you that I am very confident in my ability to deter, or we're very familiar with North Korea's capabilities and I'm very confident in our ability to deter that," he said at a news conference at the Pentagon.The USSTRATCOM commander earlier said North Korea continues to pose threats to the United States and its allies in Northeast Asia."North Korea has tested ICBMs designed to strike the entire continental United States and has a large inventory of theater ballistic missiles," he said in a written statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee prior to a hearing this week.Recent reports have suggested North Korea now may be preparing to Apr 23, 2021
North Korea tightening up ties with communist nations North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, right, stands with his wife Ri Sol-ju during a ceremony to mark the birthday of his grandfather, North Korea founder Kim Il-sung, on April 15, in this footage from an April 17 TV report by Pyongyang's Korean Central Television. YonhapBy Nam Hyun-wooNorth Korea is making a series of outreaches to communist nations and other Kim regime-friendly countries to strengthen ties with them, showing a stark contrast to its strategy of severing connections with Seoul and Washington.Pyongyang's state-run Rodong Shinmun reported in a front-page article on Thursday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a message to congratulate Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on his birthday. According to the paper, the message reads that Kim is sending his “firm support and solidarity to the fraternal Cuban people who have achieved great successes in the struggle for victorious advance of the socialist cause, despite the vicious sanctions and blockade by the hostile forces.”The message came after Kim sent two separate messages earlier this week to celebrate the CApr 22, 2021By Nam Hyun-woo
