Military inspects security posture following North Korean's border crossing Vehicles carrying soldiers are on the move in Goseong, Gangwon Province, Wednesday. YonhapThe military has launched an inspection into a border security failure that enabled a North Korean man to cross the heavily guarded border into the South unhindered earlier this week, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said (JCS) Thursday.The man, whose identity was withheld, was captured 14 hours after he crossed the border late Tuesday following the military's extensive search operations.Sensors were installed at the barbed wire fences through which the man climbed over, but they did not ring, raising doubts about their effectiveness."The JCS is inspecting and checking the system," its spokesperson Col. Kim Jun-rak said during a regular press briefing. "If there are parts that need to be supplemented in our scientific security system, we will take necessary measures."The JCS inspection team is expected to look into the security system, as well as whether troops appropriately reacted after they first spotted the man near the military demarcation line on Monday night.The military raised the "Jindogae" alNov 5, 2020
North Korea prohibits smoking in public places Members of Women's Union in Wonsan city dance to encourage workers during the rush hour in front of Haean Plaza in the city of Wonsan, Kangwon Province, North Korea, Oct., 28, 2020. State media reported Thursday that the government has banned smoking in some public places. APNorth Korea's Supreme People's Assembly on Wednesday introduced smoking bans in some public places to provide citizens with "hygienic living environments," state media KCNA reported on Thursday.The tobacco-prohibition law aims to protect the lives and health of North Koreans by tightening the legal and social controls on the production and sale of cigarettes, KCNA quoted the legislature as saying.The law stipulates that smoking is banned in specific venues, such as political and ideological education centres, theatres and cinemas and medical and public health facilities, KCNA said.North Korea has high rates of smoking tobacco, with 43.9% of the male population smokers as of 2013, according to the World Health Organization.North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is known as a chain smoker who is frequently seen with a cigNov 5, 2020
North Korean man captured after crossing inter-Korean border The inter-Korean border area / YonhapA North Korean man was taken into custody after crossing into South Korea via the eastern border, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Wednesday, amid a possibility that he could have sought to defect to the South.The man, whose identity was withheld, was captured about 10 hours after he crossed the border in the eastern county of Goseong late Tuesday. His crossing was detected on the South's surveillance equipment, prompting the military to launch extensive search operations."Our military safely captured the man at around 9:50 a.m. In coordination with related authorities, we will carry out investigation into the man, including how he crossed the border and if he has the intention to defect to the South," the JCS said in a statement."No unusual moves by the North Korean military have been detected," the military added.It is not immediately known if he is a soldier or a civilian, though officials said he did not wear a military uniform.For the search operations, troops were placed on the "Jindogae" alert, which is issued to cope with a possible inNov 4, 2020
North Korea attempted to hack into COVID-19 vaccine developers data “Kimsuky,” a North Korean cyber espionage group, has led a string of operations to hack into international organizations including pharmaceutical companies developing COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, according to a U.S. cyber security company, Monday. / gettyimagebanksBy Park Han-solA North Korean cyber espionage group has attempted to hack into multiple international organizations including companies working on COVID-19 vaccines with a new form of malware, according to a U.S. cyber security firm.In a threat alert published Monday, Boston-based Cybereason identified previously undiscovered spyware used by “Kimsuky,” a presumably state-operated hacking group in North Korea since 2012, to carry out global intelligence gathering operations. Spyware refers to malicious software that can be used to track and steal information about and from internet users.Cybereason explained the newly found malware and infrastructure shared similar features and had been linked to the same IP address as another piece of malware employed by Kimsuky in the past called BabyShark thatNov 3, 2020By Park Han-sol
Nongovernmental inter-Korean exchanges frozen The South Korea-built support center at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex remains severely damaged after North Korea demolished the inter-Korean liaison office adjacent to it, June 16, as seen in this September photo. / YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooInter-Korean exchanges at the nongovernment level have come to a halt largely due to the COVID-19 crisis which led North Korea to close its borders in January. Worse, South Korean private organization-led humanitarian aid to the North and government-level inter-Korean economic cooperation are also losing steam amid ongoing frayed ties between the two Koreas, dented by Pyongyang's destruction of an inter-Korean liaison office and the killing of a South Korean fisheries official ― both of which have raised resentment and antipathy in the South.Despite repeated offers from the government and the international community to provide coronavirus assistance, Pyongyang has refused the aid proposals to prevent outside help from bringing in the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Also despite serious damage from floods in August, North Korean leader Kim Jong-uNov 1, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
North Korea's anti-virus law imposes requirements on foreigners Hygienic and anti-epidemic officials disinfect and check the temperature of people outside the entrance to Songdowon General Foodstuff Factory in the city of Wonsan, North Korea, Oct., 28, 2020. APAn emergency anti-virus law that North Korea recently enacted requires not only its citizens, but also foreigners, to unconditionally obey anti-virus measures, including a ban on entering the sea, according to a state newspaper report.The law also bans foreigners from making unauthorized visits to border regions, while stipulating that the bodies of those who die in an epidemic should be handled according to related regulations, according to the Minju Joson newspaper as obtained by Yonhap News Agency.These rules are required of North Korean nationals as well, but it is noticeable that the law specifically calls for foreigners to ensure absolute obedience to anti-virus measures while stipulating a list of requirements they should meet. In addition to the ban on entering border regions and the sea, the regulations also require foreigners to avoid unnecessary trips to other regions, eating fooNov 1, 2020
North Korea says South Korea responsible for death of fisheries official A south Korean fisheries official who was shot dead by North Korean soldiers while adrift in North Korean waters of the Yellow Sea in September was ultimately a responsibility of South Korea that failed to exercise proper control over its citizen, the North Korean state media outlet said Friday. YonhapNorth Korea said Friday that South Korea is the first to blame for the death of a fisheries official killed at sea last month because the South failed to exercise proper control over its citizen.But the North also said such an "accidental" incident should not lead inter-Korean relations to a "catastrophe." It also said it tried its best, unsuccessfully, to search for the body of the South Korean official to return it to his family.The 47-year-old fisheries official was fatally shot by the North's military while adrift in the North Korean side of the Yellow Sea, according to the South's military. He went missing the previous day while on duty near the western border island of Yeonpyeong."Explicitly speaking, the recent inglorious incident in the waters of the West Sea of Korea was the reOct 30, 2020
Suicide prevention programs for North Korean defectors to be developed From left, Korea Suicide Prevention Center (KSPC) Director Paik Jong-woo, Settlement Support Center for North Korean Refugees Director Lee Joo-tae and Korea Hana Foundation President Jung In-sung pose with written agreements on cooperation in developing suicide prevention programs for North Korean defectors, at the KSPC, Seoul, Tuesday. / Courtesy of Ministry of UnificationBy Park Han-solThe government will develop a suicide prevention program specifically tailored for North Korean defectors, as part of efforts to curb the high suicide rate among the group.Three agencies ― the Settlement Support Center for North Korean Refugees (Hanawon), the Korea Hana Foundation (KHF) and the Korea Suicide Prevention Center (KSPC) ― signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), Tuesday, vowing cooperation in the understanding and development of suicide prevention programs aimed at those who have defected from the North.With this agreement, the organizations plan to collaborate in areas such as educational training as well as exchanges of materials, human resources and relevant data to raise awarenessOct 29, 2020By Park Han-sol
ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL 'Looking beyond 70 years of conflict to 70 years of unity' The Korean Peninsula has been suffering from division for the last 70 years since the Korean War broke out in 1950, the year The Korea Times published its first issue on Nov. 1. The division of North and South Korea has been the main factor behind ideological conflict domestically, and complications in the dynamics of diplomacy. On the occasion of the newspaper's 70th anniversary, The Korea Times conducted interviews with four international experts on how to seek a breakthrough on issues in and surrounding the peninsula, and find the last piece of the puzzle to usher in the next 70 years of unity. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk2 Koreas, allies urged to embrace differences for harmony on Korean PeninsulaBy Kang Seung-wooSeven decades ago, war broke out on the Korean Peninsula, leaving scars that linger to this day. The continued division of the two Koreas is one of the longest unresolved separations of a people in modern history.For most of the division, the two Koreas have been enemies, but in the last two to three decades the two nations have made some progress in bettering relatOct 28, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Obama claims dictators want Trump's victory because he gave them everything Former U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at a rally as he campaigns for Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020, in Orlando, Fla. APFormer U.S. President Barack Obama criticized President Donald Trump Tuesday for coddling dictators, including North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and giving them everything they want."You think he is going to stand up to dictators?" the former president asked while speaking in support of his former vice president and Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden.Obama's remarks came one day after Trump said Kim, along with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and some 40 others are sharp as a "tack," insisting that Biden would not be capable of dealing with them.Trump went on to claim that they don't want to deal with Biden, and that one of them has actually told him that they hope Trump wins the upcoming election "because we don't want to deal with somebody that sleeps all of the time."Obama said he believed what Trump said is true."We know. We know because you have been giving them Oct 28, 2020
