US nuclear strike against North Korea unfeasible: experts Moon Chung-in, left, special security adviser to President Moon Jae-in, speaks at the East Asia Foundation in Seoul during a webinar, co-hosted by the Asia Pacific Leadership Network for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament and the foundation, Wednesday. / Courtesy of East Asia Foundation'Washington missed golden opportunity to denuclearize Pyongyang'By Kang Seung-wooAlthough Bob Woodward's latest book, “Rage,” disclosed last month that the Donald Trump administration had reviewed firing scores of nuclear weapons at North Korea in 2017, experts said Wednesday that such an attack would not be an easy option to implement due to various reasons including possible escalation involving other countries.In the book, based on interviews with Trump, the writer said the United States studied “OPLAN 5027” for regime change in North Korea ― the U.S. response to an attack that could include the use of 80 nuclear weapons. OPLAN 5027 refers to a joint South Korea-U.S. military operation plan to respond to a North Korean invasion.Experts on Korean Peninsula issues saw a lOct 7, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
North Korean ex-ambassador to Italy defected to South: lawmaker Jo Song-gilA senior North Korea diplomat who had vanished in Italy in late 2018 lives in South Korea under government protection, a lawmaker said Wednesday.If confirmed, Jo Song Gil, the North's former ambassador to Italy, would be the highest-level North Korean official to defect to rival South Korea since the 1997 arrival of Hwang Jang-yop, a senior ruling Workers' Party official who once tutored leader Kim Jong Un's father, late leader Kim Jong Il. South Korea's spy agency earlier told lawmakers that Jo had left his official residence in Rome with his wife in November 2018 and was under protection at an unspecified location outside the European country. Lawmaker Ha Tae-keung, who sits on the intelligence committee of the National Assembly, wrote on Facebook that Jo arrived in South Korea last year and is under the protection of the South Korean government. Ha said he was confirming Jo's arrival on behalf of the committee to prevent a media frenzy, after a South Korean TV station reported about his defection on Tuesday evening. Ha said the committee decided not to provide further dOct 7, 2020
Family calls for UN probe into North Korea's killing of South Korean official Lee Rae-jin, center, the elder brother of the South Korean official who was shot dead by North Korean troops after floating into the North's territorial waters late last month, holds a letter requesting the United Nations investigate the case, before delivering it to the United Nations Human Rights Office in Seoul, Tuesday. Rep. Ha Tae-keung, right, and Rep. Tae Yong-ho of the main opposition People Power Party accompanied Lee. YonhapBy Jung Da-minThe family of a South Korean official who was shot dead by North Korean troops last month has asked the United Nations to look into the controversial incident.Lee Rae-jin, the elder brother of the slain maritime official, delivered a written request for the probe to Tomas Ojea Quintana, a U.N. special rapporteur on the human rights situation in North Korea, at the U.N. Human Rights Office in Seoul Tuesday. Lawmakers of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) ― Reps. Tae Yong-ho and Ha Tae-keung ― accompanied Lee.The request comes as the South and the North gave different accounts detailing why the official floated into the North's wateOct 6, 2020
In letter to Moon, son of slain fishery official demands truth In a hand-written letter to President Moon Jae-in, a son of the fishery official killed by North Korean soldiers last month demanded the truth. YonhapA son of the fishery official killed by North Korea at sea last month doubted the South Korean government's announcement that his father sought defection and pleaded with the president to find the truth about his father's death.In a letter released late Monday by Lee Rae-jin, the official's older brother, the son asked President Moon Jae-in, "Do you think it really makes sense that my father, who never learned how to swim and weighed only 68 kg for his height of 180 cm, swam 38 km against the tidal current?"He also rejected the possibility that the fishery official tried to run away to North Korea by jumping off the government ship monitoring fishing boats. His "diligent" father "was so proud of his job that he talked in my school's session to introduce his job," the 17-year-old son wrote. And even though the nature of his job only allowed him to come home twice a month, his father was a family man who adored his two children, he added.Oct 6, 2020
North Korean leader oversees politburo meeting to launch campaign for economic development North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held a politburo meeting of the ruling Workers' Party and launched an "80-day campaign" to make a last-ditch push to achieve the country's economic objectives, state media reported Tuesday. YonhapNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un held a politburo meeting of the ruling Workers' Party and launched an "80-day campaign" until year's end to make a last-ditch push to achieve the country's economic and other objectives, state media reported Tuesday.In August, Kim acknowledged that his five-year economic development plan ending this year failed to achieve intended goals in the face of unexpected internal and external challenges, and pledged to unveil a new scheme at a rare party congress in January."The meeting discussed, as its first agenda item, the issue of successfully greeting the Eighth Congress of the Party by waging a dynamic 80-Day Campaign of the entire Party, the whole country and all the people," the Korean Central News Agency said."The remaining days till the Eighth Congress of the Party is the period of year-end struggle and also the last phase of Oct 6, 2020
Trump's COVID-19 infection casts shadow over Moon's peace efforts U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un talk to each other during their meeting at the truce village of Panmunjeom in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, June 30, 2019. / Korea Times filePompeo cancels visit to SeoulBy Kang Seung-wooU.S. President Donald Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis is expected to affect President Moon Jae-in's peace initiative of engaging with North Korea unfavorably, according to diplomatic experts, Sunday. Trump's infection has practically put an end to speculation over an “October surprise” summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for a breakthrough in stalled denuclearization talks ahead of the Nov. 3 U.S. presidential election. This will also weigh negatively on Moon's Korean Peninsula peace process that could have been boosted by an improvement in relations between the United States and the North. On Friday, the White House announced that the U.S. president and the first lady had tested positive for the coronavirus and later that he had been transferred to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Speculation here had been moOct 4, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
North Korean leader wishes Trump quick recovery from COVID-19 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)-YonhapNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a message to U.S. President Donald Trump, Saturday, wishing him and first lady Melania Trump a quick recovery from COVID-19, according to state media in the reclusive state.The message came a day after Trump tweeted that he and his wife tested positive for the virus.In the message, Kim said he "heard the sudden news" that Trump and his wife tested positive for the virus, the official Korean Central News Agency said."He offered his sympathy to the president and the first lady," the KCNA said. "He sincerely hoped that they would be recovered as soon as possible. He hoped they will surely overcome it. He sent warm greetings to them."This is the first time Kim has sent a message to the president or other leader of a country wishing them a recovery after they tested positive for the new coronavirus. (Yonhap)Oct 3, 2020
Kim Jong-un inspects flood recovery efforts with sister On Friday, Rodong Shimmun released photos of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un checking a flood-hit border county of Kimhwa, Gangwon Province, with Kim Yo-jong behind him. YonhapNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited a flood-hit border village to check recovery efforts, state media said Friday, along with his sister, Kim Yo-jong, who made her first public appearance in two months.Kim inspected the reconstruction site in the central border county of Kimhwa and learned in detail about damage to dwellings, farms, transportation, the power grid and telecommunications, and heard about progress in the recovery efforts, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said."Hearing the report that about 88 percent of the total construction project has now been done for nearly 1,000 families ― several-story dwelling houses in (the) township area and single-story dwelling houses in the ri of the county, he said with great satisfaction that the People's Army is making world-startling achievements under the energetic leadership and meticulous guidance of our Party," the agency said.Kim stresOct 2, 2020
US, South Korea form 'better foundation' for declaration of end to Korean War: Seoul envoy In this June 30, 2019, file photo, President Moon Jae-in, right, stands with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, and U.S. President Donald Trump at Panmunjom. APSouth Korea and the United States have formed a "better foundation" for the declaration of an official end to the Korean War, South Korea's top nuclear envoy said Wednesday."Since we had very broad and meaningful discussions, I believe a better foundation that will continue to serve us better in the future has been created," Lee Do-hoon told reporters when asked whether the countries were able to reach a mutual understanding on the need to declare a formal end to the Korean War.Lee's trip to the U.S. came shortly after South Korean President Moon Jae-in urged international efforts to declare an official end to the 1950-53 Korean War, which he said would provide a security guarantee the North has long sought, and thus prompting the communist state to give up its nuclear ambitions.The South Korean envoy earlier expressed hope to win Washington's support for the peace initiative. South and North Korea technically remain at Oct 1, 2020
North Korean leader pledges full support for China in letter to Xi: KCNA In this photo provided Sept. 30, 2020, by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends the 18th meeting of Political Bureau of 7th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang, Sept. 29, 2020. APNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un reaffirmed his country's "invariable" support for China in a message to Chinese President Xi Jinping, the North's official media reported Thursday."The Supreme Leader (Kim) also stressed in the message that he and the party and the people of the DPRK will invariably stand by the general secretary (Xi), the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese people in the struggle for accomplishing the joint cause of defending and glorifying socialism gained at the cost of blood," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.The message, dated Oct. 1, was designed to congratulate the Chinese leader on the 71th founding anniversary of China and its communist party, according to the KCNA."The message said the Chinese people have registered eyeOct 1, 2020
