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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

Kim Yo-jong: North Korean leader's increasingly powerful sister

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister Kim Yo-jong holds a bouquet of flowers during a welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, Vietnam, March 1, 2019. EPANorth Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister warned at the weekend that a Korean liaison office would soon be seen "completely collapsed". On Tuesday, Pyongyang reduced it to rubble.Kim Yo Jong is one of her brother's most trusted advisers and among the most powerful women in the isolated regime, but her public profile is mounting rapidly and she has been mooted as a potential successor.The first statement issued in her name came only in March this year, but in recent days and weeks, she has been at the forefront of Pyongyang's denunciations of defectors in the South sending leaflets across the border.Officially she is only an alternate member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, but in a weekend statement carried by the official KCNA news agency, she referred to "my power authorised by the Supreme Leader, our Party and the state".Born in 1988, according to the Unification ministry, Yo Jong is one of three

Jun 16, 2020
Kim Yo-jong: North Korean leader's increasingly powerful sister
  • North Korea blows up liaison office

The two Koreas: 70 years of danger and detente

A visitor wearing a face mask walks in front of the wire fence decorated with ribbons written with messages wishing for the reunification of the two Koreas at the Imjingak Pavilion in Paju, South Korea, Sunday, June 14, 2020. APNorth and South Korea are still technically at war. Here are some key moments in the decades-long standoff between them, after Pyongyang on Tuesday blew up its liaison office with the South:- War but no peace -The US and Soviet Union agreed to divide the Korean peninsula between them in the days after Japan's surrender ended the Second World War and its rule over the territory.In June 1950 the Communist North invaded the capitalist South, sparking a brutal war that killed millions of people.Beijing backed Pyongyang in the three-year conflict, while Washington threw its support behind the South ― alliances that have largely endured. The two sides fought each other to a stalemate and hostilities ceased in 1953 with an armistice rather than a formal peace treaty, leaving them technically still at war.- Sending in the assassins -Pyongyang has tested the ceasefire

Jun 16, 2020
The two Koreas: 70 years of danger and detente
  • North Korea blows up liaison office

Kremlin calls for 'restraint' amid North Korea escalation

Russian President Vladimir Putin / EPAThe Kremlin on Tuesday called for restraint following a sharp escalation in tensions after North Korea blew up a liaison office near its border with South Korea. "This is a concern, we urge all parties to show restraint," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding that Russia would be closely monitoring the situation. The Kremlin, an ally of the Stalinist regime, was not planning any talks at the highest level for the moment, he said.After days of increasingly virulent rhetoric from Pyongyang, North Korea blew up an inter-Korean liaison office on its side of the border on Tuesday.The demolition came after Kim Yo Jong ― the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ― said over the weekend that the "useless north-south joint liaison office" would soon be seen "completely collapsed".Analysts say Pyongyang may be seeking to manufacture a crisis to increase pressure on Seoul while nuclear talks with Washington are at a standstill. (AFP)

Jun 16, 2020
Kremlin calls for 'restraint' amid North Korea escalation
  • North Korea blows up liaison office

Defense ministry vows 'strong' response to any provocative action by North Korea

South Korean army's K-55 self-propelled howitzers are seen at the border with North Korea, South Korea, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. APSouth Korea will strongly respond to any provocative military action by North Korea, the defense ministry said Tuesday, amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula following the North's surprise demolition of the inter-Korean liaison office.Earlier in the day, North Korea blew up the inter-Korean joint liaison office in its border town of Kaesong, three days after leader Kim Jong-un's influential sister, Kim Yo-jong, warned of its demolition in protest over South Korean activists' sending of anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets across the border.The destruction sparked concern that the North could put other threats against the South into action, including taking military action and moving troops to border regions disarmed under inter-Korean agreements."Regarding the current security situations, our military has been closely monitoring the North Korean military's movements round-the-clock, and doing its best to manage the situation to prevent the situati

Jun 16, 2020
Defense ministry vows 'strong' response to any provocative action by North Korea
  • Cheong Wa Dae says it will 'strongly respond' if North further worsens situation

Cheong Wa Dae says it will 'strongly respond' if North further worsens situation

Kim You-geun, deputy director of Cheong Wa Dae's national security office, speaks during a press briefing at Cheong Wa Dae, Tuesday. YonhapHours after North Korea demolished the inter-Korean liaison office in its border town of Kaesong in a surprise provocation Tuesday, South Korea warned of a strong response if the North further worsens the situation.Cheong Wa Dae made the unusually strong warning after holding an emergency meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) standing committee to discuss the matter. "The government expresses strong regret over North Korea's unilateral explosion of the inter-Korean liaison office building," Kim You-geun, deputy director of Cheong Wa Dae's national security office, told reporters after the meeting. "We sternly warn that we will strongly respond to it if North Korea takes any action that further worsens the situation."Kim also said the demolition constitutes an action that betrays "the expectations of all people who wish for the development of inter-Korean relations and the settlement of peace on the Korean Peninsula." "We make it clear tha

Jun 16, 2020
Cheong Wa Dae says it will 'strongly respond' if North further worsens situation
  • Defense ministry vows 'strong' response to any provocative action by North Korea

North Korea blows up liaison office

Smoke rises from the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, Tuesday. The South Korean Ministry of Unification said North Korea blew up the South-North joint liaison office, located in the complex, at 2:49 p.m., three days after Kim Yo-jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister, warned that the office would “completely collapse.” Yonhaphttps://www.youtube.com/embed/QSgEejzUnbc" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen>By Do Je-hae North Korea blew up the inter-Korean liaison office in Gaeseong, Tuesday afternoon, following through on an earlier threat to do so.The Ministry of Unification confirmed that the North had blown up the office at 2:49 p.m. following reports of an explosion and smoke from the Gaeseong Industrial Complex (GIC). The office, set up in September 2018, was one outcome of the Panmunjeom Declaration announced April 27 that year after the first summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The office was set up to facilitate inter-Korean projects and joint events,

Jun 16, 2020By Do Je-hae
North Korea blows up liaison office
  • China says it hopes for peace and stability on Korean peninsula
  • Kremlin calls for 'restraint' amid North Korea escalation
  • The two Koreas: 70 years of danger and detente
  • Kim Yo-jong: North Korean leader's increasingly powerful sister
  • VIDEO North Korea to redeploy troops to Kaesong, Mount Kumgang areas, rejects Seoul's offer for envoys

Moon convenes top security meeting to discuss North Korea's demolition of liaison office

President Moon Jae-in / YonhapPresident Moon Jae-in convened an emergency meeting of top security officials Tuesday, hours after North Korea demolished the inter-Korean liaison office in its border town of Kaesong.The National Security Council meeting was set to open at 5 p.m.According to the defense and unification ministries, North Korea blew up the inter-Korean liaison office in its border town of Kaesong at 2:49 p.m.The explosion took place three days after Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, warned that the North will demolish the "useless" communication office in protest of Seoul's "failure" to stop activists from sending anti-North Korean leaflets to the country. (Yonhap)

Jun 16, 2020
Moon convenes top security meeting to discuss North Korea's demolition of liaison office
  • Unification minister says explosion of liaison office was expected

Unification minister says explosion of liaison office was expected

Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul is surrounded by journalists at National Assembly in Seoul, Tuesday. YonhapSouth Korea's unification minister said Tuesday that North Korea's detonation of the inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong was already preannounced by the North and Seoul would need more details to assess the situation.Appearing in a session of the parliamentary standing committee on foreign affairs and unification, Minister Kim Yeon-chul said, "It is something partly preannounced (by North Korea).""(The country) needs to study more details of the situation," Kim said as the news of the explosion broke out while the committee was in session. According to the defense and unification ministries, North Korea blew up the inter-Korean liaison office in its border town of Kaesong at 2:49 p.m.It took place three days after Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, warned that the North will demolish the "useless" communication office. (Yonhap)

Jun 16, 2020
Unification minister says explosion of liaison office was expected
  • Moon convenes top security meeting to discuss North Korea's demolition of liaison office

China says it hopes for peace and stability on Korean peninsula

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian / ReutersChina's foreign ministry said on Tuesday that Beijing hopes for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, amid escalating tensions between Seoul and Pyongyang.Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian made the remarks during a daily briefing in Beijing. (Reuters)

Jun 16, 2020
China says it hopes for peace and stability on Korean peninsula
  • North Korea destroys inter-Korean liaison office
  • North Korea blows up liaison office

North Korea destroys inter-Korean liaison office

In this file photo taken on Sept. 9, 2018, Korean People's Army tanks take part in a military parade on Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang. North Korea's army is "fully ready" to take action against the South, state media said on June 16, 2020, in the latest verbal sabre-rattling from Pyongyang, days after its leader's sister threatened military moves against Seoul. AFPNorth Korea blew up an office set up to foster better ties with South Korea in its border town of Kaesong on Tuesday after it threatened to take action if North Korean defectors went ahead with a campaign to send propaganda leaflets into the North.North Korea's KCNA state news said the liaison office, which had been closed since January over fears of the novel coronavirus, was "tragically ruined with a terrific explosion".South Korea also said the office had been blown up. Its media reported that an explosion was heard and smoke could be seen rising over Kaesong.The office, when it was operating, served as an embassy for both of the old rivals and its destruction represents a major set-back for efforts by South Korea's Pr

Jun 16, 2020
North Korea destroys inter-Korean liaison office
  • China says it hopes for peace and stability on Korean peninsula
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