US base in South Korea accidentally blares emergency siren: reports A South Korean army soldier watches the North Korea side from the Unification Observation Post in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2019. APA U.S. Army base in South Korea accidentally sounded an emergency siren Thursday night, sending some soldiers into a frenzy amid threats of an unwanted "Christmas gift" from North Korea, news reports said.The incident occurred at Camp Casey in Dongducheon, 40 kilometers north of Seoul, the closest U.S. Army base to the North Korean border.The Washington Post reported that the siren went off around 10 p.m. instead of taps, the bugle call played at military funerals and on military bases to mark the end of the day.Army Lt. Col. Martyn Crighton, a spokesman for the 2nd Infantry Division, called it "human error.""The operator immediately identified the mistake and alerted units on Camp Casey of the false alarm," CNN quoted Crighton as saying in a statement.He told The Post that the siren heard would normally warn soldiers to begin "alert procedures."A sense of alarm gripped the base, according to posts on socialDec 28, 2019
Unification minister calls for interim deal in US-NK nuclear talks Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul / Korea Times fileUnification Minister Kim Yeon-chul has called on the United States and North Korea to reach a tentative deal in their nuclear negotiations to keep the momentum for dialogue alive amid concern Pyongyang could return to a provocative tack next year.The minister made the remark during a press conference in Seoul on Thursday, as North Korea was set to hold a plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party later this month to decide on "crucial issues," spurring speculation that a major policy shift in relation to denuclearization talks might be forthcoming."In order to keep the situation from deteriorating and revive the momentum for negotiations, we need an interim deal as a stepping stone to a final agreement, a wisdom of modus vivendi," Kim said.Since the second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un collapsed without a deal in February, nuclear talks have been stalled.Pyongyang has set the end of the year as a deadline for Washington to come up with a new acceptable proposal in nuclear negotiatiDec 27, 2019
North Korean defectors sense job opportunities in coffee GettyimagesbankCho Kyung-ja (alias), a 33-year-old North Korean defector, is busy operating an espresso machine, preparing four cappuccinos, grinding, temping, frothing and sometimes wiping away beans that scatter here and there.As she lays the four cups down on a table, she shyly smiles as she says, "Excuse me. Here they are." She returns to the coffee machine and an alarm clock goes off seconds later. She finally breathes a sigh of relief.At a glance, it looks like a run-of-the-mill coffee shop teeming with people, but Cho was actually practicing latte art as part of a 10-minute-long simulation in preparation for a test a few days later.Cho had already passed a barista test weeks earlier and the upcoming latte art test was the last remaining hurdle that she had to overcome before completing a two-month-long job training program arranged by a state-run agency supporting the resettlement of North Korean defectors in South Korea. "I like it the most when I am drawing something on the surface of cappuccino," she said in a recent interview. "I think I am still far away from making coffeDec 27, 2019
North Korea's 'new way' can be late Christmas gift North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presides the third enlarged meeting of the seventh Central Military Commission of the country's ruling Workers' Party of Korea in this video footage released by the country's state-run Korean Central Television (KCTV), Dec. 22. KCTV-YonhapPyongyang can adopt new diplomacy on neighboring countriesBy Jung Da-min Days ahead of the year-end deadline set by North Korea for its denuclearization negotiations with the United States, experts raised speculations Tuesday that what North Korea has described to be a “Christmas gift” for the U.S. could be a declaration of the country's “new way” of its diplomacy with the U.S. and other neighboring countries. They said it would be revealed at a plenary meeting of the central committee of the country's ruling party. Earlier this month, North Korea announced that leaders of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) will convene the 5th plenary meeting of the 7th Central Committee of the WPK in late December. The country's state media have yet to report further details. The country has repeatedly warned Dec 26, 2019
US flies spy planes again over Korean Peninsula (From left top clockwise) The United States Air Force's surveillance planes RC-135W, J-STARS, RC-135S and RQ-4. YonhapThe United States has flown spy planes over the Korean Peninsula again, an aviation tracker said Thursday, amid speculation that North Korea could carry out a major provocation amid stalled denuclearization talks.According to Aircraft Spots, one RC-135S Cobra Ball plane was presumed to have carried out a surveillance mission over South Korea's East Sea after taking off from Japan's Okinawa.On the same day, an E-8C plane or JSTARS was also spotted flying over the peninsula at some 31,000 feet, the aviation tracker said.The flights came after the U.S. flew four spy planes at the same time over the peninsula earlier this week in an unusual move to intensify its surveillance on North Korea amid concerns that the North could test-fire an intercontinental ballistic missile.North Korea has threatened to take a "new way" if Washington fails to come up with a new proposal in denuclearization talks before the end of this year, hinting that it otherwise will end diplomacy and reDec 26, 2019
US ready for North Korea's 'Christmas gift' threat North Korean leader Kim Jong-un leads a state meeting that discussed defense and military organization's reshuffle, according to Korean Central Television on Dec. 22, 2019. YonhapThe United States and its allies stand ready to defend themselves even on Christmas day, a Pentagon spokesman said Wednesday, as officials remained on alert for a threatened "Christmas gift" from North Korea.The "gift" was widely expected to be an intercontinental ballistic missile launch after Pyongyang twice conducted apparent rocket engine tests at its western satellite launch site earlier this month.The U.S. flew four surveillance planes over the Korean Peninsula between Tuesday and early Wednesday in an indication of heightened preparations to respond to a North Korean provocation."The U.S., along with our partners and allies throughout the world, stand ready to defend ourselves, even on Christmas Day," Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Dave Eastburn told Yonhap News Agency without elaborating.A long-range missile test would be a setback for Donald Trump as the U.S. president has claimed the North's suspensioDec 26, 2019
NK seeks to diversify revenue sources amid international sanctions North Korean workers wait for their flight at the airport of Vladivostok, Sunday. The North has long made a fortune from the army of citizens it sends abroad to work, mostly in neighboring China and Russia but as far afield as Europe, the Middle East and Africa. AFP-YonhapBy Park Ji-wonNorth Korea is likely trying to diversify its revenue sources from overseas amid sanctions imposed by the United Nations.The Korean Friendship Association (KFA), a Spanish-based organization building networks with North Korea, announced it is planning to visit North Korea to participate in an inauguration event of the North's new tourist complex in the Wonsan-Kalma region between April 11 and 18 in 2020.The organization added it would provide chances of meeting with high officials of North Korea so that participants can discuss the cultural and business projects including the garment, mining, tourism, IT, scientific research and heavy industries while restricting participation from South Korea, the United States and Japan.Tourism is one of the few remaining sources of revenue for Pyongyang as it was exDec 25, 2019By Park Ji-won
South Korean journalist offers rare peek into hermit NK newsroom Rodong Sinmun headquarters in Pyongyang. Captured from Encyclopedia of Korean CultureBy Park Si-soo Kim Soo-han. Korea Times photo by Park Si-sooFor North Korea experts, Rodong Sinmun, the mouthpiece newspaper of the ruling Workers' Party, is one of the most valuable resources giving a hint of what Kim Jong-un has in mind. Numerous researchers and studies have explored subjects ranging from editorial policy and published articles, to photos, keywords and even the frequency of swear words dished out toward world leaders, in a bid to go deeper into the nuclear-armed hermit kingdom ― but with the paper's newsroom and reporters largely untouched.The deliberate no-touch was based on the widespread presumption that Rodong's reporters were nothing more than “writing robots,” only relaying messages from high-ups. Yet Kim Soo-han, a South Korean journalist at the Herald Business, didn't think so and dug into the subject from 2011. Eight years later, in July 2019, Kim was conferred with a PhD from Dongguk University in Seoul, with a dissertation containing several new findings thatDec 25, 2019
Trump expects 'nice Christmas gift' from North Korea U.S. President Donald Trump waves to the news media after participating in a video teleconference with members of the U.S. military at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., December 24, 2019. REUTERS/Leah MillisU.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may be planning to give him ``a nice present`` such as a ``beautiful vase'' for Christmas rather than a missile launch.The president was asked what he will do if North Korea does conduct a long-range missile test. The North has threatened to take unspecified action if sanctions are not eased by the end of the year, and speculation has centered on the possibility of a new missile test, possibly of an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead. The North has said that its ``Christmas gift'' to the United States will depend on Washington's actions.Trump, who is in Florida for the holidays, had just finished thanking service members from each branch of the military via satellite when he was asked about North Korea. He opted for a wait-and-see approach.``MDec 25, 2019
North Korea seeking outside information ban via smartphone A North Korean woman holds her smartphone in Pyongyang. Korea Times file photoBy Park Ji-wonNorth Korea is trying to find more ways to control access to outside information as the number of its citizens with smartphones increases, according to a recent report.In the report released by the Washington-based Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK) on Dec. 18, journalist Martyn Williams wrote that the ways of shutting down overseas information in smartphones have been diversified over the last decade in an apparent move to control its people's freedom.“Over the last decade, the regime has gotten increasingly sophisticated at clamping down on PCs and smartphones,” Williams wrote in the report titled "Digital Trenches: North Korea's Information Counter-Offensive."“It has proven adept at reacting to the potential freedoms such digital devices can bring and subverted open-source software to prevent citizens from exploiting those freedoms.“As cellular subscriptions rose, which is considered some 5 million, more and more citizens use their phones to watch foreiDec 24, 2019By Park Ji-won
