Page 4 - Us-north Korea

N Korea stresses alignment with Russia against US, hints at Putin's visit

North Korea said Sunday it has agreed to further strategic and tactical cooperation with Russia to establish a new multi-polarised international order, as the two countries work to build a united front in the face of their separate, intensifying tensions with the United States. In describing North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui's meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minster Sergey Lavrov in Moscow last week, the North's Foreign Ministry said Putin also reaffirmed his willingness to visit Pyongyang and said that could come at an early date. North Korea has been actively strengthening its ties with Russia, highlighted by leader Kim Jong Un's September visit to Russia for a summit with Putin. Kim is trying to break out of diplomatic isolation and strengthen his footing as he navigates a deepening nuclear standoff with Washington, Seoul and Tokyo. In a separate statement on Sunday, the North's Foreign Ministry condemned the U.N. Security Council for calling a

Number of N Korean defectors to S Korea tripled in 2023, says Seoul

The number of North Korean defectors entering South Korea nearly tripled in 2023 compared to the previous two years, including a higher number of youth and elite, CNN reported

N Korea tests underwater nuclear attack drone in response to rivals' drills

North Korea said on Friday it had tested a purported underwater nuclear attack drone in response to a combined naval exercise between South Korea and the United States and Japan this week, as it continues to blame its rivals for raising tensions in the region. The alleged drone test came days after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared he would scrap his country's long-standing goal of a peaceful unification with South Korea and that his country would rewrite its constitution to define South Korea as its most hostile foreign adversary. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are at their highest point in years with Kim accelerating weapons demonstrations and threatening nuclear conflict and the US and its Asian allies responding by strengthening their combined military exercises. North Korea's alleged nuclear attack drone, which the North first tested last year, is among a broad range of weapon systems demonstrated in recent years as Kim expands his arsenal of nuclear-capable weapons. .

S Korea calls on divided UN council 'to break silence' on N Korea's threats

South Korea called on the divided U.N. Security Council on Thursday to break the silence over North Korea's escalating missile tests and threats. It's a big question, South Korea's U.N. Ambassador Hwang Joonkook told reporters after an emergency closed meeting of the council on the North's first ballistic missile test of 2024 on Sunday. South Korea is serving a two-year term on the council. The Security Council imposed sanctions after North Korea's first nuclear test explosion in 2006 and tightened them over the years in a total of 10 resolutions seeking so far unsuccessfully to cut funds and curb its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The last sanctions resolution was adopted by the council in 2017. China and Russia vetoed a U.S.-sponsored resolution in May 2022 that would have imposed new sanctions over a spate of intercontinental ballistic missile launches. Since then, the two veto-wielding permanent council members have blocked any council action, including media ...

North Korea says it tested solid-fuel missile tipped with hypersonic weapon

North Korea on Monday said it flight-tested a new solid-fuel intermediate-range missile tipped with a hypersonic warhead as it pursues more powerful, harder-to-detect weapons designed to strike remote US targets in the region. The report by North Korea's state media came a day after the South Korean and Japanese militaries detected the launch from a site near the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, in what was the North's first ballistic test of 2024. The launch came two months after North Korea said it successfully tested engines for a new solid-fuel intermediate-range missile, which reflected a push to advance its lineup of weapons targeting U.S. military bases in Guam and Japan. The North's official Korean Central News Agency said Sunday's launch was aimed at verifying the reliability of the missile's solid-fuel engines and the maneuverable flight capabilities of the hypersonic warhead. It described the test as a success but didn't provide flight details. KCNA did not mention ..

Japan launches an intelligence satellite to watch for N Korean missiles

Japan launched a rocket carrying a government intelligence-gathering satellite Friday on a mission to watch movements at military sites in North Korea and improve responses to natural disasters. The H2A rocket, launched by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan, carrying the optical satellite as part of Tokyo's reconnaissance effort to rapidly buildup its military capability. The satellite can capture images even in severe weather. Japan began the intelligence-gathering satellite program after a North Korean missile flew over Japan in 1988 and it aims to set up a network of 10 satellites to spot and provide early warning for possible missile launches. Kishida's government, under its national security strategy adopted in 2022, is pushing to deploy long-range U.S.-made Tomahawk and other cruise missiles as early as next year to build up more strike capability, breaking from the country's exclusively self-defense-only postwa

N Korea conducts military drills along sea border, S Korea to respond

South Korea says North Korea has conducted artillery drills along the rivals' tense sea boundary in violation of a 2018 military agreement. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff says North Korea fired 200 rounds in the waters north of their disputed western sea boundary on Friday. South Korea called the North Korean drills a provocation, though it suffered no damage. Residents of South Korea's front-line island of Yeonpyeong say the South Korean military has asked them to evacuate because it plans to launch firing drills later Friday.

N Korea to push production of mobile launch vehicles amid tensions with US

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered authorities to increase production of mobile launch vehicles for missiles because the country faces a looming military showdown with its enemies, state media reported Friday, as it pushes to make its launches harder to detect. The report on Kim's order came hours after the White House said US intelligence has determined that North Korea has supplied ballistic missile launchers to Russia for its war in Ukraine. The US and its allies have previously accused North Korea of sending artillery and ammunition to Russia in return for Russian technologies to enhance its own military programmes. The official Korean Central News Agency said Kim visited a factory that produces transport erector launchers, or TELs, without saying when he went or where the factory is. TELs are mobile launch vehicles which give North Korea the ability to move missiles around its territory, making it more difficult for its adversaries to detect launches in advance. Some South

North Korea providing Russia with ballistic missiles, says US govt

US intelligence officials have determined that Russia has acquired ballistic missiles from North Korea and is seeking close-range ballistic missiles from Iran as Moscow struggles to replenish supplies for its war with Ukraine, the White House said on Thursday. Recently declassified intelligence found that North Korea has provided Russia with ballistic missile launchers and several ballistic missiles, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. Russian forces fired at least one of those ballistic missiles into Ukraine on December 30 and it landed in an open field in the Zaporizhzhia region, he said. Russia launched multiple North Korean ballistic missiles on Tuesday as part of an overnight attack, the impact of which the US was assessing, he said. Kirby said a Russia-Iran deal had not been completed, but that the US is concerned that Russia's negotiations to acquire close range ballistic missiles from Iran are actively advancing. The Biden administration has repeatedly sou

Will launch 3 more spy satellites, build more nuclear weapons in 2024: Kim

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country will launch three additional military spy satellites, build more nuclear weapons and introduce modern unmanned combat equipment in 2024, as he called for overwhelming war readiness to cope with US-led confrontational moves, state media reported Sunday. Kim's comments, made during a key ruling Workers' Party meeting to set state goals for next year, suggest he'll continue a run of weapons tests to expand his arsenal amid long-dormant diplomacy with the United States. Observers say Kim would ultimately hope to use his boosted nuclear capability to wrest greater outside concessions if diplomacy resumes. During the five-day meeting that ended Saturday, Kim said moves by the United States and its followers against North Korea have been unprecedented this year, pushing the Korean Peninsula to the brink of a nuclear war, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. The grave situation requires us to accelerate works to acquire ...

N Korea's Kim vows to bolster war readiness to repel US-led confrontations

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for bolstered war readiness to repel what he said were unprecedented United States-led confrontational moves, state media reported onThursday, as rival South Korea vowed a stern retaliation against any provocations by the North. Kim's comments during the key political meeting tasked with setting state objectives for 2024 indicated North Korea will likely continue weapons tests to modernize its nuclear arsenal. Observers say Kim likely hopes to eventually use his boosted arsenal as leverage in potential diplomacy with Washington, possibly after the 2024 US presidential election in November. During Wednesday's second-day session of the ruling party's plenary meeting, Kim set forth unspecified tasks for the military and the munitions industry to further accelerate the war preparations in the face of anti-North Korea "confrontation moves by the US and its vassal forces unprecedented in history, the official Korean Central News Agency said. It said

N Korea's Kim boasts of achievements during key year-end political meeting

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un praised what he called achievements and victories that strengthened national power and boosted the country's prestige this year, as he opened a key political meeting to set new policy goals for 2024, state media reported on Wednesday. Experts said that during this week's year-end plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party, North Korea would likely hype its progress in arms development because the country lacks economic achievements amid persistent international sanctions and pandemic-related economic hardships. In his opening-day speech at the meeting that began on Tuesday, Kim defined 2023 as a year of great turn and great change both in name and reality, in which (North Korea) left a great trace in the glorious course of development in the efforts to improve the national power and enhance the prestige of the country, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. KCNA said North Korea achieved a rapid advancement in its defence capabilities

N Korea, Russia clash with US and S Korea over Pyongyang's missile launch

North Korea and Russia clashed with the United States, South Korea and their allies at an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday on Pyongyang's latest intercontinental ballistic missile launch, which it called a warning counter-measure to threats from the US and other hostile forces. North Korean Ambassador Kim Song said this is the most dangerous year in the military-security landscape on the Korean Peninsula, pointing to stepped up US-South Korean military exercises and the US deployment of nuclear-powered submarines and other nuclear assets to the area that have raised a nuclear war danger. The US and nine allies pointed to five North Korean ICBM launches, over 25 ballistic missiles launches and three satellite launches using ballistic missile technology this year, violating multiple Security Council resolutions and threatening the peace and stability of its neighbours and the international community. In a statement read just before the council meeting by US deputy ...

N Korea threatens 'more offensive actions' to repel US-led military threats

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un threatened more offensive actions to repel what he called increasing US-led military threats after he supervised the third test of his country's most advanced missile designed to strike the mainland US, state media reported Tuesday. Kim's statement suggests he is confident in his growing missile arsenal and will likely continue weapons testing activities ahead of next year's presidential election in the United States. But many observers say North Korea still needs to perform more significant tests to prove it has functioning missiles targeting the U.S. mainland. After watching Monday's launch of the Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile, Kim said the test showed how North Korea could respond if the United States were to make "a wrong decision against it, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. Kim stressed the need to never overlook all the reckless and irresponsible military threats of the enemies and to strongly counter them .

N Korea fires ballistic missile into sea amid S Korea, US' deterrence plans

North Korea on Sunday fired a ballistic missile toward its eastern waters, South Korea said, in a possible display of defiance against the latest steps by Washington and Seoul to tighten their nuclear deterrence plans against North Korean threats. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile was fired from an area near the North Korean capital of Pyongyang at around 10:38 p.m. and that it presumes the weapon to be short-range. It said the South Korean military was sharing the launch information with the United States and Japan while maintaining readiness against the possibility of further North Korean military activities. Japan's coast guard, citing the Defence Ministry, said the weapon was believed to have already landed, but it didn't immediately provide more details. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are at their highest in years, with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un accelerating the expansion of his nuclear and missile programme, and flaunting an escalatory nuclear doctr

Kim's sister rejects US offer of dialogue, vows more satellite launches

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Thursday dismissed US calls for a return to diplomacy and lambasted condemnations of the North's recent spy satellite launch, vowing more launches in violation of UN bans. During a UN Security Council meeting earlier this week, the US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, called the North's satellite launch a "reckless, unlawful" action that threatens its neighbours. But she reiterated the US offer for dialogue without any preconditions, saying North Korea "can choose the timing and topic". Kim's sister and senior official, Kim Yo Jong, rejected the US overture and threatened more satellite and other weapons launches. "The sovereignty of an independent state can never be an agenda item for negotiations, and therefore, (North Korea) will never sit face to face with the US for that purpose," Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by state media. "(North Korea) will continue to make efforts to develop ...

North Korea restores border posts amid tensions over spy satellite: Seoul

South Korea said on Monday North Korea is restoring frontline guard posts that it had dismantled during a previous period of inter-Korean rapprochement, deepening tensions that spiked over the North's recent spy satellite launch. The two Koreas each earlier dismantled or disarmed 11 of their guard posts inside their heavily fortified border under a 2018 deal meant to ease frontline military confrontations. But the deal is now in danger of being scraped, as both Koreas openly threaten to breach it amid rising animosities over the North's satellite launch. After North Korea claimed to place its first military spy satellite into orbit last Tuesday, South Korea said it would partially suspend the deal and resume front aerial surveillance in response. South Korea called its step a minimum defensive measure to respond to the launch that it says involved the North's intentions of improving its missile technology as well as establishing a space-based surveillance system. North Korea ...

Kim Jong-un labels military spy satellite as 'deploying of a space guard'

Kim's remark came during his visit to the National Aerospace Technology Administration (NATA), according to the official space agency of North Korea

S Korea, US and Japan condemn N Korea''s alleged supply of arms to Russia

South Korea, the US.and Japan strongly condemned what they call North Korea's supply of munitions and military equipment to Russia, saying Thursday that such weapons shipments sharply increase the human toll of Russia's war in Ukraine. A joint statement by the top diplomats of South Korea, the US and Japan came days after Russia's foreign minister scoffed at a recent US claim that his country received munitions from North Korea, saying that Washington has failed to prove the allegation. We will continue to work together with the international community to expose Russia's attempts to acquire military equipment from (North Korea), said the joint statement by South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa. Such weapons deliveries, several of which we now confirm have been completed, will significantly increase the human toll of Russia's war of aggression, it said. North Korea and Russia both locked in separat

N Korea threatens nuke strike over US aircraft carrier's arrival in S Korea

North Korea lashed out Friday at the arrival of a U.S. aircraft carrier battle group in South Korea, calling it a provocation and again raising the spectre of using nuclear weapons to defend itself. Emboldened by its advancing nuclear arsenal, North Korea has increasingly issued threats to use such weapons preemptively. But the North is still outgunned by U.S. and South Korean forces, and experts say it is unlikely to use its nukes first, though it will continue to upgrade those arms without returning to diplomacy for the time being. The North's latest nuclear threat came a day after the USS Ronald Reagan and its battle group arrived at South Korea's southeastern port of Busan, following U.S.-South Korean-Japanese naval exercise in international waters earlier this week. South Korean defence officials said the carrier is to be docked at Busan for five days as part of an agreement to increase the temporary deployments of powerful U.S. military assets in response to the North's growin