Kaesong north korea

North Korea discussed assigning additional duties to its frontline army units at a key military meeting, state media said Thursday, a suggestion the country may want to deploy battlefield nuclear weapons targeting South Korea along the rivals’ tense border. The discussion comes as South Korea officials said North Korea has finished preparation for its first nuclear test in five years as part of its possible efforts to build a warhead to be mounted on short-range weapons capable of hitting targets in South Korea. During an ongoing meeting of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers’ Party on Wednesday, leader Kim Jong Un and other top military officers discussed the work of additionally confirming the operation duties of the frontline units of the Korean People’s Army and modifying the operation plans, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Kim also ordered steps to be taken to enhance the operational capabilities of the frontline units, KCNA … [Read more...] about North Korea’s Talks of New Army Duties Suggest Nuke Deployment

Kim Jong Un's latest ballistic missile test flew 10 times higher than the International Space Station and twice as high as any satellite in low-earth orbit, according to South Korea's military. Although analysts were scrambling Wednesday to learn what they could about the North Korean launch , Pyongyang said it had tested a new type of missile, named the Hwasong-15. Dictator Kim's secretive state claimed it was carrying a "super-large heavy warhead" that was capable of striking the entire U.S. mainland. But analysts say that based on the current evidence it's hard to prove or debunk the North's claim that it can now hit faraway American targets such as New York or Washington, D.C. The North Koreans have now test-fired missiles 18 times since President Donald Trump took office in January. Tuesday's launch was the first in more than two months. Western officials agreed it appeared to be an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, which flew further than any other … [Read more...] about North Korea missile went 10 times higher than space station

United Nations: North Korea's foreign minister has told the United Nations that "going nuclear" is his country's only way to defend itself and vowed to further bolster its nuclear military forces. Speaking to the General Assembly, Ri Yong-ho yesterday said his country will "continue to take measures to strengthen its national nuclear armed forces in both quantity and quality." He spoke just two weeks after North Korea's fifth and most powerful nuclear test provoked worldwide condemnation, prompting the UN Security Council to begin work on a new sanctions resolution. "Going nuclear armed is the policy of our state," Ri, who has been foreign minister since May, told the world gathering. "As long as there exists a nuclear weapon state in hostile relations with the DPRK (North Korea), our national security and the peace on the Korean peninsula can be defended only with reliable nuclear deterrence," he said. North Korea has conducted two nuclear tests and test-fired more than 20 … [Read more...] about North Korea Tells UN ‘Going Nuclear’ is Only Option

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea launched a ballistic missile toward its eastern waters on Wednesday, South Korean and Japanese officials said, days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to bolster his nuclear arsenal “at the fastest possible pace” and threatened to use it against rivals. The launch, the North’s 14th round of weapons firing this year, also came six days before a new conservative South Korean president takes office for a single five-year term. Download the NBC News app for breaking news and politics South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement that the missile was fired from the North’s capital region and flew to the waters off its eastern coast. It called North Korea’s repeated ballistic missile launches “an act of grave threat” to undermine international peace and security and a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions banning any ballistic launch by the North. The statement said Won In-Choul, the South … [Read more...] about North Korea fires ballistic missile amid rising tensions

WASHINGTON/SEOUL, June 24 (Reuters): United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will visit South Korea next month for talks on rising inflation, sanctions against Russia, and possible further sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear programme, sources familiar with the matter said late on Friday. Yellen will meet with senior South Korean officials as part of a trip to Asia to attend a meeting of finance officials from the Group of 20 major economies, the sources said. A Treasury spokesperson declined to comment. Details are not yet finalized but Yellen could meet with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho to discuss North Korea as intelligence officials on both sides of the Pacific are concerned it is preparing to conduct its first nuclear test in five years. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered a strengthening of defense capabilities as he wrapped up a meeting with top military officials, state media said on Friday, leading to … [Read more...] about Yellen to visit South Korea, discuss sanctions on North, say sources

Cult Netflix drama Money Heist is back with a heart-pounding Korean twist. Money Heist: Korea - Joint Economic Area , the Korean remake of the Spanish smash hit, opens with the most iconic of the country's exports—none other than global phenomenon BTS. "Don't look back, because we found our destiny"—the lyrics from the BTS song "DNA" play in the opening scene, with the show's Tokyo character dancing to it on the steps of North Korea's Kim Il-sung University. It's part of the intriguing preamble to a perfect storm that will "go down in history as a revolutionary crime." The new Netflix K-drama sees a grand heist unfold inside a Korean mint at a historic time set against the backdrop of a soon-to-be-reunified Korean peninsula of the future. The Spanish series might have left some huge shoes to fill, but the spin-off marks its own territory with plenty of colorful Korean flair, with the show's greatest weapon being its unique blend of punchy characters seasoned with local … [Read more...] about “Money Heist: Korea” review: An intriguing tale of nail-biting missions

SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered a strengthening of the country's defence capabilities as he wrapped up a key meeting with top military officials, state media said on Friday, raising concerns about its possible addition of tactical nuclear weapons. The meeting has been closely watched due to growing speculation that Pyongyang could conduct its first nuclear test in five years, which U.S. and South Korean officials have said could take place at "any time" now. Kim presided over the three-day Enlarged Meeting of the 8th Central Military Commission where top officials "approved an important issue of providing a military guarantee for further strengthening the country's war deterrent," official KCNA media said. During the meeting, North Korea made a rare mention of revising its war plans, and said it had decided to bolster the operational duties of its frontline units with "an important military action plan." KCNA did not elaborate on the plan, which … [Read more...] about N.Korea’s Kim urges stronger war deterrent amid international concern about potential nuclear test

June 24, 2022 13:17 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his top brass have discussed aggressive frontline reinforcements along the border with South Korea, state media said Thursday. At a meeting of Workers Party's powerful Central Military Commission on Wednesday, Kim "discussed expanding operational missions of frontline Army units and revising operational plans and organization accordingly," the North's Korean Central News Agency said. Kim expressed "the strategic view and determination of the Party Central Committee, which has taken crucial military measures to enhance the operational capabilities of the front-line units," it added. It is unusual for the regime to make its military planning public. A Unification Ministry official here said, "Normally, they keep military plans under wraps. We think that they'll likely ramp up military threats since they made it public and also deliberately showed an image of a map of the eastern part of South Korea." There are … [Read more...] about N.Korea Mulls Aggressive New Military Plans

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's ruling party members and rights activists are calling on the government to reopen a 2019 case of the repatriation of two North Korea fishermen, blaming the previous government of trying to curry favour with Pyongyang. President Yoon Suk-yeol, who took office in May, has been revisiting several defection cases after criticising what he called his predecessor Moon Jae-in's "submissive" North Korea policy and vowing to boost support for defectors during the election campaign. Yoon's ruling party lawmakers, activists and conservative supporters have called for a re-investigation of the fishermen's case, accusing Moon of violating the men's constitutional and human rights as he tried to improve ties with Pyongyang, which has denounced defectors as "human scum". The Moon government deported the fishermen, calling them "dangerous criminals https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-southkorea-fishermen-idUSKBN1XH0SJ" who killed 16 other colleagues … [Read more...] about Pressure mounts on S.Korea to reopen case of deported N.Korean fishermen

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, presides over a Wednesday meeting of the ruling Workers' Party's Central Military Commission in Pyongyang in this photo released by the state-run Korean Central News Agency. [YONHAP] North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and high-ranking officials discussed changes to front-line military units during a major party meeting, state media reported Thursday amid speculation the regime could deploy tactical guided weapons and short-range ballistic missiles to frontline artillery units. According to an English-language report by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim presided over a meeting of the third enlarged session of the eighth Central Military Commission of the ruling Korean Workers’ Party on Wednesday, where “the work of additionally confirming the operation duties of the frontline units of the Korean People's Army (KPA) and modifying the operation plans” was discussed. Kim stressed the importance of adopting "important military … [Read more...] about Kim Jong-un discusses changes to front-line units