North korea

North Korea denounced U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Saturday for supporting deterrence against North Korea during her visit to South Korea this week. Pelosi and her South Korean counterpart, National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo, vowed on Thursday to achieve North Korean denuclearisation during her stop in South Korea after visiting Taiwan. North Korean state media KCNA said Pelosi’s remarks were part of a U.S. scheme to escalate tensions in the Korean peninsula. KCNA also said Pelosi was trying to justify hostile American policy against North Korea and support U.S. arms buildup. ”Pelosi, the worst destroyer of international peace and stability, had… incurred the wrath of the Chinese people for her recent junket to Taiwan,” the KCNA statement said, citing Jo Yong Sam, director general of the Department of Press and Information at North Korea’s Foreign Ministry. ”The U.S. will have to pay dearly for all the sources of trouble spawned by her wherever she … [Read more...] about North Korea Denounces Pelosi for Deterrence Talks During South Korea Visit

As Russian forces struggle to make new gains in Ukraine amid intense fighting and reported low morale among its troops, Moscow has reportedly turned to its allies for support. Since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, media and intelligence reports have claimed that Russia has received military support from Syria , some Kremlin-friendly African republics and Iran, which was reported to have supplied its combat UAVs to Russia (but has so far denied the claims ). North Korea is another close ally of the Kremlin, but recent media reports that Pyongyang is prepared to send a 100,000-strong army of "volunteer" soldiers to fight in Ukraine have raised some eyebrows. The Claim Dozens of media users claimed over the past few days that as many as 100,000 "volunteers" from North Korea were offered to Moscow for its military operation in Ukraine. "Breaking: North Korea has just offered Russia 100,000 troops to help defeat Ukraine according to … [Read more...] about Fact Check: Is North Korea sending 100K soldiers to fight against Ukraine?

Top quality Korean dramas have been having something of a moment in recent years, with Netflix's Squid Game (2021) captivating audiences through the earlier stages of the pandemic, and Parasite (2019) winning the Oscar for Best Picture. If these critical successes have given you a taste for what is called "K-drama", you might want to try the acclaimed 'Crash Landing On You' (2019) - a South Korean series that follows the story of a wealthy Korean heiress (Se-ri) who crash lands in North Korea while paragliding. She is found by an attractive soldier in the North's "Korean Peoples Army" (Jeong-hyeok) who hides Se-ri from the wider military and a litany of other people who want her dead or captured. The show has received widespread praise for its use of North Korean defectors as advisors, so that outsiders could gain a glimpse into the lives of the authoritarian Communist state's citizens - who frequently face food shortages, state violence, and internment in work camps. … [Read more...] about Smash hit ‘K-drama’ about heiress landing in North Korea that you can stream now

North Korea 's leader Kim Jong Un fell ill with a "high fever" during the country's battle against COVID, his sister has revealed. In a speech, Kim Yo Jong gave the first indication that her brother was personally affected by the coronavirus outbreak. The leader was "severely ill from high fever," his sister said, but could not "lie down even for a second while thinking only of his responsibility for the people," she told a cheering crowd in Pyongyang on Wednesday, according to state media. Kim Yo Jong blamed South Korea for spreading COVID into the North via anti-Pyongyang leaflets. The North has recorded nearly 4.8 million fever cases since the outbreak was first was disclosed on May 12, but had reported only 74 deaths as of late July. Kim Jong Un himself declared a "shining victory" over the COVID outbreak. "The long-suffered quarantine war is finally over and today, we are able to solemnly declare victory," Kim Jong Un said, according to analysis by Pyongyang … [Read more...] about Kim Jong Un fell “seriously” sick with COVID; North Korea blames South

Senior North Korean official Kim Yo-jong, communist leader Kim Jong-un’s sister, said in her first known televised speech on Thursday that the dictator had endured a “high and scary” fever during the nation’s declared Chinese coronavirus epidemic. Kim and his sister both issued public remarks on Wednesday declaring the internal Chinese coronavirus outbreak over. North Korea claimed for over two years not to have documented a single Chinese coronavirus case within its border – a claim many international public health experts questioned – before announcing its first confirmed case in May. Pyongyang then documented over a million coronavirus cases in one month after not having documented a single one prior to the current outbreak. Speaking to the public on national television, Kim Yo-jong announced that the communists had allegedly vanquished the disease. While North Korea shares a porous border with China – where illicit, sanctions-defying commerce thrives – Kim claimed that the … [Read more...] about North Korea: Kim Jong-un’s Sister Says He Suffered ‘High and Scary’ Coronavirus Fever

For any Donald Trump skeptic or critic, like myself, perhaps it's time to take a fresh inventory of where we stand with the 45th president of the United States. There are often opposing forces at play causing one to loathe his presence in the Oval Office one minute, and wonder if there is a method to the madness the next. There is the yin, and there is the yang. The yin of Donald Trump is the one he presents publicly: The president who is routinely dishonest, dishonorable, immature, erratic, reckless, spoiled and threatening to our legal and governmental institutions and norms. The yin is what his fiercest critics point to and say, “I was right all along.” The yang of Donald Trump gets less attention, mostly for no one’s fault other than his own. It is the president who seems to get just enough policy victories and international leverage to keep his fiercest supporters crowing that, in fact, they were the ones who were right. “Take that Never Trumpers.” Both his critics and … [Read more...] about Trump Is Unethical, Dishonest, and Norm-Busting. So What Do We Say if He Helps Solve North Korea?

President Yoon Suk-yeol, left, and first lady Kim Keon-hee wave Korean flags during a ceremony marking the 77th Liberation Day on the front lawn of the presidential office in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Monday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS] President Yoon Suk-yeol expanded on his "audacious initiative" to help North Korea's economy — provided Pyongyang takes steps toward denuclearization. In his first Liberation Day address Monday, Yoon said his plan could "significantly improve North Korea's economy and its people's livelihoods in stages if the North ceases the development of its nuclear program and embarks on a genuine and substantive process for denuclearization." He spoke in a ceremony on the front lawn of the Yongsan presidential office in central Seoul to honor the 77th Liberation Day, marking Korea's independence from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule on Aug. 15, 1945. In his speech, Yoon said his government could implement a large-scale food program for North Korea; provide … [Read more...] about Yoon Suk-yeol dangles carrots at North Korea in Liberation Day speech

As U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Seoul directly from Taiwan, the disputed island claimed by China, South Korea called for calm across the Taiwan Strait, while North Korea backed its longtime ally Beijing. "As a regional country, we hope that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait will continue, and that cross-strait relations will develop peacefully through dialogue and cooperation," a South Korean Foreign Ministry official told Newsweek . Like the United States, South Korea broke off official relations with Taiwan to establish ties with China, though it did so only 30 years ago. The U.S. made the switch in 1979, and continues to back Taiwan through political contacts and military support that have expanded in recent years. Seoul also maintains informal ties with Taipei, but has also invested heavily in its relationship with Beijing, which is Seoul's top trading partner. Unlike in her previous Asia tour stops in Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan, Pelosi was … [Read more...] about South Korea urges China-Taiwan Peace as Pelosi arrives, North backs China

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi committed to North Korean denuclearization during a stop in South Korea Thursday, where she also visited the special Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between the two countries. Pelosi met with South Korean Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo to reaffirm the need to ensure Kim Jong-Un’s repressive regime in the north denuclearizes and demonstrates “strong and extended deterrence against the North,” Reuters reported . North Korea has escalated missile tests in 2022 and threatened to fire nuclear weapons at the U.S. and South Korea on July 28. “Both sides expressed concerns about the dire situation of North Korea’s growing threat,” Pelosi and Kim said in a joint statement, Reuters reported. North Korea’s nuclear weapons program appears “unstoppable,” former U.S. diplomat and Korea expert Victor Cha said at a briefing Wednesday, Business Insider reported . “We agreed to support the efforts of the two governments to achieve practical denuclearization and … [Read more...] about Pelosi Pledges To Denuclearize North Korea Before Visit To Demilitarized Zone

Up to 100,000 North Korean soldiers could be sent to bolster Vladimir Putin’s forces fighting Ukraine . A leading defence expert in Moscow, reserve Colonel Igor Korotchenko, told state TV: "We shouldn’t be shy in accepting the hand extended to us by Kim Jong-un.” North Korea has made it clear through “diplomatic channels” that as well as providing builders to repair war damage, it is ready to supply a vast fighting force, reported Regnum news agency. They would be deployed to the forces of the separatist pro-Putin Donetsk People’s Republic [DPR] and Luhansk People’s Republic [LPR], both of which Kim has recently recognised as independent countries. The southeastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, known as the Donbas, have been controlled by Moscow-backed separatists for almost eight years. Read More North Korea soldiers march during a paramilitary parade ( Image: via REUTERS) But Russian President Vladimir Putin only recognised Donetsk and Luhansk as … [Read more...] about 100,000 North Korean soldiers could be sent to join Vladimir Putin’s forces in Ukraine