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South Korea's ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol and his former defense minister were sentenced to 30 years in prison Friday in a case alleging Yoon ordered drone flights over Pyongyang in 2024 to heighten tensions with North Korea and justify declaring martial law at home. The full version of the Seoul Central District Court's ruling was not immediately available. The same court earlier sentenced Yoon to life in prison for a rebellion conviction over his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024. North Korea accused Seoul of flying drones over Pyongyang to drop propaganda leaflets three times in October 2024. South Korea's defense minister at the time, Kim Yong Hyun, issued a vague denial before the Defense Ministry said it could neither confirm nor deny the allegations. Tensions rose sharply but did not lead to any military clashes. Yoon's lawyers criticised the latest ruling, saying the drone flights were a response to North Korea flying thousands of trash-carrying ...
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observed sea trials of a new warship repaired after a failed launch last year and vowed to accelerate efforts to build a nuclear-armed navy, state media said on Saturday, showcasing his expanding military capabilities ahead of a visit by Chinese leader Xi Jinping. North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said Kim visited the 5,000-ton destroyer Kang Kon on Thursday as it underwent capability tests. Photos released by the agency showed him accompanied by his increasingly prominent teenage daughter, believed to be named Kim Ju Ae, whom South Korean officials say may be being groomed as his successor. Kim Jong Un called for "rapidly developing" naval forces capable of playing a larger role in the country's nuclear deterrent and dealing a "deadly blow at the enemy any moment under the water or on the water," KCNA said. He said the navy was a key focus of a new five-year defense plan approved at a ruling party congress earlier this year, which he
Chinese leader Xi Jinping will travel to North Korea next week, both countries announced Friday, in what will be his first visit in nearly seven years. His trip will the latest in a series of steps by China to reinforce its close ties with its nuclear-armed neighbour, whose leader Kim Jong Un has reached out to Russia in recent years, notably by sending troops and conventional weapons to support its war against Ukraine. Kim has likewise been cozying up again to China, the North's biggest trade partner and aid provider, in the past year. "As North Korea builds closer ties with Russia, China seeks to use Xi's trip to reassert its influence over Pyongyang and safeguard its strategic interests in northeast Asia," said William Yang, an analyst for the International Crisis Group. Xi will make a state visit from Monday to Tuesday, state media from both nations said in brief dispatches. His last visit was in June 2019. The trip will come just weeks after Xi hosted US President Donald Trum
North Korea on Thursday unveiled a new facility to produce nuclear bomb fuels, with leader Kim Jong Un announcing plans to bolster the country's nuclear forces "at an exponential rate." The official Korean Central News Agency said the facility used "more sophisticated technology" but didn't provide further details, such as where it is located and when it began its operation. State media photos showed what appeared to be a large centrifuge hall, indicating the plant is likely used to enrich weapons-grade uranium. The disclosure of the new factory is in line with Kim's repeated vows to expand its nuclear weapons program to cope with what he called escalating US-led military threats. KCNA said Kim visited the nuclear facility on Wednesday to learn about its operation indices and its long-term production plan. KCNA quoted Kim as saying the urgency for bolstering up the country's nuclear war deterrent, both in quality and quantity, has grown because of confrontations with "the most ...
North Korea launched an unidentified projectile off its west coast Tuesday, South Korea's military said. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff gave no further details. It followed another launch by the North on April 19, in which it fired multiple short-range missiles in what state-media described as a demonstration of cluster bomb warheads. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has focused on expanding his nuclear and missile arsenals since nuclear diplomacy with US President Donald Trump collapsed in 2019. Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to return to talks with Kim, and but Pyongyang has so far ignored the overtures and urged Washington to drop demands for the North's nuclear disarmament as a precondition for talks.
North Korea said Monday it test-launched ballistic missiles with cluster bomb warheads in the second such test this month, likely underscoring its push to expand its capabilities to penetrate US and South Korean defences. The report by the North's official Korean Central News Agency appeared to refer to the multiple ballistic missile launches South Korea, Japan and the US detected Sunday off North Korea's east coast. KCNA photos showed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his teenage daughter, both wearing black leather jackets, watching from a coastal observation point as a projectile soared over the water, trailing gray smoke. South Korea's spy service recently assessed that the daughter, reportedly named Kim Ju Ae, could be considered Kim's heir. Kim oversaw the launches of five upgraded surface-to-surface Hwasong-11 Ra ballistic missiles with cluster bomb warheads and fragmentation mine warheads, KCNA said. The missiles struck an island target and Kim expressed satisfaction over
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised more missile tests from his prized new warship over the weekend, state media said Tuesday, as he pledged to boost the navy's operational capabilities with his growing collection of nuclear-capable weapons. North Korea's official newspaper Rodong Sinmun said Kim on Sunday observed the launches of two strategic cruise missiles and three anti-ship missiles from his 5,000-ton-class destroyer, the Choe Hyon, first unveiled in April 2025. The cruise missiles flew for more than two hours and the anti-ship missiles for more than 30 minutes along pre-set trajectories over the country's western seas before accurately striking their targets, the newspaper said. The Korean Central News Agency, another state outlet, published photos of Kim and other senior officials watching from a pier as a projectile trailed gray smoke while arcing away from the warship. Kim had also supervised two rounds of missile tests from the Choe Hyon last month while vowing to
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has voiced support for China's push to build a "multipolar world" and called for deeper ties between the traditional allies during a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, state media said on Saturday. During the meeting on Friday, Kim said his government will fully support Chinese efforts to achieve territorial integrity based on its "one-China principle", a reference to Beijing's official position that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory, according to North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency. Kim also outlined North Korea's position on unspecified regional and international issues of "mutual concern" and said sustained development of ties between the two countries has become more crucial in the current geopolitical environment, KCNA said. Wang, on a two-day trip to North Korea, said the countries' relations were entering a "new phase" following a summit last year between Kim and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Embracin
North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea Wednesday in its second launch event in two days, South Korea's military said, hours after a senior North Korean official released crude insults against Seoul's hopes for warmer relations. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles lifted off from North Korea's eastern coastal Wonsan area and flew about 240 kilometers (150 miles) each in a direction toward the North's eastern waters. It said South Korea maintains a readiness to repel any provocations by North Korea under a solid military alliance with the United States. Seoul later said North Korea fired an additional ballistic missile toward its eastern waters without giving further details. The South Korean military said it had also detected the launch of an unidentified projectile around North Korea's capital region Tuesday. It said South Korean and US intelligence authorities were analyzing details of Tuesday's launch. South Korean media reported
China's flag carrier resumed direct flights between Beijing and North Korea's capital of Pyongyang on Monday not long after the restoration of passenger train services between the capitals. The Air China flight was welcomed by the Chinese ambassador to North Korea, Wang Yajun, and other diplomats, according to Chinese state media. Passenger train service from China to North Korea had resumed March 12. Flights and passenger trains to North Korea had been suspended since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. North Korean carrier Air Koryo resumed flights between the capitals in 2023. North Korea banned all foreign tourists during the pandemic but has started easing the restrictions, with a Russian tour group entering the country in 2024. Chinese tour groups had made up 90 per cent of all visitors to North Korea prior to the ban, and the delay on resuming Chinese tours surprised observers. China is Pyongyang's biggest trading partner and major ally, but Beijing has expres
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observed a test of a high-thrust, solid-fuel engine test and hailed it as a development to boost the country's strategic military capability, state media reported Sunday. The test likely indicates Kim is intent on enlarging and modernising an arsenal of missiles capable of reaching the United States mainland. The report on Sunday from Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) came days after Kim delivered a speech at North Korea's Parliament pledging to irreversibly cement his country's status as a nuclear power and accusing the US of global "state terrorism and aggression," in an apparent reference to the war in the Middle East. Kim watched the ground jet test of the newly upgraded engine using a composite carbon fibre material, according to the KCNA, which reported the engine's maximum trust is 2,500 kilotons, up from about 1,971 kilotons reported in a similar solid fuel engine test in September. A push to increase the engine power is likely associated wit
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has pledged to irreversibly cement his country's status as a nuclear power while maintaining a hard-line stance toward South Korea, which he called "most hostile", state media said Tuesday. In a speech Monday to Pyongyang's rubber-stamp parliament, Kim accused the United States of global "state terrorism and aggression" in an apparent reference to the war in the Middle East, and said the North will play a more forceful role in a united front against Washington amid rising anti-American sentiment. But Kim didn't call out US President Donald Trump by name and said whether his adversaries "choose confrontation or peaceful coexistence is up to them, and we are prepared to respond to any choice". His comments largely aligned with his statements at last month's ruling Workers' Party Congress, where he vilified Seoul but left open the door for dialogue with the Trump administration, urging Washington to drop its demands for the North's nuclear disarmament as
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, accompanied by his teenage daughter, observed a live-fire test of multiple rocket launch systems, state media reported Sunday, a likely response to ongoing US-South Korean military training that North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal. The official Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim watched the strike drill involving twelve 600mm-calibre, ultraprecision rocket launchers off North Korea's east coast on Saturday. South Korea's military said Saturday it detected about 10 ballistic missiles fired from North Korea's capital region toward the eastern sea. South Korea's national security council called the launches a provocation that violated UN Security Council resolutions that bans any ballistic activities by North Korea. KCNA cited Kim as saying that the drill would expose enemies within the 420-kilometer (260-mile) striking range, to "uneasiness" and give them "a deep understanding of the destructive power of tactical nuclear weapon," KCNA
Air China will resume flights flying between Beijing and North Korea from March 30, the airline's website said Saturday, after passenger train services running between the two nations restarted earlier this week. According to the website of the stated-owned airline, flights from China's capital to Pyongyang, North Korea's capital will run every Monday until May 18, but would scale down to two Mondays in June. In 2020 with the start of the coronavirus pandemic, North Korea banned tourists, jetted out diplomats and severely curtailed border traffic in one of the world's most draconian COVID-19 restrictions. Two years later, Pyongyang started slowly easing curbs and reopening its borders. North Korean Air Koryo resumed flights between the two nations' capitals in 2023. In February 2024, North Korea accepted some Russian tourists for sightseeing visits, the first foreign nationals to visit the country. That development surprised many observers who thought the first post-pandemic tour