Page 7 - Kim Jong Un

Tested solid-fuel missile tipped with hypersonic weapon, says North Korea

North Korea on Monday claimed 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 the 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 US 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. KCNA did not mention whether North Korean leader Kim

North Korea fires intermediate-range ballistic missile, can reach US bases

North Korea fired a suspected intermediate-range ballistic missile into the sea on Sunday, South Korea's military said, two months after the North claimed to have tested engines for a new harder-to-detect missile capable of striking distant US targets in the region. The launch was the North's first this year. Experts say North Korea could ramp up its provocative missile tests as a way to influence the results of South Korea's parliamentary elections in April and the US presidential election in November. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that it detected the launch of a ballistic missile of an intermediate-range class from the North's capital region on Sunday afternoon. It said the missile flew about 1,000 kilometres before landing in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. The Joint Chiefs of Staff called the launch a provocation that poses a serious threat to peace on the Korean Peninsula. It said South Korea's military will maintain its readiness t

Kim calls South Korea 'principal enemy' amid heightened tensions with US

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called South Korea our principal enemy and threatened to annihilate it if provoked, as he escalates his inflammatory, belligerent rhetoric against Seoul and the United States before their elections this year. Experts say Kim will likely further raise animosities with weapons tests to try to influence the results of South Korea's parliamentary elections in April and the U.S. presidential election in November. Kim made the remarks during inspection tours of munitions factories in North Korea this week, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday. He said North Korea's priority in its relations with Seoul "is to bolster up the military capabilities for self-defense and the nuclear war deterrent first of all, KCNA said. If South Korea dares to use his military force against North Korea and threaten its sovereignty, Kim said We will have no hesitation in annihilating (South Korea) by mobilizing all means and forces in our hands, ...

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

South Korea views young daughter of Kim Jong Un as his likely successor

The young daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is seen as her father's likely heir apparent, South Korea's spy agency said Thursday, its first such assessment on the girl who was unveiled to the outside world a little more than a year ago. There has been intense outside debate and speculation about the girl, reportedly about 10 years old and named Ju Ae, since she made her first public appearance in November 2022, when she watched a long-range missile test-launch with her father. The girl has since accompanied her father at a number of major public events, with state media calling her father's most beloved or respected child and churning out footage and photos proving her rising political standing and closeness with her father. A senior general knelt and whispered to her when she clapped while watching a military parade at a VIP observation stand in September. She was photographed standing in front of her father at one point during a visit to the air force headquarters in ...

Kim orders military to 'thoroughly annihilate' US, S Korea if provoked

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered his military to thoroughly annihilate the United States and South Korea if provoked, state media reported Monday, after he vowed to boost national defences to cope with what he called an unprecedented US-led confrontation. Kim is expected to ramp up weapons tests in 2024 ahead of the US presidential election in November. Many experts say he likely believes his expanded nuclear arsenal would allow him to wrest US concessions if former President Donald Trump is reelected. In a five-day major ruling party meeting last week, Kim said he will launch three more military spy satellites, produce more nuclear materials and develop attack drones this year in what observers say is an attempt to increase his leverage in future diplomacy with the US. In a meeting on Sunday with commanding army officers, Kim said it is urgent to sharpen the treasured sword to safeguard national security, an apparent reference to his country's nuclear weapons program. He cit

North Korea to launch new satellites, build drones, calling war inevitable

Kim lashed out at Washington in lengthy remarks wrapping up five days of ruling party meetings that set economic, military and foreign policy goals for the coming year

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 Jong Un pledges to advance his atomic ambitions in New Year

That's according to an address he gave at a major policy-setting meeting attended by top cadres from his ruling party

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

Kim threatens use of nukes, praises troops for long-range missile launch

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country has a policy of not hesitating to launch a nuclear strike on a rival if provoked, as he praised troops involved in its recent intercontinental ballistic missile test, state media reported Thursday. Since adopting an escalatory nuclear doctrine last year, Kim has repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons preemptively. But many foreign experts say North Korea has yet to obtain functioning nuclear missiles and is also unlikely to use its nukes first because it's outgunned by U.S. and its allied forces. North Korea Monday conducted its first intercontinental ballistic missile tests in five months, calling it the drill a warning over confrontational U.S. and South Korean moves. North Korea cited a recent U.S.-South Korean meeting on boosting their nuclear deterrence plans. The North's Korean Central News Agency said Kim met troops at the General Missile Bureau on Wednesday to congratulate them on their work on the launch of the ...

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 .

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

Evidence shows Hamas likely used some N Korean weapons to attack Israel

Hamas fighters likely fired North Korean weapons during their Oct. 7 assault on Israel, a militant video and weapons seized by Israel show, despite Pyongyang's denials that it sells arms to the militant group. The video was analyzed by two experts on North Korean arms. Along with an Associated Press analysis of weapons captured on the battlefield and South Korean military intelligence, the video indicates that Hamas used the F-7 rocket-propelled grenade, a shoulder-fired weapon that fighters typically use against armored vehicles. The evidence shines a light on the murky world of the illicit arms shipments that sanction-battered North Korea uses as a way to fund its arms programs. Rocket-propelled grenade launchers fire a single warhead and can be quickly reloaded, making them valuable weapons for guerrilla forces in running skirmishes with heavy vehicles. The F-7 has been documented in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, said N.R. Jenzen-Jones, a weapons expert who works as th

US aircraft carrier arrives in S Korea as Kim exchanges messages with Putin

A US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier arrived in South Korea on Thursday in a demonstration of strength against North Korea, as the North's leader reaffirmed his push to bolster ties with Russia. The USS Ronald Reagan and its battle group came to the southeastern South Korean port of Busan after participating in a trilateral South Korean-US-Japanese maritime exercise earlier this week, the South Korean Defence Ministry said. The aircraft carrier is to stay in Busan until next Monday as part of a bilateral agreement to enhance regular visibility of US strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula in response to North Korea's advancing nuclear programme, according to an earlier Defence Ministry statement. It's the first arrival of a US aircraft carrier in South Korea in six months since the USS Nimitz docked at Busan in late March, the statement said. The arrival of the USS Ronald Reagan is expected to enrage North Korea, which views the deployment of such a powerful US military asset as

Kim urges greater nuclear weapons production in response to new Cold War

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for an exponential increase in production of nuclear weapons and for his country to play a larger role in a coalition of nations confronting the United States in a new Cold War, state media said Thursday. The Korean Central News Agency said Kim made the comments during a two-day session of the country's rubber-stamp parliament which amended the constitution to include his policy of expanding the country's nuclear weapons programme. The Supreme People's Assembly's session on Tuesday and Wednesday came after Kim traveled to Russia's Far East this month to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and visit military and technology sites. The trip sparked Western concerns about a possible arms alliance in which North Korea would supply Putin with badly needed munitions to fuel his war on Ukraine in exchange for economic aid and advanced Russian technologies to enhance North Korea's nuclear and missile systems. As North Korea slowly ends its pande

Russia's Lavrov to visit North Korea in Oct as part of follow-up measure

He made the remarks during a press conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Lavrov said that his upcoming visit to North Korea follows the agreement between Putin and Kim Jong Un