Page 27 - North Korea

North Korea fires ballistic missiles after drills by US-South Korea

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters on Friday, its latest weapons demonstration that came days after US and South Korean warplanes conducted joint drills that North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal. North Korea has conducted an unprecedented number of missile tests this year in what some experts call an attempt to bolster its weapons capability and pressure its rivals to make concessions such as sanctions relief in future negotiations. Recently, the North also claimed to have performed major tests needed to acquire its first spy satellite and a more mobile intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the US mainland. South Korea's military detected the two missile launches from North Korea's capital region at around 4:32 pm on Friday. Japan said it also confirmed at least one missile launch by North Korea. It wasn't immediately clear exactly what kinds of missiles North Korea fired. South Korea's military said the missiles ...

North Korea fires ballistic missile days after US-South Korea joint drills

South Korea says North Korea has fired a ballistic missile toward its eastern waters. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the launch was made on Friday but gave no further details like what type of weapon North Korea fired and how far it flew. The launch was three days after the US flew nuclear-capable bombers and advanced stealth jets near the Korean Peninsula for joint training with South Korean warplanes. North Korea typically views such military exercises by the US and South Korea as an invasion rehearsal.

North Korea threatens to take strong military action against Japan

North Korea threatened Tuesday to take bold and decisive military steps against Japan as it slammed Tokyo's adoption of a national security strategy as an attempt to turn the country into an aggressive military power. The North's statement came four days after Japan announced a security strategy that reflects its determination to possess counterstrike capability and double its military spending to gain a more offensive footing against threats from China and North Korea. The North's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Japan's push to acquire counterstrike capability has nothing to do with self-defense but is a clear attempt to acquire pre-emptive attack capability meant to launch strikes on other countries' territories. Japan's foolish attempt to satiate its black-hearted greed -- the building up of its military invasion capability with the pretext of a legitimate exercise of self-defense rights -- cannot be justified and tolerated, an unidentified ministry spokesperson said in

N Korea conducts 'important' test for developing reconnaissance satellite

North Korea will "finish the preparations for the first military reconnaissance satellite by April 2023"

North Korea launches two medium-range missiles into East Sea: South Korea

North Korea launched two medium-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea on Sunday, Yonhap news agency said citing South Korean military

North Korea launches ballistic missile off east coast, says Seoul official

North Korea launched a ballistic missile Sunday off its east coast, South Korea said. South Korea's Joint Chief of Staff said the launch was made on Sunday morning but gave no further details. The launch came three days after North Korea said it tested a high-thrust solid-fuel motor for a new strategic weapon, a development that could allow it to possess a more mobile, harder-to-detect arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles that can reach the U.S. mainland. In recent months, North Korea has test-fired a barrage of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles including last month's launch of its developmental, longest-range, liquid-fueled Hwasong-17 ICBM designed to carry multiple warheads. Some experts say North Korea would eventually use an expanded arsenal to seek sanctions relief and other concessions from the United States.

North Korea performs key test to build more agile strategic weapons system

North Korea has tested a high-thrust solid-fuel motor as a key step toward building a new strategic weapons system, state media reported Friday, as the country pushes to develop more agile and powerful intercontinental ballistic missiles designed to strike the US mainland. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised the successful static firing test at the country's northwest rocket launch facility on Thursday, the official Korean Central News Agency said. KCNA said the test, the first of its kind in North Korea, carried strategic significance as it provided a sure sci-tech guarantee for the development of another new-type strategic weapon system. It said Kim expected the new weapon would be built in the shortest span of time. North Korea is likely referring to a solid-fuelled ICBM, which is among an array of high-tech weapons systems that Kim vowed to introduce during a major ruling Workers' Party conference early last year. Other weapons systems Kim promised to manufacture include

S Korea to hold international forum on N Korea's human rights situation

South Korea's new envoy for the North's human rights, Lee Shin-hwa, plans to serve as a moderator for the seminar

N Korea hails its Covid response as greatest achievement this year

The paper also carried an article the previous day highlighting the North's anti-virus efforts in an apparent call for loyalty to the leader

Trump did not disclose $19.8 mn loan he got as prez from Daewoo: Report

Former US President Donald Trump did not disclose publicly he got a loan of $19.8 million from Daewoo, a company with ties to North Korea, which he should have reported in public financial disclosures

North Korea once again fires artillery rounds over South Korea's drills

North Korea on Tuesday fired a barrage of artillery rounds into waters near rival South Korea for the second consecutive day in a tit-for-tat response for the South's live-fire drills in an inland border region. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected North Korea firing around 90 artillery rounds from a front-line area along its eastern coast around 10 a.m. It said the shells, which were likely from multiple rocket launchers, landed in the northern side of a maritime buffer zone the Koreas established in 2018 to reduce border tensions. The firings came shortly after the North Korean People's Army's General Staff said it instructed front-line units to launch artillery into the sea as a warning following South Korean artillery exercises in a region near their land border. North Korea also on Monday fired around 130 artillery rounds into waters near the buffer zones with South Korea, while accusing the South of raising unnecessary tension in front-line areas. The latest .

North Korea military orders new artillery firing over South Korea drills

North Korea's military says it has ordered frontline units to conduct artillery firings into the sea for the second consecutive day in a tit-for-tat response to South Korean live-fire drills in an inland border region. The statement by the North Korean People's Army's General Staff came a day after the North fired about 130 artillery rounds into waters near its western and eastern sea boundaries with South Korea in the latest military action raising tensions between the rivals. An unidentified North Korean military spokesperson said the planned artillery firings Tuesday were meant as a warning to the South after the North detected signs of South Korean artillery exercises in the border region. The South Korean army is conducting live-fire exercises involving multiple rocket launching systems and howitzers in two separate testing grounds in the Cheorwon region, which began on Monday and continues through Wednesday. North Korea's military said Monday that it instructed its western an

US designates N Korea as state violator of religious freedom for 21st year

According to the State Department, North Korea has been designated as a "Country of Particular Concern" (CPC) since 2001 under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998

Seoul announces additional sanctions on Pyongyang for missile tests

South Korea announced additional sanctions on North Korea in response to growing security threats from Pyongyang, highlighted by its long-range missile launch last month

US, Japan impose fresh sanctions on N Korea after ballistic missile test

The Biden administration targeted three individuals who have led organizations linked to the development of Weapons of Mass Destruction

Kim Jong Un's daughter called 'most beloved' child in 2nd appearance

North Korea's leader has taken his daughter to a meeting with missile scientists in her second public appearance, in which state media called her Kim Jong Un's most beloved child, deepening outside debate over whether she is being primed as his successor. The daughter, believed to Kim's second child named Ju Ae and about 9 or 10 years old, was first unveiled to the outside world last weekend in state media photos showing her observing the North's intercontinental ballistic missile launch the previous day with her parents and other older officials. The daughter wearing a white puffy coat and red shoes was shown walking hand-in-hand with Kim past a huge missile loaded on a launch truck and watching a soaring weapon. On Sunday, the North's state media mentioned her for the second time, saying she and Kim took group photos with scientists, technicians, officials and other workers involved in what it called the test-launch of its Hwasong-17 ICBM. KCNA described her as Kim's most beloved

Kim Jong Un's sister makes insulting threats to Seoul over sanctions

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made insult-laden threats against South Korea on Thursday for considering unliteral sanctions on the North, calling the South's new president and his government "idiots" and "a running wild dog gnawing on a bone given by the US". Kim Yo Jong's diatribe came two days after South Korea's Foreign Ministry said that it was reviewing additional unilateral sanctions on North Korea over its recent barrage of missile tests. The ministry said it would also consider sanctions and clampdowns on North Korea's alleged cyberattacks a new key source of funding for its weapons program if the North conducts a major provocation like a nuclear test. "I wonder what sanctions' the South Korean group, no more than a running wild dog gnawing on a bone given by the US, impudently impose on North Korea," Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by state media. "What a spectacle sight!" She called South Korea's new President Yoon Suk Yeol and his ...

India condemns recent intercontinental ballistic missile launch by N Korea

India has joined the US and a dozen other nations to condemn North Korea's recent intercontinental ballistic missile launch, with New Delhi voicing concern over the proliferation of nuclear and missile technologies, saying they have an "adverse impact" on peace and security in the region, including on India. India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj told the UN Security Council meeting on North Korea on Monday -- the Council met for the second time this month on the issue -- that New Delhi condemns the recent intercontinental ballistic missile launch by North Korea. The latest North Korean missile launch on November 18 which landed about 125 miles from Japan's coastline came after other ballistic missile launches in the preceding months. Kamboj said these launches constitute a violation of the resolutions of the Security Council relating to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and affect the peace and security of the region and beyond. US Ambassador

US, allies clash with Russia, China over North Korea latest missile tests

The United States and its allies on Monday strongly condemned North Korea's latest intercontinental ballistic missile test and called for action to limit its nuclear and missile programs, but Russia and China opposed any new pressure and sanctions on Pyongyang. US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council that the Biden administration will be circulating a proposed presidential statement, which would condemn North Korea "for all its unlawful ballistic missile launches and other dangerous and destabilizing activity," as well as call for Pyongyang to abide by UN sanctions banning all ballistic missile and nuclear tests. Presidential statements -- a step below a legally binding council resolution require agreement from all 15 council members to be adopted, and the comments by Russia and China on Monday indicated resistance to any condemnation of North Korea's action. Russia's Deputy UN Ambassador Anna Evstigneeva said the reason for the ..

North Korea calls UN chief Guterres 'puppet of US' after missile launch

North Korea's foreign minister called UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "a puppet of the United States" as she slammed the UN chief for joining US-led condemnation of the North's recent intercontinental ballistic missile test. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres earlier issued a statement strongly condemning North Korea's ICBM launch on Friday and reiterating his call on the North to "to immediately desist from taking any further provocative actions." Guterres's statement came after the United States and other countries issued similar criticism of the North's ICBM test that showed an potential to strike anywhere in the continental US. "I often take the UN secretary-general for a member of the US White House or its State Department," North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said in a statement carried by state media. "I express my strong regret over the fact that the UN secretary-general has taken a very deplorable attitude, oblivious of the purpose and principles of the UN ..