Page 3 - North Korea

North Korean hackers used ChatGPT to help forge deepfake military ID

The group responsible for the attack, which researchers have dubbed Kimsuky, is a suspected North Korea-sponsored cyber-espionage unit previously linked to other spying efforts against South Korea

US, South Korea, Japan launch joint air, naval drills in show of strength

The United States, South Korea and Japan opened an air and naval exercise off a South Korean island Monday in their latest joint drill condemned by North Korea as a "reckless show of strength." The exercise called Freedom Edge is aimed at strengthening the countries' combined operational capabilities in the sea, air and cyberspace and is necessary to counter North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threats, South Korea's defence ministry said. The US Indo-Pacific Command said the exercise will include US Marine and Air Force aerial assets and feature enhanced ballistic-missile and air-defence drills, medical evacuations and maritime operations training, making it "the most advanced demonstration of trilateral defense cooperation to date." The exercise off South Korea's southern Jeju Island runs through Friday. The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un earlier condemned the drills in state media, saying they show the countries' confrontational stance toward the ...

North Korea's Kim Jong Un oversees test of new rocket engine for ICBMs

North Korea said Tuesday that leader Kim Jong Un supervised a test of a new rocket engine designed for intercontinental ballistic missiles, the latest step in his effort to build an arsenal that poses a viable threat to the continental United States. North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said Monday's event marked the ninth and final ground test of the solid-fuel rocket engine built with carbon fibre and capable of producing 1,971 kilonewtons of thrust, more powerful than past models. The report came a week after Kim visited the research institute that developed the engine, which North Korea then said will be used for future ICBMs, including a system called Hwasong-20. North Korea in recent years has flight-tested a variety of ICBMs that demonstrated potential range to reach the US mainland, including those with built-in solid propellants that are easier to move and conceal and can be prepared for launch more quickly than the North's previous liquid-fuel missiles. Kim h

China's Xi, North Korea's Kim pledge deeper ties during meeting in Beijing

Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged mutual support and enhanced cooperation during talks in Beijing after a commemoration of the end of World War II, the countries' state media said. Xi and Kim, along with top officials from their countries, met at Beijing's Great Hall of the People, a day after Kim attended a Chinese military parade alongside other foreign leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kim is making a rare trip outside North Korea. Xi highlighted the traditional friendship between China and North Korea and pledged to consolidate and boost relations, according to a readout of their statements published by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Thursday. This position will not change regardless of how the international situation evolves, Xi told Kim, according to CCTV. North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said on Friday that the leaders discussed increasing high-level visits and contacts as well as strengthening ..

Kim Jong Un in Beijing: What history says about China-North Korea ties

Beijing remains Pyongyang's closest ally, with their allegiances dating back to their joint action during the Korean War in the early 1950s, but relations have been fraught with mistrust, too

Xi, Putin discuss 'immortality' at China's biggest military parade

Putin said development of biotechnology has helped transplant human organs vigorously helping people stay young and even achieve immortality

Xi says world faces choice between 'peace or war' as Trump cries conspiracy

China stages its largest military parade to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, with Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un in attendance

China's Xi hosts 'old friend' Putin, North Korea's Kim in challenge to West

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Beijing by train on Tuesday to attend a military parade with his Chinese and Russian counterparts, an event that observers say could potentially demonstrate three-way unity against the United States. Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin are among the 26 world leaders who will join China's President Xi Jinping at Wednesday's massive military parade in Beijing that commemorates the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and China's fight against Japan's wartime aggressions. It's set to be Kim's first time attending a major multilateral event during his 14-year rule, and the first time Kim, Xi and Putin, all key challengers of the US, have gathered at the same venue. None of the three countries have confirmed a private trilateral leaders' meeting. North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said Kim was greeted at Beijing railway station by senior Chinese officials. Kim was cited as saying he was pleased to visit China and ...

Kim Jong Un crosses into China by train to attend parade with Xi, Putin

The train is expected to arrive in Beijing later in the day, Yonhap said, citing the Korean Central Broadcasting Station, the North's state-run radio service

Kim Jong Un's China trip signals shifting dynamics in nuclear diplomacy

For Kim, the visit will mark his debut on a multilateral diplomatic stage since taking power 14 years ago, showing his confidence backed by the partnership with Russia and his growing nuclear arsenal

Xi hosts Russia, North Korea, Iran and Myanmar at Beijing military parade

Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, who rarely travels abroad, will also attend, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Thursday

Kim Jong Un to attend Xi's military parade in Beijing alongside Putin

The parade to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two is a major event on the political calendar for Chinese President Xi

Trump wants to meet North Korea's Kim this year, raises issues with South

Since Trump's January inauguration, Kim has ignored Trump's repeated calls to revive the direct diplomacy he pursued during his 2017-2021 term in office

North Korea accuses South of 'serious provocation' over warning shots

North Korea accused South Korea of a serious provocation Saturday after South Korean troops fired warning shots at North Korean soldiers setting up barriers along their tense border. Ko Jong Chol, vice chief of the North Korean People's Army's General Staff, noted that Tuesday's warning shots coincided with the South Korea-US summertime military drills and accused Seoul of deliberately trying to raise tensions. Shortly after Ko's statement, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed it had fired warning shots Tuesday afternoon at North Korean soldiers who briefly crossed the military demarcation line in the central border region while carrying out unspecified construction work. The South's military said the soldiers returned to North Korean territory without incident and that the North didn't return fire. In recent months, South Korea's military has occasionally used loudspeaker warnings and fired warning shots to repel North Korean soldiers crossing the military demarcation ...

North Korea's Kim slams US-South Korea military drills, vows nuke buildup

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un condemned South Korean-U.S. military drills and vowed a rapid expansion of his nuclear forces to counter rivals, state media said Tuesday, as he inspected his most advanced warship being fitted with nuclear-capable systems. Kim's visit to the western port of Nampo on Monday came as the South Korean and U.S. militaries kicked off their annual large-scale summertime exercise to bolster readiness against growing North Korean threats. The 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield, which the allies describe as defensive, will mobilize 21,000 troops, including 18,000 South Koreans, for computer-simulated command post operations and field training. North Korea has long denounced the allies' joint drills as invasion rehearsals and Kim has often used them to justify his own military displays and testing activities aimed at expanding his nuclear weapons program. The Korean Peninsula remains in a technical state of war, divided by the Demilitarized Zone into North Korea and .

South Korea, US launch annual military drills against North Korean threats

South Korea and the United States began their annual large-scale joint military exercise on Monday to better cope with threats by nuclear-armed North Korea, which has warned the drills would deepen regional tensions and vowed to respond to any provocation against its territory. The 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield, the second of two large-scale exercises held annually in South Korea, after another set in March, will involve 21,000 soldiers, including 18,000 South Koreans, in computer-simulated command post operations and field training. The drills, which the allies describe as defensive, could trigger a response from North Korea, which has long portrayed the allies' exercises as invasion rehearsals and has often used them as a pretext for military demonstrations and weapons tests aimed at advancing its nuclear programme. In a statement last week, North Korean Defence Minister No Kwang Chol said the drills show the allies' stance of military confrontation with the North and declared that

S Korea's President vows to restore 2018 inter-Korean military agreement

South Korea's new liberal president, Lee Jae Myung, said Friday he will seek to restore a 2018 military agreement with North Korea aimed at reducing border tensions and urged Pyongyang to respond to Seoul's efforts to rebuild trust and revive dialogue. Speaking on the 80th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule, Lee's overture came amid soaring tensions fuelled by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's nuclear ambitions and deepening ties with Russia over the war in Ukraine. The 2018 military agreement, reached during a brief period of diplomacy between Kim and South Korea's former liberal President Moon Jae-in, created buffer zones on land and sea and no-fly zones above the border to prevent clashes. South Korea's previous conservative government suspended the deal in 2024, citing tensions over North Korea's launches of trash-laden balloons toward the South, and moved to resume frontline military activities and propaganda campaigns. The step came after North Korea

North Korean, Russian leaders in call reaffirm their alignment over Ukraine

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call to discuss their deepening ties and war efforts against Ukraine, the countries' state media said Wednesday, ahead of Putin's planned meeting with US President Donald Trump in Alaska. Putin during the call on Tuesday praised the bravery, heroism and self-sacrificing spirit displayed by North Korean troops as they fought with Russian forces to repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia's Kursk border region, North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said. Putin also shared with Kim information about his upcoming talks with Trump scheduled to take place Friday in Alaska, according to Russia's TASS news agency, citing the Kremlin. The North Korean reports did not mention the Trump meeting. Kim told Putin that Pyongyang will fully support all measures to be taken by the Russian leadership in the future, too, as they discussed advancing ties in all fields under a strategic partnership agreement the

Russia starts direct commercial flights between Moscow and Pyongyang

Russia on Sunday opened a regular air link between Moscow and Pyogyang, a move reflecting increasingly close ties between the two countries. The first flight operated by Russian carrier Nordwind took off from Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport carrying over 400 passengers. Russia's Transport Ministry said there will be one flight a month to meet demand. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who visited North Korea's new Wonsan-Kalma beach resort earlier this month to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, promised to encourage Russian tourists to visit the complex. The resort, which can accommodate nearly 20,000 people, is at the center of Kim's push to boost tourism to improve his country's troubled economy. North Korea has been slowly easing the curbs imposed during the pandemic and reopening its borders in phases. But the country hasn't said if it would fully resume international tourism. Regular flights between Russia's eastern port city of Vladivostok and Pyongyang reopened

Kim's sister sees no US intent to resume talks on N Korea denuclearisation

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un dismissed US intent to resume diplomacy on North Korea's denuclearization, saying Tuesday the North flatly opposes any attempt to deny its position as a nuclear weapons state. Since beginning his second term in January, U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly bragged of his personal ties with Kim Jong Un and expressed hopes of restarting nuclear diplomacy between them. Their high-stakes nuclear diplomacy in 2018-19 unravelled due to disputes over U.S.-led sanctions. Kim has since performed a provocative run of weapons tests to modernize and expand his nuclear arsenal. In a statement carried by state media, Kim Yo Jong said that It is worth taking into account the fact that the year 2025 is neither 2018 nor 2019. Any attempt to deny the position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state which was established along with the existence of a powerful nuclear deterrent and fixed by the supreme law reflecting the unanimous will of all