Page 31 - North Korea

North Korea fires missiles after Kamala Harris leaves South Korea

In a show of defiance, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on Thursday, hours after U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris flew home from a visit to South Korea during which she emphasised the ironclad U.S. commitment to the security of its Asian allies. It was the third round of missile launches by North Korea this week, extending a record pace in weapons testing as it accelerates a push to expand its arsenal and pressure Washington to accept it as a nuclear power. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North Korean missiles were fired nine minutes apart from an area near the city of Sunchon, just north of the capital, Pyongyang, and flew toward waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. It didn't immediately release more details. Japan's military said it also detected a launch. North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday, while Harris was in Japan, and fired one before she left Washington on Sunday. Harris earlier capped h

N Korea test launches missile on eve of Kamala Harris trip to Seoul

South Korea says North Korea has fired a ballistic missile toward its eastern waters a day before a visit by US Vice President Kamala Harris. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile was launched Wednesday but gave no further details. It was the second missile launched by North Korea this week. Harris is to visit the demilitarized zone separating the rival Koreas during her visit to South Korea. The launch also comes as US and South Korean navy ships are conducting drills off the Korean Peninsula's east coast.

Kamala Harris to visit DMZ on Thursday as tensions rattle region

The trip on Thursday will focus the world's attention on the vice president, who has sought to burnish both US influence -- and her own foreign policy credentials

Kamala Harris to visit demilitarized zone during her visit to South Korea

During her trip to South Korea this week, US Vice President Kamala Harris will visit the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separated the two Koreas, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo announced on Tuesday.

North Korea test-fired ballistic missile toward sea, says South Korea

South Korea's military says North Korea has fired at least one unidentified ballistic missile toward its eastern sea. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff on Sunday did not immediately say what type of missile it was or how far it flew. The launch came a day after South Korean officials said they detected signs that North Korea was preparing to test a missile designed to be fired from submarines. North Korea has dialled up its testing activities to a record pace in 2022, testing more than 30 ballistic weapons, including its first intercontinental ballistic missiles since 2017, as it continues to expand its military capabilities amid a prolonged stalemate in nuclear diplomacy. The launch came as the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and its strike group arrived in South Korea for the two countries' joint military exercise to meant to show their strength against growing North Korean threats. The North Korean threat is also expected to be a key agenda when US Vice ...

North Korea denies US claims of sending arms to Russia amid Ukraine war

North Korea says it hasn't exported any weapons to Russia during the war in Ukraine and has no plans to do so, and said US intelligence reports of weapons transfers were an attempt to tarnish North Korea's image. In comments to state media on Thursday, an unidentified North Korean defense official told the US to stop making "reckless remarks" and to "keep its mouth shut." Biden administration officials earlier this month confirmed a declassified US intelligence assessment that Russia was in the process of purchasing arms from North Korea, including millions of artillery shells and rockets. North Korean arms exports to Russia would violate United Nations resolutions banning the country from importing or exporting weapons. The North Korean official stressed that Pyongyang has never recognized the "unlawful" UN Security Council sanctions against the country "cooked up by the US and its vassal forces." The official said the export and import of military equipment is a "lawful right ..

North Korea says it will never give up nuclear weapons to counter US

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stressed his country will never abandon the nuclear weapons it needs to counter the United States, which he accused of pushing to weaken the North's defenses and eventually collapse his government, state media said Friday. Kim made the comments during a speech Thursday at North Korea's rubber-stamp parliament, where members passed legislation governing the use of nuclear weapons, which Kim described as a step to cement the country's nuclear status and make clear such weapons will not be bargained. The law included a provision that requires North Korea's military to automatically execute nuclear strikes against enemy forces if its leadership comes under attack. Kim also criticised South Korea over its plans to expand its conventional strike capabilities and revive large-scale military exercises with the United States to counter the North's growing threats, describing them as a dangerous military action that raises tensions. Kim has made increasingly ..

South Korea proposes meeting with North on war-affected family reunions

South Korea on Thursday proposed a meeting with North Korea to resume reunions of families separated by war, despite long-strained ties between the rivals over the North's nuclear weapons programme. It's unclear if North Korea would accept the offer because it has already rejected the new South Korean government's offer to provide massive aid in return for denuclearisation. The South and the North should confront the painful parts of the reality. We must solve the matter before the term separated families' disappears, Unification Minister Kwon Youngse said in a televised briefing. We need to use all possible means immediately to come up with quick and fundamental measures. Kwon said South Korea hopes that responsible officials of the two Koreas will meet in person as soon as possible for a candid discussion. Since the 1950-53 Korean War ended, the two Koreas have been banning millions of people who found themselves suddenly divided from visiting each other's territory across the .

North Korea calls US' human rights abuse accusations 'grave provocation'

In July, a US State Department spokesperson expressed concerns over the North's rights situation following Seoul's appointment of a new envoy for Pyongyang's human rights

Russia to buy rockets, artillery shells from North Korea, says US

The Russian Ministry of Defense is in the process of purchasing millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea for its ongoing fight in Ukraine, according to a newly downgraded U.S. intelligence finding. Brig Gen Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said Tuesday that the information that we have is that Russia has specifically asked for ammunition. He said the US has seen indications Russia approached North Korea, but said he had no other details, including whether money has changed hands or any shipments are in progress. It does demonstrate and is indicative of the situation that Russia finds itself in, in terms of its logistics and sustainment capabilities as it relates to Ukraine, said Ryder, in the administration's first public comments on the intelligence assessment. We assess that things are not going well on that front for Russia. A U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the intelligence determination, said Monday that the fact Russia

Russia to buy rockets, artillery shells from North Korea, claims US finding

The Russian Ministry of Defense is in the process of purchasing millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea for its ongoing fight in Ukraine, according to a newly downgraded U.S. intelligence finding. A U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the intelligence determination, said Monday that the fact Russia is turning to the isolated state of North Korea demonstrates that the Russian military continues to suffer from severe supply shortages in Ukraine, due in part to export controls and sanctions. U.S. intelligence officials believe that the Russians could look to purchase additional North Korean military equipment in the future. The intelligence finding was first reported by The New York Times. The finding comes after the Biden administration recently confirmed that the Russian military in August took delivery of Iranian-manufactured drones for use on the battlefield in Ukraine. The White House said last week that Russia has faced technical .

North Korea calls UN monitor on its rights issue 'puppet' of the US

North Korea called the UN's top expert on the country's human rights a puppet of the United States, warning on Friday that it won't tolerate an American-led plot to use the rights issue to overthrow its political system. North Korea's government is extremely sensitive to any outside criticism of its rights record, viewing it as an attempt to slander and rattle its authoritarian rule of its 26 million people, most of whom have little access to foreign news. Its comments come as Elizabeth Salmn, the UN special rapporteur on the North's human rights, is making her first visit to South Korea this week to meet officials, activists and North Korean defectors since her appointment last month. North Korea's Foreign Ministry accused Salmn of displaying ignorance and biased vision" on the North. It also accused Washington of being behind Salmn's mandate as part of an anti-North Korea scheme. The human rights' racket of the US and other hostile forces is nothing but the most politicised hosti

China, Russia hold key to North Korea's denuclearisation: South Korea

China and Russia's reluctance to toughen UN sanctions on North Korea is the biggest challenge facing efforts to eliminate the North's nuclear arsenal, a top South Korean official said on Thursday, as the North remains ready to conduct its first nuclear test in five years. China and Russia, which both have close ties with North Korea and are locked in confrontations with the United States, already vetoed a US-led attempt to slap fresh sanctions on North Korea over its missile tests this year. That raises worries North Korea would escape punishment even if it performs a bigger provocation like a nuclear test explosion, which are banned by UN resolutions. Even if North Korea conducts an additional nuclear test, there is a possibility no additional sanctions will be adopted at the UN Security Council because of the a US-China strategic rivalry and US-Russia tension over the Ukraine war, South Korea's vice defence minister, Shin Beomchul, told The Associated Press during an interview. I

North Korea says new fever cases near China border were flu, not COVID-19

North Korea on Friday said the latest fever cases detected in its border region with China were tested to be influenza, not coronavirus infections as initially feared. The report by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency came a day after the North said it locked down unspecified areas in Ryanggang province after four people had fevers that were suspected to be COVID-19. North Korea maintains it has had no confirmed coronavirus cases since August 10, when leader Kim Jong Un declared a widely disputed victory over the virus, just three months after the country acknowledged an omicron outbreak. KCNA said diagnostic tests of samples, the nature of the symptoms, and information gained from contract tracing led health workers to conclude that the fevers were caused by influenza. The patients have since returned to normal temperatures, it said. North Korean officials lifted the lockdown but urged residents to maintain vigilance by continuing to wear masks and reporting to healt

North Korea sees suspected COVID-19 cases after victory claim by leader

North Korea on Thursday said it found four new fever cases in its border region with China that may have been caused by coronavirus infections, two weeks after leader Kim Jong Un declared a widely disputed victory over COVID-19. North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency said health workers were conducting genetic tests on the samples taken from four people in the Ryanggang Province who exhibited fevers to confirm whether they were caused by the "malignant epidemic." The North often uses that term, along with "malignant virus," to describe COVID-19 and the coronavirus. Authorities immediately locked down the areas where the fever cases emerged and plan to maintain tight restrictions and quarantines until health workers determine the cause of the illness. "(Health authorities) pay attention to the fact that those with fever had not been infected by the malignant epidemic," KCNA said. The country's emergency anti-virus headquarters dispatched "talented epidemiological, virolo

North Korea urges heightened precautions against new virus found in China

North Korea on Wednesday called for heightened alert against a new virus detected in China, just weeks after Pyongyang claimed victory over the Covid-19 crisis

US begins biggest military drills with South Korea since Trump-Kim summit

The US and South Korea will begin their biggest joint military exercise in about five years after a hiatus on large-scale exercises that failed to entice North Korea's Kim Jong Un

North Korea dismisses Seoul's 'foolish' aid-for-disarmament offer

The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says her country will never accept South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's foolish offer of economic benefits in exchange for denuclearisation steps, accusing Seoul of recycling past proposals Pyongyang already rejected. In a commentary published on Friday's edition of North Korea's official Rodong Sinmun newspaper, Kim Yo Jong stressed that her country has no intentions to give away its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles program for economic cooperation, saying no one barters its destiny for corn cake. She questioned the sincerity of South Korea's calls for improved bilateral relations while it continues its combined military exercises with the United States and fails to stop civilian activists from flying anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets and other dirty wastes across their border. She also ridiculed South Korea's military capabilities, saying that the South misread the launch site of its latest missile tests on Wednesday, which ca

Seoul won't seek own nuclear deterrent amid N Korean threat: President

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said his government has no plans to pursue its own nuclear deterrent in the face of growing North Korean nuclear threats.

Kim Jong-un receives congratulatory letter from head of Ukraine's Donetsk

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un received a message stressing bilateral relations from the head of the Russian-backed Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, Pyongyang's state media said on Wednesday.