For 75 years, the US has wielded wartime operational control (OPCON) of South Korean forces. The set-up has its origins in the Korean War which erupted in 1950 and largely ended with the truce of 1953. In simple terms, Seoul can command its troops only as long as there is no open conflict, and despite South Korean leadership taking on more and more responsibility in the intervening decades, a major breakout of hostilities would still see Washington take command.
We will show more offensive action against the enemies' threat on the principle of ensuring security and defending peace by dint of powerful strength, the defence minister said, according to a report on Saturday by the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). All threats encroaching upon the sphere of the North's security will become direct targets and be managed in a necessary way, South Korea's Yonhap news agency also reported the defence minister as saying.
North Korea fired a suspected short-range ballistic missile towards the eastern waters on Friday, South Korea's Military said, as talks between Pyongang, Seoul and Washington remain stalled. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile flew about 700 Kilometers (434 miles) cross-country after being fired from an inland area around the western county of Taekwan. They added South Korean and US intelligence agencies had monitored the launch preparations in advance and were now studying details.
Kim Yong Nam, the former ceremonial head of North Korea for over two decades, has died at the age of 97, state media reported on Tuesday. State broadcaster Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that the former diplomat died of multiple organ failure on Monday. Kim Jong Un visited his remains "to express deep condolences over his death," it said.
Pyongyang says the tests in the Yellow Sea were aimed at impressing its abilities upon its enemies'. North Korea has test-fired several sea-to-surface cruise missiles into its western waters, according to state media, hours before United States President Donald Trump begins a visit to South Korea. The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said on Wednesday that the missiles, carried out in the Yellow Sea on Tuesday, flew for more than two hours before accurately striking targets.
During talks with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung at the Gyeongju National Museum, Trump expressed concern that "North Korea's nuclear development is significantly threatening the security of the Korean Peninsula and northeast Asia." But Trump also left the door open to dialogue with Pyongyang, claiming he still has a "good relationship" with Kim and was ready to return to meet the North Korean leader "at any time."
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has intensified its nationwide crackdown on schemes involving North Korean information technology (IT) workers who fraudulently obtained employment at U.S. businesses. Over the past few years, the U.S. government issued multiple advisories to detect and combat the North Korean remote IT workers' attempts to infiltrate U.S. businesses, the latest of which came in July this year.
From Kursk, North Korean units are using drones to conduct aerial reconnaissance missions over the neighboring Sumy region in Ukraine, identifying troop positions and supporting Russian follow-on strikes against identified targets, Kyiv said. Ukraine has "intercepted communications between North Korean drone operators and personnel of the Russian army," Kyiv shared in a statement published to the Telegram messaging app. It said that North Korean drone operators "adjusted the fire of multiple launch rocket systems against Ukrainian positions."
Earlier this year, as North Korea began sending more soldiers to Russia to assist in its war against Ukraine, Maggie Feldman-Piltch turned to a group of adult content creators for their help. The creators had noticed an uptick in subscribers from the DPRK who suddenly had access to a less restrictive internet environment than they were used to back home, including adult content recommended by their Russian counterparts.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has pledged to develop additional military measures and allocate more strategic assets to respond to the buildup of US forces in the south, as the country prepares for a major anniversary parade. In direct proportion to the buildup of US forces in [South] Korea, our strategic interest in the region has also increased, and we have accordingly allocated special assets to key targets of interest, Kim was quoted in a report published by the state media KCNA on Sunday.
The measure is part of a trio of regulations that Kim Ilhyuk, a North Korean defector, calls the three evil laws. They were implemented during the Covid pandemic lockdown and intended to impose even stricter control on the population of the country, which Kim Jong Un, North Korea's supreme leader, rules with an iron fist. The focus, to a large extent, was on young people and their interaction with foreign cultures.
The North Korean vessel crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL) near the South Korean border island of Baengnyeong at about 5am local time on Friday (20:00 GMT) and remained on the southern side of the maritime frontier for an hour while also advancing up to 5km (3.1 miles) south of the demarcation line, South Korea's military said. Our military broadcasted a warning and fired warning shots, after which the North Korean merchant ship retreated from our territorial waters, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement.
The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, has suggested he would be open to talks with the US, while South Korea's president has suggested he would be open to a deal between Kim and Donald Trump that allowed the North to retain its existing nuclear weapons. In a speech to the Supreme People's Assembly on Sunday, Kim said he still had fond memories of Trump, whom he met three times during Trump's first term as US president.
If the United States drops the absurd obsession with denuclearising us and accepts reality, and wants genuine peaceful coexistence, there is no reason for us not to sit down with the United States, Kim said in a speech at the Supreme People's Assembly in Pyongyang on Sunday, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). list of 4 itemsend of list The North Korean leader also commented on US President Donald Trump, whom he met three times during Trump's first presidency,
The people of North Korea endure the harshest repression in the world, with the death penalty reportedly used for sharing foreign media, including popular South Korean television dramas, according to a new report from the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR). The 14-page document detailed how ordinary North Korean people's lives have become significantly more difficult in the last decade. The report was based on interviews with around 300 people who have managed to leave North Korea,
"I do not think the timing of Iron Mace is in response to any particular event, but it is an overdue exercise to learn effective ways to prevent and counter a possible North Korean nuclear threat," said Chun In-bum, a retired lieutenant general in the South Korean army and now a senior fellow with the National Institute for Deterrence Studies. "And even though we may not be able to link these exercises with a single event in the North, it is clear that the North is becoming increasingly militarily capable and the alliance needs to be prepared for a possible nuclear scenario on the peninsula in order to prevent it," he told DW.
The 30-year-old has been able to check that the roof was repaired and that crops are growing tangible proof that the money he sent home had reached his family safely. Sending money was the simplest way for me to feel connected to my family, Park says, adding that he worries that without it, his brother might be drafted and sent to fight in Russia because his family will not have enough to pay bribes to get fake medical certificates so as to be exempt.
Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un are among the world leaders who will attend a military parade with President Xi Jinping in Beijing next week, in a show of collective defiance amid western pressure. No western leaders will be among the 26 foreign heads of state and government attending the parade next week with the exception of Robert Fico, prime minister of Slovakia, a member of the European Union according to the Chinese foreign ministry.
The North Korean state media's report did not provide any details on the missiles, nor on where the test was held. It said the test-firing took place on Saturday, and that it had demonstrated the "superior combat capability" of the "improved" missile weapon systems. "The firing particularly proved that the technological features of two types of projectiles are very suitable for destroying various aerial targets," KCNA said.
