SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea has tested a powerful new rocket engine, state media said Sunday, with leader Kim Jong-Un hailing the successful test as a “new birth” for the nation’s rocket industry. The test was apparently timed to coincide with the visit of US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Beijing Saturday, where he warned that regional tensions had reached a “dangerous level”. State news agency said Kim had overseen the operation, […]
Tag: Kim Jong Un
50 North Koreans to be deported from Malaysia for overstaying
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Malaysia will deport 50 North Koreans for overstaying their visas, the deputy prime minister said Tuesday, in an apparent exception to a departure ban after the assassination of Kim Jong-Nam. The killing of the half-brother of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Un last month in Malaysia with VX nerve agent triggered an angry standoff between Kuala Lumpur and Pyongyang that has seen them expel each other’s ambassador and refuse to let their citizens […]
US skeptical about N. Korea talks, says Kim Jong-Un not ‘rational’
UNITED NATION, United States (AFP) — The United States on Wednesday voiced skepticism about calls for talks with North Korea, saying leader Kim Jong-Un was behaving irrationally and would likely not respond to diplomatic advances. “We are not dealing with a rational person,” US Ambassador Nikki Haley told reporters following a closed-door meeting of the Security Council to discuss North Korea’s latest missile launches. In a reference to China, which is calling for a return […]
Malaysia: Two female suspects in Kim killing to be charged with murder
by M JEGATHESAN KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Two women arrested over the nerve agent assassination of Kim Jong-Nam are to be charged with his murder, Malaysia said Tuesday, as North Korea sent a senior diplomat to retrieve the body from the morgue. The spectacular killing of Kim Jong-Un’s half-brother with VX, a fast-acting poison developed for warfare, sparked an international probe and lurid stories of Pyongyang’s Cold War-style tradecraft. South Korea says its isolated […]
N. Korea launches verbal tirade at Malaysia for ‘immoral handling’ of Kim assassination case
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea’s state media broke a 10-day silence Thursday on the murder of Kim Jong-Un’s half-brother, launching a ferocious assault on Malaysia for “immoral” handling of the case and for playing politics with the corpse. In its first comments on the airport assassination of Kim Jong-Nam, Korean Central News Agency said Malaysia bore responsibility for the death, and accused it of conspiring with South Korea. “Malaysia is obliged to hand his […]
Female suspects in Kim killing aware of planned poison attack
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Two women arrested over the killing of the North Korean leader’s half-brother in Kuala Lumpur knew they were taking part in a poison attack, Malaysia’s police chief said Wednesday, after reports they believed it was a prank. “Yes, of course they knew,” Khalid Abu Bakar said when asked by a reporter if the women knew they were carrying a toxic substance when they approached Kim Jong-Nam, the half-sibling of Kim […]
North Korea diplomat wanted over Kim killing
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Malaysian investigators are seeking to question a North Korean diplomat over the killing of Kim Jong-Un’s half-brother, Kim Jong-Nam, at a Kuala Lumpur airport, national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said Wednesday. Police have put five North Koreans in the frame for the killing and have said they are seeking three more for questioning. Of those wanted for questioning, one is attached to the embassy and one is on the […]
Kim killing won’t affect ties with N. Korea: Malaysia deputy PM
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — The assassination of the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, in a Kuala Lumpur airport will not affect ties between the two countries, the Malaysia deputy prime minister said Thursday. When asked by a reporter whether the killing would effect their diplomatic relationship, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said: “No. We maintain and we would like to strengthen our relationship with any foreign country that has established their embassy here.” […]
Malaysia police arrest second woman over N. Korea killing
by Theo Merz Agence France Presse KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Malaysian police probing the killing of the half-brother of North Korea’s leader on Thursday arrested a second woman over the spy novel-style assassination Seoul said was carried out by Pyongyang agents. A woman with an Indonesian passport was taken into custody overnight, a police statement said, and was being quizzed along with a 28-year-old Vietnamese woman detained on Wednesday. The two women were […]
Half-brother of N. Korean leader killed in Malaysia: media
by Simon MARTIN Agence France Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean female agents operating in Malaysia have reportedly assassinated the half-brother of the North’s leader, Kim Jong-Un — a one-time heir apparent who became a critic of the Stalinist regime. South Korean media said Tuesday that Kim Jong-Nam was killed with poisoned needles at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Officials in Seoul and the Malaysian capital could not confirm his death. Malaysian police said […]
N. Korea spy head dismissed: S. Korea
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Un has sacked his spy chief for abuse of power and executed several officials of the state security agency, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said Friday. Minister of state security Kim Won-Hong was dismissed in mid-January after the agency came under scrutiny for power abuse and corruption, Seoul ministry’s spokesman Jeong Joon-Hee said. “Kim Jong-Un fired Kim Won-Hong, one of his close aides who supported his reign […]





