Tag: North Korea

US missile system in S. Korea in 8-10 months: General

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — The United States will deploy an advanced missile defense system in South Korea in eight to 10 months despite strong objections from China and Russia, a US military chief said Friday. Seoul and Washington agreed to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in the South after North Korea conducted a series of missile launches in the wake of its fourth nuclear test in January. The decision was […]

US, S.Korea detect another failed N. Korea missile test

by Hwang Sung-Hee SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea on Thursday conducted what appeared to be its second failed test in a week of a powerful medium-range missile that experts warn could be operationally deployed as early as next year. South Korean and US military monitors said the missile — believed to be an intermediate-range Musudan — exploded shortly after take-off at around 6:30 am Pyongyang time (2200 GMT Wednesday). The attempted launch came […]

North Korea holds Red Cross congress in Pyongyang

PYONGYANG, North Korea (Reuters) — North Korea held a congress of its Red Cross Society on Tuesday (October 18) in Pyongyang. Video provided by KCNA, which Reuters cannot independently verify, showed North Korean officials and foreign delegations were seen attending the congress at the People’s Palace of Culture in Pyongyang. Delegations from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Danish, Finnish and British Red Cross, […]

N. Korea missile exploded shortly after lift-off: Seoul

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — An explosion almost immediately after launch was behind the failure of North Korea’s latest test-firing of a powerful medium-range missile, the South Korean military confirmed Monday. North Korea tested a Musudan missile — capable of hitting US bases as far away as Guam — shortly after midday Saturday near an air base in the northwestern city of Kusong. Such launches are usually reported within a few hours or even minutes […]

S. Korea’s Park urges preparations for mass North defections

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korean President Park Geun-Hye on Tuesday told her government to prepare for large-scale defections from North Korea, just days after direct appealing to its citizens to flee their country. A recent spate of high-profile North Korean defections have provided a propaganda windfall for Seoul, which has spun them into a narrative of a Pyongyang leadership in crisis and riven with descent. Notable defections have included the North’s deputy ambassador […]

China raps US interventions in Asia at regional forum

BEIJING, China (AFP) — Beijing rapped Washington Tuesday for its interventions in Asia, as tensions grow between the two powers over territorial disputes in the South China Sea and how to handle increasingly erratic North Korea. Speaking at the 7th annual Xiangshan regional defence forum in Beijing, Chang Wanguan, China’s defence minister, levied thinly veiled criticism at recent US involvement in Asia’s trouble spots. Washington has conducted freedom of navigation operations close to artificial islands […]

Activity at N. Korea nuclear site fuels test fears

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Analysis of recent satellite images of North Korea’s nuclear test site shows activity at all three of its tunnel complexes, fuelling speculation of another test ahead of a key political anniversary next week. North Korea has already conducted two nuclear tests this year — in January and September — and experts say it is capable of carrying out a third as soon as the order is given. Past nuclear tests, […]

Pulling a rip cord over North Korea

Just weeks after carrying out its fifth nuclear test, North Korea puts on an unprecedented civilian and military air force display at the country’s first ever public aviation show. https://youtu.be/2FYogoYLvS8

S. Korea rules out flood aid to N. Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea Friday ruled out giving aid to flood-hit North Korea, saying leader Kim Jong-Un would claim credit for any assistance following what Pyongyang calls the “worst disaster” since World War II. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) appealed Wednesday for $15.5 million in emergency funding to help North Koreans. It warned of a “secondary disaster” in the impoverished country unless urgent assistance is provided. […]

Japan PM demands world find ‘new means’ to stop N. Korea

by Shaun TANDON UNITED NATION, United States (AFP) — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday demanded that the world find a new way to halt the threat from North Korea after the long-sanctioned regime’s nuclear and missile tests. Abe, addressing the UN General Assembly, said that calculations about North Korea needed to change after its latest actions including the state’s test of what it said was a miniaturized nuclear bomb for a warhead. “There […]

N. Korea says US pushing peninsula to ‘explosion’

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea on Wednesday accused the United States of pushing the Korean Peninsula to “the point of explosion” after it dispatched two huge bombers in a show of force against Pyongyang. The supersonic B-1B Lancers flew over South Korea Tuesday as Washington vowed its “unshakeable commitment” to defend its allies in the region following North Korea’s fifth and largest-ever nuclear test conducted last week. Washington called the demonstration “just one […]

N. Korea floods ‘major, complex disaster’: Red Cross

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea is experiencing a “major and complex disaster” the Red Cross has warned, after floods killed scores of people and left tens of thousands in need of urgent help. Rescue workers are struggling to reach stricken communities in the country’s far north, where thousands have been left homeless, and the risk of disease is looming. “From what we saw, it is clear that this is a very major and […]