All posts tagged: North Korea

Can K-pop bridge the divide between the two Koreas? South Korea’s unification minister thinks so

Can K-pop bridge the divide between the two Koreas? South Korea’s unification minister thinks so

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“Especially emphasising hostility in inter-Korean relations is seen as serving the purpose of deflecting internal discontent arising from economic hardship and food shortages in North Korea outwards,” said Mr Kim, an outspoken critic of human rights abuses in North Korea. “Furthermore, emphasising this hostility is also for the purpose of justifying North Korea’s distortion of resources to develop nuclear weapons and missiles.” He noted that within Pyongyang, there seems to be discord after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un announced in January that he is abandoning reunification, which had been the goal of Kim Il Sung – his grandfather and the founder of North Korea – and his father Kim Jong Il. “The North Korean regime is moving to erase the legacies of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. The Kim Jong Un regime is a hereditary dictatorship, standing on the achievements of the previous leaders, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il,” said Minister Kim.  “However, if they decide to dismantle the three great principles of national reunification and simply treat them as …

North Koreans in China vanish as border reopens

North Koreans in China vanish as border reopens

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DOOMED ESCAPE Kim Cheol Ok, who is about 40, crossed into China in the 1990s as North Korea endured devastating food shortages, Kim Kyu-li said. She was sold into marriage with a much older Chinese man, had a daughter with him and spent decades in legal limbo. After a bout of COVID-19 last year convinced her she needed legal status and healthcare, she decided to try to flee China. “She was so sick that she couldn’t even recognise (me),” Kim Kyu-li added. “She suddenly asked me to get her out” of China, she said. “So I told her to wait and that I would do anything.” Last April, Kim Kyu-li hired a broker to help Kim Cheol Ok make the 4,000km journey to Vietnam. “Prison is a dangerous place” in North Korea, says Kim Kyu-li, whose sister disappeared while attempting to reunite with her family. She hoped her sister would then be able to travel to South Korea, which grants citizenship to North Koreans. From there, Kim Cheol Ok would join her in Britain. But …

Kim Jong Un’s sister threatens West with North Korean’s ‘overwhelming military force’ | World | News

Kim Jong Un’s sister threatens West with North Korean’s ‘overwhelming military force’ | World | News

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She said: “Entering this year, the US has staged more than 80 rounds of military drills with its lackeys and those individually staged by the ROK puppets total more than 60. This evidently shows who the arch criminals straining the regional situation are. “We will continue to build up our overwhelming and most powerful military muscle to defend our sovereignty and security and regional peace. No one can break our determination.” The same day, the North Korean Foreign Ministry spoke out against the US’s criticism of its nuclear missile exercise which saw multiple rockets fired into waters off the peninsular’s east coast. DON’T MISS: Its statement read: “[It was] a legitimate exercise of the right to self-defence to deter the outbreak of war. We resolutely oppose the US behaviour of forming exclusive military blocs and pursuing inter-camp confrontation to violate strategic security of other countries, seized by the Cold War way of thinking.” In response, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol told his forces to be on alert “so that North Korea does not dare …

North Korea Officials Visit Iran in a Rare Public Trip

North Korea Officials Visit Iran in a Rare Public Trip

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SEOUL (Reuters) – A North Korean delegation led by the cabinet minister for international trade is visiting Iran, the North’s official media said on Wednesday in a rare public report of an exchange between the two countries believed to have secret military ties. The minister for external economic relations, Yun Jong Ho, left Pyongyang on Tuesday by air leading a ministry delegation to visit Iran, the North’s KCNA news agency said. It gave no other detail. North Korea and Iran have long been suspected of cooperating on ballistic missile programmes, possibly exchanging technical expertise and components that went into their manufacture. Iran has provided a large number of ballistic missiles to Russia for use in its war with Ukraine, Reuters reported in February. War in Israel and Gaza North Korea is also suspected of supplying Russia with missiles and artillery, although both countries have denied the allegation. Yun has previously worked on the country’s ties with Syria, according to South Korean government database. Yun has been active in the country’s increasing exchanges with Russia, earlier …

North Korea fires unidentified missile into sea in latest weapons launch, Seoul says

North Korea fires unidentified missile into sea in latest weapons launch, Seoul says

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North Korea has fired an unidentified ballistic missile into the sea off South Korea’s east coast, Seoul’s military said on Monday, the latest in an apparent volley of tests by Pyongyang this year. Issued on: 22/04/2024 – 09:14 2 min “North Korea has fired an unidentified missile into the East Sea,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan. Tokyo also confirmed the launch, with the Japanese defence ministry saying “a suspected ballistic missile was launched from North Korea” in a post on X, formerly Twitter. Japan’s coast guard, citing the defence ministry, said shortly after the initial announcement that the missile appeared to have already fallen. Japanese media including public broadcaster NHK reported that the suspected missile fell outside Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone, citing unnamed government sources. Seoul-based specialist site NK News said that the “brief flight time, likely under ten minutes, points to the launch involving a short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) or 600mm multiple launch rocket system (MLRS).” The latest launch …

North Koreans Secretly Animated Amazon and Max Shows, Researchers Say

North Koreans Secretly Animated Amazon and Max Shows, Researchers Say

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Some file names gave away clues about the series and episode numbers. There were also files and projects the researchers could not identify—including a “bunch of files” with videos of horses and a Russian book on horses, Williams says. Sanctions placed upon the North Korean regime, for its ongoing human rights abuses and nuclear warfare programs, prohibit US companies from working with DPRK companies or individuals. However, the researchers say it is highly unlikely that any companies involved would have a clue about North Korean animators working on the shows, and there is nothing suggesting the companies violated any sanctions or other laws. “It is likely that the contracting arrangement was several steps downstream from the major producers,” the report says. Spokespeople for Amazon and Max spokesperson declined to comment for this story. YouNeek Studios did not respond to a request for comment. “We do not work with North Korean companies, or Chinese companies on Invincible, or any affiliated entities, and have no knowledge of any North Korean or Chinese companies working on Invincible,” a …

North Korea conducts test on new ‘super-large warhead’: State media | Weapons News

North Korea conducts test on new ‘super-large warhead’: State media | Weapons News

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Pyongyang says new warhead designed for cruise missiles, adding that a new anti-aircraft rocket was also tested. North Korea has conducted a test on a “super-large warhead” designed for a strategic cruise missile, state media reports, adding that it also launched a new type of anti-aircraft missile. “The DPRK Missile Administration has conducted a power test of a super-large warhead designed for ‘Hwasal-1 Ra-3’ strategic cruise missile”, KCNA news agency reported on Saturday, referring to North Korea by an abbreviation for its official name – Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. North Korea also carried out a test launch on Friday afternoon of a “Pyoljji-1-2”, which state media said was a “new-type anti-aircraft missile”. KCNA added that “a certain goal was attained” through the test without providing further details. The weapons tests were part of the “regular activities of the administration and its affiliated defence science institutes”, KCNA reported, referencing the operation of “new-type weapon systems”. The tests “had nothing to do with the surrounding situation”, KCNA added, but did not give any further information. In …

Iran’s attack on Israel is ‘wake-up call’ to fortify America’s allies – POLITICO

Iran’s attack on Israel is ‘wake-up call’ to fortify America’s allies – POLITICO

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Exhorting international leaders to take “every effort” to “prevent a further escalation” of the fighting in the Middle East, the Ukrainian leader argued that “Iran’s actions threaten the entire region and the world, just as Russia’s actions threaten a larger conflict.”  And then he brought his point home: “Words do not stop drones and do not intercept missiles. Only tangible assistance does.” Volodymyr Omelyan, Ukraine’s former infrastructure minister, targeted a similar message at U.S. Republicans, and in particular Donald Trump, the former U.S. president and frontrunner for the Republican nomination this year. Trump has championed the idea that the only way to stop the war in Ukraine is if Kyiv gives up territory — a scenario described as a “primitive idea” by Zelenskyy. “I hope that Iran’s attack on Israel will send a powerful message to Republicans, namely to Mr. Trump — you cannot wait aside any more and think that those are small separate regional conflicts happening somewhere in Europe, Middle East, Asia,” Omelyan said in an interview with POLITICO. “China, Russia, Iran and …

A Vigilante Hacker Took Down North Korea’s Internet. Now He’s Taking Off His Mask

A Vigilante Hacker Took Down North Korea’s Internet. Now He’s Taking Off His Mask

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“That’s not nice, and it’s not a good norm,” says Schneider. She says that much of the US government’s slow approach to cyberattacks stems from its care to ensure it avoids unintentionally hitting civilians as well as breaking international law or triggering dangerous blowback. Still, Schneider concedes that Caceres and Angus have a point: The US could be using its cyber forces more, and some of the explanations for why it doesn’t amount to bureaucracy. “There are good reasons, and then there are bad reasons,” says Schneider. “Like, we have complicated organizational politics, we don’t know how to do things differently, we’re bad at using this type of talent, we’ve been doing it this way for 50 years, and it worked well for dropping bombs.” America’s offensive hacking has, by all appearances, gotten less aggressive and less nimble over the past half decade, Schneider points out. Starting in 2018, for instance, General Paul Nakasone, then the head of Cyber Command, advocated a “defend forward” strategy aimed at taking cyber conflict to the enemy’s network rather …

North Korea ‘launches hypersonic nuke’ capable of vaporising key allies in minutes | World | News

North Korea ‘launches hypersonic nuke’ capable of vaporising key allies in minutes | World | News

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North Korea successfully test-launched a Hwasong-16B nuclear-capable intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of vaporising South Korean and Japanese cities in just minutes, North Korean state media has claimed. Earlier, South Korea’s military said its neighbour launched a suspected intermediate-range ballistic missile toward waters off its eastern coast Tuesday, as it pushes to advance its weapons aimed at remote US targets in the Pacific. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile was launched from an area near the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, and flew about 600 kilometres (372 miles) before landing in the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. Lee Sung Joon, spokesperson of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the launch likely followed up on a North Korean test in March of a solid-fuel engine built for a new intermediate-range hypersonic missile it has been developing. If perfected, such weapons could reach the US Pacific military hub of Guam and beyond, experts say. READ MORE: North Korea’s £24m ski resort visited by only a handful of Russians Lee didn’t specify why the South …