Tag - north-korea

 
 

NORTH KOREA

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung waves with his his wife, Kim Hye-gyeong, following his inauguration ceremony at the National Assembly in Seoul on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 4, 2025
South Korea’s Lee pledges to heal deep wounds as ‘president for everyone’
Lee Jae-myung, in his inauguration speech, said his government would continue his predecessor’s policy of strengthening cooperation with Japan.
Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's  candidate in South Korea's presidential election, speaks during his final campaign event in Seoul on Monday night ahead of Tuesday's vote.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 3, 2025
Lee Jae-myung projected to win South Korean presidential election
Lee, the front-runner in the race since campaigning began, secured 51.7% of the vote — a 12.4 percentage point lead over conservative rival Kim Moon-soo — according to exit polls.
A banner showing Lee Jae-myung (left), the South Korean presidential candidate for the Democratic Party, and Kim Moon-soo, the candidate for the conservative People Power Party, outside a polling station in Seoul on Friday
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 1, 2025
South Korean presidential election set to reshape diplomatic chessboard
Liberal front-runner Lee Jae-myung is projected to sail to a win that could shake up ties with Japan and the U.S. and kick-start talks with North Korea.
Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, speaks during a campaign event in the city of Uijeongbu, South Korea, on May 20.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 26, 2025
South Korea's Lee pledges to restore hotline with North Korea
The front-runner in South Korea's presidential election laid out a noticeably softer approach to the nuclear-armed North than his predecessor.
This satellite image taken Friday shows a new North Korean warship lying in the harbor after its failed launch in the port city of Chongjin.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 25, 2025
Three detained and blamed for North Korean warship accident
The ultimate fate of the three remains unclear, but leader Kim Jong Un has a history of making examples out of those who embarrass him.
Sakie Yokota (center) and other family members of Japanese nationals abducted to North Korea held a national rally in Tokyo on Saturday to demand the immediate return of all abductees.
JAPAN
May 25, 2025
Families demand North Korea return all Japanese abductees
The rally, organized mainly by the family group and an organization supporting such families, brought together about 800 people, including lawmakers.
A satellite image shows the North Korean warship in water at a shipyard after the launch accident, in Chongjin, North Korea, on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 23, 2025
North Korea launches probe into accident during warship's launch
Pyongyang has said the incident on Wednesday was caused by a loss of balance while the vessel was being launched, and sections of the bottom of the warship were crushed.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba walks past members of the Philippine Coast Guard at the coast guard's headquarters in Manila on April 30.
JAPAN / Politics
May 22, 2025
Ishiba doubles down on weapons cooperation, saying no country can go it alone
Japan has sealed a spate of defense equipment and technology transfer deals in recent years while also looking to build up its homegrown defense industry.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a ceremony for the launch of the country's new destroyer in Nampo, North Korea, in this image released on April 26.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 22, 2025
North Korea's Kim offers rare admission of 'serious accident' with new destroyer
The incident, which occurred during a ceremony attended by leader Kim Jong Un, reportedly saw “sections of the warship's bottom crushed."
Kim Moon-soo, the presidential candidate for South Korea's conservative People Power Party, attends an election campaign rally in Seoul on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 19, 2025
South Korean conservative presidential candidate open to discussing U.S. troop costs
South Korea's conservative presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo said on Monday he was willing to discuss sharing more of the cost of stationing the U.S. military in the country.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stands beside a MiG-29 aircraft and air-launched weaponry on display during anti-air combat and air raid drills at an undisclosed location in the country on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 17, 2025
North Korea's Kim oversees air drills and calls for stepped-up war preparations
Kim, who inspected anti-aircraft combat and airstrike drills, called for "all units in the entire military" to bring about "a breakthrough in war preparation."
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervises a missile test on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 9, 2025
North Korea's Kim leads missile test and stresses nuclear force readiness
The test also included an inspection of the operational reliability of its "nuclear trigger" system, state-run media said.
People walk past a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at the main train station in Seoul on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 8, 2025
North Korea fires off multiple short-range missiles from east coast
One of the missiles had traveled 800 kilometers, Japan's Defense Ministry said, nearly falling inside the country's exclusive economic zone.
Takuya Yokota speaks during a news conference in Washington on Wednesday.
JAPAN
May 5, 2025
Relatives urge North Korea to release abductees
The news conference was held after members of the association returned from a trip to the United States.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin takes part in a ceremony, dedicated to the start of the construction of a new road bridge between Russia and North Korea across the Tumen river, via video link from Moscow on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 30, 2025
Russia and North Korea announce road bridge to symbolize ties
The bridge will cross over the Tumen river, which forms the natural border between the two countries.
A group of families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea decades ago and a group of Japanese lawmakers tackling the abduction issue at a news conference in Washington on Tuesday
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2025
Families of abductees in North Korea meet with U.S. official
"We reiterated that there is not much time left for the generation of the abductees' parents," said Takuya Yokota, head of the family group.
An unidentified weapons system is fired from the deck of North Korea's latest destroyer, the Choe Hyon, during two days of tests on Monday and Tuesday in this undated photo released Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 30, 2025
North Korea's Kim sets sights on nuclear-armed navy
Leader Kim Jong Un directed officials to push forward equipping his naval forces with nuclear weapons following the unveiling of his country’s biggest destroyer.
Japan's proposed "one-theater" defense strategy, linking the East China Sea, South China Sea and Korean Peninsula has raised concerns, particularly in South Korea, about its implications for regional security.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 30, 2025
Japan’s ‘one-theater’ defense concept rattles South Korea
Continuing expansion of SDF roles and missions is consistent with adoption of the "Free and Open Indo-Pacific" construct that guides Japanese security policy.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pose for a photo during a signing ceremony following bilateral talks in Pyongyang last June.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 28, 2025
North Korea confirms troop deployment to Russia for first time
Leader Kim Jong Un called the move "a sacred mission to further consolidate as firm as a rock the traditional friendship and solidarity between the two countries."
Takuya Yokota, the leader of a group of families of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea decades ago (left), asks people for signatures to seek their return during a campaign held in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2025
Family members of North Korea abductees hold Tokyo campaign to seek their return
Meanwhile, in Washington, 17 members of U.S. Congress sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to "prioritize" the return of the Japanese abductees.

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