World News by Wild Rose

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has put North Korea in a propaganda bind, analysts say, by publicly revealing that Kyiv recently transferred two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea. The disclosure – made during Zelensky’s address to the UN General Assembly on Wednesday – directly challenges Pyongyang’s narrative that its soldiers fighting alongside Russian forces choose death over surrendering. North Korea is unlikely to acknowledge the transfer publicly, but may strengthen...

Washington, Sept. 23 (Jiji Press)--Families of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea urged the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday to raise the abduction issue if the president holds a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The Association of Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea and a cross-party group of Japanese lawmakers met with senior National S...

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s proposal for a phased approach to Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programmes is a pragmatic response, analysts say, but prospects for gaining its arch-rival’s acceptance remain uncertain. In a keynote speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Lee laid out a long-term, step-by-step sequence for pursuing the ultimate goal of North Korea’s denuclearisation. He had called for Washington to ease sanctions in return for North Korea stopping its nuclear...

North Korea could be using missile tests to take its denuclearisation off the US-China summit agenda and drive home its demands for recognition as a nuclear power as a prerequisite for talks with Washington, according to analysts. On Sunday, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles towards the Sea of Japan, or East Sea, which, according to South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff, were detected three hours apart, with the first flying about 450km (280 miles), while the second travelled...

Seoul, Sept. 22 (Jiji Press)--North Korea's Missile Administration successfully tested on Sunday a new weapon that is significantly important for advancing the country's weapons system technology, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said Tuesday. Japanese and South Korean authorities confirmed Sunday that two short-range ballistic missiles were fired in the day toward the Sea of Japan ...

North Korea launched two missiles off its ⁠eastern coast on Sunday, its ⁠second set of tests in roughly a ⁠week, days after Pyongyang accused the US of driving tensions on the Korean peninsula through a series of military drills. Just three hours after launching a short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) towards the East Sea, or Sea of Japan, on Sunday afternoon, North Korea ‌fired another short-range ballistic missile, according to South Korea’s defence ministry. If the subsequent launch is...

Tokyo, Sept. 20 (Jiji Press)--What was possibly a ballistic missile was launched from North Korea, Japanese Defense Ministry sources said Sunday. The possible ballistic missile is believed to have fallen into waters outside Japan's exclusive economic zone, according to the sources. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]

The country rebukes the UN atomic agency's 'double standards' and says nuclear status is 'irreversible'.

Organisers have apologised for playing the North Korean national anthem for the South Korean men's hockey team at the Asian Games in Japan.

Tokyo, Sept. 18 (Jiji Press)--Japan's National Police Agency said Friday that a North Korean hacker group was behind a cyberattack spanning more than 100 countries, including Japan, that led to the theft of cryptocurrency worth about 1.7 billion yen. The North Korean group, called WaterPlum, infected more than 30,000 devices with malware between December last year and July this year, steali...

Asian Games organisers in Japan accidently play North Korea's anthem ahead of South's hockey match with Bangladesh.

Tokoname, Aichi Pref., Sept. 17 (Jiji Press)--North Korean sports minister Kim Il Guk, head of the country's Olympic Committee, arrived at Chubu Centrair International Airport in Aichi Prefecture on Thursday for this year's Asian Games, which will officially kick off on Saturday. It is the first time in eight years that a North Korean minister has visited Japan since Kim's previous visit in...

It is clear that US President Donald Trump is pushing hard for a fresh summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the coming months. To achieve that, he appears prepared to downgrade and jeopardise the US-South Korea alliance, as seen in his recent move to scale back joint military exercises. For Trump, this will be a purely bilateral exercise, with both Seoul and Beijing totally sidelined, let alone Moscow and Tokyo. Equally, there is now a general acceptance that the issue of...

Russia is increasingly mobilising North Korean workers to build military drones for use against Ukraine in defiance of international sanctions, giving Pyongyang a key source of revenue to fund its unlawful weapons programmes, according to a report by the US and its allies. Up to 25,000 North Koreans were believed to be working in Russia’s drone industry, including at facilities in Alabuga, Tatarstan, where unmanned aerial vehicles were assembled, the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team said...

Tokyo, Sept. 17 (Jiji Press)--Shiro Akagi, a member of the group that hijacked Japan Airlines' "Yodo" jet in 1970, is seen to have died in North Korea, where he was living, his supporters have said. He was 78. Japanese police are believed to have obtained the information and are working to confirm the fact. Internationally wanted, Akagi was living in a suburb of Pyongyang with a total of...

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said on Thursday that the country’s nuclear-armed status was “absolute”, calling those hoping for its denuclearisation “idiots”. North Korea has legally enshrined its status as a nuclear weapons state, with its leadership declaring the country’s nuclear arsenal permanent and irreversible. US President Donald Trump recently said Pyongyang possessed 57 “very powerful” nuclear weapons, with Seoul putting the figure at between 80 and 120. “The...

Pyongyang blew up the Inter-Korean Liaison Office building in June 2020 after days of rising tensions.

A Seoul court ordered Pyongyang on Wednesday to pay roughly US$32.5 million for blowing up in 2020 an office in North Korea that was intended to foster relations between the two Koreas, Yonhap news agency reported. The lawsuit over the destruction of the Inter-Korean Liaison Office marks the first time the South Korean government has sought damages directly from the North, according to media reports. South Korea’s previous conservative government, led by former president ‌Yoon Suk-yeol, filed...

North Korea said on Monday it conducted a joint live-fire drill involving missiles, artillery and drones that it claimed showed “huge destructive power”. The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Saturday’s drill was meant to get familiar with the procedure for the operation of the integrated firepower control system. South Korea’s military earlier said it detected short-range ballistic missile launches from North Korea’s eastern coastal Wonsan area on Saturday morning. After observing...

Tokyo, Sept. 13 (Jiji Press)--A visit to Japan by North Korean sports minister Kim Il Guk is being arranged for the Asian Games in Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, according to officials. The plan was unveiled by the sports association of Korean residents in Japan at a press conference in Nagoya on Saturday. Song Su Il, secretary-general of the association, said at the press co...

Coffee bars. Water parks. Retail therapy. ⁠North Korea – a country few would associate with leisure or pleasure – is experiencing an ⁠unlikely outbreak of fun. Leader Kim Jong-un, himself no stranger to indulgence, is orchestrating new ways for his citizens to spend ⁠their wealth. North Korea’s imports of massage equipment have surged 40-fold over the past decade, according to Chinese customs data. Treadmill shipments jumped over 600 per cent. Pianos and even bumper cars are pouring in, too. The...

South Korea said it was closely exchanging information on the launches with the US and Japan.

China signalled a willingness to help set up a meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the South China Morning Post reported exclusively. Beijing is playing an “active” and “constructive” role in rebuilding US-North Korea diplomacy, the SCMP said on Thursday, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. A Trump-Kim meeting could potentially take place at the November Apec summit in Shenzhen, China, one person said. A US envoy visited the city and...

China is willing to help broker a possible meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, sources have said just weeks before Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected in Washington for a bilateral summit. Multiple people familiar with the matter told the South China Morning Post that Beijing was stepping up to play an “active” and “constructive” role in reviving US-North Korea diplomacy, underscoring its resolve to remain a central player in negotiations on the...

Tokyo, Sept. 8 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government is preparing to allow North Korean athletes to enter the country for the upcoming Asian Games in Aichi Prefecture, government officials said Tuesday. Japan generally prohibits North Korean nationals from entering the country as part of its sanctions, but plans to make an exception for the North Korean delegation to the international sport...

It comes as relations between both countries have strengthened since the start of the Ukraine war.

Seoul, Sept. 8 (Jiji Press)--North Korean defense minister Kim Song Gi has released a statement criticizing the Freedom Edge joint military exercise, which Japan, the United States and South Korea started on Monday. North Korea will take strong countermeasures if the United States and its allies attempt a military confrontation with North Korea, said the statement, released via Pyongyang's ...

Ties between Moscow and Pyongyang have grown extensively amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Tokyo, Sept. 7 (Jiji Press)--Japan, the United States and South Korea kicked off their Freedom Edge 2026 joint military exercise on Monday with an opening ceremony at the U.S. Air Force's Yokota Air Base in Tokyo. This year's exercise, the fourth of its kind and the first since last September, is apparently intended to demonstrate trilateral cooperation amid concerns over North Korea and Ch...

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s promise to unveil more projects in eight months’ time at the launch of the country’s second modern destroyer hints at another major strategic military asset, according to experts. “The nuclearisation of our navy is being realised, making it increasingly suited, diversified and practical for the use of our deterrent,” Kim said while commissioning the Kang Kon in the southeastern port of Wonsan on Sunday. Kim was accompanied by his daughter and potential...