The two Koreas exchanged “warning shots” off the western coast after a North Korean merchant vessel “intruded” over the de facto inter-Korean maritime boundary and crossed into South Korean waters early Monday morning. North Korea’s border intrusion came hours before South Korea and the United States began staging their four-day large-scale maritime maneuvering exercise in the West Sea to enhance combined and joint operational capabilities against “enemy provo

The Yoon Suk-yeol government has stepped up efforts to shed light on dire human rights situations in North Korea and speak out against the forcible repatriation of North Korean defectors by China and Russia. South Korean Ambassador to the UN Hwang Joon-kook openly highlighted human rights violations that North Korean women defectors have faced during the UN Security Council’s open debate on Women, Peace and Security on Thursday. In his speech, Hwang called for the international community t

North Korea has continued to fire hundreds of artillery shells into inter-Korean maritime buffer zones, while justifying the barrages as “strong countermeasures” against live-fire exercises staged by “enemies” near the inter-Korean border. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday that North Korea unleashed another artillery barrage near the inter-Korean border starting from 12:30 p.m. on the day. The South Korean military detected North Korea firing around

South Korea and the United States will publicly stage large-scale aerial drills, involving their F-35 stealth fighters, to enhance combat readiness and train for wartime contingencies amid mounting threats from North Korea. Unlike previous years when the allies sought to keep a low profile, the publicized air combat exercise would be an apparent warning message to North Korea. The South Korean and US air forces are set to conduct their combat readiness training exercise from Oct. 31 to Nov. 4 in

The South Korean military kicked off the annual major Hoguk field training exercise to enhance its combat readiness and joint force capabilities to counter North Korea’s escalating missile and nuclear threats, the Joint Chiefs of Staff announced on Monday. The 12-day Hoguk exercise will continue until Oct. 28 with the participation of the Army, Navy and Air Force and Marine Corps amid simmering tensions between the two Koreas. The Hoguk theater-level field training exercise has been annual

Chinese leader Xi Jinping underscored the significance of enhancing bilateral strategic communication and cooperation between China and North Korea in light of complex international and regional security dynamics in his recent letter to North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, North Korean state media reported Sunday. The Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, featured Xi’s letter to Kim and the Party Central Committee's congratulatory letter to China on the front pa

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Wednesday supervised the test-firing of “long-range strategic cruise missiles” that can carry tactical nuclear weapons, while urging the country to prioritize the expeditious development of nuclear combat forces, the state media reported on Thursday. The state-run Korean Central News Agency said that North Korea “successfully” test-fired two long-range strategic cruise missiles amid “powerful measures being taken to dramatically re

The United States on Tuesday reiterated its goal of achieving complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and extended its deterrence commitment to South Korea, as North Korea’s nuclear saber-rattling has sparked a debate on the redeployment of US tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea.North Korea’s pronouncement that the recent flurry of ballistic missile launches aimed to simulate striking South Korea with tactical nuclear weapons has generated a whirlwind of discussions on

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles off the east coast early Sunday, marking its seventh missile launch in 15 days. The missile launches came after North Korea on Saturday publicly justified its flurry of missile test launches as a “planned self-defensive” action against US military threats and denounced the US for repositioning a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier near the Korean Peninsula. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said two short-range ballistic missi

South Korea and the United States on Friday began another round of large-scale naval drills, including a redeployed US aircraft carrier, in waters off the Korean Peninsula as the allies vow to take tit-for-tat military actions against North Korean provocations.The two-day bilateral maneuvering exercises have been staged in international waters of the East Sea to “strengthen combined defense capabilities,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff announced on Friday morning. The US n

North Korean bombers and fighter jets on Thursday made a rare formation flight and apparently conducted live-fire drills, in an assumed tit-for-tat military action to the recent strike exercises of the air forces of South Korea and the US. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said its military detected four North Korean bombers and eight fighter jets flying in formation over North Hwanghae Province, which borders South Korea. Twelve North Korean warplanes were seen crossing a “special

North Korea on Thursday fired two short-range ballistic missiles -- pushing up the total to 10 ballistic missiles in 12 days -- claiming that the country’s ballistic missile launches are the “just counteraction measures” against combined military exercises between South Korea and the US. The latest missile launches have come as an apparent tit-for-tat military action against the redeployment of a US aircraft carrier near the Korean Peninsula on Wednesday. In violation of multip

South Korea's military will launch an investigation into the failed launch of its operational ballistic missile, it said Wednesday, and apologized for its sluggish response to the incident that baffled residents in the coastal city of Gangneung. The indigenously developed Hyunmoo 2-C ballistic missile fell on land Tuesday night during a combined live fire drill with the United States Forces Korea, senior South Korean military officials, who requested to remain anonymous, confirmed during a close

The United States has re-dispatched its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier near the Korean Peninsula in a tit-for-tat action to North Korea’s longest-range missile launch, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday. The US Navy’s USS Ronald Reagan, a 100,000-ton nuclear-powered supercarrier, and its strike group were deployed in the international waters of the East Sea as of Wednesday. The redeployment of the key US strategic asset near the peninsula is the allies’

North Korea on Tuesday fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan for the first time in five years, marking its fifth launch in 10 days. In response, the air forces of South Korea and the US conducted a strike drill Tuesday afternoon as a show of force. The South Korean military detected an intermediate-range ballistic missile, or IRBM, being fired from Mupyong-ri in the northern province of Chagang eastward at 7:23 a.m. on Tuesday, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

North Korea’s propaganda outlets have continued to dismiss South Korea and the US’ move to reinforce their deterrence and military readiness as “bravado” against a “nuclear weapons state,” arguing that North Korea merely sees a US aircraft carrier as a “lump of scrap metal.” Multiple propaganda outlets have simultaneously launched a flurry of attacks on the Yoon Suk-yeol government’s defense strategy to reinforce the South Korea-US combined d

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles from the capital city of Pyongyang toward the east coast on Saturday morning, marking its fourth missile launch in a week. The missile launches came hours before South Korea was set to stage a large-scale military parade to mark the Oct.1 Armed Forces Day with the participation of President Yoon Suk-yeol, Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup and top military commanders. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said “two short-range ballis

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles from a western inland town toward the East Sea on Thursday evening, marking its third missile launch in less than a week. North Korea’s latest missile launches came hours after US Vice President Kamala Harris denounced North Korea’s “brutal dictatorship” while reaffirming the US’ ironclad defense commitment to South Korea during her visit to South Korea. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said two short-ran

South Korea, the United States and Japan will conduct an anti-submarine warfare exercise near the Korean Peninsula for the first time in five years to enhance combined capabilities and interoperability against escalating threats from North Korea. The South Korean and US navies and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force are set to stage trilateral drills on Friday in international waters of the East Sea, South Korea and the US announced on Thursday. “The exercise is designed to strengthen ca

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles eastward from the capital city of Pyongyang on Wednesday evening, according to the South Korean military. Pyongyang’s consecutive missile launches came just one day before US Vice President Kamala Harris is set to visit South Korea. The ballistic missile-firing was the second in three days as Seoul and Washington engage in large-scale naval drills. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said “two short-range ballistic missiles w