The Biden administration continues to support providing COVID-19-related humanitarian assistance to North Korea despite the country’s continued ballistic missile launches and its “escalatory actions,” a senior official at the US State Department said Wednesday. Mark Lambert, deputy assistant secretary of state for Japan and South Korea, said the US is “alarmed by the serious outbreak of COVID-19” in North Korea during a press briefing. The Biden administration i

North Korea fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile and two other ballistic missiles toward the waters off its east coast early on Wednesday, the South Korean military said, just one day after US President Joe Biden wrapped up his first trip to Asia. 　 A total of three ballistic missiles were launched from the Sunan area in the capital city of Pyongyang at around 6 a.m., 6:37 a.m. and 6:42 a.m., respectively, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. North Ko

North Korea fired three consecutive ballistic missiles toward the East Sea early on Wednesday, the South Korean military said, just one day after US President Joe Biden wrapped up his first visit to Asia. The three ballistic missiles were launched from the Sunan area in the capital city of Pyongyang at around 6 a.m, 6:37 a.m. and 6:42 a.m., respectively, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. “Our military, in close coordination with the US, is maintaining a ful

South Korea’s Defense Ministry committed to seeking ways to step up support for Ukraine at the US-led defense dialogue while taking a cautious stance over providing lethal weapons to the war-torn country. Vice Defense Minister Shin Beom-chul on Monday attended a second virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group hosted by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense announced Tuesday. The group was first established by the Pentagon in A

South Korea will ensure the full-capacity operation of a military base that hosts the US-made Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptor system at an early date, the South Korean defense chief said Monday. The US THAAD missile defense battery has been temporarily deployed on the now-shuttered Lotte Skyhill golf course in Seongju County, North Gyeongsang Province, since 2017. The normal operation of the military base had been hampered by the yearslong postponed full-scale environmental im

The leaders of South Korea and the United States on Saturday agreed to step up combined military exercises against North Korea’s mounting threats and reinforce the US’ extended deterrence. During their first summit, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and US President Joe Biden discussed ways to strengthen their combined defense posture at a juncture when North Korea has continued pursuing the development of nuclear weapons and missiles.  "President Yoon and I committed

The leaders of South Korea and the United States on Friday committed to enhancing economic and technology cooperation to build secure and resilient global supply chains and surmount challenges. 　 US President Joe Biden kicked off his three-day trip to South Korea with a tour of Samsung Electronics’ chip-manufacturing complex in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul. President Yoon Suk-yeol accompanied him as Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong guide

North Korea’s total cases of fever have surpassed 2 million since late April, amid what is widely believed to be a COVID-19 outbreak. With the rising number of cases, the North Korean regime is scrambling to equally distribute emergency medical supplies across the country. The state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters reported approximately 263,370 cases of fever in the 24 hours up to 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported on Friday. The total n

The White House said Wednesday that the US is ready to adjust its “short and longer-term military posture” regarding North Korea and handle “all contingencies,” including major weapons tests during the US president’s trip to South Korea and Japan. US national security adviser Jake Sullivan reaffirmed the US defense commitment to the regional key allies and warned that North Korea could conduct long-range missile and nuclear tests on the occasion of President Joe B

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un rebuked cadres for their “slackness” in handling the COVID-19 outbreak while the country claimed that the pandemic situation was taking a “favorable turn,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported Wednesday. Kim on Tuesday convened a rare first meeting of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the Center Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, the highest decision-making body, to discuss the spread of infectious

Sylvia Earle, the world’s best known marine biologist and oceanographer with more than 7,500 hours logged underwater, said the next decade is critical in rebuilding marine life and determining the future of marine ecosystems for the next 10,000 years. Earle, who is also president and chairman of Mission Blue, explorer-in-residence at the National Geographic Society and Time Magazine’s first-ever Hero of the Planet, urged people to recognize the true cost and value of ocean wildlife

Kang Dong-wan, a 48-year-old South Korean professor at Dong-A University in Busan, has become a trash-to-treasure hunter after he realized the genuine value of trash that drifted in from North Korea along the eastern and western seaboards. The professor views the washed-up trash as a window into the reality of North Korea and the people’s daily lives. Kang has so far collected around 3,000 wrappers and packages of North Korea-produced items from the beaches on the West and East coasts

China’s Vice President Wang Qishan, who is widely known as Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s right-hand man, will attend the inauguration ceremony of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, Yoon’s inaugural committee said on Friday. Wang is the highest-level Chinese government official dispatched for a South Korean presidential inauguration, given that the country previously sent vice premier-level officials as special envoys. Then-Vice Premier Liu Yandong of the State Council and then-St

US President Joe Biden will reaffirm the US’ “ironclad” commitment to defend South Korea and Japan against North Korea’s “destabilizing actions” during his first trip to Asia, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said at a televised briefing on Thursday. President Biden is set to visit South Korea and Japan from May 20 to 24. He is scheduled for a summit with South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol on May 21 in Seoul, before heading to Tokyo for a meetin

US second gentleman Douglas Emhoff, the spouse of Vice President Kamala Harris, will lead the delegation for the inauguration ceremony of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, the White House announced on Wednesday. The Biden administration will dispatch the eight-member US delegation, which includes US Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh and Christopher Del Corso who serves as the charge d‘affaires ad interim at the US Embassy in Seoul. Two US congressmen from the Democratic party will attend the e

North Korea launched a ballistic missile eastward from the capital city of Pyongyang on Wednesday afternoon, in continuation of actions raising tension in the run-up to the inauguration of the Yoon Suk-yeol government and the South Korea-US summit. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military “detected one ballistic missile being fired from the Sunan area in Pyongyang city toward the East Sea at around 12:03 p.m.” The missile traveled around 470 kilometers at an alti

The chief nuclear envoys of South Korea and China on Tuesday discussed ways to cooperate in managing the situation on the Korean Peninsula and committed to continue “close strategic communication” to resolve North Korean issues. Noh Kyu-duk, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, held his first face-to-face talks with his Chinese counterpart, Liu Xiaoming, in the morning at the Foreign Ministry building in Seoul. Liu, special representative of the

China’s top nuclear envoy is set to discuss political solutions with South Korean officials amid a continuing tug of war among countries over how to respond to a series of advanced weapons tests by North Korea. Liu Xiaoming, special representative of the Chinese government on Korean Peninsula affairs, arrived in South Korea on Sunday. Liu’s first visit to Seoul after his appointment in April 2021 comes at a critical juncture when North Korea has ratcheted up tension on the Korean

Foreign Minister nominee Park Jin has said South Korea should not discuss issues of undermining national security and sovereignty with China, expressing opposition to the Moon Jae-in government’s China policy including its commitment to the “Three Noes.” Park clarified the dissimilarities between the incoming Yoon Suk-yeol government’s approach to China and its predecessor in a written statement presented to South Korea’s National Assembly on Saturday. The nomin

A North Korean newspaper claimed Wednesday that Kim Jong-un’s leadership enabled the country to develop “absolute” military power and protect the North Korean people from external threats and danger of invasion. The Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, highlighted the North Korean leader’s purported achievement in bolstering military strength two days after the massive military parade held in Pyongyang to commemorate the 90th anniversary