UN Security Council members have failed to agree on imposing UN sanctions on North Koreans responsible for weapons development, while the US denounced opponents for giving Pyongyang a “blank check.” The UNSC on Thursday held a closed-door meeting on a spate of ballistic missile tests by North Korea at the request of several member countries, including Albania, France, Ireland, the UK, and the US. This is the second closed consultation on the matter this year. But the Security Coun

North Korea said Thursday it would seek to immediately develop more “powerful physical means” to overpower the US in preparation for “long-term confrontation,” expressing its potential intent to abandon the self-imposed moratorium on testing nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles. Pyongyang made the decision at a Politburo meeting of the Workers’ Party of Korea on Wednesday, with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in attendance, the state-run med

North Korea on Monday test-fired a pair of “tactical guided missiles” for the first time in around two years, Pyongyang’s state media reported the following day, saying it did so to confirm the accuracy and efficiency of the weapon system “under production.” The report suggested that North Korea test-fired KN-24 short-range ballistic missiles, which look similar to the US MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS. The KN-24 single-stage solid-propellant mis

North Korea launched two apparent short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea from an airfield in Pyongyang on Monday morning, in its fourth weapons test this year. “We are aware of the ballistic missile launches and are consulting closely with our allies and partners,” a US Indo-Pacific Command spokesperson said in a statement, adding the event “does not pose an immediate threat” to US personnel or territory, or to US allies. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs o

Pyongyang’s recent missile launches serve a dual purpose, and may hint at its long-term strategy in dealing with the US, experts say. Pyongyang test-fired four ballistic missiles in three discrete launches, which were conducted over 10 days in short intervals. Experts affiliated with US think tanks view the missile tests show Pyongyang’s long-term strategy to bolster military power to negotiate from a position of strength and gain the upper hand on the US.  For the Kim Jong-u

The Biden administration on Wednesday imposed their first sanctions specifically targeting North Korea’s act of developing weapons programs and proposed additional UN sanctions, in response to a series of purportedly “hypersonic” missile tests by Pyongyang. Washington announced that it designated six North Koreans, one Russian national and a Russian entity responsible for procuring goods particularly for Pyongyang’s weapons of mass destruction and ballistic-missile prog

North Korea successfully conducted the second consecutive test-firing of a “hypersonic missile” in less than a week for “final verification” on Tuesday, while the country’s leader Kim Jong-un urged bolstering “strategic military muscle” according to state media reports the following day. The North Korean state media suggested that the country successively test-fired an identical maneuverable reentry vehicle (MaRV) to the one launched on Jan. 5, although

North Korea on Tuesday test-fired an apparent ballistic missile from an inland area toward its east coast in its second weapons test in less than a week, while the South Korean military said the missile has “advanced” capabilities compared to the previous one. The United States Forces Korea said it was “aware of the DPRK’s most recent ballistic missile launch and are consulting closely with our allies and partners” in a statement. DPRK refers to North Korea’s

North Korea on Tuesday test-fired an unidentified projectile(s) toward its east coast, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, without further details. Tuesday’s launch came less than a week after North Korea on Jan. 5 test-fired what it claimed to be a “hypersonic missile.” This marks Pyongyang’s second weapons test this year. The consecutive show of force is noteworthy given that Pyongyang on Jan.1 announced the country‘s policy direction for the

South Korea ranks ninth in the world in defense technology, but the country needs “intensive” and “strategic” investments in the research and development of space weapons, where it lags far behind other military powers, the government-run military technology agency said Monday. The Korea Research Institute for Defense Technology Planning and Advancement (KRIT) released the “Defense Science & Technology Level Assessment by Country“ triennial report on Mon

The South Korean military on Friday said North Korea did not test a hypersonic missile, clarifying that the launched projectile was a Maneuverable Reentry Vehicle, or MaRV. North Korea’s state media on Thursday claimed the country had test-fired a “hypersonic missile” the previous day.  Pyongyang said the missile made a “120 km lateral movement in the flight distance of the hypersonic gliding warhead from the initial launch azimuth to the target azimuth and precis

North Korea officially notified China that the country would not attend the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics in a letter, citing “hostile forces’ maneuver” and the COVID-19 pandemic as hindrances, the North’s state media reported Friday. North Korea’s Olympic Committee and Ministry of Physical Culture and Sports sent the letter to the related Chinese authorities, including the General Administration of Sport, the Chinese Olympic Committee and the Beijing Organizing

North Korea on Thursday claimed that it test-fired another type of “hypersonic missile,” around 100 days after the test launch of the Hwasong-8 “hypersonic missile,” although South Korean authorities did not confirm the validity of the announcement. The test-launch on Wednesdasy “reconfirmed the flight control and stability of the missile in the active-flight stage and assessed the performance of the new lateral movement technique applied to the detached hypersoni

North Korea on Wednesday fired what could be a ballistic missile from an inland area into the East Sea, days after leader Kim Jong-un urged to further defense capabilities and reviewed key policy directions. “Our military detected one (short-range) projectile, which is presumed to be a ballistic missile, being fired from the Jagang Province area in North Korea into the East Sea today (Jan. 5) at around 08:10 a.m.,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. Bu

The South Korean military launched a new coordinating body to develop military space capabilities, as well as to plan and execute joint space operations, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff announced Monday “The Joint Chiefs of Staff established the Military Space Branch on Jan. 1 as a dedicated organization to lead our military’s development of military space capabilities,” the JCS said in a press statement, adding that the branch would play the role of “control

A defector who had previously jumped over the inter-Korean border fence has refled to North Korea after 14 months, South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense confirmed Monday. The announcement came one day after the South Korean military said an unidentified person had moved into North Korea across the Military Demarcation Line on Saturday. The government said the man, who had escaped North Korea by jumping over the 3-meter fence along the eastern inter-Korean border, redefected to Nort

North Korea’s five-day party plenum was dominated by internal affairs including economic growth, agricultural development, and preventative measures for COVID-19, with Pyongyang’s recalibrated approach to South Korea and the US remaining veiled. North Korean state media on Saturday announced the outcome of the fourth Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, which was held between Dec. 27 and 31 and attended by leader Kim Jong-un. The r

South Korea and the US “effectively” have agreed on a draft text of an end-of-war declaration, although questions remain on how to advance consultations with North Korea, Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong said Wednesday. Chung reiterated the Moon Jae-in government’s position that an end-of-war declaration provides a “very useful opportunity to resume dialogue” amid a protracted deadlock in talks with Pyongyang. “Our government views that an end-of-war declar

Remittances from North Korean defectors to their families living across the inter-Korean border fell by 18.2 percent while Pyongyang has maintained a border lockdown for two years and strengthened controls over its society, Seoul-based nongovernmental organizations said in a joint report. The Database Center for North Korean Human Rights and North Korea Social Research conducted a mixed in-person, online, and telephone survey of 407 North Korean defectors living in South Korea between November

North Korea on Monday kicked off a key party meeting to discuss and decide major “strategic and tactical policies” for the next year, with the attendance of the country’s leader Kim Jong-un. The North Korean leader presided over the fourth plenary meeting of the eighth Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea upon the authorization of the politburo, North Korean media reported Tuesday. The meeting has been held in public four times this year mainly with an emp