With North Korea offering an olive branch to South Korea by proposing to hold talks over sending a delegate to the PyeongChang Olympics, speculation has emerged that North Korea is preparing for another intercontinental ballistic missile launch. 　According to the US broadcaster CBS on Tuesday, North Korea appears to be in the early stages of an ICBM launch, with missile activity spotted at the same location north of Pyongyang where North Korea test-fired the ICBM-class ballistic missile Hwasong

 Controversy over a top presidential aide’s visit to the United Arab Emirates last month escalated Tuesday, with speculation emerging that the trip was aimed at resolving bilateral disputes concerning a secret military pact signed during the Lee Myung-bak administration. 　Citing former government officials, local daily Hankook Ilbo reported that the Lee administration secretly signed a Mutual Logistics and Service Agreement with the UAE in 2013, under which South Korea is required to provide log

Around this time last year, speculation was rampant that 2017 would be the most tumultuous year in decades amid growing uncertainties over the decadeslong nuclear standoff between North Korea and the United States. Most of the predictions appear to have been fulfilled. North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, who declared that his country is “in a final stage” of developing an intercontinental ballistic missile, successfully test-fired three ICBM-grade missiles capable of reaching the US mainland. In r

　North Korean leader Kim Jong-un warned Monday that his country’s nuclear arsenal was complete and the launch button was always on his desk, even as he expressed a willingness to send a delegation to the upcoming PyeongChang Olympics. 　In his nationally televised New Year’s speech, the young leader claimed the country had mastered full-fledged nuclear force and deterrence capability against the US, as the Trump administration threatened military actions on the North’s nuclear and missile facilit

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un declared that his country has become a “strategic” nuclear power that can pose a direct threat to the US, the North’s state media said Friday, showing defiance of the international community’s growing pressure against its nuclear ambition. “Nobody can deny the entity of (North Korea) which rapidly emerged as a strategic state capable of posing a substantial nuclear threat to the US,” Kim was quoted as saying by the Korean Central News Agency during his speech to

 　In November 1950, the United States and China went to war. It was five months into the Korean War when US troops crossed the 38th parallel, marched toward North Korea and clashed with the Chinese troops coming to the rescue of their communist ally.  　The war continued for about three years, costing the lives of 36,000 American troops and more than a quarter of a million Chinese troops. The Korean War came to an end when the two sides agreed to an armistice. South Korea opposed the peace talks

　A North Korean solider defected to South Korea on Thursday through the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas, prompting the two countries to fire warnings shots at each other, South Korea’s military said. 　The defecting soldier made his way across the central part of the DMZ and appeared at a guard post in thick fog at around 8 a.m. The soldier is a low-ranking enlistee and carried an AK-47 rifle when crossing the border, according to the South Korea’s Joint Chiefs

With South Korea seeking to postpone combined military exercises until after the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, attention is now on whether the proposal can gain approval from the US and help the Moon Jae-in administration’s engagement initiative with North Korea. In an interview with NBC News on Tuesday, President Moon Jae in said the upcoming Key Resolve exercise could be pushed back if Pyongyang shows willingness to pause its nuclear and missile tests before the Winter Games kick off in Fe

President Moon Jae-in’s visit to China presents opportunity for South Korea to mend economic ties following a dispute over its deployment of a US anti-missile system, but challenges remain as Beijing appears to maintain its assertive stance on security issues. 　Wrapping up his four-day state visit on Saturday, President Moon received reassurance from the Chinese leaders that Beijing will resume economic and trade cooperation that has been suspended since South Korea pressed ahead with the much-c

　　Surrounded by former generals, hawkish politicians and a hard-mouthed command-in-chief, US State Secretary Rex Tillerson has been trying to find a balance in the Trump administration’s approach to resolve a nuclear standoff with North Korea. 　While President Donald Trump and his security aides have warned about the North’s relentless nuclear ambition and floated the idea of a preventive strike against it, the US top diplomat has offered a softer line and called for a diplomatic solution. 　Desp

Despite the US top diplomat’s attempt to seek direct talks without preconditions, North Korea is likely to proceed with its nuclear ambition, conducting another nuclear and missile test until they achieve “nuclear balance” with the US, a local security expert said Wednesday. 　Cheong Seong-chang, senior fellow at Sejong Institute, said Pyongyang is likely to carry out the seventh nuclear test and another intercontinental ballistic missile test in 2018 as there is a “long way to go” for Pyongyang

 　Since taking power in 2012, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has climbed the mountain Baekdusan almost every year and often made important announcements after visiting what is considered the most sacred place in the reclusive regime. 　For instance, his decision to execute his uncle Jang Song-thaek in December 2013 was revealed about a month after his trip to the mountain and the nearby area. Following a 2014 trip, Kim announced he was willing to resume suspended inter-Korean talks.　So now comes

With the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics and Paralympics around the corner, South Korea and the US are considering postponing their annual military drills to avoid provoking North Korea ahead of the global sports event.  　Citing diplomatic sources, the Japanese broadcaster NHK reported Monday that the South Korean and the US governments have been in talks to defer the Key Resolve combined exercise, which North Korea regularly protests likening it to a war rehearsal, until after the games.　The O

YOKOSUKA/OKINAWA/TOKYO -- In the morning of Nov. 29, 2018, hours after North Korea test-fired the Hwasong-15 ballistic missile toward Japan, the US naval base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, was calm with a tinge of uneasiness and tension in the air. It is home to the 7th Fleet, the US Navy’s largest forward-deployed armada. Led by its command ship USS Blue Ridge, an impressive collection of guided missile cruisers and destroyers were docked at the base, ready to scramble at any moment’s notic

Laos, a landlocked Southeast Asian nation known for its mountainous terrain and spectacular waterfalls, is only a five-hour flight from South Korea. However, the distance felt much further not too long ago. Diplomatic ties were severed with Laos’ communization in 1975, a year after being established, only to be restored in 1995. Although the country still remains one of the very few allies of North Korea, South Korea-Laos ties have been blossoming recently on trade, investment, tourism and vario

　President Moon Jae-in urged the military to secure “overwhelming” capability to fend off North Korea’s growing military threat on Friday as South Korea’s Defense Ministry warned against another strategic provocations following its latest missile launch. 　The president also called for an “early and swift” transfer of wartime operational control from the United States to South Korea, suggesting the military should secure capability to lead combined operations in the event of contingency on the Ko

South Korea and the US stressed on Wednesday that now is not the time for talks with North Korea over its nuclear and missile program, as a US B-1B Lancer bomber flew over the Korean Peninsula for a joint aerial drill with the South Korean military.While seeking to resolve the nuclear standoff with “diplomatic and peaceful means,” the two countries will place their emphasis more on maximizing sanctions and pressure against the reclusive regime, the two countries’ government said.  In this photo

South Korean government has allocated some 340 million won (($310,000) for the just-launched “decapitation unit” tasked with eliminating North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, Seoul’s defense ministry said Wednesday.  　It is part of 43.2 trillion won that South Korea has set aside for defense in 2018 in the total 428.8 trillion won national budget approved by the parliament Wednesday.    　“The money will be spent on purchasing equipment for the special forces,” said an official from the defense minis

TOKYO -- Without the consent of the South Korean government, it is “impossible” for the US to carry out a pre-emptive strike on North Korea, a renowned Japanese security scholar said, amid growing calls in the US for a more assertive stance against the North following its latest ballistic missile launch. Narushige Michishita, a professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Japan, asserted that any pre-emptive strikes targeting the communist regime’s missile and nuclear sites

The South Korean and US militaries on Monday kicked off their biggest-ever combined air force exercise, involving two dozen US stealth fighters, in a show of force against North Korea’s escalating nuclear and missile threats. 　The two countries’ air forces launched their annual Vigilant Ace 18 drill, which involves six F-22 Raptors, six F-35A and 12 F-35B stealth fighter jets, according to the South Korean and US air forces. A total of 12,000 US personnel from the air force, marines and navy wil