South Korean, U.S. defense chiefs condemn North Korea's troop deployment to Russia

SEOUL, October 31 (AJP) - South Korean and U.S. defense ministers on Thursday condemned North Korea's troop dispatch to Russia to aid its war against Ukraine. In their joint statement after the 56th U.S.-South Korea Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) in Washington, D.C., South Korea's Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and his U.S. counterpart Lloyd Austin denounced the North's "multiple missile launches, including ballistic missiles, its attempted launches of a space

October 31, 2024

North Korea test-fires ICBM as US presidential vote nears

SEOUL, October 31 (AJP) - North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) toward the East Sea on Thursday, shortly after defense chiefs from South Korea and the United States condemned Pyongyang's troop dispatch to Russia during talks in Washington, D.C. "The military detected a ballistic missile fired from a site near Pyongyang at about 7:10 a.m. (2210 GMT) this morning. We suspect that it is an ICBM launched at a high angle," South Korea's Joint Ch

October 31, 2024

North Korea 'prepares nuclear test site'

SEOUL, October 30 (AJP) - North Korea appears to be preparing its nuclear test site at Punggye-ri and could be ready to conduct a test there soon, the Defense Intelligence Agency said on Wednesday. "Preparations for a transporter erector launcher (TEL) are complete, and it has been deployed to a specific location and an ICBM launch for technological verification of warhead re-entry could take place," the agency said in a close-door briefing to the National Assembly. Thi

October 30, 2024

Russia may use North Korean troops for combat operations: Pentagon

SEOUL, October 30 (AJP) - A "relatively small number" of North Korean soldiers are now in Kursk, a Russian territory occupied by Ukraine, with another 2,000 troops in eastern Russia moving toward the Ukraine border, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. "We remain concerned that Russia intends to use these soldiers in combat or to support combat operations against Ukrainian forces in Kursk," Pentagon spokesperson Patrick Ryder told reporters during a press briefing. But

October 30, 2024

North Korean foreign minister travels to Russia amid deepening military ties

SEOUL, October 29 (AJP) - North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui left for Russia, Pyongyang's official state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Tuesday. Her trip comes amid mounting evidence of North Korean troops being deployed in Russian border areas to support its war in Ukraine. The Russian Embassy in Pyongyang also confirmed that Choe's latest visit marks her third trip to Russia this year for "strategic dialogue" between the two close al

October 29, 2024

Zelensky warns of 12,000 North Korean troops in Russia 'soon'

SEOUL, October 29 (AJP) - Some 12,000 North Korean troops are expected to be deployed in Russian territory "soon," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday. Zelensky, who is in Iceland to attend a summit with Nordic leaders, also said some 3,000 North Korean officers and soldiers are "already on Russian territory." "We think that they will have 12,000 soon," he said. There were also signs indicating that Russian aircraft were transportin

October 29, 2024

North Korea renews drone accusations against Seoul

SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) - North Korea reiterated its accusations against South Korea on Monday, claiming that the South had infiltrated its airspace with a drone incursion. According to Pyongyang's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), North Korean military found that the drone carrying propaganda leaflets, which crashed in Pyongyang earlier this month, took off from South Korea's westernmost island of Baeknyeong Island. It said its assessment came after analyzing the

October 28, 2024

Russia 'transporting North Korean troops' to battlefield

SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) - North Korean troops are expected to be deployed to the battlefield as early as this week. Russia is "transporting North Korean soldiers to the front lines via trucks," the Kyiv Independent reported last Sunday, citing a source from the Main Directorate of Intelligence . "Russian police officers on Oct. 27 stopped a Kamaz truck with civilian license plates on the Kursk-Voronezh highway," the Ukraine English-language online newspaper sa

October 28, 2024

Top security officials of South Korea, US, Japan discuss NK troop deployment to Russia

SEOUL, October 26 (AJP) - Top national security officials from South Korea, the United States, and Japan expressed deep concern on Saturday about North Korea's deployment of troops to Russia. In a trilateral meeting in Washington D.C., South Korean National Security Advisor Shin Won-sik, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, and Japanese National Security Advisor Takeo Akiba discussed the issue, along with other regional security matters. "The national securit

October 26, 2024

North Korean troops in Russia are Moscow's 'business,' Putin says

SEOUL, October 25 (AJP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday tacitly admitted to North Korea's alleged troop deployment to Russia to support its war in Ukraine, describing the matter as Moscow's "business." The Kremlin had previously dismissed reports of North Korean troop deployment as "fake news." When asked about satellite images showing North Korean troops' movements at the BRICS summit in Kazan, he said, "Images are a serious th

October 25, 2024