5 d. ago Why North Korea’s ‘gang of hooligans’ rebuke signals freeze in ties with South

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s influential sister has issued a sharply worded warning to South Korea’s new liberal government after drones were reportedly flown from the South early this month. Calling the country a “gang of hooligans”, Kim Yo-jong used the recent drone incursions to reinforce Pyongyang’s claim that inter-Korean relations were irreparably hostile and blunt Seoul’s renewed push for reconciliation. Kim, vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of...

Events

7 d. ago North Korea: the elephant in the room when Xi met Lee in Beijing

The leaders of South Korea and China wrapped up a summit this week with both underlining support for one of Beijing’s diplomatic priorities but making no tangible progress on North Korea, Seoul’s main concern. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing on Monday for a high-stakes summit held just over nine weeks after their first meeting. During the trip, Lee declared 2026 as the year for the “full restoration of South Korea-China relations” and Xi...

Politics

7 d. ago North Korea revives drone claims in rebuff to Seoul’s outreach

North Korea’s latest accusations that South Korean drones violated its airspace appear aimed at painting Seoul as a permanent enemy ahead of a key party congress, rather than addressing an actual security breach, analysts say. By reviving claims of cross-border incursions and threatening retaliation, the North is reinforcing its portrayal of inter-Korean relations as irreversibly hostile – just as South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung seeks to reopen channels of communication. Lee, who took...

Events

7 d. ago Body, capsized boat found in Japan waters raise spectre of North Korean ‘ghost ships’

A lone body discovered on a cold Japanese beach and a shattered wooden boat coated in black tar have stirred memories of the “ghost ships” that in past winters drifted across to Japan from North Korea. The body washed ashore on Wednesday in Ishikawa prefecture, while a Japan Coast Guard vessel later recovered the capsized boat nearby, local media reported. Authorities have yet to identify the man and are investigating whether he was linked to the vessel, which bore Korean characters and numbers....

Politics

7 d. ago Mystery ‘ghost ship’ discovery puzzles Japan. Fisherman, defector or spy?

A lone body discovered on a cold Japanese beach and a shattered wooden boat coated in black tar have stirred memories of the “ghost ships” that in past winters drifted across to Japan from North Korea. The body washed ashore on Wednesday in Ishikawa prefecture, while a Japan Coast Guard vessel later recovered the capsized boat nearby, local media reported. Authorities have yet to identify the man and are investigating whether he was linked to the vessel, which bore Korean characters and numbers....

Politics

9 d. ago North Korea’s Kim expected to cling to nuclear security blanket after Venezuela operation

The United States’ decapitation operation against Venezuela will reinforce North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, an aspiration that will continue to draw China’s “tacit tolerance”, according to analysts. After the US military abducted Nicolas Maduro during an attack on Venezuela on Saturday, Pyongyang criticised Washington’s actions as “wildly” violating the sovereignty of Caracas. It was one of a slew of countries that issued swift criticism of the US move. In a statement on Sunday, the North Korean...

Events

1 week ago Korean peninsula arms race is heating up. How will China react in 2026?

As the new year unfolds, China finds itself grappling with strategic pressures fuelled by two US treaty allies at its doorstep – Japan and South Korea. In the second of a two-part series, Seong Hyeon Choi looks at how competing pressures in the Korean peninsula may complicate China’s security calculus. Read the first part here. In 2025, there was a major shift in China’s security environment relating to the Korean peninsula, as the North grew more open in its push for nuclear weapons and the...

Politics

1 week ago Chinese President Xi Jinping urges Seoul to be ‘patient’ over North Korean nuclear talks

Chinese President Xi Jinping called for “patience” over North Korea’s nuclear programme, the South’s president, Lee Jae Myung, said on Wednesday. Speaking during a visit to Shanghai, Lee said he had asked Xi to act as a “mediator for peace” on the Korean peninsula, including on the nuclear issue. He said all channels between the North and South had been blocked and there was “zero trust” between the two sides. “President Xi noted the efforts until now and said patience is needed,” Lee said. He...

Politics

1 week ago Why China Stopped Publicly Urging for North Korean Denuclearization

Why China Stopped Publicly Urging for North Korean Denuclearization  The Wall Street Journal

Events

1 week ago North Korea’s missile test after Maduro’s arrest signals denuclearisation equals ‘suicide’

A missile test by North Korea in the aftermath of the US capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro signals what analysts have said is Pyongyang’s cautionary stance over the vulnerability of countries without credible military and nuclear deterrence. While overseeing the launch of multiple missiles on Sunday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un alluded to the US attacks on Venezuela and Maduro’s arrest a day earlier and Iran in June as justifications to bolster his nuclear arsenal. The test of what...

Events

1 week ago What North Korea’s missile test after Maduro arrest says about Kim’s denuclearisation stance

A missile test by North Korea in the aftermath of the US capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro signals what analysts have said is Pyongyang’s cautionary stance over the vulnerability of countries without credible military and nuclear deterrence. While overseeing the launch of multiple missiles on Sunday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un alluded to the US attacks on Venezuela and Maduro’s arrest a day earlier and Iran in June as justifications to bolster his nuclear arsenal. The test of what...

Events

1 week ago North Korea links Sunday’s missile launch to ‘recent geopolitical crisis’

North Korea’s reclusive leader Kim Jong-un oversaw the Sunday test-firing of hypersonic missiles in a drill made necessary by “the recent geopolitical crisis”, state media quoted him as saying. The report on Monday by Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) confirmed and added details about North Korea’s first missile launch of 2026, including that it employed a “cutting-edge” new weapon system using hypersonic missiles first tested in October. Kim was not present for that launch, reports at the time...

Events

1 week ago North Korea Conducts Missile Test As South Korean President Visits China

North Korea Conducts Missile Test As South Korean President Visits China  i24NEWS

Events

1 week ago North Korea fires missiles towards sea as South Korean leader visits China

North Korea fires missiles towards sea as South Korean leader visits China  Al Jazeera

Events

1 week ago North Korea launches missiles toward sea ahead of South Korean leader's visit to China

North Korea launches missiles toward sea ahead of South Korean leader's visit to China  NBC News

Events

1 week ago North Korean missile falls near Japan; Takaichi orders safety checks

North Korea fired a ballistic missile off its east coast on Sunday, South Korea’s military said. “The North has launched an unidentified ballistic missile towards the East Sea,” it said, referring to a body of water also known as the Sea of Japan. Japan’s defence ministry also said it detected a possible ballistic missile, which landed at 8.08am. The projectile is believed to have fallen outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone and no damage to ships or planes has been reported, according to a...

Events

1 week ago North Korean missiles fall near Japan; South Korea, Japan on alert

North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles off its east coast on Sunday, Seoul’s military said, its first launch of the year just hours before South Korea’s leader heads to China for a summit. Sunday’s launch follows a US military operation against Pyongyang’s socialist ally Venezuela that snatched President Nicolas Maduro out of his country – for decades a nightmare scenario for North Korea’s leadership, which has long accused Washington of seeking to remove it from power. Seoul’s defence...

Events

2 w. ago North Korean palace visit by Kim’s daughter renews succession debate

An appearance by the teenage daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at a sacred palace has renewed scrutiny on whether she is being groomed for succession in the secretive regime. Kim Ju-ae, believed to be around 13 years old, made her first recorded visit on Thursday to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, the holiest site in the country dedicated to its hereditary rule, sparking speculation she could receive an official title at a coming party congress. While some observers see her prominent...

Politics

2 w. ago China has warned ships against operating in North Korean waters, statements show

China has warned ships against operating in North Korean waters, statements show  NK News

Events

3 w. ago South Korean president set to visit China next month, with North Korea high on agenda

Lee Jae-myung is set to become the first sitting South Korean president to travel to China since 2019 with a visit scheduled for early January. Analysts said Lee was expected to engage Beijing on security issues, including North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and the enforcement of international sanctions, while seeking to build on his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in October. Neither side has confirmed the visit, but preparations are under way, highlighted by a recent strategic...

Politics