North Korea

This satellite image purports to show the North Korean freighter Tae Phyong 2 taking on a load of coal at the North Korean port of Nampo on Aug. 8, 2021.
N Korea at crossroads

Missile funding?: North Korea seen smuggling coal to China

Nikkei probe of satellite imagery finds both nations may be violating UN sanctions

29 June 2022
U.S. military equipment is unloaded from a ship. Russia's problems in Ukraine illustrate the consequences of insufficient logistical planning.
Interview

U.S. needs arms storage in Japan in case of Taiwan conflict: Armitage

Beijing trying to rattle Tokyo with AWACS plane target, former diplomat says

25 June 2022
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin attend an official reception following talks in Vladivostok, Russia, in this undated photo released on April 25, 2019.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea poised to seize on U.S. rift with China-Russia bloc

Moscow and Beijing vetoed Washington push for more U.N. sanctions

14 June 2022
The defense chiefs from Japan, U.S. and South Korea met for the first time in two and a half years.  (Photo courtesy of Japan's Ministry of Defense)
Indo-Pacific

Japan, South Korea, U.S. to resume joint defense drills

Move comes after a flurry of North Korea missile launches

12 June 2022
North Korea has been developing the Hwasong-17, an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting any target in mainland U.S. (KCNA via Kyodo)
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea missile tests cost 2% of GDP already this year: report

Pyongyang conducts record number of test launches with 33 rockets fired

11 June 2022
From left to right, Russian President Vladimir Putin, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Closer ties with both Beijing and Moscow in the wake of the Ukraine war mean Kim faces a delicate balancing act. (Source photos by Kyodo, KCNA/Kyodo, Kremlin/Reuters and Xinhua/AP)
Comment

North Korea's shift closer to China and Russia comes at hefty cost

Using war in Ukraine for diplomacy could be double-edged sword

6 June 2022
Japanese Air Self-Defense Force fighters train with an American B-52 bomber in July 2018. B-52s play a role in extending the U.S. nuclear deterrent. (Photo courtesy of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force)
1 June 2022
 A teacher takes the body temperature of a schoolgirl to help curb the spread of the coronavirus before entering Kim Song Ju Primary School in Central District in Pyongyang, North Korea.
Coronavirus

North Korea set to relax COVID curbs citing 'stable situation'

Outside experts think Pyongyang is understating fatality rate to avoid political damage

29 May 2022
A military parade in Pyongyang in April, featuring a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile. (Korea Media via Kyodo)
26 May 2022
A teacher checks the temperature of a student in Pyongyang last year. North Korea had not acknowledged any COVID-19 cases until this month.
Comment

North Korea jolted by huge and abrupt COVID outbreak

Infection wave could threaten Kim Jong Un's ill-prepared government

21 May 2022
A perfect storm of political unrest, climate change and disruptions brought on by the war in Ukraine is pushing food security in Asia to crisis point. In Indonesia (pictured), shortages of cooking oil prompted a blanket ban on palm oil exports in late April. 
The Big Story

Asia's food crisis: Ukraine war triggers chain reaction of shortages

Deadly combination of conflict, misgovernance and climate change threatens widespread hunger

18 May 2022
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects a pharmacy in Pyongyang on Sunday.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea turns to China for help as COVID cases explode

Pyongyang likely to think hard before accepting vaccines from abroad

17 May 2022
North Korea has announced an "explosive" COVID-19 outbreak, reversing an earlier assertion that the country had no cases. (Photo by Kyodo)
Coronavirus

Reversing COVID-free claim, North Korea reports 'explosive' outbreak

Pyongyang sounds out potential for help from abroad, with as many as 187,800 isolated

14 May 2022
Western sanctions targeting everything from Russia's banks to the nation's key energy sector could push President Vladimir Putin ever closer to Beijing. (Source photos by AP) 
Comment

Russia's potential subordination to China poses threat

Worries mount that Moscow could grow more moody, provocative

11 May 2022
South Korean President Moon Jae-in has an unusually high 45% approval rating in the last days of his term.
Politics

Moon to leave office with progressive fans and thin track record

South Korean leader sparks controversy by reining in prosecutors before exit

6 May 2022
Vladimir Putin speaks during a news conference in Moscow on Feb. 1: The outward-facing rhetoric will be moderate, and many observers will interpret it as a theatrical way for the state to seek reasonable ends.
Opinion

We should listen to dictators when they tell us their plans

Autocrats who preach irredentism usually follow words with actions

6 May 2022
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet in Pyongyang in June 2019. The Kim regime would never forget China's outrage after it conducted its sixth nuclear test in September 2017.
Comment

A seventh North Korean nuclear test would carry 'China risk'

Breaking moratorium could bring decisive confrontation with essential ally

23 April 2022
Sky Mavis, the startup behind crypto game Axie Infinity, said on March 29 it was hit by a $600 million cryptocurrency heist. (Captured image from Axie Infinity website)
Cryptocurrencies

FBI links North Korean hackers to Axie Infinity crypto theft

Analysts warn Lazarus Group may try to launder stolen coins via Asian exchanges

15 April 2022
Maxar satellite imagery of North Korea's nuclear testing site at Punggye-ri.
N Korea at crossroads

Satellite images show North Korea's path back to nuclear testing

Tunnel work and construction point to restoration of Punggye-ri facility

13 April 2022
This photo released on March 25 shows what North Korean state media says is the Hwasong-17 ICBM on its launch vehicle. (KCNA via Reuters)
Comment

North Korea's Kim dynasty nears long-cherished ICBM goal

With Hwasong-17, Pyongyang might acquire ability to threaten Washington

6 April 2022
The launch of what North Korea said was a Hwasong-17 greatly expanded the country's strike abilities. (Photo from KCNA)
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea's ICBM threat verges on reality, 30 years in the making

Latest test -- 4th during Ukraine war -- makes stride toward global nuclear strike capability

30 March 2022
The missile's range could exceed 15,000 km, according to Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi. 
N Korea at crossroads

Satellite images reveal North Korea's push to expand ICBM base

Hwasong-17's performance far outstripped that of past tests, data shows

26 March 2022
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walks away from what state media reported is a "new type" of intercontinental ballistic missile in this undated photo released on March 24.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea's launch of new ICBM signals cutting of ties to South

Hwasong-17 firing follows election of hard-line Yoon as South Korean president

25 March 2022
A freight train crosses the Sino-Korea Friendship Bridge connecting China with North Korea on Feb. 25. (Photo by Shin Watanabe)
N Korea at crossroads

China-North Korea border reopens, but traders still 'sit and wait'

Flow of goods remains at a trickle amid lingering COVID concerns

18 March 2022
File footage of South Korean news report on North Korea firing a ballistic missile on Feb. 27: North Korea has conducted nine missile tests as of March 5.
16 March 2022