North Korea

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, visits the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun on July 8 to mark the death of his grandfather, Kim Il Sung. Ri Pyong Chol stands in the third row, second from the left. Photo supplied by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea nuclear official appears ousted from top leadership

Ri's apparent demotion seen after Kim berates officials for 'grave incident'

9 July 2021
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks to the Workers' Party Politburo on July 5. He appears to have lost some weight since the beginning of the year.
N Korea at crossroads

Kim warns North Korea food crisis threatens state security

Leader assuages public with removal of key party officials and weight loss

6 July 2021
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends the plenary meeting of the Workers' Party Central Committee on June 17. He called for officials to prepare for both "dialogue" and "confrontation" with the U.S. that day.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea plays hardball with US over reviving nuclear talks

Pyongyang seeks concessions as it leans on China for economic turnaround

25 June 2021
 A South Korean researcher checks a radio active lever of debris from dismantled experimental reactor belonging to the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute.
International relations

North Korean hack targets South's nuclear power research

State-linked attack last month possibly leaked technology to Pyongyang

18 June 2021
Members of BTS pose during a photo opportunity promoting their new single "Butter" in Seoul on May 21: Kim Jong Un railed against the "attire, hairstyles, speeches" and "behaviors" of the band.
Opinion

K-pop tirade reveals Kim Jong Un's desperate need for a hit

Recent diatribe was unhinged even by North Korean standards

17 June 2021
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in recent months has signaled a shift away from his father's focus on the military above all. (KCNA via Reuters)
N Korea at crossroads

Kim Jong Un recasts party rulebook to forge own identity

North Korean leader shifts from 'military first' to 'people first' in bid to form popular mandate

10 June 2021
The strategies adopted by the two previous U.S. presidents failed to get North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to give up his nuclear weapons.
Comment

Japan must reassess US nuclear deterrence against North Korea

As Kim's nuclear arsenal grows, pandemic shows consequences of ignoring warnings

7 June 2021
A Taurus long-range air-to-surface missile fired from a South Korean Air Force F-15K fighter jet is seen during an exercise in Taean-gun, South Korea. Taraus is capable of covering all of North Korea with its 500-kilometer firing range. 
Aerospace & Defense Industries

South Korean arms makers in spotlight after missile limit lifted

Shares of defense contractors LIG Nex1, Hanwha, KAI rise on long-term prospects

2 June 2021
South Korean President Moon Jae-in speaks alongside U.S. President Joe Biden in the White House on Friday.
N Korea at crossroads

Moon-Biden summit makes limited progress on North Korea

US decision to remove restrictions on South Korean missiles a potential issue

24 May 2021
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, left, met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong in London Wednesday.
International relations

Japan and South Korea agree to coordinate with US on North Korea

Tokyo and Seoul try to thaw ties as foreign ministers meet in-person for first time

6 May 2021
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, left, speaks with British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab in London on May 4.
International relations

G-7 ministers aim for complete Korean denuclearization in UK talks

Blinken briefs fellow top diplomats on new US approach to Pyongyang

5 May 2021
U.S. President Joe Biden and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un: The Biden administration's policy toward Pyongyang will not focus on achieving a "grand bargain" on denuclearization, the White House says. (Source photos by Reuter and KCNA via Reuters)
Biden's Asia policy

US searches for North Korean reset after ending policy review

Pyongyang hits back, saying Biden shows hostile intentions

2 May 2021
Taiwanese warplanes are parked on a highway during an exercise to simulate a response to a Chinese attack on the island's airfields.
Comment

27 years later, security still dominates US-Japan summit

Biden and Suga to discuss Taiwan, with Tokyo in better position to help

15 April 2021
Members of the Workers' Party of Korea gather at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang on Nov. 20, 2020.
Economy

North Korea fears decline in party loyalty amid COVID recession

Kim Jong Un speaks of 'Arduous March' in reference to 1990s famine

12 April 2021
White House press secretary Jen Psaki signals a subtle change in the Biden administration's approach to North Korea.
Biden's Asia policy

White House seeks 'denuclearization of Korean Peninsula': Psaki

Spokesperson says administration is prepared for 'some form of diplomacy'

8 April 2021
North and South Korean athletes walk together under a Korean Peninsula flag at the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in February 2018. (Photo by Koji Uema)
Comment

North Korea dashes hopes for diplomatic gold at Tokyo Olympics

Seeing little political payoff, Pyongyang bows out of Tokyo games

7 April 2021
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. 
Tokyo 2020 Olympics

North Korea to skip Tokyo Olympics over COVID-19 concerns

Isolated nation withdrawal crushes hopes for diplomatic talks in Japanese capital

6 April 2021
South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, left, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi meet in the southern Chinese city of Xiamen on April 3.
International relations

China and Seoul vow to cooperate on Korean Peninsula denuclearization

Foreign ministers agree to first high-level security talks in 6 years

4 April 2021
Russian diplomats and family members use a hand-pushed rail trolley to leave North Korea. (Photo from Russian foreign ministry's Telegram account)
N Korea at crossroads

Foreign diplomats flee North Korea amid food and drug shortages

Pyongyang's yearlong border closure with China raises starvation fears

3 April 2021
South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, left, shakes hands with Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi before a meeting in Beijing in 2018. Chung was national security director at the time.
International relations

South Korea's top diplomat visits China as Sino-US tensions spike

Seoul seeks to balance ties with powers while US readies North Korea policy review

2 April 2021
A missile launch by North Korea in March 2021. The country likely has the ability to mount missiles with nuclear warheads, a U.N. panel says.  
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea can likely arm missiles with nuclear warheads: UN

Pyongyang steals $315m in virtual assets to fund weapons development

1 April 2021
The Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge, taken from the Chinese side, is the main trade route between the two countries. (Photo by Shin Watanabe)
N Korea at crossroads

China and North Korea to revive trade in April amid US tension

New bridge between two set to open as Beijing seen giving Pyongyang helping hand

30 March 2021
Two U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancers fly alongside two Japanese Air Self-Defense Force F-15s over the vicinity of the East China Sea. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command) 
International relations

Japan will turn to Quad in 'new Cold War': Defense Ministry think tank

Next up is security officials' meeting with US, India and Australia, annual report predicts

27 March 2021
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, with South Korean counterpart Chung Eui-yong in Seoul on March 25. 
International relations

Russia urges renewal of six-party talks to denuclearize North Korea

Foreign Minister Lavrov woos South Korea in first meeting since 2019

26 March 2021
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observes the firing of suspected missiles in this image released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on March 22, 2020. (File photo by Reuters)
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea missiles rattle South and Japan as US stays calm

Pyongyang may be testing out new technology rather than provoking, analysts say

25 March 2021