North Korea

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks to Nikkei at his Diet office in Tokyo on Sept. 24. (Photo by Karina Nooka)
Interview

With charts, stats and golf, Abe proved Japan's worth to US leader

Ex-prime minister reflects on the art of 'Trump whispering' in exclusive interview

26 September 2020
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks during a meeting of the Seventh Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea in this May 24 file photo.
N Korea at crossroads

Kim Jong Un issues rare apology over killing of South Korean

Seoul says engagement must continue despite brutal action

25 September 2020
Kim Jong Un's repeated visits to flooded regions seem to signal growing concerns about the nation's food supply.
International relations

Kim Jong Un pushes for swift flood recovery as economic pain grows

North Korea faces 'triple whammy' including typhoon and closed China border

16 September 2020
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un did not engage much with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, partly because Pyongyang believed Japan was "under the thumb of the U.S."
Japan after Abe

With a poker face, Kim Jong Un waits for Japan's next PM

North Korea silent on plans to engage Abe's successor

13 September 2020
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un guides a Workers' Party of Korea meeting to organize the recovery from natural disasters in areas of South and North Hamgyong provinces in this photo released Monday by the North Korean Central News Agency.
Natural disasters

North Korea dispatches troops to rebuild after Typhoon Haishen

Production at Hyundai plant in South halted as storm hits Korean Peninsula

8 September 2020
Typhoon Haishen barreling toward the main southwestern island of Kyushu on Sunday is shown at satellite image released by NASA Worldview, Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS).
7 September 2020
High waves hit the shores of Amami in Japan's Kagoshima Prefecture, where Typhoon Haishen is headed.
6 September 2020
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks at the ruling Workers' Party's Central Committee plenum in Pyongyang on Aug. 19, in this photo released by North Korean Central News Agency.
Comment

New power game unfolds in Korean Peninsula ahead of US election

Pyongyang congress and Xi's Seoul visit linked to fate of Trump

27 August 2020
Kim Yo Jong, seen here in Hanoi for last year's U.S.-North Korea summit, is described as one of the most trusted aides to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
N Korea at crossroads

Kim Jong Un's sister now said to control North Korea party nerve center

Kim Yo Jong's role seen expanding as leader's health remains in doubt

26 August 2020
A fleet of DJI's Phantom 3 drones shown at the Chinese company's flagship store in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province. Hundreds of cheap drones with explosives would be a powerful threat that even a multimillion-dollar Patriot missile would not able to stop.
International relations

East Asia military balance at risk from new missiles and drones

US looks to space as conventional deterrence no longer works

26 August 2020
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends an Aug. 13 Politburo meeting in Pyongyang. (Korean Central News Agency photo provided by the Korea News Service)
Coronavirus

North Korea lifts Kaesong lockdown after coronavirus scare

Kim replaces economic official as two others promoted to Politburo committee

14 August 2020
South Korean police officers stand guard in front of the Constitutional Court in Seoul.
Politics

South Korea revamps notorious spy agency for reconciliation

Police to track North's espionage as domestic intelligence operations end

12 August 2020
Costly, often delayed armaments were part of the price Tokyo paid for its U.S. alliance -- a relationship which has also helped support decades of pacifism and low defense expenditures.
The Big Story

The price of peace: Why Japan scrapped a $4.2bn US missile system

Washington and Tokyo have been allies for 60 years. Both agree they're spending too much

5 August 2020
At least 11 officials from six Security Council members have been targeted in a spear-phishing campaign.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea spied on 11 Security Council officials using Gmail

State-led phishing campaign also utilized WhatsApp: draft report

5 August 2020
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a military commission meeting in a photo released on July 19 by the Korean Central News Agency.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea loses access to foreign cash as China trade drops 70%

COVID shutdown devastates tourism, with travel unlikely to resume until November

22 July 2020
Missiles are driven during a military parade marking the 105th birth anniversary of the country's founding father, Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang in April 2017. 
Comment

Japan's 'shield' against North Korean missiles would not have worked

Country lost three years preparing for unrealistic Aegis Ashore

18 July 2020
Hong Kang-cheol, who arrived in South Korea in 2013, warns that Kim Jong Un's "god" status in North Korea means citizens see criticism of the leader as an attack on their beliefs. (Photo by Steven Borowiec)
Interview

North Korean defector takes contrarian stance against bashing Kim

Hong Kang-cheol's message resonates as Seoul scraps permits of anti-North groups

17 July 2020
John Bolton told Nikkei that if reelected, President Donald Trump may cut defense spending and compromise with China.
Interview

John Bolton says Trump botched handling of Hong Kong

Lack of coordination on China policy gave Xi Jinping 'free hand'

15 July 2020
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, right, greets South Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Sei-young during a meeting at the foreign ministry in Seoul on Wednesday.
N Korea at crossroads

US envoy urges North Korea to appoint counterpart for talks

Stephen Biegun says Trump supports efforts for peace on Korean Peninsula

8 July 2020
After blowing up a joint liaison office with Seoul on June 16, Pyongyang then directed profanity at the South Korean president. (Source photos by Reuters)
N Korea at crossroads

Kim Jong Un's fury stems from his blaming Moon for Hanoi debacle

Lacking bargaining chips with US, North Korea turns aggressive toward South

5 July 2020
Japan seeks an alternative to the Aegis Ashore missile shield as North Korea continues to pursue missile development.
Politics

Japan begins debate over strike capabilities

Tokyo views such options as allowed under right to self-defense

30 June 2020
Kim Yo Jong, foreground, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who is walking with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party in Pyongyang on Sept. 18, 2018.
N Korea at crossroads

North and South Korea cling to tenuous peace on war anniversary

After weeks of tensions, Pyongyang edges back from brink of fresh confrontation

25 June 2020
An explosion of the joint liaison office in Kaesong, North Korea on June 16: a period of quiet and stability is over now.
Opinion

North Korea wants a crisis, not cooperation

Destruction of joint liaison office sets back years of incremental progress

24 June 2020
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks at a Politburo meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea in this photo released June 7 by the country's official Korean Central News Agency. (KCNA via Reuters)
N Korea at crossroads

Kim Jong Un suspends military action against South: state media

North Korea discusses ways to further bolster 'war deterrent'

24 June 2020
John Bolton's new memoir at a Barnes & Noble bookstore on New York City's Upper West Side. "It's selling well. Every other book we've sold today is this one," an employee said. (Photo by Ken Moriyasu)
International relations

Bolton says North Korea removed abductee issue from joint statement

Former adviser talked Trump out of end-of-war declaration with Kim

24 June 2020