Politics

Japan Ground Self-Defense Force troops take part in military exercises with U.S. Marines in Shiga Prefecture in February 2019. (Photo by Masaya Kato) 
Comment

What's behind Japan's drive for military strike capability?

North Korean attack on island in South in 2010 lingers in Tokyo's mind

5 December 2021
A South Korean soldier walks by the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas. The peninsula technically remains at a state of war nearly 70 years since fighting ceased.
4 December 2021
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, left, and South Korean Defense Minister Suh Wook met Dec. 2 for the allies' first regular top-level defense meeting of the Biden administration.
International relations

U.S. will maintain troop levels in South Korea, Austin says

Allied defense chiefs meet to update strategy, sending signal to China

3 December 2021
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida boards a tank at the Ground Self-Defense Force's Camp Asaka on the edge of Tokyo on Saturday. (Photo by Andrew Sharp)
Politics

Kishida tells troops: Capacity to strike enemy bases is option

PM vows to bolster Japan's defenses in face of China, North Korea threats

27 November 2021
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un tours a development project in Samjiyon, a city nestled at the base of the sacred Mount Paektu.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea's Kim makes 1st public appearance in a month

Leader tours city development project ahead of regime's 10-year anniversary

17 November 2021
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, right, shakes hands with Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, upon his arrival for the meeting on May 26, 2018, in Panmunjom, North Korea. (Handout photo from South Korea's presidential Blue House)
N Korea at crossroads

Kim Yo Jong now in charge of North Korea's diplomacy and security

Leader Kim Jong Un focuses on building ideology: South Korea spy report

29 October 2021
North Korea says the recent missile firings tie back to its five-year plan to develop its weapons system.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea boosts surprise attack ability with wider range of missiles

Submarine-launched and trajectory-shifting weapons could overwhelm defenses

21 October 2021
A new submarine-launched ballistic missile is tested in this undated photo released on Oct. 19 by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea claims successful new ballistic missile launch from sub

U.N. Security Council to discuss Pyongyang's violation of resolution

20 October 2021
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks with reporters about North Korea's latest missile launch on Oct. 19. (Photo by Rie Ishii)
Politics

Kishida orders Japan NSC to weigh strike capability after North Korean launch

Prime minister cuts short first campaign day to return to Tokyo

20 October 2021
Japan's missile defenses consist of Patriot Advanced Capability-3 surface-to-air missiles, pictured here, and Aegis-equipped vessels at sea.
N Korea at crossroads

Japan explores defense options for emerging North Korean threats

Satellite fleets, base strikes would counter hypersonic and trajectory-shifting weapons

11 October 2021
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed his willingness last week to reactivate the hotlines, which North Korea cut off in early August in protest against joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises. 
N Korea at crossroads

Two Koreas reopen hotlines as North urges South to mend ties

Restoration comes after Kim Jong Un expressed willingness to reactivate links

4 October 2021
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivers a speech to parliament on Sept. 29, offering to reopen a hotline with Seoul while slamming South Korea's policies.
N Korea at crossroads

Kim Jong Un seeks to split Seoul and US with hotline offer

North Korean leader rejects idea of talks with Biden administration

1 October 2021
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed his willingness to reconnect inter-Korean hotlines to achieve "better relations and lasting peace," according to state media. 
30 September 2021
The newly developed hypersonic missile Hwasong-8 is test-fired in this photo released by North Korean state news agency KCNA.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea claims test of defense-busting hypersonic missile

Kim's regime joins race for cutting-edge weapon led by Russia and China

30 September 2021
A recording of North Korea firing what appeared to be ballistic missiles is broadcast on TV in Seoul on Sept. 15.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea says it test-fired new hypersonic missile

Development of weapon system boosts defense capability, says KCNA

29 September 2021
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his sister Kim Yo Jong attend a bilateral meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in 2018. Despite a decades-old armistice, the two Koreas technically remain at war.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea signals 'interest' in formal end to war with South

However, Kim Yo Jong says Seoul first needs to change hostile rhetoric

25 September 2021
North Korea fires a ballistic missile from a train in a central part of the country on Wednesday.
N Korea at crossroads

Tensions rise on Korean Peninsula as both sides test missiles

Analysts say Kim Jong Un wants to strengthen leverage over U.S.

16 September 2021
North Korea leader Kim Jong Un attends a parade held to mark the 73rd founding anniversary of the country at Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang in this undated image supplied by the North's Korean Central News Agency on Sept. 9.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea's missiles landed in Japan's EEZ: Defense minister

Move follows South's sub-launched missile test, escalating arms race on peninsula

15 September 2021
The new missile did not make an appearance at last week's parade marking the 73rd anniversary of North Korea's founding. (KCNA via Reuters)
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea cruise missile adds new threat as Biden envoy visits Japan

U.S. remains ready to meet 'anywhere, anytime without preconditions,' White House says

14 September 2021
Pak Jong Chon will also serve as secretary of the WPK Central Committee, North Korea's KCNA news agency reported. (Photo by KCNA via Kyodo)
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea promotes close aide to leader Kim to Politburo

Pak Jong Chon seen as rising star in country's powerful military

7 September 2021
Members of South Korea and U.S. special forces take part in a joint exercise at Gunsan Air Force base in South Korea in 2019. 
International relations

US-South Korea war games anger North and China

Pyongyang calls mostly online drills 'rehearsal' for war

13 August 2021
The drills are an "unwelcome, self-destructive action" that threaten the North Korean people and raise tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Kim Yo Jong says in a statement carried by state news agency KCNA.
International relations

Kim Yo Jong says US and South Korea will face new threats

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister warns on scheduled joint military drills

10 August 2021
The Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge, the main trade route between China and North Korea, remains closed. (Photo by Shin Watanabe)
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea prepares to resume trade with China

Pyongyang wary of COVID-19 but can't ignore crises at home

9 August 2021
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has continued to pursue his country's weapons development program while evading sanctions.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea flouts UN sanctions 3 years on

Spear-phishing on cryptocurrency exchanges now a key source of funds

7 August 2021
The annual ASEAN Regional Forum is a rare international platform in which North Korea regularly participates.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea in spotlight as ASEAN Regional Forum convenes virtually

Pyongyang may seek economic relief but US has 'no plans' to engage directly

6 August 2021