WASHINGTON -- North Korea's recent threats against South Korea appear aimed at testing the South Korea-US alliance and opening up more gaps between the allies, a former senior US official said Monday. North Korea has ratcheted up tensions on the Korean Peninsula with a series of threats to cut off all inter-Korean communication lines and even take military action over activists' flying of anti-Pyongyang leaflets into the North. "I think, to some extent, what we've seen from North Korea i

Vice Unification Minister Suh Ho will visit two border regions this week as part of efforts to deal sternly with the controversial campaign to fly propaganda leaflets into North Korea, the ministry said Monday. Suh will visit the Ganghwa and Gimpo areas on the country's western border on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively, to take a firsthand look at the preparedness of police and the coast guard to stop North Korean defectors and other activists from sending leaflets into the North, according

South Korea's military has strengthened its monitoring of North Korea, but no unusual moves have been detected so far, a source said Monday, after Pyongyang threatened to take military action against the South. In a statement Saturday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's powerful sister, Kim Yo-jong, said its military will be entrusted with the right to take the "next step" against the South in the latest in a series of threats made by the North in anger over anti-Pyongyang leaflets se

South and North Korea should remember the spirit of reconciliation ingrained in the first-ever summit of their leaders held two decades ago, the unification minister said Monday, as tensions are growing after Pyongyang threatened to take military action against the South. Minister Kim Yeon-chul made the remark in a speech to mark the 20th anniversary of the June 15 Declaration adopted during the summit in Pyongyang in 2000 between then-South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and then-North Korean

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon reaffirmed Sunday its commitment to keeping a "robust" combined defensive posture to respond to any situation involving North Korea, after Pyongyang hinted at military action against the South. On Saturday, Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, threatened Pyongyang will take "a next step" against the South and gave an instruction for the army to take necessary measures. Seoul urged the North to comply with past inte

North Korea will take action after action to punish South Korea over anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets, the country's main newspaper said Monday, after the sister of leader Kim Jong-un warned of military action against the South. North Korea has criticized South Korea almost daily in recent weeks, denouncing the sending of leaflets into the communist state as a hostile act that violates a series of peace agreements. Last week, the North vowed to cut off all inter-Korean communication lines in

Experts say NK likely to put threats into action

In June 2000, Kim Dae-jung, then the South Korean president, flew to Pyongyang and was greeted by a broadly smiling Kim Jong-il, then leader of North Korea. The two clutched each other’s hands at the airport, embarking on a three-day summit that marked the first time the leaders of the divided Koreas had met since the 1950-53 Korean War.  The highly anticipated meeting culminated in the adoption of the June 15 South-North Joint Declaration, in which the two sides pledged to work tog

South Korea is maintaining a staunch readiness posture to respond to all situations involving North Korea, the defense ministry said Sunday, calling on the North to comply with the past inter-Korean military pact. The comments came a day after Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, warned of military actions in protest over Seoul's failure to stop defectors from launching anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border. Earlier this month, Kim warned that the military

South Korea held an emergency security meeting on Sunday and pressed North Korea to keep reconciliatory deals as Pyongyang continued to up the ante by threatening to sever inter-Korean relations and even use military action. Seoul's top security officials, led by Chung Eui-yong, director of national security at the presidential office, reviewed the current security situation on the Korean Peninsula as well as Seoul's response to the recent harsh rhetoric by Pyongyang, according to Cheong Wa Da

North Korea will take its next step against South Korea, for what it claims to be Seoul's betrayal and crimes against the communist state, it said Saturday, adding that its army has been entrusted to plan and take any necessary action. "I feel it is high time to surely break with the South Korean authorities. We will soon take a next action," Kim Yo-jong, first vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), said in a statement carried by the N

North Korea on Friday accused the United Nations chief of “drunken” behavior, and suggested it would no longer provide the US president with propaganda opportunities without getting anything in return. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he regretted that North Korea had severed its hotlines with South Korea, warning that such channels “are necessary to avoid misunderstandings or miscalculations,” a UN spokesman told reporters Wednesday, New York time. “

The government of Gyeonggi Province on Friday announced that it would take action to prevent people from sending anti-North Korean propaganda over the inter-Korean border, in line with the central government’s policies. The provincial government plans to designate several border regions as “danger zones” and prohibit anyone planning to send leaflets from entering. Those areas include parts of the cities of Gimpo, Goyang and Paju, as well as Yeoncheon County. The Gyeonggi gov

North Korea and the US are taking contrasting stances on bilateral relations on Friday, the two-year anniversary of the first meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. On Friday, the North continued to ratchet up the rhetoric, and hinted at the possibility of a provocation involving its nuclear weapons program. Ri Son-gwon, the North’s foreign minister, stated through the Korean Central News Agency that North Korea will not give into US demands and

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday on the occasion of the country's national day, according to state media. In the letter, Kim expressed his belief that the two countries would continue to maintain friendly relations, the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. "The Russian people have achieved great successes in the struggle for building a powerful and prosperous Russia while overcoming all kinds of challenges and trials u