Seoul, South Korea | AFP | A North Korean soldier defected to the South after crossing the heavily fortified border, a defence ministry spokesman said Saturday, the second soldier to defect this month. “A North Korean soldier defected to one of our Guard Posts at around 9:30 p.m. on Friday …
Read More »Suspected North Korea drone filmed missile defence site
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | South Korea said Tuesday a drone believed sent from North Korea had been spying on a US missile defence system before it crashed. The remains of the small drone, which was equipped with a camera, were retrieved by the South’s military last week from …
Read More »Ex-NBA star Rodman heading to North Korea
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | Flamboyant former NBA star Dennis Rodman is expected to arrive in Pyongyang Tuesday, US media reported, with the heavily-tattooed former player apparently set for another round of his controversial “basketball diplomacy”. The eccentric ex-Chicago Bulls power forward made at least four visits to Pyongyang, …
Read More »North Korea fires ‘unidentified projectile’
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korea fired off an “unidentified projectile” Sunday according to South Korean defence officials, a week after its latest missile launch. “North Korea fired an unidentified projectile at Pukchang, South Pyongan province in the afternoon today,” the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in …
Read More »Beijing’s new weapon in economic war: Chinese tourists
Beijing, China | AFP | Slapping import bans on products like mangoes, coal and salmon has long been China’s way of punishing countries that refuse to toe its political line. But Beijing has shown that it can also hurt others by cutting a lucrative Chinese export: tourists who normally flock …
Read More »Defiant North Korea test-fires ballistic missile
Trump calls for tougher sanctions after N. Korea missile Seoul, South Korea | AFP | President Donald Trump called for tougher sanctions against North Korea after it fired a ballistic missile Sunday in an apparent bid to test the South’s new liberal president and the US. “Let this latest provocation …
Read More »Now, China says it tested new missile in northeastern sea
Beijing, China | AFP | China has recently tested a new type of guided missile in a northeastern sea near the Korean peninsula, the defence ministry said Tuesday, hours after South Korean elections and amid regional tensions. The test in the Bohai Sea was conducted to “raise the operational capability …
Read More »READY: US aircraft carrier starts drill with South Korean navy
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | The US aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson on Saturday kicked off a joint drill with the South Korean navy, officials said, as tensions rose over North Korea’s latest test-fire of a ballistic missile. “Immediately after the aircraft carrier arrived in the Sea of Japan, …
Read More »US THAAD missiles arrive in Seoul, China not amused
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | Trailers carrying US THAAD missile defence equipment entered a deployment site in South Korea early Wednesday with tensions high over North Korea’s intentions, Yonhap news agency reported. Arrival of the six trailers at the golf course location sparked clashes between locals and police, the …
Read More »North Korea ignores Trump, conducts ‘massive fire drill’
N. Korea marks military anniversary with firing drill Seoul, South Korea | AFP | Nuclear-armed North Korea on Tuesday marked a military anniversary with a massive conventional firing drill, Seoul said, as a US guided-missile submarine docked in South Korea amid tensions over Pyongyang’s weapons ambitions. Speculation had mounted that …
Read More »