North and South Korea Exchange Warning Shots Near Sea Border
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it fired warning shots at a North Korean merchant vessel that crossed the Northern Limit Line; while the North Korean military said it fired ten rocket artillery rounds after a South Korean navy ship did the same (Reuters)
North Korea Responds to South Korean Drill With Another Round of Artillery Fire
The country fired more than three hundred artillery shells into waters off its west coast; the move comes during a week of live-fire South Korean military drills (Yonhap)
South Korea Launches Annual Military Drills
Amid increasing tensions with North Korea, the South Korean military commenced their Hoguk defense drills designed to strengthen the country’s response capabilities to nuclear and missile threats (Reuters)
Meanwhile, Japan announced new sanctions targeting groups associated with North Korea’s missile development (Reuters)
North Korea Flies Warplanes Near Border With South Korea, Fires Artillery Shots Into Buffer Zone
South Korea’s military said more than ten North Korean warplanes flew close to the countries’ border, while hundreds of artillery shots landed in a maritime buffer zone set under a de-escalation accord Pyongyang and Seoul signed in 2018; North Korea also test-fired a missile toward the Korean Peninsula’s eastern waters (Yonhap)
North Korea Claims Development of Underwater Nuclear Weapons Silos
North Korean state media reported that Kim Jong-Un has overseen the testing of nuclear-capable short-range ballistic missiles, one of which was fired from an underwater silo (NYT)
In the seventh launch in recent days, North Korea fired two ballistic missiles landing outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone following U.S.-Japan military drills (Reuters)
U.S.-Japan Conduct Joint Naval Drills
The United States and Japan conducted joint military drills including American aircraft carriers and a Japanese destroyer around Japan following North Korea’s missile launches (Reuters)
In the days prior, the U.S. also conducted joint maritime exercises with South Korea and announced new sanctions on North Korea targeting its fuel procurement network (Reuters)
US, South Korea, Japan Perform Missile Defense Exercise
Seoul said a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group will be deployed off the waters of the Korean Peninsula to demonstrate the United States and South Korea’s resolve in the wake of North Korea’s “provocations” (CNN)
U.S., Japan Hold Joint Air Drills After North Korean Missile Test
Pyongyang’s test yesterday was the first to fly over Japan in five years (Nikkei)
In response to the test, U.S. President Joe Biden pledged to work more closely with Japan and South Korea (Bloomberg)
North Korea Test-Fires Missile Over Japan for First Time Since 2017
The missile launch early this morning triggered alerts across Japan telling people to seek shelter; the last time a North Korean missile flew over Japan was during a period of high tensions between Washington and Pyongyang in 2017 (NYT)
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio called the launch an “outrage,” and a White House spokesperson said Washington, Seoul, and Tokyo will coordinate a response; the range suggests the missile could have reached the U.S. island territory of Guam (NPR)
The missile flew around 2,800 miles, a record for a North Korean test, Japanese and South Korean officials said (Axios)
Japan’s defense ministry said North Korea has already launched thirty-six missiles this year, surpassing its previous record from 2019 (Nikkei)
Seoul Fires Back After Barrage of North Korean Missile Tests
North Korea fired a missile that crossed the Northern Limit Line, a maritime border with South Korea that Pyongyang does not recognize, for the first time since the 1950–53 Korean War (CNN)
South Korea’s military called the launch “rare and intolerable” and responded by firing three missiles into waters north of the line; North Korea’s missile was one of as many as twenty-three it test-fired into the seas off of South Korea’s east and west coasts today (Yonhap)
The missile deployment was North Korea’s largest in a single day (Reuters)
The launches came after U.S.-South Korea military drills began on Monday; U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is set to meet with his South Korean counterpart at the Pentagon tomorrow (NYT)
VP Harris Reaffirms Goal of Denuclearization on Korean Peninsula
On a tour of the Korean Peninsula’s demilitarized zone, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said Washington and Seoul share the goal of “complete denuclearization” of the peninsula (Kyodo)
North Korea Fires Two Ballistic Missiles Ahead of Kamala Harris’s Arrival in South Korea
South Korea’s military reported that North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast following a joint military drill by the U.S. and South Korea two days prior; this comes a day before U.S. Vice President Harris is set to arrive in Seoul and visit the demilitarized zone (Reuters)
In addition, South Korea warned that North Korea has finished preparations for a nuclear test which they estimate could be carried out between October 16 and November 7 (Reuters)
North Korea Test-Fires Ballistic Missile
The test yesterday came ahead of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’s visit to Japan and South Korea (Yonhap)
Satellite Imagery Shows Potential Launch of New Missile Submarine by North Korea
Satellite imagery has captured images suggesting North Korea may be preparing to launch a new submarine capable of firing ballistic missiles (Reuters)
North Korea denied allegations in a recently released U.S. intelligence report detailing evidence of Russian efforts to purchase North Korean weapons (New York Times)
U.S. Aircraft Carrier to Visit South Korea Amidst Renewed North Korean Threat
South Korea and the United States denounced North Korea’s recent law enshrining the right to use preemptive nuclear strikes as “escalatory and destabilizing” (Reuters)
The United States will send the USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group to the region for a joint drill this week, the first in five years (ABC News)
North Korea Pledges to Maintain Its Nuclear Weapons Stockpile to Counter U.S.
In a speech before parliament, Kim Jong Un stated that North Korea will never abandon its nuclear weapons amid perceived threats from the U.S. (AP)
Meanwhile, the three senior diplomats in charge of North Korean affairs from the U.S., Japan, and South Korea reaffirmed their trilateral cooperation to counter any North Korean threat, including another speculated nuclear test (AP)
North Korea Codifies Right to Preemptive Nuclear Strikes in Law
The new law poses a challenge to U.S. efforts to urge Pyongyang to denuclearize. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said the law means “there can be no bargaining over nuclear weapons” (Washington Post)
North Korea Tests Explosive Devices at Nuclear Site, Per UN Report
A draft UN report revealed that Pyongyang has tested explosive devices and begun digging new underground tunnels at its Punggye-ri nuclear test site (Nikkei)
North Korea Threatens to Use Nuclear Weapons if U.S. Attacks
In a speech, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said his country’s “nuclear war deterrence is fully ready to mobilize its absolute strength” to counter any potential clashes with the United States and South Korea (Reuters)
U.S. Recovers Stolen Funds from Suspected North Korean Hackers
The United States captured and returned stolen funds to U.S. healthcare providers targeted by suspected North Korean hackers using a ransomware attack; the seizure is a rare U.S. success against what it perceives as a growing North Korean cyber threat (BBC)
North Korea Suspected of Conducting Artillery Fire Drills
South Korea detected flight trajectories suspected to be North Korean rocket launchers, as the United States ramps up defense cooperation with South Korea (Al Jazeera)
U.S. and South Korean F-35s Team Up for the First Time
U.S. and South Korean F-35 stealth fighter jets have begun conducting joint exercises for the first time, in an apparent message to North Korea that the United States remains committed to South Korean security against a North Korean threat (CNN)
North Korea Accuses United States, South Korea, and Japan of Attempting to Form “Asian NATO”
North Korean state media has flagged recent developments such as the unprecedented South Korean and Japanese attendance of NATO’s annual Madrid summit, along with an upcoming trilateral summit between the United States, South Korea, and Japan, as preliminary efforts toward creating an “Asian NATO” (Al Jazeera)
North Korea Fires Artillery Shells into Sea Following Pledge to Boost Military
North Korea fired artillery shells into the sea following Kim Jung Un’s call for boosting the country’s military and on the tail of a record-breaking series of weapons tests in 2022 (Washington Post)
North Korea Names Foreign Minister as Nuclear Negotiator
Choe Son-hui is North Korea’s first female foreign minister and has participated in the country’s nuclear negotiations with the United States for several years (Kyodo)