North Korea has refused to answer routine calls from South Korean officials after threatening to sever all communication channels (Yonhap)
Pyongyang has been incensed by anti-North leaflets sent using balloons from South Korea. While announcing the move to cut phone lines, North Korean state media referred to Seoul as the “enemy” and said there is no need for discussions (Associated Press)
Relations between Pyongyang and Seoul have deteriorated since a summit last year between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald J. Trump ended without an agreement (New York Times)
Seoul to End Anti-North Leafleting After Threat From Pyongyang
South Korea is planning to ban sending balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang messages into North Korea after Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, threatened to scrap an agreement on reducing military tensions unless the leaflets are stopped (Yonhap)
U.S. Alleges Money Laundering Scheme Aiding North Korean Nuclear Program
Washington has charged twenty-eight North Koreans and five Chinese citizens with laundering more than $2.5 billion to support Pyongyang’s nuclear program, according to an indictment unsealed yesterday (New York Times)
In what U.S. officials called the largest sanctions violations case brought against North Korea, the Justice Department said the accused acted as agents of the country’s Foreign Trade Bank, setting up a network of front companies and clandestine bank branches to hide illegal payments, some for Chinese telecommunications equipment (Washington Post)
The case is one of the few in the United States targeting North Korean citizens and might be the first targeting senior government officials (Wall Street Journal)
Report: Washington Calls for Seoul to Up Military Cost Sharing
Washington called for Seoul to contribute $1.3 billion annually to a military cost-sharing deal keeping U.S. forces on the peninsula, an increase of nearly 50 percent, a senior U.S. official said (Yonhap)
Report Details North Korean Missile Facility Near Pyongyang
A new facility near Pyongyang International Airport “is almost certainly related to North Korea’s expanding ballistic missile program,” according to a new report (Center for Strategic and International Studies)
South Korea Protests North Korean Gunfire in DMZ
Seoul said Pyongyang has yet to respond to its call for an explanation of four bullets that hit a South Korean guard post in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between the two countries. It was the nations’ first gunfire exchange in years. South Korea responded to the North’s gunfire with twenty rounds of warning shots and called for de-escalation via a hotline (Yonhap)
The shots came a day after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made his first public appearance in three weeks, according to North Korean media. A South Korean presidential official said that contrary to rumors, Kim did not appear to have undergone surgery (Yonhap)
Report: U.S. Monitoring North Korean Leader’s Declining Health
Washington is monitoring intelligence that suggests North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s health is in danger after a surgery, according to a new report (CNN)
South Korean officials said they saw no signs that Kim is ill (Yonhap)
North Korea Denies Trump’s Claim of Recent Letter
North Korean state media said that leader Kim Jong-un did not recently send a letter to U.S. President Donald J. Trump, despite Trump’s claim on Saturday to have received one (Yonhap)
New U.S. Government Report Highlights North Korean Cyber Operations
North Korean hackers have expanded their arsenal of cyber offensives that obtain money for state weapons programs and are now offering their services for hire, according to a new U.S. government report. The report concludes that the threat of cyberattacks from Pyongyang has accelerated despite U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s efforts at diplomacy (New York Times)
North Korea Conducts Missile Tests
North Korea launched what appeared to be multiple cruise and air-to-ground missiles off its east coast (Yonhap)
North Korea Reshuffles Top Leadership Commission
North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, replaced more than a third of the country’s State Affairs Commission, according to state media (Al Jazeera)
His sister Kim Yo-jong was reinstated to a position in the Politburo (Bloomberg)
U.S. Furloughs South Korean Military Partners
Thousands of South Koreans working for the U.S. military were placed on indefinite unpaid leave after cost-sharing talks between the two countries stalled (Yonhap)
South Korea Ready to Facilitate U.S.-North Korea Nuclear Talks
A South Korean Unification Ministry official stated that the country was prepared to help the United States and North Korea reenter negotiations on Pyongyang’s nuclear program. The announcement came after North Korea rejected any further talks in response to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s insistence that countries maintain sanctions against Pyongyang (Yonhap)
North Korea Test-Fires Rocket System
North Korea test-fired a rocket system on Sunday that appeared to be similar to a system unveiled in August, South Korea’s military said (Yonhap)
Trump Writes Letter to North Korea’s Kim
U.S. President Donald J. Trump sent a letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un offering to help fight the coronavirus. North Korea has not reported any cases, though experts fear Pyongyang is hiding an outbreak (New York Times)
North Korea Launches Projectiles
North Korea launched three projectiles into the Sea of Japan as part of an apparent military exercise, South Korea’s military said (Yonhap)
China’s foreign ministry called for denuclearization and dialogue (Reuters)
North Korea’s Kim Gives Condolences to Virus-Stricken South
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a personal letter to South Korean President Moon Jae-in to wish South Korea a swift recovery from the coronavirus outbreak. Relations between the two countries have chilled in recent months due to South Korean military drills and a deadlock in nuclear diplomacy (Yonhap)
Washington Sanctions Chinese Nationals for North Korean Hack
U.S. prosecutors indicted and blacklisted two Chinese men accused of helping North Korean hackers launder around $100 million worth of cryptocurrency used to fund Pyongyang’s nuclear program (Wall Street Journal)
North Korea Fires Two Missiles
North Korea fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles today into the East Sea (Yonhap)
North Korean Refugees Launch Political Party in South Korea
North Korean refugees launched a political party ahead of South Korea’s April elections that aims to represent the 33,500 defectors living in the country and take a stronger stance against Pyongyang (Reuters)
New U.N. Report Details North Korean Sanctions Violations
A new U.N. report stated that North Korea actively increased work on its nuclear and ballistic missile programs in 2019 and participated in illegal ship-to-ship transfers that brought in refined petroleum and exported North Korean coal in defiance of international sanctions (Reuters)
North Korea Abandons Commitments to Halt Testing
An official at the country’s UN mission in Geneva said North Korea would no longer be bound by commitments to halt nuclear and missile tests, blaming crushing U.S. sanctions and the United States’ failure to attend year-end denuclearization talks (Reuters)
Chengdu Summit Calls for Nuclear Diplomacy With North Korea
China, Japan, and South Korea agreed to support nuclear talks between the United States and North Korea, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at a summit in Chengdu, China, with his Chinese and South Korean counterparts (Kyodo)
The appeal for dialogue comes as talks between Washington and Pyongyang have stalled and after North Korea promised a “Christmas gift” to the United States that analysts predict could be a missile test (Yonhap)
China, South Korea Meet to Discuss North Korea
The presidents of China and South Korea met in Beijing today and called for progress in nuclear diplomacy between North Korea and the United States (Yonhap)
China, Russia Propose Easing North Korea Sanctions
In a UN Security Council resolution, China and Russia proposed the relaxation of some export sanctions on North Korea in exchange for steps toward denuclearization and proposed six-party nuclear talks that would also include Japan, South Korea, and the United States (Al Jazeera)