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Confrontation With North Korea

Japan Extends Trade Sanctions on North Korea Until 2027

  • Japan extended the ban on all exports to and imports from North Korea for two more years, citing North Korea’s repeated ballistic missile launches and abduction of Japanese nationals (Reuters)

South Korean Troops Fire Warning Shots at North Korean Soldiers Crossing Border

  • The incursion by around ten North Korean soldiers marks the first incursion on the North Korea-South Korea border in almost one year; North Korea did not return fire, and no casualties were reported (AP)

New North Korean Warships Could House “Dozens of Missiles”

  • Satellite images of the ship under construction at the Chongjin and Nampo shipyards captured missile cavities that researchers say could hold up to fifty missiles, such as cruise and ballistic missiles (Reuters)

North Korea Launches Ballistic Missiles in Response to South Korea-U.S. Military Drills

  • Pyongyang called the annual combined military drills a “confrontational war rehearsal” (AP)

North Korea Unveils Construction of New Nuclear-Powered Submarine

  • North Korean state media revealed the submarine two days before South Korea and the United States began their annual military exercises, and the submarine will reportedly possess the capabilities to launch guided nuclear missiles (NYT)

US Aircraft Carrier Enters South Korea in Display of Force Against North Korea

  • The USS Carl Vinson docked in Busan, South Korea, days after North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the testing of strategic cruise missiles (DW)

Western Tourists Visit North Korea for First Time in Five Years

  • A Chinese travel company arranged a five-day visit to Rason, North Korea, for thirteen tourists who came from European Union countries, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand (AP)

North Korea Vows Expansion of Nuclear Forces Following U.S. Security Conference With South Korea and Japan

  • U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized joint military cooperation with Pacific allies and reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to denuclearize North Korea, which drew stark criticism from North Korea’s foreign ministry (ABC)

Latest North Korean Missiles Used in Ukraine Possess Precision Improvements

  • Ukrainian defense intelligence revealed that North Korean ballistic missiles have recently struck targets in Ukraine with greater precision, marking an improvement from those used in the past year (Reuters)

Kim Jong Un Calls for Increase in North Korea’s Weapons-Grade Nuclear Material Supplies

  • The North Korean leader called for the strengthening of the country’s nuclear arsenal by the end of 2025, adding that the country faces “the world’s most unstable security situation” (Reuters)

Pyongyang Tests Several Cruise Missiles

  • North Korea’s foreign ministry criticized recent joint military drills between the United States and South Korea; Trump said that he expects to engage with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (Kyodo)

Pyongyang Fires Missiles Toward Its Eastern Waters in Second Such Test Launch

  • South Korea’s military called it a “clear provocation” ahead of Trump’s return to office this year (AP)
  • North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said at a year-end political conference that he would implement the “toughest anti-U.S. counteraction” (Kyodo)

In Seoul, Blinken Assures Confidence in South Korean Democracy

  • U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met separately with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul in Seoul and an opposition member, affirming the bilateral relationship is “bigger than any one leader” (NYT)
  • As the visit was taking place, North Korea test-fired an apparent ballistic missile off its east coast, South Korea’s military said (BBC)

Technocrat Han Duck-soo Becomes South Korea’s Acting President After Impeachment

  • Han spoke with U.S. President Joe Biden to affirm the U.S.-South Korea alliance as part of efforts to reassure allies and financial markets following the recent political turbulence; he also convened his cabinet and pledged to maintain military readiness to prevent any national security breaches (Reuters)
  • Yoon had strengthened the trilateral security relationship between South Korea, Japan, and the United States (VOA)
  • On Saturday, Japan’s defense minister said that trilateral cooperation was important given the “severe” regional security environment (Yomiuri Shimbun)

South Korean Police Say North Korean Hackers Were Behind 2019 Crypto Heist

  • Hackers linked to North Korea’s intelligence agency were responsible for the theft of what was then $41.5 million worth of cryptocurrency assets, South Korean police said; the U.S. FBI cooperated in the probe, which was the first time North Korea had been pinned as the source of such an attack in South Korea (Reuters)

Russia Has Deployed Almost Fifty Thousand Troops to Kursk Region Where Ukraine Holds Territory

  • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has previously said thousands of those troops fighting for Russia in Kursk are North Korean soldiers (CNN)
  • Pyongyang and Moscow ratified their mutual defense treaty in recent days (AP)

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol Congratulates President-Elect Trump on Phone Call

  • The leaders discussed Seoul’s security and economic partnerships with Washington, including how to respond to North Korea’s military cooperation with Russia (Reuters)

Ukraine’s Military Says It Fought North Korean Troops in Russia’s Kursk Region

  • While the U.S. Defense Department said it could not immediately corroborate reports that North Korean troops had engaged in combat, Group of Seven (G7) countries as well as Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea said today that they condemned the increased military cooperation between Russia and North Korea “in the strongest possible terms” and would coordinate a response (Bloomberg, Reuters, Reuters)

United States Flew B-1B Long-Range Bomber in Drill With Japan and South Korea Near Korean Peninsula

  • The drill was in response to North Korea’s missile test last week; it’s the fourth such flight this year for the bomber (AP)

Washington Warns North Korean Troops Are Approaching Ukraine Border

  • As many as eight thousand North Korean troops are in the Russian border region of Kursk, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said yesterday; he added that Washington and Seoul agreed that China should “do more” to curb North Korea’s efforts to aid Russia (Nikkei)
  • U.S. officials have assessed that China is uneasy about North Korea’s strengthening security partnership with Russia and State Department officials have raised the issue with Beijing in recent days, the New York Times reported (NYT)

North Korea Test-Fires ICBM After U.S. Warnings Over Its Troops in Russia

  • Pyongyang fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) today that flew for eighty-six minutes before falling into waters west of Japan, the Japanese Defense Ministry said; it was the longest-ever flight time recorded for a North Korean missile, by Tokyo’s count (Nikkei)
  • North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the launch aimed to inform unspecified rivals of his country’s “counteraction will;” it came hours after a Washington meeting in which U.S. and South Korean defense leaders publicly denounced North Korean troop deployments in Russia and days before the U.S. presidential election (FT)
  • Seoul’s defense officials had warned Washington that Pyongyang was gearing up for an ICBM test to attract U.S. attention ahead of its high-stakes vote (NPR)
  • Japan’s defense minister called the launch “totally unacceptable,” a South Korean military spokesperson said it was an “illicit and reckless provocation” (Japan News; Yonhap)
  • A White House spokesperson said it “needlessly” raised tensions (The Hill)
  • Following North Korea’s launch, its neighbor South Korea announced a new package of sanctions aimed at hampering North Korea’s solid fuel missile development (Reuters)

North Korea’s Top Envoy Visits Russia Amid Reports of Troop Surge

  • North Korea’s foreign minister left for a trip to Russia that comes on the heels of multiple countries’ warnings of North Korean troop activity in the country (ABC)
  • The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was the latest to issue such a warning (BBC)
  • The U.S. Department of Defense said that if North Korea joins Russia’s fight in Ukraine, it will put no new limits on Ukraine’s use of U.S. weapons (Reuters)

U.S. Says North Korea Sent Troops to Russia

  • Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed today that North Korea has dispatched its soldiers to Russia, calling the situation a “very serious” escalation; U.S. intelligence officials say that none of the North Korean fighters have reached Ukraine yet (NYT)
  • While he said their function was still “left to be seen,” he added that if they become co-belligerents in the war in Ukraine it would produce consequences, including in the Indo-Pacific (WaPo)

North Korea Amends Constitution, Labels South a ‘Hostile State’

  • State media announced the addendum today, confirming that the new constitution reflects the abandonment of reunification (Reuters)
  • Some analysts say the move is largely symbolic; Pyongyang has been using the term toward Seoul since it severed the inter-Korean military agreement at the end of 2023 (BBC)

North Korea Starts Demolition of Cross-Border Roads, Railways With South KoreaNorth Korea Starts Demolition of Cross-Border Roads, Railways With South Korea

  • The move is part of a larger effort to abandon reunification with South Korea, a goal that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un announced earlier this year; South Korea called the North’s actions to blow up the rail lines “deplorable” and “regressive behavior” and fired warning shots in response (Reuters)