North Korea kind of does have a point, it can do what it wants with things on their sovereign territory:
North Korea accused U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of “double standards” Sunday, saying he urged Pyongyang to exercise restraint following its destruction of inter-Korean roads while remaining silent about South Korea’s alleged drone infiltration into the North.
Kim Son-gyong, North Korea’s vice foreign minister for international organizations, issued the statement after Guterres called for efforts to ease tensions and resume dialogue after the North blew up roads and rail lines on its side of the heavily fortified border on Tuesday.
“I express deep displeasure over and categorically reject the remarks of interfering in the internal affairs” of North Korea, Kim said in the statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency.
Kim claimed the destruction of roads and rail lines within its territory falls under North Korea’s “sovereign right from A to Z” and should not be subject to interference from the U.N. secretary-general.
You can read more at the link.
It will be interesting to see when these large formations of North Korean Soldiers begin appearing on the frontlines in Ukraine:
A satellite image provided by the National Intelligence Service on Oct. 18, 2024, shows a Russian naval vessel suspected of transporting North Korean troops from the northeastern port of Chongjin.
One of the three pictures that South Korea’s intelligence agency disclosed as evidence of North Korea’s troop deployment to Russia was captured by a satellite that the South has been operating, a government source said Sunday.
Two of the three photos were attributed to Airbus, a global satellite imagery provider, but the third was not attributed when the National Intelligence Service (NIS) presented them Friday while confirming the North’s deployment of troops to Russia for its war in Ukraine.
Disclosing the satellite images, the NIS said that the North has decided to send around 12,000 troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine and has already deployed 1,500 special forces troops to Vladivostok.
You can read more at the link.
It is looking more and more likely that Putin has found some more fresh meat to throw into the Ukrainian grinder:
North Korea is likely to deploy members of its regular armed forces to Ukraine in support of Russia, South Korea’s defense chief said Tuesday, in the latest sign of deepening military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.
The assessment came as North Korea has been seeking to bolster ties with Russia, highlighted by a bilateral agreement that includes a mutual defense clause, signed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin at summit talks in June.
“As Russia and North Korea have signed a mutual treaty akin to a military alliance, the possibility of such a deployment is highly likely,” Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun told lawmakers during a parliamentary audit session.
You can read more at the link.
This has been one of the cyber crime areas that North Korea has been using to raise revenue:
South Korea and the United States have agreed to strengthen their cooperation in combating North Korea’s stealing of virtual assets, the presidential office here said Thursday.
According to the office, Wang Yun-jong, the third deputy national security adviser, visited Washington from Monday to Wednesday and discussed the issue with Anne Neuberger, the U.S. deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies.
Their talks also covered internet of things security and maritime cybersecurity.
Wang also attended the fourth round of meetings by the Counter Ransomware Initiative (CRI) for in-depth discussions on responding to ransomware and bolstering international cooperation in that area.
You can read more at the link.
Via a reader tip comes news that North Korea has supposedly expanded the number of laws they can execute you for. I think all foreign tourists contemplating visiting North Korea need to keep this in mind:
North Korea is expanding its list of crimes punishable by death, according to reports.
Supreme leader Kim Jong Un’s regime expanded the list of offenses warranting the death penalty from 11 to 16 via revisions of criminal law, according to Yonhap News Agency.
New offenses warranting execution as a punishment include: anti-state propaganda and agitation acts, illegal manufacturing, and the illicit use of weapons are included in the new codes.
You can read more at the link.
We have China firing ICBMs before the U.S. election and North Korea highlighting its expanding nuclear capabiliites as well. Who is going to be the next bad actor conduct a provocation before the U.S. election?:
South Korea’s spy agency considers North Korea publicizing leader Kim Jong-un’s visit to a previously undeclared uranium enrichment facility earlier this month to be a “US election-conscious move,” Rep. Lee Seong-kweon of the National Assembly intelligence committee said Thursday.
“Kim’s visits to facilities related to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program are rarely ever disclosed this way. The spy agency said the US presidential election was likely the factor behind the decision to publicize this particular visit,” the lawmaker told reporters after a closed-door briefing by the spy agency.
You can read more at the link.
If anyone cares, Kim Yo-jong is out make nuclear threats again:
Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, vowed Tuesday to “continuously and limitlessly” bolster the North’s nuclear war deterrent against what it called U.S. threats, denouncing the arrival of a U.S. nuclear-powered submarine in South Korea.
The remark came a day after the 7,800-ton USS Vermont entered a major naval base in Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, to replenish supplies and provide rest for crew members.
“The DPRK’s nuclear war deterrent to cope with and contain various threats from outside is bound to be bolstered up both in quality and quantity continuously and limitlessly as the security of the state is constantly exposed to the U.S. nuclear threat and blackmail,” Kim said in a statement carried by the North’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
You can read more at the link.
