Tag: North Korea

Kim Jong-un has made it very clear that he does not want reunification and this is just another attempt remind people of that:

North Korea has erased another symbol of reconciliation with the South, renaming a key building in the Demilitarized Zone and removing signage promoting reunification, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said this week. The building, previously known as the Unification Pavilion, was renamed Panmun Hall sometime in 2024, ministry spokesman Koo Byongsam said at a news conference Monday in Seoul. A sign bearing the former name was taken down in January 2024 and replaced with the new one about seven months later, he said. The move is part of a broader campaign by Pyongyang to strip away references to reunifying the Korean Peninsula, Koo said.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This would be very interesting to see what would happen if Ukraine did in fact attempt to file war crime charges against Putin and Kim Jong-un. However, I don’t see that happening any time soon because such actions would definitely negatively impact any ceasefire negotations:

 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could face a war crime probe at the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) for supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine, a former chief of the ICC said Monday, adding that it is the right time for Kim to be brought to justice. 

Song Sang-hyun, former president of the ICC, made the remarks at an international conference in Seoul, as North Korea confirmed for the first time last month that it has deployed troops to Russia to support Moscow’s war against Ukraine. 

Kim has not yet been referred to the ICC despite his human rights violations in North Korea, but legal standards have been met now for Ukraine to pursue a case against him at the ICC over the North’s assistance in the Russia-Ukraine war, the former ICC president noted.

“The time is right to bring Kim Jong-un before the ICC,” Song said in his keynote speech at the event, adding that Pyongyang’s military assistance to Russia provided Ukraine with the legal standards to file a complaint against North Korea as a victim.

“There is an opportunity for Ukrainian authorities, as the victim, to file a complaint against North Korea with the ICC,” Song said. “While a complaint filed by Ukraine would be very ideal, the ICC also has the authority to initiate an independent investigation.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

N. Korea conducts anti-air combat, air raid drills

A flight group under North Korea’s Guards 1st Air Division of the Korean People’s Army conducts anti-air combat and air raid drills on May 15, 2025, attended by leader Kim Jong-un, in this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency two days later. (Yonhap)

The differences in North Korea policies is really not surprising. Lee Jae-myung just wants to continue the liberal policy of paying off Kim Jong-un for little to nothing in return and Kim Moon-soo is calling to increase military readiness against North Korea:

South Korea’s two leading presidential candidates are presenting sharply contrasting approaches to North Korea — one emphasizes diplomacy and dialogue, while the other advocates for a more robust deterrence strategy, including the possible redeployment of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea. These weapons were withdrawn in late 1991 under U.S. President George H. W. Bush’s nuclear reduction initiatives.

While North Korea policy has not traditionally played a decisive role in presidential elections, lingering uncertainty over how U.S. President Donald Trump might engage with Pyongyang has raised the stakes for the next South Korean government’s security strategy.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but really the only thing new is Kim Moon-soo advocating for the return of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons to North Korea. I would be surprised to see that happen. Another thing he is advocating for is to amend an agreement with the U.S. to allow the ROK to reprocess plutonium and enrich uranium to speed up nuclear weapons development if they needed. I think the ROK might have more success with this idea.

Ultimately it will be up to the Korean voters to decide if they want to use their tax dollars to support a robust defense focused foreign policy towards North Korea or send their tax dollars to pay off Kim Jong-un for little to nothing in return.

The war on the fish in the East Sea continues by the North Koreans:

North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Thursday, South Korea’s military said, in what could be a performance test aimed at exporting arms to Russia.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launch, involving various types of multiple short-range ballistic missiles, from the North’s eastern coastal city of Wonsan between 8:10 a.m. and 9:20 a.m. 

The North’s missile flew up to 800 kilometers before splashing into the East Sea, it said. The latest test is also believed to have involved the North’s KN-25 super-large 600-millimeter multiple rocket launcher and the KN-23, which is similar to Russia’s Iskander short-range ballistic missiles.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

What exactly did this military agreement achieve that makes it worth restoring?:

South Korea’s leading presidential candidate has pledged to restore a military deconfliction agreement with the North if elected, aiming to reduce rising tension on the Korean Peninsula. Lee Jae-myung, leader of the opposition Democratic Party, said the Comprehensive Military Agreement signed on Sept. 19, 2018, should be reinstated. The deal was effectively scrapped by both countries last year. “We urgently need to ease military tensions and restore trust between the two Koreas,” he said in a recent news release.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

I wonder if Kim Jong-un thinks he may be able to export some of these tanks to Russia if the war with Ukraine keeps dragging on?:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has inspected a tank factory and expressed satisfaction over the upgraded structural design of indigenous tanks, while emphasizing the need to modernize the military with advanced tanks, the North’s state media reported Sunday.

Kim inspected the factory’s production status, modernization and progress in implementing research tasks related to core tank technology, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

It did not disclose the name or location of the factory or the date of his visit, describing it only as an “important” tank factory.

“To replace the armoured weapons of the last century in our army with latest tanks and armoured vehicles is the most important issue in the building of armed forces and modernization of the army,” the KCNA quoted Kim as saying during the field guidance.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

If these POWs do in fact defect to South Korea their families back in North Korea will likely face punishment by being sent to labor camps:

The government said Seoul has not changed its position regarding accepting to the nation, North Korean soldiers held captive by the Ukrainian military in the Russia-Ukraine war should they wish to defect to South Korea.

An official at Seoul’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that the North Korean captives are considered prisoners of war, regardless of Pyongyang’s acknowledgement of their deployment.

The official added that in accordance with the 1949 Geneva Conventions, they must not be repatriated against their will to their home country, where they could face persecution.

KBS Global

You can read more at the link.