Tag: North Korea

The trash attacks into South Korea are continuing:

North Korea on Monday sent balloons presumed to be carrying trash toward South Korea again, Seoul’s military said.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the balloons appeared to be travelling in a southeastern direction from the northern part of Gyeonggi Province that surrounds Seoul.

It advised the public to not touch fallen balloons and report them to military or police authorities.

On Friday, Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of the North’s leader, hinted about launching more balloons after North Korean defectors in the South sent balloons with anti-Pyongyang leaflets toward the North earlier in the week.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This is about as close to an ultimatum to Russia that you will see from the Yoon administration:

National security adviser Chang Ho-jin said Sunday that South Korea will not be bound by anything with regard to its assistance to Ukraine if Russia provides North Korea with precision weapons.

Director of National Security Chang made the remark during a TV appearance, underscoring the point that Seoul’s decision on whether to provide weapons to Ukraine depends on how Russia’s military cooperation with North Korea goes. 

“I would like to emphasize that it all depends on what Russia will do,” Chang said on KBS TV. “Will there be any line remaining for us if Russia gives precision weapons to North Korea?”

Chang’s remark means South Korea could provide lethal weapons to Ukraine if Russia crosses the line.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Putin must really need the munitions that North Korea produces considering how chummy he is getting with Kim Jong-un:

This Sept. 14, 2023, file image, taken from Korean Central Television footage, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (L) meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s trip to North Korea this week may produce a treaty on a “comprehensive strategic partnership” in light of changes in geopolitics and bilateral relations, though it will not be aimed against other nations, Russia’s state media has reported.

Citing Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s aide for foreign affairs, TASS reported that Putin is set to visit Pyongyang on Tuesday and Wednesday for a summitry program that he cast as “very eventful” and “very intensive.”

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency also confirmed that Putin will pay a state visit to the North at the invitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. It would mark Putin’s first visit to the North in nearly a quarter of a century.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is just probably busy work to create fortifications to stress the South Korean threat to the North Korean Soldiers:

North Korea’s military has been carrying out unexplained construction inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, according to a military source Saturday.

“Recently, the North Korean military has been erecting walls, digging up the ground and constructing roads in some areas between the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) and the Northern Limit Line in the DMZ,” the source said.

The source added it was unclear whether these activities indicate an intention to build a long wall north of the MDL or simply to establish defensive structures at specific points.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Considering everything going on lately with the North Koreans; I have to wonder if this crossing into South Korea was really inadvertant or not?:

About 20 North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the inter-Korean land border earlier this week and went back to the North’s side after the South’s military fired warning shots, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday.

The North Korean soldiers crossed the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) within the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas in the central section of the border at around 12:30 p.m. Sunday, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

The South Korean military conducted warning broadcasts and fired warning shots, prompting the North Koreans to return to their side of the border, the JCS said, adding that there was no unusual activity after the warning shots.

JCS spokesperson Col. Lee Sung-jun said the military assesses the soldiers, who were working on an unspecified task inside the DMZ, did not intend to cross the MDL, considering that they returned immediately after the warning shots.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.