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[1/4] Missiles from tactical nuclear operation unit of the western district of the Korean People's Army are launched at an undisclosed location in North Korea in this picture released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and obtained by Reuters on August 31, 2023. KCNA via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsSEOUL, Aug 31 (Reuters) - North Korea conducted a simulated "scorched-earth" nuclear strike on targets across South Korea, state media reported on Thursday, in reaction to allied exercises that it said amounted to plans for a preemptive nuclear attack by the United States. "The KPA staged a tactical nuclear strike drill simulating scorched-earth strikes at major command centers and operational airfields of the 'ROK' military gangsters on Wednesday night," it said, using initials of South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea. North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on Wednesday, South Korea's military said, hours after the U.S. deployed B-1B bombers for allied air drills. The latest launch came a day before South Korea and the U.S. wrap up 11 days of combined military drills, which Pyongyang has long denounced as a war rehearsal.

Persons: Kim Jong Un, KCNA, Soo, hyang Choi, Josh Smith, Stephen Coates Organizations: Korean People's Army, North, Korean Central News Agency, Reuters, KCNA, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Staff, ROK, U.S, Thomson Locations: North Korea, Rights SEOUL, South Korea, United States, Republic of Korea, U.S, Pyongyang

KCNA via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsSEOUL, Aug 31 (Reuters) - North Korea conducted a simulated "scorched-earth" nuclear strike on targets across South Korea, state media reported on Thursday, in reaction to allied exercises that it said amounted to plans for a preemptive nuclear attack by the United States. ROK is the initials of South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea. North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on Wednesday, South Korea's military said, hours after the U.S. deployed B-1B bombers for allied air drills. South Korea's presidential office convened a security meeting after North Korea's late-night launch, which followed its second failed attempt last week to put its first spy satellite into orbit. Japan will intercept North Korea's missiles if they fly over Japan's territory, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said.

Persons: North Korea's, Fumio Kishida, Hirokazu Matsuno, Kim Jong Un, KCNA, Kim Jong, Kim, Soo, hyang Choi, Josh Smith, Kantaro Komiya, Kiyoshi Takenaka, Satoshi Sugiyama, Stephen Coates, Gerry Doyle Organizations: Korean People's Army, North, Korean Central News Agency, Reuters, KCNA, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, ROK, U.S, Thomson Locations: North Korea, Rights SEOUL, South Korea, United States, Republic of Korea, Japan, Pyongyang, U.S, Korea, Seoul, Kantaro, Tokyo

SEOUL, Aug 24 (Reuters) - North Korea appears to have made progress in its space program, despite a second rocket failure on Thursday, but its unusually quick launch pace may be causing problems, analysts said. North Korea's second attempt to place a spy satellite in orbit failed after the booster experienced a problem with its third stage, state media reported. South Korea scheduled nearly a year between each of the three launches of its new Nuri rocket, none of which failed as spectacularly as the North Korean attempts. North Korea plans to launch the Chollima-1 three times in less than six months. "I am not sure if North Korean leadership knows the characteristics of large-scale science," he said.

Persons: Jeffrey Lewis, James Martin, Chang Young, Kim Jong, Yang Uk, Nuri, Yang Moo, Kim, Lee Choon, Hyonhee Shin, hyang Choi, Josh Smith, Gerry Doyle Organizations: James, James Martin Center, Nonproliferation, Korea Aerospace University, Asan Institute, Policy Studies, University of North Korean Studies, South Korea's Science, Technology Policy Institute, Thomson Locations: SEOUL, North Korea, South Korea, Pyongyang, Seoul, Korea, Korean

North Korean investigators have also concluded that King crossed deliberately and illegally, with the intent to stay in the North or in a third country, state news agency KCNA said. It did not address whether it had heard more details from North Korea. As an active-duty soldier he might appear to qualify as a POW, given that the United States and North Korea technically remain at war. The 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty. Factors including King's decision to cross into North Korea of his own free will, in civilian attire, appear to have disqualified him from POW status, U.S. officials have said.

Persons: Travis King, Pyongyang's, King, KCNA, Myron Gates, Soo, hyang Choi, Josh Smith, Idrees Ali, Grant McCool, Stephen Coates Organizations: U.S . Army, Joint Security Area, Korean People's Army, ABC, Pentagon, United Nations Command, UNC, U.S ., Korean, Force, U.S, South Korean, Thomson Locations: SEOUL, North Korea, U.S, South Korea, ., DPRK, United States, Washington

SEOUL, July 25 (Reuters) - Tourists should expect far stricter supervision if visits to the border between North and South Korea resume, analysts said, after U.S. soldier Travis King used an organised tour to get close enough to dash across to North Korea last week. The U.S.-led United Nations Command (UNC), which oversees the area, has indefinitely suspended all JSA tours after King's unauthorised crossing. Not all DMZ tours stop at the JSA, which is the only spot where visitors can step up to and even briefly over the border into the North. Visiting JSA is free of charge for South Korean nationals, but the tour King was on started at $180, according to a Tripadvisor listing. King's case would be the first successful border crossing by a JSA tourist ever, Zwetsloot said.

Persons: Travis King, King, Andrew Harrison, I've, Jacco Zwetsloot, Zwetsloot, we'll, Lim Eul, Banning, Lim, Harrison, Soo, hyang Choi, Josh Smith, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: U.S . Army, Joint Security Area, United Nations Command, UNC, JSA, NK, South, North, Kyungnam University, Thomson Locations: SEOUL, North, South Korea, Korea, Panmunjom, Washington, The U.S, Seoul

"There is an increasing need for Korea and Japan to cooperate in this time of a polycrisis, with North Korean nuclear and missile threats escalating and global supply chains being disrupted," Yoon said. Yoon's visit also comes as North Korea has been raising tensions in the region weapons test, including the latest launch of two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast on Tuesday. South Korea, the United States and Japan must further strengthen security cooperation to deter North Korea, Yoon said, adding that he expected GSOMIA, an intelligence-sharing pact with Japan, to be "invigorated" as the two countries restore trust. South Korea has been conditionally maintaining the pact, which is intended to help the two countries share information on North Korea's missile and nuclear activities. Yoon denounced North Korea for focusing on its "reckless" weapons programmes when the country's food shortages have "grown worse" and said South Korea "will never acknowledge North Korea as a nuclear state under any circumstances."

[1/3] NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg shakes hands with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin during their meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea January 29, 2023. Kim Min-Hee/Pool via ReutersSEOUL, Jan 30 (Reuters) - NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg urged South Korea on Monday to increase military support to Ukraine, citing other countries that have changed their policy of not providing weapons to countries in conflict after Russia's invasion. Speaking at the Chey Institute for Advanced Studies in Seoul, he thanked South Korea for its non-lethal aid to Ukraine, but urged it to do more, adding there is an "urgent need" for ammunition. "I urge the Republic of Korea to continue and to step up on the specific issue of military support," he said. Last year South Korea opened its first diplomatic mission to NATO, vowing to deepen cooperation on non-proliferation, cyber defence, counter-terrorism, disaster response and other security areas.

SEOUL, Dec 5 (Reuters) - North Korea said it fired more than 130 artillery shells into the sea off its east and west coasts on Monday after detecting military drills across the border in the South. The South Korean military sent several warning communications to the North over the firing, the ministry of defence said in a statement. South Korea and the United States were conducting a joint land-based firing drill near the border in Cheorwon County in the middle of the peninsula on Monday. North Korea has criticised the joint drills as evidence of a hostile policy by Washington and Seoul. South Korea has accused the North of repeatedly violating the agreement with artillery drills this year, including one day in mid-October when more than 500 rounds were fired into the sea.

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