North Korea

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>

New North Korean Nuke Count Estimate Differs From Trump's

South Korean defense minister put forth a number on Thursday

(Newser) - South Korea put a bigger number on North Korea's nuclear arsenal than President Trump did a day prior. Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back told lawmakers Thursday that Pyongyang is widely thought to hold 80 to 120 nuclear warheads—above the "57 very powerful nuclear weapons" Trump mentioned on Wednesday...

North Korea Fires Missiles Amid US Diplomacy Push

Pyongyang remains defiant after Trump comments, scaled-down war drills in the South

(Newser) - North Korea has responded to talk of a Trump-Kim reunion with missiles, not an olive branch. At least for now. Hours after President Trump told reporters he expects to sit down with Kim Jong-un later this year, South Korea's military said the North fired about 10 short-range ballistic missiles into...

Trump Provides a Count of North Korea's Nukes

And says a visit with Kim Jong Un will happen this year

(Newser) - President Trump says round four with Kim Jong Un is coming. Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Wednesday, the president said he expects to meet with the North Korean leader later this year; the two met three times during Trump's first term. The president also told reporters...

Trump Curtails War Games, but North Korea Is Dismissive

Pentagon announced Tuesday night the military exercises would end on Friday

(Newser) - Joint war games that usually dominate August in South Korea have been cut short this year by order of President Trump. The Pentagon said Tuesday night that it will end the 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise six days early, on Friday. They had been due to wrap up Aug. 27....

Citing Ties With Kim, Trump Scales Back US-South Korea Drills

Move follows North Korean threats over joint US-South Korean drills

(Newser) - President Trump says it's time to hit the brakes on US war games with South Korea, the Washington Post reports. In a Truth Social post Sunday, the POTUS said he ordered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to sharply scale back joint military drills, arguing they're expensive and send the...

South Korea Wants to Talk to North About Ending War

President Lee Jae Myung suggested talks in a Liberation Day speech

(Newser) - South Korea's leader is publicly asking Pyongyang to help close the book on a war that never officially ended. President Lee Jae Myung used a Liberation Day speech on Saturday to invite North Korea to talks on formally declaring the Korean War over and replacing the 1953 ceasefire with...

Zelensky: Russia Is Sunk Without North Korea

'This is the first time in Russia's history when they no longer have a strategic reserve,' he asserts

(Newser) - Russia's missiles in Ukraine aren't all Russian, according to Volodymyr Zelensky. The Ukrainian president said Monday that Moscow used North Korean ballistic missiles in overnight strikes on Zaporizhzhia that left at least six dead and 19 injured, reports the BBC . "This is the first time in Russia's history when they...

Amid Heat Wave, North Korea Pushes Dog Meat Soup

State media promotes 'dangogi guk' as 'highly nutritious food'

(Newser) - North Korea's answer to a punishing heat wave reportedly includes a bowl of dog meat soup. The South China Morning Post reports state newspaper Rodong Sinmun has urged citizens to fight soaring temperatures with "cooling" foods like watermelon and cucumbers, plus "highly nutritious" options such as fish...

New Russia, North Korea Link May Be Bad News for Ukraine

Investigation suggests road bridge may conceal arms, troops bound for warzone

(Newser) - The first-ever road connection between Russia and North Korea is nearly ready to open, and a Ukrainian rights group argues it's less about tourists and more about tanks. The road bridge over the Tumen River—linking Khasan in Russia's far east to North Korea's Tumangang—would run alongside the countries'...

South Korea Is Taking a New Approach to the North

Seoul shifts to 'peace first' tack, no longer seeking full denuclearization by Pyongyang before talks

(Newser) - South Korea is quietly reshuffling its playbook for dealing with Pyongyang. Unification Minister Chung Dong Young said on Thursday that Seoul is dropping its insistence that North Korea fully denuclearize before talks can begin, pivoting instead to what he called a "peace first" approach that seeks an initial freeze...

Kim's Plan of 'Overtaking the World' Hitched to This Ship

New destroyer Choe Hyon is nuclear-capable, 'new symbol' of North Korea's naval power

(Newser) - North Korea's weakest military branch is getting a high-profile upgrade. On Tuesday, Kim Jong Un revealed a 5,000-ton destroyer that he says marks the start of a nuclear-armed navy capable of operating far beyond the country's shores, reports NBC News . The warship, named Choe Hyon, was commissioned...

North Korea Loses a Soldier to the South

Suspected defector questioned after rare crossing of fortified border

(Newser) - A North Korean soldier apparently risked death to flee the country this week, slipping across one of the world's most heavily guarded borders. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said troops apprehended the suspected defector Tuesday night along "the central front" and that authorities are now questioning the individual,...

South Korea's Ex-President Gets Another 30 Years

Prosecutors say he tried to stoke tensions with Pyongyang in lead-up to his martial law declaration

(Newser) - South Korea's former president, already serving a life sentence for insurrection, has been sentenced to another 30 years for sending drones into North Korea months before he declared martial law in 2024. Prosecutors said that in an attempt to create a state of emergency and justify imposing martial law,...

N. Korea on Denuclearization: 'Anachronistic Dream'

Per Vertic research group, new Yongbyon plant could eventually boost uranium output 75%

(Newser) - North Korea appears to be quietly setting up its biggest known boost to nuclear fuel production in years. A new uranium-enrichment facility in Yongbyon could raise the country's enrichment capacity by about 75% once fully operational, according to a fresh analysis by Vertic, a London-based arms-control research group, reports...

NK Makes Move to Combat Its 'Most Ferocious Enemies'

Nation unveils new facility to churn out fuel for nuclear bombs

(Newser) - North Korea on Thursday unveiled a new facility to produce nuclear bomb fuel, with leader Kim Jong Un announcing plans to bolster the country's nuclear forces "at an exponential rate." Some experts still question whether North Korea has functioning nuclear missiles that can reach the US mainland....

North Korea Edges South Korea in Rare Women's Soccer Clash

Players show little warmth amid icy inter-Korean political tensions

(Newser) - North Korea's women's soccer team flew into the South this week with poker faces—and flew out with a win. In their first game on South Korean soil in eight years, Pyongyang's Naegohyang club beat South Korea's Suwon FC 2-1 on Wednesday, taking the Asian Football...

Russian Ship That Sank Mysteriously May Have Carried Nuclear Reactors

Spanish probe suggests secret nuclear reactors were aboard vessel possibly downed by Western strike

(Newser) - A Russian cargo ship that mysteriously blew up and went down off Spain's coast in late 2024 may have been secretly hauling nuclear submarine reactors for North Korea, according to new reporting. The Ursa Major, a state-linked, Russian-flagged freighter officially listed as carrying "non-dangerous" goods, issued a distress...

Kim Jong Un Lauds Troops Who 'Opted for Self-Blasting'

His comments confirm suspected battlefield policy of suicide over capture

(Newser) - Kim Jong Un has publicly applauded North Korean troops who reportedly killed themselves with grenades rather than risk capture while fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine, "confirming a long-suspected battlefield policy," reports the BBC . In a Monday speech in Pyongyang, Kim hailed those who "unhesitatingly opted for...

China Takes Low-Risk Approach to Iran Peace Deal

Analysts say Beijing is trying to gain leverage with Trump

(Newser) - Beijing may have scored some diplomatic points with President Trump by stepping into the Iran crisis just enough to matter—without taking real risks. China's quiet push helped coax Tehran into talks that led to a two-week cease-fire, a role other mediators like Pakistan and Turkey did more to secure...

There's Symbolism in Kim Ju Ae's Tank Outing

South Korean spy agency says she's literally following in her father's footsteps

(Newser) - South Korea's spy agency now says it has more than hunches about who might run North Korea next. Lawmakers in Seoul on Monday said the National Intelligence Service has obtained "credible intelligence" that Kim Jong Un's teenage daughter is being positioned as his successor—and that her tank-driving photo op...

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>
Most Read on Newser
More News: World | Sports | News | Tech | Entertainment