The impressive victory of President Moon Jae-in’s Democratic Party in South Korea’s April 2020 National Assembly elections obscured underlying security policy tensions within South Korea (or the Republic of Korea, ROK). These tensions reflect a deep and long-standing domestic split over how to deal with a nuclear North Korea and, to a lesser extent, concerns about the security alliance with the United States amid rising regional threats. In public opinion polls a consistent majority of South Koreans support acquiring nuclear weapons in some form, and centrist and conservative political parties have adopted official platforms calling on the United States to re-station nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula. Looking beyond the November 2020 U.S. election, the stage is set for a potentially disruptive period in ROK-U.S. security relations. If today’s tensions build, a worst-case clash of ideas and priorities between Seoul and Washington could rupture the ROK-U.S.

At last week’s presidential debate, the American people were presented with two widely divergent points of view on how to address North Korea’s growing nuclear arsenal: Either engage with its leader (and thereby “legitimize” a “thug”) or apply more sanctions and pressure in order to “control” North Korea.

But this is a false dichotomy. Meeting or not meeting with the North Korean leader hasn’t been the failure of U.S. policy. And more pressure and sanctions will not convince North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons arsenal.

To make any substantial progress, the next administration must take a wholly new approach to achieve a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.

The number of South Koreans who have died after getting flu shots has risen to 48, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said on Saturday, adding that the vaccines would continue to reduce the chance of having simultaneous epidemics.

The health authorities said they found no direct link between the deaths and the shots. They plan to carry on with the state-run vaccination programme to try to avoid having to fight both the flu and the coronavirus over the coming winter.

“After reviewing death cases so far, it is not the time to suspend a flu vaccination programme since vaccination is very crucial this year, considering … the COVID-19 outbreaks,” KDCA Director Jeong Eun-kyung told a briefing.

Public concern over the safety of flu shots has grown in South Korea as the authorities reported 36 cases of deaths after vaccination as at 1pm on Friday (Oct 23), putting strain on their efforts to curb a potential "twindemic" of winter flu and the coronavirus.

The country is still grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic, reporting 155 Covid-19 cases on Friday - the highest since Sept 11 and the second day in a row that the number hit triple figures. This brings the total to 25,698.

Health authorities now also have to tackle a deepening fear of the state-administered free flu vaccine programme after two batches of vaccine were found faulty since last month.

Following the end on the 18th of October of the 13-year United Nations’ embargo on Iran buying or selling weapons, the roll-out of the military component of the 25-year deal between China and Iran will begin in November, as exclusively revealed by Oil Price.com.

The President and former Vice President exchanged blows over Korean politics during tonight’s presidential debate in Nashville, Tennessee. Moderator Kristin Welker asked both candidates to discuss how they would tackle North Korea’s new intercontinental ballistic missiles and ensure peace with the country. Mr Trump also touted his administration’s record with Mr Kim over the last four years, blasting Barack Obama and Mr Biden for their stance on North Korea.

The Korean Medical Association has called on the country’s government to halt its plan to inoculate millions of citizens after more than a dozen people died after receiving flu shots.

The vaccine initiative, billed as a strategy to potentially offset complications from Covid-19, aims to provide free flu jabs to 19 million people. But the ambitious undertaking has come under fire after 13 people died, including a 17-year-old boy and a man in his 70s, after participating in the program.

The vaccination drive was suspended for three weeks after it was revealed that around five million doses, which require refrigeration, had been stored at room temperature while being transpired to a medical facility. The program resumed on October 13. None of the people who died received the recalled doses.

Following the end on the 18th of October of the 13-year United Nations’ embargo on Iran buying or selling weapons, the roll-out of the military component of the 25-year deal between China and Iran will begin in November, as exclusively revealed by Oil Price.com.

Weekends, we usually take day trips outside of Pyongyang. Today’s Saturday, so we’ll take a drive out to neighboring South Hwanghae Province, which occupies the southwestern corner of the country. Our first stop: rural Sinchon county. Home of the Sinchon Museum of American War Atrocities.

I’ve been wanting to visit the museum for years, but it is rarely put on group itineraries. It’s considered one of the more “sensitive” sites, a polite way of saying that its contents are actually rather incendiary. The Sinchon Museum is intended more for domestic rather than international propaganda purposes; virtually every North Korean visits the museum at least once, on mandatory educational pilgrimages.

After the three-hour ride along the potholed highway through depressed bucolica, our van pulls into the empty parking lot.

Four months after Barack Obama took office as U.S. president, North Korea catapulted itself to the top of the diplomatic agenda with its second nuclear test. Now, less than a month before the latest U.S. election, North Korea has given whoever wins advance notice: In 2021, it is certain to be back in the headlines, and likely to be a headache.

The reason: what appeared to be a huge new intercontinental ballistic missile paraded through the streets of Pyongyang on Saturday that served as a chilling reminder that North Korea’s nuclear deterrent is a very real threat to the U.S. homeland.

North Korea displayed what appeared to be its largest-ever intercontinental ballistic missile during a nighttime military parade in Pyongyang on Saturday, but it was not immediately clear if the missile would work or was for show.

The North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, has vowed to strengthen the country’s nuclear deterrent as talks with President Trump over the country’s arsenal have stalled. The rollout of the weapon comes as Mr. Kim has struggled to keep his promises to strengthen his nation’s staggering economy.

The new ICBM appeared to be much larger than North Korea’s biggest, previously disclosed long-range missile, the Hwasong-15. The size of the new missile indicated that it might fly farther and carry a more powerful nuclear warhead, South Korean and other analysts said, although it has never been flight-tested.

On Saturday, North Korea celebrated the 75th anniversary of its ruling Workers’ Party's foundation with a massive pre-dawn parade in Pyongyang featuring thousands of troops and hundreds of pieces of military equipment, with the country’s leader Kim Jong-un delivering an emotional speech.

Kim Jong-un displayed his emotional side during the pre-dawn military paradee held in Pyongyang on Saturday, timed to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the nation's ruling Workers’ Party.

The North Korean leader’s voice trembled and he removed his glasses briefly to seemingly wipe away tears while issuing an apology to the people of his country for perceived shortcomings in meeting their needs and expectations in difficult times, which he said were the result of international sanctions and natural disasters. Several times in his speech, the North Korean leader underscored that there are zero COVID-19 patients in his country.

President Donald Trump has reportedly expressed his fury over what appear to be sophisticated new missiles unveiled by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a military parade on Saturday.

'Trump is really angry about [North Korea's] missile parade' and is 'really disappointed' in Kim after fruitless peace talks, an unnamed source told Vox national security reporter Alex Ward.

Among the new military hardware displayed at a parade in Pyongyang marking the Communist regime's 75th anniversary were what appeared to be a massive new Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) and new submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM).

The remains of 117 Chinese soldiers who died in the 1950-53 Korean War were returned to China on Sunday in an annual repatriation delayed this year by the coronavirus outbreak.

South Korea handed over the remains at a ceremony at Incheon airport outside Seoul, and a Chinese military transport plane flew them to Shenyang, a northeastern Chinese city near the North Korean border.

Chinese soldiers fought on the North Korean side against U.S.-led forces in the South during the war on the Korean Peninsula.

Most of the 117 remains were found in the Demilitarized Zone that separates North and South Korea. It was the seventh annual repatriation, and the largest since the 437 returned in the first one in 2014. In all, the remains of 716 Chinese soldiers have been sent back.

Weekends, we usually take day trips outside of Pyongyang. Today’s Saturday, so we’ll take a drive out to neighboring South Hwanghae Province, which occupies the southwestern corner of the country. Our first stop: rural Sinchon county. Home of the Sinchon Museum of American War Atrocities.

I’ve been wanting to visit the museum for years, but it is rarely put on group itineraries. It’s considered one of the more “sensitive” sites, a polite way of saying that its contents are actually rather incendiary. The Sinchon Museum is intended more for domestic rather than international propaganda purposes; virtually every North Korean visits the museum at least once, on mandatory educational pilgrimages.

After the three-hour ride along the potholed highway through depressed bucolica, our van pulls into the empty parking lot.

The North Korean military has showcased a new mobile intercontinental ballistic missile during Saturday’s military parade, one which experts say is larger than any previously demonstrated weapon of its type.

Four ICBMs of the new variety were carried by 11-axle erector-launcher vehicles, and they may be the new weapon system whose existence was hinted at by the North Korean government in December last year.

South Korean media is reporting that Korean intelligence as well as US intelligence are closely monitoring the movement of an ultra-large intercontinental ballistic missile along with four mobile launchers by the north.

The Korean Herald describes, citing a Seoul government official, “South Korean and US intelligence have spotted North Korea moving an intercontinental ballistic missile, along with four mobile launchers, at an auto plant on the outskirts of Pyongyang, a Seoul official told a local media outlet on Saturday.”

The official said, “The missile is larger than the one they fired in 2017 and we believe they will showcase that at a military parade on Oct. 10,” the official said.

Apparently it's not over for South Korea's commercial nuclear development industry after in 2017 President Moon Jae-in initiated his plan to phase out nuclear power and halt all reactor construction projects in the country.

Now for the first time South Korean-built key nuclear components will be used in the United States as part of efforts to introduced further safeguards at US facilities. The cutting edge new 'miniature' design was previously described in Forbes as a reactor that "doesn’t need the complex back-up power systems that traditional reactors require" and which "won’t melt down or otherwise cause any of the nightmares people think about when imagining the worse for nuclear power."

Nikkei Asian Review reports this week that "Miniature nuclear reactors that use key components from South Korea's Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction have won first-of-its-kind certification for use in the U.S."

The Army announced that a combat brigade from the 10th Mountain Division will deploy this fall to Afghanistan for a rotation to support Operation Freedom's Sentinel.

The 2nd Brigade Combat Team, based in Fort Drum, New York, will replace the 10th Mountain's 1st Brigade Combat Team and participate in the U.S. counterterrorism mission against al-Qaida and other terrorist groups, according to an Army news release.

The US special envoy for arms control held talks with South Korean officials on Monday as Washington continued to press for the deployment of medium- and intermediate-range missiles in Asia to safeguard against China‘s arms build-up.

The envoy, Marshall Billingslea, and Ham Sang-wook, South Korea’s deputy foreign minister for multilateral and global affairs, “exchanged views and discussed ways of bilateral cooperation in key issues related with arms control and nuclear non-proliferation”, the South Korean foreign ministry said in a press statement.

The two countries agreed to hold “high-level” consultations on arms control and non-proliferation and to step up communications at various levels on those issues, the press release said.

Despite Kim Jong-Un offering a nearly unheard of apology for last week's shooting death of a South Korean fisheries official after he was found to have breached the disputed border in waters of the western coast, tensions are still running high which could set off further conflict.

North Korea's military says it is searching for the charred remains of the official, after its border patrol soldiers had burned it on coronavirus fears. But now Pyongyang is warning Seoul not to interfere, given the south's increased naval maneuvers in the region off Yeonpyeong Island. It appears both sides are conducting a major search of the area.

"We urge the south side to immediately halt the intrusion across the military demarcation line in the west sea that may lead to escalation of tensions," North Korean state news agency KCNA said on Sunday.

A vehicle that may be carrying a ballistic missile has been spotted at a parade training ground in North Korea amid signs it is preparing a big military display for an Oct. 10 holiday, a U.S. think-tank said.

Commercial satellite imagery taken on Tuesday showed a “probable missile-related vehicle” at the Mirim Parade Training Ground outside the capital, Pyongyang, according to a report by the group 38 North, which monitors North Korea.

“While imagery resolution is insufficient to determine exactly what the vehicle is, relative size and shape suggests that it may be a transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) for a large missile,” the group said.

The United States is concerned about Iran’s cooperation with North Korea and will do whatever it can to prevent it, Elliott Abrams, Washington’s envoy on Iran, said on Monday.

Abrams was responding to a reporter’s question on whether the United States had seen evidence that Tehran and Pyongyang had resumed cooperation on long-range missile development.

He spoke shortly after the Trump administration slapped new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear and weapons programs.

Current nuclear war plans are among any nuclear-armed military’s most closely guarded secrets. Details of one such attack plan recently became available, however, revealing that the United States envisaged using 80 nuclear weapons in case of war with North Korea. The way this particular detail emerged is also pretty unusual — the associated passage appeared in U.S. journalist Bob Woodward’s book Rage, detailing President Trump’s administration, which was published this week.

In fact, the particular quote from the book was not entirely clear:

"The Strategic Command in Omaha had carefully reviewed and studied OPLAN 5027 for regime change in North Korea — the U.S. response to an attack that could include the use of 80 nuclear weapons."

This can be read two ways: a potential attack from the North could involve the use of 80 nuclear weapons, or the same number of weapons can be envisaged as a possible U.S. response to a first strike ordered by Pyongyang.

Trump Administration officials have been saying this for weeks, but on Friday reiterated their intentions to try to enforce a UN Security Council resolution that includes broad sanctions against Iran. Officials say they expect every nation to comply.

The glaring problem with this is that the resolution doesn’t exist, at least not as an active resolution the US wants. The P5+1 nuclear deal gave the US the authority to reimpose sanctions on Iran, but the US had withdrawn from that pact years ago. Though the Trump Administration argued that didn’t matter, the UN has virtually unanimously rejected their interpretation, and rejected the UN Security Council resolution. The US believes the resolution becomes active Sunday, but the reality is it just doesn’t exist legally.

Current nuclear war plans are among any nuclear-armed military’s most closely guarded secrets. Details of one such attack plan recently became available, however, revealing that the United States envisaged using 80 nuclear weapons in case of war with North Korea. The way this particular detail emerged is also pretty unusual — the associated passage appeared in U.S. journalist Bob Woodward’s book Rage, detailing President Trump’s administration, which was published this week.

During the early 1950s War on Korea the U.S. used biological weapons against North Korea and China. Bombs designed to spread leaflets were filled with plague infested rats and dropped on Korean towns. Various infecting insects were released. Leaflets were contaminated with small pox and then distributed. Several local epidemics were caused by these attacks.

The program was a continuation of one which a special unit of the Imperial Japanese Army had developed during the second world war. Unit 731 and its leaders were not indicted for the war crimes they had committed during the war but integrated into the U.S. biological warfare program.

North Korea may soon conduct its first underwater-launched ballistic missile test in about a year, a top South Korean military official said Wednesday, amid long-stalled nuclear talks between the North and the United States.

In written remarks to lawmakers ahead of a confirmation hearing, Won In-choul, the nominee for chairman of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said North Korea has been repairing recent typhoon damage at its northeastern Sinpo shipyard, a place where it builds submarines.

Shortly after the repairs are complete, there is a chance it will carry out a submarine-launched ballistic missile test, Won said. He said South Korea’s military is keeping a close watch on developments there, according to a copy of his remarks provided by a lawmaker, Kang Dae-sik.

North Korea’s economic plight in the wake of the new coronavirus pandemic and natural disasters may give Japan’s next prime minister a chance to meet with the nuclear-armed country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, foreign affairs experts say.

As the global virus outbreak has stifled North Korea’s trade with its major economic ally of China and massive flooding triggered by powerful typhoons has devastated the agricultural sector, Kim could extend an olive branch to Japan to receive aid to rebuild the stagnant economy.

Outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has failed to resolve the issue of North Korea’s abduction of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s, but his successor, Yoshihide Suga, might push forward negotiations on it in a better way than his predecessor has done.

While Sino-US relations are set to dominate the Southeast Asia summit on Wednesday, foreign ministers of ten Southeast Asian countries could discuss the recent North Korean ballistic missile activity that suggests a launch could be nearing.

New commercial satellite imagery of North Korea's Sinpo South Shipyard, first revealed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), shows the rogue nation could be preparing to test-fire a Pukguksong-3 submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) from a submersible test stand barge.

CSIS wrote, "activity is also noted around the static test stand on the south side of the Sinpo South Shipyard where vehicles or equipment appear to be positioned around the rail-mounted service stand and test stand strong arm (used to raise a launch tube or missile into the vertical position for testing). Similar activity has been seen in the past, both for maintenance and before ejections tests."

Kim Yo Jong, the pretty and popular sister of the infamous Kim Jong Un, has recently disappeared from the public. She had been gaining publicity and celebrity status in his absence.

Then she just vanished into thin air. Some media outlets were even speculating that she would be taking over for him and was considered 'second in command.' However, since she simply vanished, many have speculated that the paranoid dictator is to blame.

The United States has alleged that sophisticated hacking operations sourced out of North Korea are becoming an increasing threat, and have claimed that Pyongyang is taking part in a rising number of cyberattacks.

A warning from the US government on Wednesday claims that North Korean hackers are tapping into banks around the world to make fraudulent money transfers and cause ATMs to spit out cash.

A technical cybersecurity alert commissioned by four federal agencies, including the Treasury Department and the FBI, wrote that the North Korean government has initiated new hacking efforts recently following decreased activity.

“Since February 2020, North Korea has resumed targeting banks in multiple countries to initiate fraudulent international money transfers and ATM cash outs”, the warning states.

His claim is the latest with respect to Kim's health, with widespread rumours of his death surfacing in April when he was not seen in public for a fortnight.

Since then footage has emerged purportedly showing him attending official engagements.

However, Mr Calley, who chronicles his time spent in North Korea during the course of his book, Look With Your Eyes and Tell the World, has always been sceptical, pointing out it was impossible to say with any degree of certainty when they were filmed.

His claim is the latest with respect to Kim's health, with widespread rumours of his death surfacing in April when he was not seen in public for a fortnight.

Since then footage has emerged purportedly showing him attending official engagements.

However, Mr Calley, who chronicles his time spent in North Korea during the course of his book, Look With Your Eyes and Tell the World, has always been sceptical, pointing out it was impossible to say with any degree of certainty when they were filmed.

Heavy rain, widespread flooding and crop damages have left the country short of food supplies, leading the Stalinist regime to demand more wealthy North Koreans give up their dogs, which are considered “decadent” luxury and “a ‘tainted’ trend by bourgeois ideology,” according to South Korean news outlet Chosun Ilbo.

“Authorities have identified households with pet dogs and are forcing them to give them up or forcefully confiscating them and putting them down,” a source told the newspaper.

The pets are rounded up, with some of them being sent to zoos and others being sold directly to the restaurant trade.

What’s next, cannibalism?

The South Korean Ministry of Defense has released an updated design for its upcoming aircraft carrier, now dubbed the LPX-II. Based on the Dokdo-class helicopter carriers, the LPX-II is far larger and reconfigured to accommodate the vertical takeoff-capable F-35B Joint Strike Fighter, like US amphibious assault ships do.

According to the plans revealed earlier this week, South Korea’s next aircraft carrier will be a dedicated light aircraft carrier, not an amphibious assault ship. However, it will be far larger than Seoul’s present assault ships, the Dokdo-class landing platform helicopters (LPHs), which have both a flat flight deck above for helicopters in addition to a well deck below, capable of disembarking landing craft carrying marines and their vehicles.

After months of insisting that North Korea had dodged the depredations of the coronavirus, media reports published Saturday afternoon (local time) claimed that 'Dear Leader' Kim Jong Un declared an emergency lockdown in an area near the DMZ after a person suspected of being infected with the virus returned to the North after illegally crossing into South Korea, according to state media reports.

A new defense white paper published by the Japanese Ministry of National Defense takes aim at Chinese expansionism and North Korean weapons tests, claiming they pose major threats to Tokyo. The paper claims Beijing is taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to further its regional ambitions.

The annual white paper, which the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe approved on Tuesday, criticizes Beijing for “relentlessly” challenging Tokyo’s control over the disputed Senkaku Islands, which China claims are its own and calls the Diaoyu Islands.

“Despite protests by our country, Chinese official ships repeatedly intruded into our territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands,” the paper said, according to Kyodo News Agency.

In order to eliminate the nuclear threats from the US, the DPRK government has made all possible efforts, either through dialogue or in resort to the international law, but all ended in a vain effort…. The only option left was to counter nuke with nuke.

Does this statement made by the North Korean government sound like a threat to launch a nuclear strike on the US?

When one reads this brief snippet taken from a 5,500 word report carefully, it’s obvious that this is not a threat to launch a nuclear strike, but an explanation of the rationale behind North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korea’s leader, said another summit with the United States would only be useful for Washington at this point, adding her country had no intention of “threatening the U.S.,” according to state media.

Kim said in her personal opinion, there is unlikely to be another summit between leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump this year but “a surprise thing may still happen,” news agency KCNA reported on Friday.

North Korea earlier rejected the possibility of restarting negotiations with the United States and accused Washington of embracing a "hostile policy" toward Pyongyang and disregarding agreements made at past summits.

The DPRK said on Monday it does not intend to hold negotiations with the US, Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

After the aggravation of inter-Korean relations, the media and experts from different countries, as well as some officials, spoke about the need and even the possibility of resuming US-DPRK talks before the US presidential election in November.

In his book due to be released on 23 June, John Bolton, in particular, accuses US President Donald Trump of misusing his powers and claims that POTUS was manipulated and easily influenced by the foreign leaders of China, Russia, Turkey, and North Korea.

John Bolton’s lawyers have filed a motion in court to dismiss a Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit against the former US national security adviser aimed at blocking the publication of his upcoming book for reportedly containing highly classified information.

According to the motion, "[…] Defendant John R. Bolton moves to dismiss the [DOJ’s] complaint for failure to state a claim".

Now that the distinctive inter-Korean liaison office at Kaesong lies in ruins following Tuesday's major escalation, North Korea is reportedly preparing to send troops into the border area where they will resume "all kinds of regular military exercises" just meters away from South Korea.

According to South Korean news agency Yonhap, North Korea's military is reviewing plans to reenter the DMZ that was previously disarmed under an inter-Korean agreement.

"Our army is keeping a close watch on the current situation in which the north-south relations are turning worse and worse, and getting itself fully ready for providing a sure military guarantee to any external measures to be taken by the Party and government," the General Staff of the Korean People's Army said in a statement carried by KCNA, the Korean Central News Agency.

Pyongyang has vowed to send troops back into previously disarmed areas and renew military drills near the border, amid an ongoing spat with Seoul over defectors, inflamed further by the recent demolition of a negotiations outpost.
North Korea will reestablish a troop presence in the Mount Kumgang and Kaesong regions – which both fall just beyond the Demilitarized Zone along the border – and resume “all kinds of regular military exercises,” the Korean People's Army said on Wednesday, according to Yonhap News.

North Korea blew up a liaison office building it operates with South Korea, officials in Seoul said Tuesday, as tensions on the Korean Peninsula escalated amid stalled denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and the Trump administration.

Seoul’s Unification Ministry said it was still trying to determine precisely what happened. But it confirmed that the joint liaison office, opened in 2018 to foster better relations between the rival Koreas, was destroyed by North Korea at the border town of Kaesong.

The targeting of the building by North Korea comes as Pyongyang has repeatedly warned Seoul that it needs to prevent defectors and activists from sending anti-North Korea propaganda leaflets across the border via balloons and drones.

South Korea is holding an emergency meeting on Sunday in response to worsening ties with North Korea, and following threats of military action by Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Kim, who serves as a top aide, says that she is to instruct North Korean forces to carry out a decisive action, saying “I feel it is high time to surely break with the South Korea authorities.”

She didn’t specify what that would entail, but South Koreans have recently been sending anti-regime leaflets north, and that tends to rile up the North Korean government and lead to threats of non-specific actions. South Korea is urging both sides to honor agreements.

The Trump-Kim bromance which held the potential for a historic breakthrough toward lasting peace and denuclearization on the Korean peninsula may have run its course. A top Pyongyang official now says there's "little reason" to maintain ties.

"North Korea sees little use maintaining a personal relationship between leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump if Washington sticks to hostile policies, state media reported on Friday - the two-year anniversary of the leaders’ first summit," Reuters reports of the surprisingly frank remarks.

Foreign Minister Ri Son Gwon said in statements reported by state news agency KCNA that Pyongyang is growing tired of what it sees as mere political point scoring from the US administration, with nothing actually changing for North Korea.

Still on his public appearance 'return' tour after last month's 'where's Kim?' false alarm, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un hosted a meeting of top generals on the country's nuclear policy Sunday — the first appearance since his May 1st tour of a factory quashed persistent rumors about his health.

State media asserted Pyongyang would continue to bolster its nuclear capabilities undeterred, amid stalled nuclear talks with the White House, at the meeting of the Workers' Party of Korea Central Military Commission (CMC).

KCNA reported the meeting was aimed at efforts to “reliably contain the persistent big or small military threats from the hostile forces,” according to Reuters. The report emphasized the country would increase its "nuclear war deterrence".

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has made an unusually small number of public appearances in the past two months, once again going three weeks without state media reporting his attendance at a public event, according to analysts.

North Korea fired gunshots at a South Korean guard post in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), a buffer area which separates the two countries, on Sunday, and the South fired back, according to its military.

The North Korean gunfire hit the wall but did not injure anyone or cause any discernible damage to the guard post or its equipment, said South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). Several bullets from the North were fired into the DMZ at 7:41 a.m. local time Sunday, the JCS said in a text message to press.

The South Korean military responded by broadcasting a verbal warning and returning fire twice, according to protocol outlined in the response manual and on the judgment of the field commander, according to the JCS statement.

Kim Yo-jong, who has been progressing quickly through the ruling party ranks over the past few years, played a prominent role in her brother's diplomacy being by his side at key state meetings, such as his summits with President Donald Trump in Singapore and Hanoi, Vietnam last year. However, analysts wonder whether a woman could take up the reins of the country, especially without being explicitly blessed by her brother, the report says.

The CRS goes further to note that any power struggle may have major implications for the United States, including on such burning issues as North Korea's nuclear arsenal and the possibility of a confrontation with China that could "alter the fundamental security structure of the region” etc.

Meanwhile, things still look calm from the economic perspective, the report says noting North Korea has shown "few signs of severe economic distress that could trigger a systemic collapse".

As reports swirl about whether or not Kim Jong Un’s younger sister is a candidate to replace him should he die, a South Korean think tank reported Wednesday that she has been gaining power in the Hermit Kingdom in recent months.

South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo said on Friday that North Korea is stepping up readiness activities for its air and artillery units, for no apparent reason.

The activity could indicate Pyongyang is preparing another illegal missile test, or it could be related to the disappearance of dictator Kim Jong-un, believed by some outside observers to be dead or incapacitated.

The rumor mill over the fate of Kim Jong Un has gone into overdrive, as the North Korean leader hasn't been seen since April 11 - over two weeks ago. And as the New York Times notes in a Sunday morning report, North Korea's recent silence on Kim is highly unusual, considering that rumors are flying that their leader is either dead or in a vegetative state after a botched heart surgery.

"North Korea is still sending letters and gifts to foreign leaders and domestic workers in the name of its leader, Kim Jong-un. Its news media brims, as usual, with panegyric propaganda extolling Mr. Kim’s leadership," reports the Times.

The rumor mill over the fate of Kim Jong Un has gone into overdrive, as the North Korean leader hasn't been seen since April 11 - over two weeks ago. And as the New York Times notes in a Sunday morning report, North Korea's recent silence on Kim is highly unusual, considering that rumors are flying that their leader is either dead or in a vegetative state after a botched heart surgery.

"North Korea is still sending letters and gifts to foreign leaders and domestic workers in the name of its leader, Kim Jong-un. Its news media brims, as usual, with panegyric propaganda extolling Mr. Kim’s leadership," reports the Times.

Taiwan News relays that Japanese media, citing the medical team treating Kim Jong Un, is reporting that the 36-year-old has been left in a vegetative state following a botched heart surgery.

The rash of stories claiming North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is on his deathbed – all sourced to a South Korean blog post – show Western media will run any horrific item on the Hermit Kingdom, confident they won’t be contradicted.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is clinging to life by a thread after heart surgery went horribly, horribly wrong! Or at least, US intelligence is monitoring reports that Kim was “in grave danger” after botched surgery, as CNN reported on Monday. The source for Kim’s health troubles was a single report from South Korean web outlet The Daily NK, itself citing a single source in the North.

The U.S. Forces in Korea (USFK) has furloughed about half of its 8,500 local hires, not for fear of the COVID 19 pandemic, but in a ploy to extract more subsidies from the South Korean government, using workers as pawns.

As of April 1, about 4,000 Korean employees were put on unpaid leave until further notice after the U.S. and South Korean governments failed to renew a cost-sharing deal that expired December 31.

“This is an unfortunate day for us,” USFK commander, Gen. Robert B. Abrams, said on April 1, commenting on the unprecedented massive furlough. “It’s heartbreaking.”

In a sarcastic tweet he sent some hours later, however, the four-star army general betrayed his sympathetically toned remarks.

“I learned today that,” Gen. Abrams said, “’Don’t count your chickens before they hatch’ = ‘Don’t eat your kimchi stew before the time is right.’”

NORTH Korean leader Kim Jong Un is receiving treatment after undergoing a cardiovascular procedure early this month, a South Korean media report said, amid speculation over Kim's health following his absence from a major anniversary event.

Iran says South Korea has rejected a SWIFT payment request by Tehran for purchase of coronavirus testing kits over the US sanctions.

Iran's Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour late Saturday released a document that shows a Saudi-funded TV had asked a Korean bank to reject the request.

"As a result, the Korean bank rejected Iran's request and the kits were not delivered to Iran," he said.

According to the document, London-based Iran International television channel falsely claimed that the SWIFT request had been made by a software company which sought to export non-medical goods to Iran.

South Korea today reported just eight new cases of coronavirus as the country's daily increase dropped to single figures for the first time in two months.

The East Asian nation has now confirmed 10,661 cases of the virus, which has killed 234 people in South Korea throughout the global pandemic.

A further 8,042 patients have recovered and been released from quarantine, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, while 12,243 others were today undergoing testing for Covid-19.

'We must not loosen our guard until the last confirmed patient is recovered,' South Korea President Moon Jae-in said.

South Korean health officials are investigating several possible explanations for a small but growing number of recovered coronavirus patients who later test positive for the virus again.

Among the main possibilities are re-infection, a relapse, or inconsistent tests, experts say.

South Korea had reported 141 such cases as of Thursday, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

Experts believe that one reason people are relapsing may be that the virus attacks immune cells called T lymphocytes that play a major role in the body's ability to identify infections and start to mount a response.

Investigators have found an oil pipeline that was illegally installed and used by US Forces Korea (USFK) in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, in the 1940s and 50s.

Sources at South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense and the city of Gunsan told the Hankyoreh on Apr. 1 that the city and the Defense Installations Agency found the pipeline underground on a second dig near 609-29 Gaesa Neighborhood, in the vicinity of Okgu Reservoir, on Mar. 31.

The steel pipeline, with a diameter of 150mm, was buried around 70cm underground, running from Gunsan Harbor to an airfield on the US Kunsan (Gunsan) Air Base. The pipeline was presumably left there by USFK after they shut it down 40 years ago.

North Korea said Monday that “reckless remarks” by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made it clear that Washington has no intention of resuming nuclear talks, and warned that it is now compelled to pay back “the pains the U.S. has imposed on our people.”

After a teleconference of foreign ministers of the Group of Seven leading industrial nations last week, Pompeo told reporters the international community must remain united in urging North Korea to return to nuclear talks and in continuing to apply pressure on its nuclear and missile programs.

The country has carried out a handful of similar tests this month. The missiles fell into waters between the North and Japan.

This is the third time the DPRK has launched missiles recently, following the launch of three unidentified projectiles into the Sea of Japan on 9 March.

North Korea has launched two short-range ballistic missiles towards the Sea of Japan, Yonhap news agency reported on Saturday citing the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

According to the military, today's missiles were launched from the North Pyongan Province.

"This morning, the [South] Korean military captured two projectiles [believed] to be short-range ballistic missiles launched from the Pyongan North Island region over the East Sea", the JCS said.

In a potential setback for President Trump, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signaled his country could resume testing nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missiles. WSJ Korea correspondent Andrew Jeong explains what’s next for the U.S.-North Korea talks

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has sent a letter expressing hope for South Korea to overcome a coronavirus outbreak, President Moon Jae-in’s office said on Thursday, as the South battles the biggest epidemic of the disease outside China.

The outbreak of pneumonia caused by a new strain of coronavirus originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, Hubei province, last December and has since claimed the lives of more than 3,000 people worldwide.

600 new cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-2019) have been confirmed in South Korea, bringing the total number of cases to 4,812, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday. The total number of fatalities has reached 28.

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CEO Eun-Kyung Jung) said that 600 additional [cases of coronavirus] were confirmed from 2 March to 3 March 2020, and the total number of confirmed patients was 4,812", the statement said.

With growing concerns about air travel due to the breakout of Covid-19 in Asia, South Korea's transport ministry announced that all passengers bound for the US would have to undergo mandatory temperature checks before boarding planes starting March 3, reported Bloomberg.

The United States postponed its wargames with South Korea on Thursday as concerns continue to grow over the coronavirus. The combined command announced an upcoming “command post-training” conducted by members of the two militaries’ Combined Forces Command will be postponed “until further notice”, World News reported.

The first case of the novel coronavirus among the US armed forces has been registered in South Korea, according to the United States Forces Korea (USFK).

"A USFK soldier stationed at Camp Carroll tested positive for COVID-19, marking the first time a U.S. service member has tested positive for the virus. We’re implementing all appropriate control measures to protect the force", USFK tweeted.

SEOUL -- Hyundai Motor shut down a factory in South Korea on Friday after a worker tested positive for the new coronavirus.

The factory in Ulsan builds the Palisade, Tucson, Santa Fe and Genesis GV80 crossovers.

The closing dealt a fresh setback to Hyundai, which has gradually resumed production at local plants hit by a Chinese parts shortage in the wake of the virus outbreak.

South Korea has the most infected people outside China, affecting companies like Samsung and Hyundai. South Korea on Friday reported 256 new cases, bringing the total number of infected to 2,022, as the world prepared for a global recession.

"The company has also placed colleagues who came in close contact with the infected employee in self-quarantine and taken steps to have them tested for possible infection," Hyundai Motor said in a news release.

The automaker said it was disinfecting the factory. It did not say when production would resume.

SEOUL -- Hyundai Motor shut down a factory in South Korea on Friday after a worker tested positive for the new coronavirus.

The factory in Ulsan builds the Palisade, Tucson, Santa Fe and Genesis GV80 crossovers.

The closing dealt a fresh setback to Hyundai, which has gradually resumed production at local plants hit by a Chinese parts shortage in the wake of the virus outbreak.

South Korea has the most infected people outside China, affecting companies like Samsung and Hyundai. South Korea on Friday reported 256 new cases, bringing the total number of infected to 2,022, as the world prepared for a global recession.

"The company has also placed colleagues who came in close contact with the infected employee in self-quarantine and taken steps to have them tested for possible infection," Hyundai Motor said in a news release.

The automaker said it was disinfecting the factory. It did not say when production would resume.

- Confirmed cases worldwide pass 83,000; deaths top 2,800
- JPMorgan joins rush to curb global travel as virus spreads
- China is making progress in the battle to get back to work
- South Korea reveals 571 more cases
- Limited virus testing in Japan masks true scale of infection
- Hong Kong dog found to have ‘low level’ of virus

South Korea’s foreign minister called on Monday for a quick resumption of stalled U.S.-North Korean nuclear talks, adding that her government stood ready to engage with Pyongyang to facilitate dialogue.

Kang Kyung-wha, addressing the U.N.-sponsored Conference on Disarmament, said the goal remained complete denuclearisation on the divided Korean peninsula.

“A speedy resumption of the U.S.-DPRK negotiations is critical so that all stakeholders maintain and build upon the hard-won momentum for dialogue. We stand ready to engage with the North in a way that facilitates and accelerates the U.S.-DPRK dialogue,” Kang told the Geneva forum.

South Korea now emerges as the next hotspot of the Covid-19 outbreak that has been tormenting China for the last several months.

Late on Friday, South Korea reported 142 new confirmed cases, up a mindboggling 70% in just one day, to 346. A second death was also reported.

South Korea’s president Moon Jae-in has placed the country on “red alert” after it reported its fifth death and more than 123 new coronavirus cases, taking the total number of infected to 556.

As the nation struggled on Sunday to contain the deadly Covid-19 outbreak in the city of Daegu, the president described the coming days as “a very important moment”, the news agency Yonhap said.

The government would bolster its fight against the virus by raising the alert level one notch to the highest of “red”, he told an emergency meeting of agencies in Seoul on Sunday.

Of the 123 new cases, 75 are related to the Shincheonji church in the country’s fourth-largest city of Daegu and a neighbouring hospital.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it has placed more than 9,000 Shincheonji members in self-quarantine and thousands of worshippers have been screened for the virus.

Seemingly overnight, the public attitude toward the coronavirus outbreak in South Korea has gone from simmering apprehension to full-blown paranoia. And nowhere is that more apparent than in Daegu, the country's fourth-largest city, with a population of 2.5 million people - roughly one-tenth of the South's total population.

As the South Korean government debates whether to raise the alert level, the mayor of Daegu has asked all of the city's residents to avoid venturing outside as the government tracks down, tests and quarantines all the members of a church where an infected woman is believed to have spread the virus to more than 40 people.

Earlier Thursday, South Korea said it has confirmed a total of 82 cases of the virus. It seems to be spreading to other places with little hope of containment, although there are quarantine measures in place. “National quarantine efforts that are currently focused on blocking the inflow of the virus (from China) and stemming its spread are inadequate for preventing the illness from circulating in local communities,” said the mayor of the South Korean city of Daegu, Kwon Young-jin.