Category: North Korea

North Korea Fires Ballistic Missiles Into Waters Between Japan and Korean Peninsula

North Korea launched two ballistic missiles into waters off its eastern coast on Wednesday, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) has confirmed. JCS said the missiles were launched from central North Korea and that South Korea, along with U.S. intelligence authorities, is currently analyzing more details about the launches. Japan’s coast guard said it believes the two…


Top Nuclear Envoys Meet in Japan Over Arms Talks After North Korea’s Missile Test

Senior envoys from Japan, the United States, and South Korea met in Tokyo on Tuesday to discuss North Korea’s missile and nuclear development a day after Pyongyang tested a new long-range cruise missile. Analysts expressed concerns about the latest tests of a missile dubbed “a strategic weapon of great significance,” according to the country’s state-run Korean…


Top US Envoy Meets in Japan Over Arms Talks Following North Korea’s Missile Test

Senior envoys from Japan, the United States, and South Korea met in Tokyo on Tuesday to discuss North Korea’s missile and nuclear development a day after Pyongyang tested a new long-range cruise missile. Analysts expressed concerns about the latest tests of a missile dubbed “a strategic weapon of great significance,” according to the country’s state-run Korean…


North Korea Successfully Tests First ‘Strategic’ Long-Range Cruise Missile: Report

North Korea over the weekend successfully test-fired a new long-range cruise missile capable of hitting targets 930 miles away, according to the country’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The multi-day operation was confirmed as a “success” by leading officials and scientists of the Academy of National Defense Science who took part in the testing of the…


9/11 Didn’t ‘Change Everything’

Commentary Marking 20 years since the awful day of Sept. 11, 2001, is a very personal experience. A mixture of contending emotions, based on what happened that day and the twists and turns since. For me, it was the most shocking and consequential day of my professional life. I awoke that day anxious to prepare…


North Korea Suspended From IOC After Tokyo No-show

North Korea has been suspended from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) until the end of 2022, meaning it will miss out on the Beijing Winter Games, after failing to send a team to the Tokyo Olympics, IOC President Thomas Bach said on Wednesday. “The National Olympic Committee of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (PRK NOC) is…


The Terrifying Prophecy of Bowers and the Only Way to Stop It

Commentary A great number of people were shocked by the result of the 2020 presidential election, but Curtis Bowers (former Republican member of the House of Representatives) might not have been. Although he never described himself as a prophet, he indeed foresaw in 2015, or earlier, that 2016 would be the last time in his lifetime…


US Extends Ban on American Passports for Travel to North Korea

WASHINGTON—The Biden administration has extended for one year a Trump-era ban on the use of U.S. passports for travel to North Korea. The ban had first been imposed by former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in 2017 after the death of American student Otto Warmbier, who suffered grievous injuries while in North Korean custody. It…


North Korea Appears to Have Restarted Nuclear Reactor: UN Atomic Watchdog

North Korea appears to have revamped a nuclear reactor used to produce fuel for nuclear weapons, according to a UN atomic watchdog based in Vienna, Austria. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in its annual report (pdf) that there has been “indications” of operation of a 5-megawatt nuclear reactor at the Yongbyon Experimental Nuclear Power…


Renewed Activity at North Korea Nuclear Reactor ‘Deeply Troubling’: IAEA

VIENNA/SEOUL—North Korea appears to have restarted a nuclear reactor that is widely believed to have produced plutonium for nuclear weapons, the U.N. atomic watchdog said in an annual report, highlighting the isolated nation’s efforts to expand its arsenal. The signs of operation at the five-megawatt (MW) reactor, which is seen as capable of producing weapons-grade…