US cryptocurrency developer aids North Korea to avoid sanctions Virgil Griffith, 39, confessed to giving directions on how the system “could utilize blockchain and digital currency innovation to launder cash and avoid sanctions”. Virgil Griffith made a trip to North Korea – formally the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) – to go to … Read more
The U.S. 7th Fleet and Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force said Wednesday they conducted a joint naval exercise at the Sea of Japan on Tuesday and Wednesday. For the first time in five years U.S. and Japanese warships, led by the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, are conducting their joint naval exercise in waters between … Read more
A US cryptocurrency specialist was sentenced to 63 months in jail Tuesday for counseling North Korea on how to build cryptocurrency services and blockchain technology in order to avoid US restrictions on its nuclear program, New York court authorities said. Virgil Griffith, 39, pled guilty to conspiring to break US law to avoid a 20-year … Read more
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was denounced as “unprovoked, unjustifiable, and unlawful” by leaders of the three nations, whose cooperation was first perceived as reflecting worries about China. The United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia have agreed to collaborate on hypersonic and anti-hypersonic weaponry. The agreement between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, … Read more
KIM Jong-un supervised the test-firing of North Korea’s biggest ever ballistic missile. The North Korean leader stepped out in a fancy leather jacket and sunglasses in front of the huge weapon in what might well be mistaken for a Top Gun movie scenario. Kim personally gave the go light for the testing of the massive … Read more
BEIJING: China on Sunday imposed stay-at-home orders on millions more people in the country’s northeast as it battles its biggest Covid-19 outbreak in two years. The country has largely kept the virus at bay since it brought to heel its initial outbreak in 2020 using targeted lockdowns, mass testing and travel restrictions. But the Omicron strain has … Read more
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan: Voting was underway in Turkmenistan Saturday for a tightly-controlled leadership election that is all but certain to yield ex-Soviet Central Asia’s first father-son succession. Nine candidates are in the fray in the republic of six million people, but President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, who tolerates no opposition and has dominated public life since the country’s … Read more
SEOUL – North Korea said it had carried out a test of “great significance” for developing a reconnaissance satellite, state media reported, after Seoul said it had detected a ballistic missile launch. Despite sweeping international sanctions, Pyongyang carried out a record-breaking blitz of weapons tests in January before pausing launches during the Beijing Winter Olympics. … Read more
KYIV – Russian troops have seized Kherson, the first major Ukrainian city to fall in a devastating week-old war that has already created one million refugees. The capture of the Black Sea city of 290,000 people, which just last year hosted NATO-supported war games, appeared a significant boost for Moscow as it readied for potential ceasefire … Read more
SEOUL: The world should provide millions of doses of Covid-19 vaccines to North Korea, where “draconian” anti-pandemic measures are worsening an already-severe food crisis, a UN human rights expert said Wednesday. The impoverished nation has been behind a rigid self-imposed coronavirus blockade since early 2020 to protect itself from the pandemic, with the economy suffering … Read more
On the eve of the Chinese New Year, President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met in Beijing as Moscow’s deteriorating relations with the West take centre stage ahead of the official opening of the Winter Olympics in the Chinese capital. During his visit, Putin hailed his country’s “unprecedented” ties with China at … Read more
BEIJING – China warned the Britain not to follow the Cold War playbook, as it will lead it nowhere, after Britain’s top foreign and defence officials talked with their Australian counterparts, aiming to advance AUKUS and convene an ideological clique to counter China and Russia. The UK is following the US’ strategy of wrestling with … Read more
SEOUL – North Korea fired two suspected cruise missiles Tuesday, Seoul said, its fifth weapons test this year as Pyongyang flexes its military muscles while ignoring US offers of talks. The last time North Korea tested this many weapons in a month was in 2019, after high-profile negotiations collapsed between leader Kim Jong Un and … Read more
SEOUL – North Korea hinted Thursday it could resume nuclear and long-range weapons tests as it prepares for “confrontation” with Washington, its latest threat after a string of sanctions-busting missile launches. Pyongyang has not tested inter-continental ballistic missiles or nukes since 2017, putting launches on hold as leader Kim Jong Un embarked on a blitz … Read more
WASHINGTON – The United States called on North Korea Monday to “cease its unlawful and destabilizing activities,” after Pyongyang fired two suspected ballistic missiles in its fourth weapons test this month, a State Department spokesman said. In a call with South Korean and Japanese officials, the US special representative on North Korea, Sung Kim “expressed … Read more
SEOUL – North Korea fired two suspected ballistic missiles Monday, Seoul said, its fourth weapons test this month as Pyongyang flexes its military muscle while ignoring offers of talks from the United States. Despite biting international sanctions, Pyongyang has conducted a string of weapons tests this year, including hypersonic missiles, as leader Kim Jong Un pursues his … Read more
TOKYO – Japan moved ahead with an expansion of support to US troops as the allies held top-level talks last week over tensions with China and North Korea. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the two nations were signing a five-year extension of the support package provided by Japan for the hosting of around … Read more
Pyongyang- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un put the economy front and centre of an agenda-setting speech at the end of a key ruling party meeting, state media reported, with no mention of the United States. Instead of the policy positions on diplomacy for which Kim’s New Year statements have been closely watched in recent … Read more
SEOUL: North Korea said Thursday it has conducted a second hypersonic missile test, a sophisticated technology it is pursuing as a top priority for its arsenal. Here is a look at the development of Pyongyang’s banned nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, for which it has been hit with international sanctions: The beginnings North Korea starts working … Read more
SEOUL: North Korea fired what appeared to be a ballistic missile into the sea on Wednesday, South Korea and Japan said, in the first such launch by Pyongyang this year. In the decade since Kim Jong Un took power, North Korea has made rapid progress in its military technology at the cost of international sanctions. … Read more
SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un put the economy front and centre of an agenda-setting speech at the end of a key ruling party meeting, state media reported on Saturday, with no mention of the United States. Instead of the policy positions on diplomacy for which Kim’s New Year statements have been closely watched in … Read more
When he inherited power in North Korea 10 years ago, Swiss-educated basketball fan Kim Jong Un seemed open to foreign ideas and market reforms, but is increasingly shutting down outside influences as he enters his second decade in office. North Korea has long been one of the world’s most isolated countries, with authorities seeking to … Read more
North Korea marked the 10th anniversary of the death of leader Kim Jong Il with a memorial service attended by thousands, including his son Kim Jong Un, state television footage showed. Kim Jong Il ruled North Korea for 17 years until his death in December 2011, passing on power to his son. The current leader … Read more
TOKYO: Japan’s government on Friday unveiled its biggest ever full-year budget, including record defence spending to counter intensifying regional security threats. Cabinet ministers approved a draft national budget of a whopping 107.6 trillion yen ($940 billion) for the 2022/23 fiscal year, including 5.4 trillion yen for defence. Both figures have been increasing steadily for a decade … Read more
ON THE FRENCH NAVY’S FALCON 200 AIRCRAFT, Nov 8, 2021 (AFP) – Flying above the Yellow Sea between Korea and China, a French naval crew scans the ocean surface for signs of contraband headed for North Korea. The team is part of an international mission enforcing United Nations sanctions on Pyongyang, flying surveillance trips from the US Futenma base in … Read more
SEOUL: North Korea successfully tested a “new type” of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, state media reported early Wednesday as the nuclear-armed country pursues ever more improved weapons. The device had “lots of advanced control guidance technologies”, the official Korean Central News Agency said, adding that it was fired from the same vessel that the North … Read more
SEOUL: North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the sea on Tuesday, South Korea’s military said, its latest in a series of tests with analysts saying it could have been a submarine-launched weapon. The “unidentified ballistic missile” was fired from Sinpo into the sea east of the peninsula, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in … Read more
A dystopian vision of a polarised society, Netflix smash hit “Squid Game” blends a tight plot, social allegory and uncompromising violence to create the latest South Korean cultural phenomenon to go global. It features South Korea’s most marginalised, including the deeply in debt, a migrant worker and a North Korean defector, competing in traditional children’s … Read more
