Kim Jong-un
Biden Begins Trip to Asia Meant to Reassure Allies of Focus on China
SEOUL — President Biden embarked Thursday on his first diplomatic mission to Asia since taking office, hoping to demonstrate that the United States remained focused on countering China, even as his administration stage-managed a war against Russia in Europe. With his original strategy of pivoting foreign policy attention to Asia effectively blown up by Russia’s […]
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China-Style Covid Lockdowns Risk Deepening North Korean Crisis
SEOUL — When North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, acknowledged an outbreak of Covid-19 last week, he ordered his government to learn from China’s “success” fighting the virus. What he did not say is that an attempt to follow China’s pandemic response could send his impoverished country toward catastrophe. China has used strict lockdowns, mass testing […]
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North Korea Says Its Covid Outbreak Is Spreading Fast
SEOUL — North Korea reported a significant surge in suspected coronavirus infections and deaths on Saturday as it struggled to contain its first reported outbreak, which the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, said could be one of the greatest crises in the country’s history. State media said an additional 174,400 people had symptoms, like fever, that […]
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North Korea Reports 6 Deaths as Covid-19 Spreads ‘Explosively’
“Like any other data from North Korea, the figures are up to debate, and we cannot fully trust them,” said Ahn Kyung-su, who operates the Seoul-based DPRKHealth.org, a website and network of public health experts who study North Korea. “But what’s clear is that North Korea has the Covid phenomenon, and by publicizing those figures, […]
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North Korea Reports Its First Covid Cases
Analysts questioned whether the Covid outbreak would affect Mr. Kim’s plan to restart nuclear tests. American and South Korean officials have warned in the past week that North Korea could resume such tests as soon as this month, possibly around the time that President Biden is scheduled to meet with South Korea’s new president, Yoon […]
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South Korea Inaugurates Yoon Suk-yeol as President
SEOUL — Yoon Suk-yeol, the new president of South Korea, was sworn into office in Seoul on Tuesday, using his inaugural speech to make promises to heal political and economic divides at home, to fight for international norms and to offer an ambitious package of economic incentives to North Korea. Mr. Yoon is taking office […]
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North Korea Tests a Submarine-Launched Missile
SEOUL — North Korea fired a short-range, submarine-launched ballistic missile off its east coast on Saturday, hours after the United States warned that the country could carry out a nuclear test as soon as this month. The missile, the first of its kind tested since October, was launched from waters near the coastal city of […]
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Was North Korea’s New ICBM Test Faked? Not Entirely.
SEOUL — When North Korea conducted its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile test to date last week, it said it launched the Hwasong-17, its newest and biggest ICBM. In a propaganda blitz, the country’s state media released a Hollywood-style video of its leader, Kim Jong-un, personally guiding the test launch in a sleek leather jacket […]
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The test is the North’s first intercontinental missile firing since 2017.
Japan’s defense minister, Nobuo Kishi, center, said that North Korea’s ICBM launch on Thursday threatened Japan’s peace and security and that of the region.Credit…Kyodo, via Reuters North Korea’s first test of an intercontinental ballistic missile in more than four years drew immediate and strong condemnations from South Korea and Japan. Officials in both nations accused […]
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