DPRK / North Korea
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Northeast Asia
South Korea reaffirms ‘peace through strength’ as North threatens more missile deployments
Felix Kim Facing escalating threats from North Korea — including the regime’s growing nuclear and missile capabilities and its deepening ties with Russia — South Korean defense leaders are reaffirming the nation’s commitment to building an “elite, advanced and powerful military” under the doctrine of “peace through strength.” The strategy focuses on reinforcing South Korea’s longtime alliance with the United…
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Across The Region
Allies Unveil System to Track North Korean Missiles
Japan, South Korea and the United States activated a system in December 2023 to detect and assess North Korea’s missile launches in real time. The announcement came after North Korea said it had tested an intercontinental ballistic missile to gauge the war readiness of its nuclear force. United Nations Security Council resolutions ban Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic weapons programs. The…
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Global Commons
South Korea to deploy ‘StarWars’ lasers against North’s drones
Agence France-Presse South Korea will deploy drone-melting laser weapons this year that are designed to shoot down North Korean uncrewed aerial vehicles, the country’s arms procurement agency said in July 2024. The new laser weapons, dubbed the “StarWars Project” by South Korea, are silent, invisible to an adversary, require no additional ammunition, operate solely on electricity and cost only about…
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Illicit Activity
Vietnam improves in human trafficking fight
Radio Free Asia For the second year in a row, Vietnam’s ranking improved in the United States’ annual Trafficking in Persons report, and the country is no longer considered among Asia’s worst for human trafficking, a list that includes the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Cambodia, Myanmar and North Korea. The June 2024 report from the U.S. State Department focuses…
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Illicit Activity
South Korea, Allies confront North Korea’s GPS signal jamming
FORUM Staff For more than a decade, North Korea has been developing and intermittently testing its capabilities to jam signals from the network of satellites and receiving devices known as GPS, which are used for navigation, positioning and timing on Earth for everything from cars to planes and ships, including many military vessels. In late May 2024, the regime’s efforts…
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Northeast Asia
South Korea, U.S. developing joint strategy on North Korea nuclear threat
Reuters Senior South Korean and United States defense officials met in Seoul recently to develop guidelines to coordinate the longtime allies’ response to potential nuclear threats from North Korea. The guidelines specify the procedures for maintaining and enhancing a “credible and effective” nuclear deterrence policy and posture, according to a joint statement. The Nuclear Consultative Group meeting came amid signs…
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Global Commons
Indo-Pacific Allies, Partners condemn North Korean spy satellite launch attempt
FORUM Staff The rocket explosion that ended North Korea’s latest effort to launch a spy satellite means the authoritarian regime has failed in three of its four attempts to put a military satellite into orbit. After two failed attempts delivered only international embarrassment in 2023, North Korea finally launched a spy satellite late that year, though experts have cast doubt…
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Conflicts - Tensions
North Korea’s garbage balloons, other provocations follow regime’s failed satellite launch
FORUM Staff The hundreds of trash-laden balloons that North Korea floated over the fortified border into South Korea were a dangerous provocation, Indo-Pacific Allies and Partners said. The United Nations Command (UNC), which monitors compliance with the armistice that halted the Korean War in 1953, condemned the bizarre act as not only harmful and unsanitary but also a violation of…
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Northeast Asia
PLA’s dangerous moves seek to shield North Korea from sanctions enforcement
FORUM Staff The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) recent “unsafe and unprofessional” intercept of a Royal Australian Navy helicopter highlights a pattern of dangerous maneuvers aimed at sanctions enforcers. Beijing supported United Nations sanctions to deter North Korea’s destabilizing nuclear and weapons programs, but has undermined the international measures by allowing violators to use Chinese infrastructure and territorial waters to…
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Conflicts - Tensions
PRC harbors ship tied to illicit Russia-North Korea arms transfers
Reuters The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is providing moorage for a sanctioned Russian cargo ship implicated in North Korean arms transfers to Russia, satellite images show. The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a United Kingdom-based think tank, said the Angara — which since August 2023 has transported thousands of containers believed to contain North Korean munitions to Russian ports…
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