Reuters: South Korea’s new president launched international efforts to defuse tension over North Korea’s weapons development on Thursday, urging both dialogue and sanctions while also aiming to ease Chinese anger about a U.S. anti-missile system. Moon Jae-in, a liberal former human rights lawyer, was sworn in on Wednesday and said in his first speech as… read more
U.S. News & World Report: The Central Intelligence Agency has set up a new center on North Korea, it announced Wednesday. “Creating the Korea Mission Center allows us to more purposefully integrate and direct CIA efforts against the serious threats to the United States and its allies emanating from North Korea,” Director Mike Pompeo said… read more
Reuters: Russia rolled out air defense systems built to operate in sub-zero Arctic conditions on Tuesday as it showcased its military might at a parade on Moscow’s Red Square. The parade, an annual event commemorating the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, took place under gray skies as President Vladimir Putin… read more
Times of India: A user-trial of the Agni-II intermediate range nuclear-capable ballistic missile by the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) failed on Thursday. Sources said the test-firing of the surface-to-surface Agni-II missile, which has a range over 2,000-km, from the Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast flopped within minutes of its launch at about 10.20… read more
Politico: Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said the House will vote on sanctions against North Korea next week in response to the nation’s continued nuclear weapons testing. “The time for waiting on North Korea to get its act together is over,” he said in a statement released Thursday. According to McCarthy, the sanctions, called the Korean… read more
The Economic Times: India successfully test-fired its intermediate-range ballistic missile Agni-III from Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast. The missile lifted off from Launch Pad No. 4 of the Integrated Test Range located on the island at 9.12 a.m., sources in the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said. The Strategic Forces Command, an… read more
Fox News: A missile from Israel’s Patriot Aerial Defense System knocked down a drone that was about to enter Israeli airspace from Syria Thursday, military officials said. The incident happened on shortly before 8 p.m. local time. No damage or injuries were reported. It happened hours after an alleged Israeli airstrike on Iranian weapons that were stored… read more
Reuters China on Thursday welcomed an apparently softer tone by the United States on the North Korean nuclear and missile crisis but stressed its opposition to a U.S. missile defense system being deployed in South Korea. China has long promoted dialogue to resolve the “Korean nuclear issue” as North Korea has repeatedly threatened to destroy… read more
Reuters The Trump administration said on Wednesday it aimed to push North Korea into dismantling its nuclear and missile programs through tougher international sanctions and diplomatic pressure, and remained open to negotiations to bring that about. The U.S. stance, which appeared to signal a willingness to exhaust non-military avenues despite repeated warnings that “all options… read more
The Hill: North Korea could have the capability to fire a missile at the United States by 2020, top Asia-Pacific experts told lawmakers Tuesday. “It’s a matter of time if nothing changes,” Victor Cha, a Korean expert at the Center For Strategic and International Studies, told the Senate Armed Services Committee. “I can’t think of… read more