North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in embrace after their meeting on the northern side of the Panmunjom in North Korea in 2018. Pyongyang says it destroyed the office to ‘force human scum to pay dearly for their crimes’ amid a leaflet campaign. “Missing Chinese ships? South Korea today marks the 70th anniversary of North Korea's invasion with plans to honour the servicemen and women who helped defend it, … On Tuesday, the state KCNA news agency said the destruction of the liaison office – which served as a de facto embassy for the two Koreas – was a “reflection of the zeal our enraged people” felt towards defector groups that send propaganda leaflets into the North. While the recent rise in tensions is a setback for Moon, a liberal who favours engagement with the North, analysts believe the regime is manufacturing animosity towards the South to send a message to the US. A major clash between the Koreas could draw in the U.S. and China. His hometown of Yeonbaek can be seen across the water. South Korean Marines patrol Guridong beach at dusk on Yeonpyeong Island on June 26. Remnants of a … Later in the year, Moon Jae-in was elected President of South Korea with a promise to return to the Sunshine Policy. It’s taboo. FOX News. Kim Jong Un’s regime blows up liaison office on border between the two countries. “It is possible that Pyongyang could be trying to regain Donald Trump’s attention, as the president has been otherwise preoccupied with Covid-19, mass protests, and his reelection prospects.”. In 2002, the provocations turned deadly and in March 2010 North Korea was suspected of torpedoing the South Korean warship Cheonan, killing 46 sailors. North Korea shelled targets for more than an hour, killing two civilians and two marines. The presidents … DW English - US President Joe Biden has said he's "under no illusions" about the difficulty of getting North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons. “Our ordinary lives shouldn’t get affected by a few words from that dictator.”, “If they attack us, invade us or whatever, I will also respond,” Hwang said, as she stopped peeling potatoes with a knife. The peninsula marked the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of war on June 25, 1950, without incident. The European Union condemned North Korea’s decision to blow up the building as “unacceptable”. These are Israel-Palestine, India-Pakistan and the Korean conflict. 2017 saw a period of heightened tension between the US and North Korea. “Hell if I care,” Hwang Sam-ju, a 72-year-old farmer who came to Yeonpyeong nearly five decades ago, said when asked about North Korea’s latest provocation. Talks between the US and North Korea about its nuclear programme remain stalled, and the conflict over North Korea´s nuclear and missile program could flare up again. It said South Korea was “fully aware of why the office … came to lose the justification for its existence and had been abandoned”. It’s troublesome when Chinese trawlers show up in the most dangerous waters off the Korean Peninsula. Korean Conflict – North Korea, South Korea, USA, and China. The island is home to eight bomb shelters that serve as a reminder of the threat it faces to the north. On 4 July 2017, North Korea successfully conducted its first test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), named Hwasong-14. The North’s stonewalling of South Korean assistance is more proof that Kim Jong Un has little interest in reconciliation. As the North’s propaganda machine gained momentum, Kim Yo-jong, the powerful younger sister of the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, continued her verbal assault on the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, saying in a separate statement that previous inter-Korean agreements had failed because Moon had “put his neck into the noose of pro-US flunkyism”. “It’s a bad omen,” said Choi Ohk-sun, a 65-year-old resident on the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong. At least 2.5 million people lost their lives in the fighting, which ended in July 1953 with Korea still divided … “While Seoul sees maintaining a military presence there as essential for asserting sovereignty over surrounding waters, Pyongyang regards this as provocative.”. North Korea's military insists it did not open fire first and blames the South … Remnants of a home destroyed in the 2010 attack. The flurry damaged almost 300 structures and set wooded areas ablaze. Clockwise from top left: South Korean Marines patrol Guridong beach; South Korean navy vessels off Yeonpyeong Island; an armored vehicle during a military exercise on June 25; one of eight bomb shelters on the island. Reports about North Korea shooting a South Korean official may have exposed intelligence gathering techniques. The deputy national security advisor, Kim You-geun, said the destruction of the liaison building “broke the expectations of all people who hope for the development of inter-Korean relations and lasting peace”. Inter-Korean Relations Amid COVID-19. “It has often become a flash point for inter-Korean conflicts because of its position,” said John Everard, a former British ambassador to North Korea. It used to be in South Korea before the war and now its a part of North Korea. The island of about 2,000 inhabitants — including hundreds of military personnel — suffered the first attack on South Korean soil since the end of the Korean War in November 2010. Yonhap reported that Moon will wait “for a day or two” to decide on the unification minister’s offer. South Korea official shot dead by North Korean troops after crossing border: Seoul By Gawon Bae and Jake Kwon , CNN Updated 0852 GMT (1652 HKT) September 24, 2020 Disputed waters west of Korea are a potential conflict zone. Tensions eased about two days later after Kim suspended unspecified “military action plans” against South Korea. Kim Yo-jong rejected a South Korean offer to send special envoys to Pyongyang in an attempt to defuse the situation, calling the proposal “tactless and sinister”, according to KCNA. Parts of the coastline are guarded with thousands of metal spikes pointing out to sea, called “Yongchi,” which translates to dragon’s teeth. North Korea blew up the Inter-Korean Liaison Office on Tuesday, further raising cross-border tensions on the peninsula after two weeks of vitriol and … Yeonpyeong is located at the center of five islands off in the Yellow Sea — known as the West Sea by Koreans — and is strategically located to help South Korea prevent a naval incursion. In 2002, the provocations turned deadly and in March 2010 North Korea was suspected of torpedoing the South Korean warship Cheonan, killing 46 sailors. On the other side are typically a few dozen fishing crews from China, which locals say pays North Korea for fishing rights. Early in the year, the incoming US President Donald Trump abandoned the policy of "strategic patience" associated with the preceding Obama administration. “If it does launch an attack, it will take care that this is in a way that nobody expects. North Korea has accused South Korea of behaving like a “mongrel dog” bent on confrontation in a state media report that explains the regime’s decision to blow up a liaison office – a move that has significantly raised tensions between the two countries. North Korea blows up liaison office as tensions rise with South. I hear it as an explosion.”, California to Drop Social Distancing Requirements in June, Video: Shackled Black Man Ordered Facedown in Deadly Arrest, Biden, Moon Vow Unity on North Korea as U.S. Names New Envoy. It was not just a physical conflict, it was also an ideological war between two leaders; Syngman Rhee’s authoritarian right-wing South Korea, and Kim Il-sung’s equally authoritarian communist North Korea. Daniel Russel, the top US diplomat for East Asia until early in Trump’s administration, said: “Ramping up pressure through escalating provocations is how Kim makes the point that without sanctions relief, sooner or later he will also blow up Trump’s claim to have ‘ended the threat’ from North Korea.”. The Chinese trawlers left the north side of the fertile fishing ground that straddles the two Koreas for a few days after Pyongyang blew up a liaison office built by Seoul and warned of further provocations. https://www.americanprogress.org/.../approach-north-korea-problem-2020 The last time that happened was a decade ago, when North Korean artillery rained down on the island, destroying homes a few minutes’ walk from where Choi was picking mulberries late last month. They rolled out K-9 Thunder self-propelled artillery that could be used if fighting resumed. The worries did not abate in the village of Yeonpyeong. They are intended to stop North Korean forces from landing troops on the island. Vaccine Tourists Urged to Read Fine Print on Trips Overseas, U.S. Airlines Resuming Flights to Israel After Cease-Fire. On 5 … “North Korea has continued to violate the NLL and carry out armed provocations to nullify the NLL,” South Korea’s military wrote in its most recent defense white paper. North Korean naval vessels at times enter the area, adding an element of volatility to already troubled waters. “Even when my wife makes a loud noise when she washes dishes, it freaks me out. Locals have learned to live with the threat. Country: South Korea On September 22, 2020, South Korean President Moon Jae-in “called for a declaration to the end of” the Korean conflict in a prerecorded speech addressed to the participants of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Kim Jong Un could be tempted to test South Korea’s maritime defenses as he grows more frustrated with U.S. President Donald Trump’s refusal to relax economic sanctions on his country. We don’t even talk about it,” Lee Bae-rok, a seafood factory worker, said as he cleaned freshly caught crabs. It conducted another test on 28 July. Society Facing a COVID Crisis, Nepal Cries Out for Help. A beach fortified with "dragon’s teeth” on Yeonpyeong. “I still get nightmares,” he said. To support this ideological conflict, both Koreas produced vast quantities of emotive propaganda to … Defending Korea Line Seen Contrary to Law Remains U.S. Policy. There have been several military clashes in the contested maritime boundary off the west of the peninsula since 1999, making it a possible ignition point for a major conflict that could draw in the U.S. and China — the two biggest allies for the rival Koreas. In today’s world, there are mainly three ongoing conflicts which possess the capacity to escalate into a nuclear conflict. It said it would also resume military exercises and re-establish guard posts in border areas, and open front-line sites to enable it to send propaganda leaflets across the border into South Korea. “Wish I could get there before I die,” Kim Jong-gyu said at the Manghyang observatory — whose name means homesick in Korean — looking at his old hometown. Wed 17 Jun 2020 08.06 EDT 1,141 North Korea has accused South Korea of behaving like a “mongrel dog” bent on confrontation in a state media report that explains the … In response, South Korea’s presidential Blue House said Wednesday that it would “no longer tolerate” North Korean provocations, although it was not clear what, if any, action Seoul was planning. Everard said he hoped that the latest statements from North Korea suggest that it may have decided to forgo any strike on the south for now. On the sleepy island of Yeonpyeong, the threat of conflict is constant with North Korean coastal howitzers just 11 kilometers (7 miles) away and propaganda banners visible through binoculars. Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said the destruction of the liaison office was “an act of political violence, symbolising that years of inter-Korean engagement have been reduced to rubble”. North Korea is frustrated at its 'failed diplomacy' with the U.S. and South Korea, says expert Published Mon, Jun 15 2020 4:08 AM EDT Updated Wed, Jun 17 2020 11:57 PM EDT Huileng Tan … Shortly after coming into power in late 2011, Kim became the first North Korean leader to visit the islands on his side of the NLL and in 2017 oversaw drills to simulate another strike on Yeonpyeong. Pyongyang news agency steps up war of words against Seoul as Kim Jong-un’s sister says South’s president has put his neck in ‘noose of US flunkyism’, First published on Wed 17 Jun 2020 04.40 BST. On the sleepy island of Yeonpyeong, the threat of conflict is constant. Even though daily life is quiet, the years of worries have taken their toll. North Korea, backed by the Soviet Union and China, pushed past the 38th parallel and engaged with South Korean forces. The redeployment of troops to the Mount Kumgang resort on the east coast and the Kaesong industrial complex, located just north of the border, would mark another step towards ripping up agreements designed to reduce the potential for conflict along the DMZ, which has divided the peninsula since the end of the 1950-53 Korean war. Yeonpyeong is home to about 2,000 people. It also described Kim Yo-jong’s comments about Moon as “rude” and “senseless”. Super Bowl Commercials - 2020. Responding to the building’s destruction, a spokesman for the US state department said Washington “fully supports” Seoul’s efforts on inter-Korean relations and urged Pyongyang to “refrain from further counterproductive actions”. The aim of the war, on both sides, was to unify Korea under one leader and ideology. The official Korean Central News Agency reported that the exercises would help its troops envelop Yeonpyeong in flames and land North Korean occupying forces on its shores. By Yoonjung Seo and James Griffiths, CNN. The island is fortified with trenches, coastal artillery batteries, warships and armored vehicles. In crab season in June, South Korean fishermen press as close as they can to the nautical border known as the Northern Limit Line about 1.5 kilometers away. Cross-border clash near disputed maritime border results in the deaths of two South Korean marines. “I’m not afraid.”. It’s even more alarming when they’re gone. On June 25, the war anniversary, South Korean marines trained near an area where one of their own was killed in the 2010 attack. In March 2020, North Korea tested nine short-range missiles and continued to conduct military exercises, even as the United States and South Korea postponed their own exercises to reduce the risks of contagion. 16 Jun 2020. The 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War didn’t spell out a sea border, which was later drawn up unilaterally by the U.S. commander and was contested a few decades later by Pyongyang, which wanted the line pushed further south. North Korean officials, including Kim Jong Un’s younger sister, who is believed to follow her brother as the leader of North Korea after his death, justified their radical action by claiming that South Korea was trying to undermine their regime and the agreements they signed in 2018. As the coronavirus pandemic strains public health systems, economies, and supply chains the world over, North Korea claims to have zero cases of the virus after it quarantined … Korea Summit Press Pool/AFP/Getty Images. South Korean military officials said Chinese ships had just gone missing for half-a-day June 22 before returning. Kim Jong-gyu — an 88-year-old war veteran — said he had no other place to go. Those steps would effectively nullify the Panmunjom declaration, signed in September 2018 by Kim Jong-un and Moon, in which they agreed to cease “all hostile acts” in the area. Duration: 03:49 26 mins … North Korea said on Tuesday that it plans to cut off all communications with South Korea and treat South Korea as an "enemy," according to North Korea's state news service, Korea … But there is no such agreement around the NLL maritime border, raising the risk of misunderstanding and unintentional escalation. While he needs to create enough pressure to force Trump back to the bargaining table, he must be careful to avoid any actions that prompt a direct military confrontation with the more powerful U.S. Over the years, North Korea has harassed South Korea’s navy through incursions in their contested western seas. A commentary carried by the state KCNA news agency said the South’s defence ministry was “bragging and bluffing, rattling the dialogue partner and stoking a confrontational atmosphere”, and warned that Tuesday’s destruction of the office – which opened in 2018 to foster better cross-border ties – could be a prelude to a “total catastrophe” in North-South relations. A spokesman for the general staff of the [North] Korean People’s Army said troops would be sent to “resume all kinds of regular military exercises” at the two sites. Biden Calls DOJ Seizure of Journalists’ Phone Records ‘Wrong... U.S. Could Produce Up to 1 Billion Vaccine Doses by Year-End, Gap With White House on Infrastructure Is Widening, GOP Says. Surprise is important to the North,” he said. South Korea’s defence ministry has urged North Korea to abide by the 2018 agreement. Recent Features. The highly personal attacks came as Pyongyang vowed to send soldiers into areas near the border with the South, claiming it had been forced to take action by Seoul’s failure to prevent defector groups from flying anti-Kim propaganda leaflets across the demilitarised zone [DMZ]. Biden talked relationship with North Korea during event with South Korea . The observatory contains an altar to honor ancestors who weren’t able to return home and it has has a poem on its alter saying “I want to be in my hometown when I get old.”. Beyond North Korea: Fractures in the US-South Korea Alliance. Korean War, conflict (1950–53) between North Korea, aided by China, and South Korea, aided by the UN with the U.S. as principal participant. “It may bring bad luck,” said Lee, who lived in Yeonpyeong for 14 years. North Korean defectors and activists urged Joe Biden to ramp up pressure on North Korea over human rights as South Korean President Moon Jae-in … This article is … Kim Jong-gyu has run a repair shop for vehicles since 1958, earning a few hundred dollars a months and has long been fixing broken tires on soldiers’ bicycles for free. “North Korea’s sabre-rattling, even if it has so far been directed at Seoul, could eventually lead to heightened tensions with the US,” Tobias Harris and Victor Cha at Teneo Intelligence, a Washington-based consultancy, said in a note. North Korea has announced that it will sever hotlines with South Korea as the first step towards shutting down all contact with Seoul, in retaliation for actions taken by … Kim Yeon-chul, South Korea’s top official on North Korea, offered to resign to take the responsibility for the tensions. Talks on North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes have stalled since a February 2019 summit between Kim Jong-un and Trump ended in failure. Some worried that their exit foreshadowed another military action as tensions ramped between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Both projects have been closed for several years, but were once symbols of inter-Korean unity that many hoped would reopen as cross-border ties improved. “If Pyongyang creates this much drama ostensibly over leaflets, imagine what it has planned in response to US-South Korea combined exercises this summer.”, Kim Yo-jong warns South Korea to tackle 'evil' propaganda balloons, North Korea has blown up a joint liaison office in border town of Kaesong. (South Korea … Updated 1:41 AM ET, Mon October 5, 2020. Across the water, North Korean islands lie on the other side of the Northern Limit Line. North Korean state media says Kim Jong-un has put plans to take unspecified military action against the South on hold, after a recent escalation in tensions between the two countries. Photo Essays Boten: the Renaissance of … Tensions between South and North Korea have increased again in June 2020, culminating in the demolition of the joint liaison office by North Korea on its side of the border. The armistice agreement that ended the war clearly spelled out where troops could go and provided a mechanism to sort out disputes. Moon “greatly favours sending special envoys for ‘tiding over crises’ and raises preposterous proposals frequently, but he has to clearly understand that such a trick will no longer work on us,” KCNA quoted her as saying. Despite the threats, however, islanders say it isn’t easy to leave.
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