North Korea demands South Korea return 11 defectors, but Seoul says it won'tOctober 4th, 2009 North Korea demands SKorea return 11 defectorsSEOUL, South Korea — South Korea's Unification Ministry says North Korea has demanded Seoul return 11 people who defected to the South by sea last week. The ministry says in a statement that the North sent its demand in a message Sunday.
North Korea demands South Korea repatriate 11 defectors, Seoul declinesOctober 4th, 2009 SKorea refuses North's demand to return defectorsSEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has demanded South Korea repatriate a group of 11 North Koreans who defected by sea last week, but the South does not intend to return them, the Unification Ministry said Sunday. The 11 crossed into southern waters off the divided peninsula's east coast aboard a small barge early Thursday evening.
11 North Koreans defect by sea to South KoreaOctober 1st, 2009 11 North Koreans defect by sea to South KoreaSEOUL, South Korea — South Korea's military says a group of 11 North Koreans have defected by sea. An official at the Joint Chiefs of Staff says the North Koreans crossed into southern waters off the divided peninsula's east coast aboard a small barge early Thursday evening.
US, South Korean planes conducted spying missions: North KoreaAugust 31st, 2009 PYONGYANG - US and South Korean spy planes conducted over 170 reconnaissance missions over North Korea in August, the official media reported Monday citing a military source. Some 90 flights were conducted by the US, which used the RC-135, U-2 and E-3 reconnaissance aircraft over waters near the northeastern part of South Korea, while South Korea was responsible for at least 80 flights, the Korean Central News Agency said.
South Korea to import Russian gasJuly 31st, 2009 SEOUL - South Korea will import Russian gas as part of a $100-billion pact signed by the two countries in September last year, WAM news agency reported Friday. South Korean Economy Minister Lee Yoon-ho will visit Russia in August to discuss the matter in detail, the report said.
North Korea threatens military strike against South KoreaMay 27th, 2009 SEOUL - North Korea Wednesday warned it will respond militarily to South Korea joining a US-led initiative to intercept ships carrying illicit weapons, the South Korean Yonhap news agency said.
NKorea says it is intensifying investigation of detained SKorean workerMay 1st, 2009 NKorea intensifies probe of detained SKoreanSEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Friday it is intensifying its investigation into a South Korean worker detained on suspicion of denouncing the communist nation's government, indicating it had no intention of releasing him any time soon. The man was detained March 30 at an industrial complex in North Korea that the two neighboring countries jointly operate.
South Korean delegation in North Korea for talksApril 21st, 2009 SEOUL - A South Korean delegation reached North Korea Tuesday morning to participate in talks amid mounting tensions in the Korean Peninsula. 'The delegation has crossed the border,' a spokesman of South Korea's Unification Ministry said.
North and South Korea begin rare talks after hours of delayApril 21st, 2009 Inter-Korean talks begin after hours of delaySEOUL, South Korea — South Korea says talks with North Korea about a troubled joint factory complex in the communist country have begun after hours of delay. Unification Ministry spokeswoman Kim Ho-nyeon said that the talks began Tuesday night at the Kaesong Industrial Complex across the border in North Korea.
South Korea agrees for talks with North KoreaApril 19th, 2009 SEOUL - The South Korean government Sunday said that it has decided to accept Pyongyang's offer for holding inter-Korean talks next week. It will be the first governmental talks between South Korea and North Korea since South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office in February last year.
South Korea says North Korea has proposed meeting on joint industrial complexApril 17th, 2009 NKorea proposes meeting on joint factory parkSEOUL, South Korea — South Korea says that North Korea has proposed a meeting on a joint factory park in the North next week. Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyeon told reporters Saturday that the North recently proposed a meeting to discuss the joint complex in the border town of Kaesong.
North Korea threatens to shoot down South Korean planesMarch 6th, 2009 SEOUL - North Korea Thursday indirectly threatened to shoot down South Korean passenger aircraft in its airspace, amid growing tension on the Korean peninsula. North Korea's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea made the threat as the US and South Korea prepared to undertake joint military exercises next Monday.
North Korea says ready for 'all-out confrontation' with SouthFebruary 18th, 2009 PYONGYANG - North Korea Thursday said its army was ready for an 'an all-out confrontation' with South Korea, the official KCNA news agency reported. The Lee Myung-bak administration of South Korea, which is trying to find a way-out of its serious inner crisis through escalating confrontation with North Korea, will meet 'the merciless and stern punishment by the army and people of North Korea,' a military spokesman for Korean People's Army (KPA) said.
North Korea readying intercontinental missile launch: ReportsFebruary 2nd, 2009 SEOUL - North Korea is preparing to test-fire an intercontinental missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, South Korean media reports said Tuesday. Intelligence agencies in South Korea and the US observed a train carrying a large cylindrical object that was believed to be a Taepodong-2 missile, the South Korea news agency Yonhap reported, citing an intelligence source.
'North Korea will not quit nuclear programme under US threat'January 16th, 2009 PYONGYANG - North Korea will not give up its nuclear weapons programme under US threat, a foreign ministry spokesman said here Saturday. 'If there is something to be desired by us (North Korea), it is not normalisation of relations with the US, but to boost nuclear deterrent in every possible way,' the official KCNA news agency quoted the spokesman as saying.