Summary of external news of North Korea this week

NK weekly-external news

Summary of external news of North Korea this week

SEOUL, Oct. 18 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of external news in North Korea this week.

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Top military officers of S. Korea, U.S. denounce N. Korea-Russia military cooperation

SEOUL -- The top generals of South Korea and the United States on Friday reaffirmed their "unwavering" commitment to the combined defense posture and condemned North Korea's deepening military cooperation with Russia, the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

JCS Chairman Adm. Kim Myung-soo and his U.S. counterpart, Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., held the annual Military Committee Meeting virtually to discuss ways to deepen security cooperation against North Korea's continued nuclear and missile threats.

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N. Korea's support to Russia may be civilian personnel rather than troops: S. Korean vice defense minister

BRUSSELS -- North Korea might be providing Russia with civilian personnel rather than sending its own troops for the war effort in Ukraine, a senior South Korean defense official has said.

Vice Defense Minister Kim Seon-ho made the remarks amid mounting speculation that the North is providing its soldiers to fight Russia's war in Ukraine, a claim also reinforced by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this week, who argued that Pyongyang is preparing to send more troops.

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Zelenskyy says N. Korea is preparing 10,000 troops to help Russia

BRUSSELS -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that North Korea is preparing to send around 10,000 soldiers to Russia to support its war against Ukraine, calling the development "a big problem."

Zelenskyy cited Ukrainian intelligence reports indicating that North Korean personnel have already been deployed in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories, with additional troops being prepared to join the fight.

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Reports of N. Korea sending troops to Russia may prompt Yoon to reconsider its support for Ukraine: U.S. expert

SEOUL -- North Korea's alleged deployment of its soldiers to fight in Russia's war in Ukraine, if true, may lead South Korea's Yoon Suk Yeol government to rethink its form of support for Ukraine, a U.S. expert said Thursday.

Victor Cha, Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, made the remarks following media reports that the Russian military is organizing a special battalion that is expected to include up to 3,000 North Korean personnel amid manpower shortages.

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N. Korean hackers steal US$3 bln in cryptocurrency since 2017 to fund nuclear program: report

SEOUL -- North Korean hackers have stolen an estimated US$3 billion worth of cryptocurrency since 2017, using the funds to support the regime's nuclear and missile programs, a Microsoft report showed Thursday.

Of that amount, between $600 million and $1 billion was stolen just last year, based on Microsoft's Digital Defense Report for 2024.

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(2nd LD) S. Korea, U.S., Japan condemn N. Korea for 'deliberate acts of creating tensions'

SEOUL -- Senior diplomats from South Korea, the United States and Japan strongly denounced North Korea Wednesday for deliberately escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula, vowing to step up three-way coordination in response to its provocations.

The three sides made the point after a Seoul meeting among First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano, amid rising tensions following the North's destruction of roads to the South and accusations of drone flights by the South over its capital.

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(LEAD) S. Korea, U.S., Japan launch multilateral mechanism to monitor N. Korean sanctions after Russia's U.N. panel veto

SEOUL -- South Korea, the United States and Japan will establish a new joint mechanism with partner countries to monitor U.N. sanctions on North Korea, Seoul's foreign ministry said Wednesday, after Russia's veto ended the mandate of the U.N. monitoring panel.

The launch of the multilateral sanctions monitoring team (MSMT) came about seven months after Russia vetoed a resolution to extend the mandate of the U.N. panel of experts that monitors the implementation of North Korean sanctions by U.N. member states. The panel was terminated April 30.

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U.S. urges N. Korea to stop actions that raise conflict risk after blowing up of cross-border roads

WASHINGTON -- The United State called on North Korea Tuesday to stop actions that would increase the risk of conflict, after Pyongyang blew up roads linked to South Korea in a rancorous removal of land routes once seen as a symbol of inter-Korean cooperation.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller made the call, reiterating Washington's calls for Pyongyang to come back to diplomacy.

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(4th LD) S. Korea voices regret over Russia siding with N. Korea in drone row

SEOUL -- South Korea voiced "deep regret" Tuesday after Russia expressed support for North Korea's claim that Seoul flew drones into Pyongyang, and characterized the alleged acts as an infringement of sovereignty and interference in internal affairs.

Seoul's foreign ministry issued the statement after Moscow's comments that it considers the drone allegations as "interference in internal affairs" by the South and a "gross encroachment on the sovereignty" of North Korea.

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