Summary of external news of North Korea this week

NK weekly-external news

Summary of external news of North Korea this week

SEOUL, Feb. 16 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of external news in North Korea this week.

------------

Japan 'paying attention' to remarks from N. Korean leader's sister: top gov't spokesman

TOKYO -- Japan is "paying attention to" the remarks by the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un about her openness to mending ties and discussing a possible visit to Pyongyang by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, its top government spokesperson said Friday.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi made the comment, referring to Kim Yo-jong's comments Thursday that Kishida might be able to visit the North under certain conditions, such as that Tokyo will not raise the longstanding issue of Japanese abductees.

------------

S. Korean, U.S. envoy for N. Korean human rights urge solidarity

SEOUL -- South Korean and U.S. special envoys for North Korean human rights held talks with activists to discuss ways to improve the rights situation in the reclusive country, the foreign ministry said Friday.

Lee Shin-wha and her counterpart, Ambassador Julie Turner, held an intergenerational dialogue the previous day, with around 20 civic activists committed to promoting human rights in North Korea, it added.

------------

Establishment of S. Korea-Cuba diplomatic relations likely to deal 'blow' to N. Korea: official

SEOUL -- South Korea's establishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba will likely deal a "blow" to North Korea, given the close brotherly ties Pyongyang and Havana have maintained for decades, a senior presidential official said Thursday.

Years of secret negotiations and visits went into the formal establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations, which was sealed Wednesday by an exchange of diplomatic notes between the two countries' representatives to the United Nations in New York.

------------

(4th LD) S. Korea, Cuba forge formal diplomatic ties

WASHINGTON -- South Korea established diplomatic relations with Cuba on Wednesday, its mission to the United Nations said, in a surprise announcement that could pose a setback to North Korea that has long boasted brotherly ties with the Latin American country.

In New York, the two countries' representatives to the United Nations exchanged diplomatic notes, marking the establishment of formal ties. Cuba is the 193rd country which South Korea has built diplomatic relations with.

------------

N. Korea sold illegal gambling websites to S. Korean criminal ring: spy agency

SEOUL -- A North Korean entity under its Workers' Party has made thousands of illegal online gambling websites and sold them to a South Korean cyber crime ring for hefty profits, the spy agency here said Wednesday.

Gyonghung Information Technology Co., a 15-member group based in Dandong, a Chinese border town neighboring the North's Sinuiju, has allegedly received US$5,000 from the unidentified South Korean criminal organization for creating a single website and $3,000 per month for maintaining the website, according to the National Intelligence Service (NIS).

------------

Around 300 N. Korean workers arrived in Russia via train: expert

SEOUL -- Around 300 people presumed to be North Korean workers arrived in Russia via train earlier this month, a South Korean expert said Wednesday, amid deepening cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.

Citing a source in Russia, Cho Han-bum, a senior research fellow at the state-funded Korea Institute for National Unification, said hundreds of North Korean workers were seen disembarking a train at a station near Vladivostok on Feb. 5.

------------

S. Korea's defense ministry and Pentagon to lead 3rd nuclear consultative meeting

SEOUL -- South Korea's defense ministry and the Pentagon will lead the third meeting of the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) slated for June in Seoul to discuss a shared nuclear strategy to deter North Korea's nuclear threat.

Cho Chang-rae, South Korea's deputy defense minister for policy, and Vipin Narang, principal U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy, signed a framework document on the NCG's operation at the Pentagon on Monday (local time), the defense ministry said.

------------

N. Korea could conduct localized provocation on border island: ex-Seoul official

WASHINGTON -- North Korea could undertake localized provocations this year, such as suddenly occupying a South Korean border island, a former senior Seoul official said Tuesday, amid concerns over the possibility of the North's saber-rattling ahead of the April parliamentary elections in the South.

Speaking at a forum, Kim Sung-han, who served as President Yoon Suk Yeol's national security adviser from 2022-2023, noted that Pyongyang might undertake "peacetime" provocations that would fall short of requiring a U.S. military response.

------------

(LEAD) Seoul 'open-minded' about Japan's participation in Korea-U.S. nuclear deterrence dialogue: ex-Seoul official

WASHINGTON -- South Korea is "open-minded" about the idea of Japan participating in a currently bilateral nuclear deterrence dialogue between Seoul and Washington, a former South Korean national security advisor said Monday.

Kim Sung-han, who served as President Yoon Suk Yeol's top security advisor from 2022-2023, made the remarks, noting that while in office, he had discussions with his counterpart over the idea of Japan's participation in the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG).

(END)