NK weekly-external news

Summary of external news of North Korea this week

SEOUL, July 15 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of external news of North Korea this week.

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(2nd LD) WFP chief meets S. Korean ministers to discuss N. Korea food situation

SEOUL -- The head of the World Food Programme (WFP) had discussions with South Korea's foreign and unification ministers Thursday on the North Korean food shortage issue.

Talking here with WFP Executive Director David Beasley, Foreign Minister Park Jin and Unification Minister Kwon Young-se shared concerns about the problem especially amid the impoverished North's fight against COVID-19 and lingering uncertainties attributable to the drawn-out Ukraine-Russia war, according to the ministers' offices.

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Seoul, Washington hold working-level talks on N.K. WMD threats

SEOUL -- South Korea and the United States have held working-level talks in Seoul over joint efforts to counter North Korea's nuclear threats and those from its weapons of mass destruction (WMD), the defense ministry here said Thursday.

Kim Sung-min, the ministry's director-general of policy planning, and Richard Johnson, the deputy U.S. assistant secretary of defense for nuclear and countering WMD policy, led the session of the Countering WMD Committee (CWMDC) on Wednesday.

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Ukraine severs diplomatic ties with N. Korea

WASHINGTON -- Ukraine has severed diplomatic ties with North Korea for recognizing the independence of Ukrainian territories seized by Russia, the country's foreign ministry said Wednesday.

In a statement posted on its website, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said it strongly condemns North Korea's decision to recognize the "so-called "independence" of the territories temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine."

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(LEAD) USFK commander calls N.K. nuke test 'not a matter of if, but when'

SEOUL -- U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) Commander Gen. Paul LaCamera said Wednesday it's "not a matter of if, but when" North Korea will conduct another nuclear test while stressing his "top priority" on combat readiness.

In a brief interview with Yonhap News Agency on the margins of a forum, LaCamera said the North could determine the timing of what would be its seventh nuclear test in consideration of various conditions, including a major political event in Beijing slated for this fall.

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(LEAD) S. Korea, U.S., Japan vow to bolster cooperation on N. Korea

WASHINGTON/SEOUL -- The chief nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan reaffirmed their shared commitment to a stronger trilateral cooperation against North Korea's threat during their meeting in Indonesia last week, according to the State Department on Sunday.

Kim Gunn, Seoul's new special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, on Friday met his U.S. counterpart, Sung Kim, and Japan's Takehiro Funakoshi on the resort island of Bali, where the Group of 20 (G-20) foreign ministers' session was held.

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S. Korea, U.S. mull resumption of field training during allied drills next month

SEOUL -- South Korea and the United States are considering resumption of combined field training during their regular military exercise set for next month, informed sources said Monday, as the allies are striving to sharpen deterrence against North Korea's evolving threats.

Seoul and Washington have been weighing the idea of conducting field maneuvers during their combined command post training (CCPT) scheduled to take place from Aug. 22 to Sept. 1, according to the sources.

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