NK weekly-external news

Summary of external news of North Korea this week

SEOUL, Oct. 6 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of external news of North Korea this week.

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N. Korea may launch military spy satellite between Oct. 10 and 26: S. Korean think tank

SEOUL -- North Korea may launch its military spy satellite between Tuesday and Oct. 26 following its previous two failed launches, as it will likely take into account key political and diplomatic events, a South Korean state-run think tank said Friday.

The potential launch window, projected by the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU) in Seoul, appears to reflect North Korea's key anniversary and China's hosting of an international forum on its Belt and Road initiative later this month.

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U.S. citizens divided over troop mobilization to defend S. Korea in case of N. Korean invasion: poll

WASHINGTON -- Half of U.S. citizens favor using American troops to defend South Korea in the event of a North Korean invasion, a recent U.S. poll showed Thursday, underscoring the public polarization over the security issue.

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs recently released the outcome of the 2023 Chicago Council Survey conducted by Ipsos, a market research firm, from Sept. 7-18. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

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N. Korea sends arms to Russia following Kim-Putin summit: CBS

WASHINGTON -- North Korea has started sending artillery to Russia as Moscow continues its war in Ukraine, a U.S. broadcaster reported Thursday, after last month's summit between the two countries reinforced concerns about a potential bilateral arms deal.

Citing an unnamed U.S. official, CBS reported on the apparent arms transfer that came in the wake of a rare summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, a Russian spaceport last month.

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U.S. calls for China's 'constructive' role amid report on suspicious N. Korean ship in Chinese waters

WASHINGTON -- China has a "constructive" role to play in curbing North Korea's "destabilizing" activities, the U.S. Department of State said Wednesday, amid a report that a North Korean oil tanker with a record of sanction violations was detected in Chinese waters earlier this week.

Mu Bong 1, an oil tanker, was briefly spotted in waters east of the Chinese Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan on Monday (local time), the Voice of America (VOA) reported, citing information from MarineTraffic, a ship tracking website.

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