Summary of external news of North Korea this week

NK weekly-external news

Summary of external news of North Korea this week

SEOUL, May 24 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of external news in North Korea this week.

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Chances of N. Korea becoming ITF member unlikely for now: secretary general

LEIPZIG, Germany -- Chances of North Korea becoming a member of the International Transport Forum (ITF) appear to be impossible for now due to likely opposition from its members, the chief of the inter-organizational transport body said Thursday.

"In the case of North Korea, I think you can imagine that already a few countries would say no, perhaps including South Korea or the United States of America," ITF Secretary-General Young Tae Kim said in a group media interview in Leipzig held on the sidelines of the 2024 ITF Summit held in the eastern German city.

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(LEAD) Yoon meets ex-U.S. Secretary Pompeo, discusses Korean Peninsula issues

SEOUL -- President Yoon Suk Yeol met with former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to discuss issues surrounding the Korean Peninsula, as well as the Seoul-Washington alliance, the presidential office said Thursday.

During the meeting held in Seoul with Pompeo, who served as the top U.S. diplomat under then President Donald Trump from 2018 to 2021, Yoon asked him to continue to pay close attention to South Korea's efforts to seek peace on the Korean Peninsula backed by the strong alliance.

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S. Korea, U.S. hold meeting of special operations commanders amid N.K. threats

SEOUL -- Key South Korean and U.S. Forces Korea special operations officials discussed ways Wednesday to enhance special warfare capabilities amid North Korea's evolving threats, Seoul's defense ministry said.

The rare meeting, hosted by Defense Minister Shin Won-sik, brought together top military officials, commanders of special forces units under the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the Marine Corps as well as the U.S. Special Operations Command Korea, according to the ministry.

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U.S. envoy discusses N.K. human rights with S. Korean official ahead of visit to abduction site

SEOUL -- The U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights discussed Wednesday ways to coordinate with South Korea on promoting the rights situation in the reclusive regime during a meeting with an official here, the foreign ministry said.

The meeting between Julie Turner, the U.S. special representative for North Korean human rights, and Chun Young-hee, director general for the Korean Peninsula peace regime at Seoul's foreign ministry, came ahead of Turner's expected visit to sites in the southwestern region where a number of South Korean teens were abducted by the North in the 1970s.

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Russia likely offering N. Korea technology aid to expand threats to U.S., others: Pentagon official

WASHINGTON -- Russia has likely given technology assistance to North Korea and Iran in return for their arms transfers to Moscow, a senior Pentagon official said Tuesday, casting it as an apparent move to expand security threats to the United States and others.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space and Missile Defense John Hill made the remarks in response to a senator's question over how Washington is handling emerging space security cooperation between Tehran and Moscow as he attended a Senate subcommittee session.

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U.S. cites disunity at U.N. Security Council as reason for escalation of N.K. missile launches

WASHINGTON -- A U.S. State Department spokesperson on Monday singled out disunity at the U.N. Security Council as a reason for North Korea's stepped-up ballistic missile launches, as he called for China and Russia to encourage Pyongyang to refrain from provocative acts.

Matthew Miller, the spokesperson, made the remarks as Pyongyang has been doubling down on its ballistic missile program as seen in last week's launch of a tactical ballistic missile equipped with what it called a new autonomous navigation system.

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(LEAD) Unification minister criticizes ex-liberal President Moon's memoir

SEOUL -- Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho criticized a memoir written by former liberal President Moon Jae-in on Monday, raising the need to distinguish North Korea's intention not to use nuclear weapons from its nuclear capability in order to prevent a miscalculation of the security situation.

In the memoir published last week, Moon said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un voiced frustration over the global skepticism of his willingness for denuclearization, stressing that he had no intention to use nuclear weapons.

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