NK weekly-external news
Summary of external news of North Korea this week
SEOUL, Aug. 25 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of external news of North Korea this week.
------------
(LEAD) S. Korea, U.S. working together to search for and salvage sunken parts of N. Korea's space rocket
SEOUL -- South Korea and the United States are currently in coordination to search for and salvage the sunken parts of North Korea's failed launch of a purported space rocket earlier this week, Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup said Friday.
Lee told lawmakers that the allies have been sharing information and coordinating together in the search efforts after the North's launch of the rocket carrying what it claims to be a spy satellite ended in failure early Thursday.
------------
(2nd LD) U.S. Army stages 1st key wartime deployment drills in Korea in 6 years amid growing N.K. threats
SEOUL -- The U.S. military has conducted a key wartime "deployment readiness" exercise in South Korea, the first such event involving U.S.-based troops since the last publicly known training in 2017, informed sources said Thursday, in an apparent move to strengthen defense against growing North Korean threats.
The exercise took place earlier this month, ahead of the annual South Korea-U.S. Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise that kicked off Monday and is set to end on Aug. 31. The U.S. Army is known to have staged the last such public training in September 2017.
------------
(LEAD) S. Korea, U.S., Japan weigh more unilateral sanctions over N. Korea's space launch
SEOUL -- The top diplomats of South Korea, the United States and Japan "strongly condemned" North Korea's latest space rocket launch Thursday while agreeing to review additional unilateral sanctions against Pyongyang, Seoul's foreign ministry said.
The North said it launched a spy satellite, the Malligyong-1, mounted on a new type of rocket named the Chollima-1, but it failed due to an error in the emergency blasting system during the third-stage flight, according to the country's state media.
------------
(Meet the Ambassador) U.S. envoy to Seoul says Russia dealing in 'military cooperation' with N. Korea
SEOUL (Joint Press Corps-Yonhap) -- The United States ambassador to South Korea on Wednesday slammed Russia over alleged discussions with North Korea on military cooperation, amid signs of growing military ties between Pyongyang and Moscow.
"What Russia appears to be doing with the DPRK is not just a violation of the very resolutions it voted for, but is dealing in weaponry and discussions of military cooperation with a regime that has flouted every aspect of international rule of law," Ambassador Philip Goldberg said in a group interview with reporters at his official residence in central Seoul.
------------
S. Korea welcomes first U.N. meeting on N. Korea's human rights in 6 years
SEOUL -- South Korea's foreign ministry on Monday welcomed a rare public meeting by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on North Korea's human rights last week.
The UNSC convened the briefing on Aug. 17 (New York time) and discussed the North's human rights situation and international security as requested by Albania, Japan and the United States.
(END)
(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved
