NK weekly-external news
Summary of external news of North Korea this week
SEOUL, April 7 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of external news of North Korea this week.
------------
S. Korea, U.S. to hold defense talks on deterrence against N. Korea
SEOUL -- South Korea and the United States will hold regular defense talks on deterrence against North Korean military threats and other alliance-related issues in Washington next week, Seoul's defense ministry said Friday.
The two-day Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) will take place starting Tuesday (local time) as the allies seek to bolster security cooperation amid Pyongyang's continued saber-rattling, such as the recent unveiling of the Hwasan-31 tactical nuclear warhead.
------------
(LEAD) S. Korea, U.S., Japan urge international community to repatriate N. Korean workers
SEOUL -- The top nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan held trilateral talks here on Friday during which they called for the international community to repatriate all North Koreans working overseas in line with U.N. sanctions over the North's provocations.
Seoul's chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Gunn, met with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Sung Kim and Takehiro Funakoshi, respectively, at the foreign ministry building and discussed joint efforts to counter growing nuclear and missile threats from Pyongyang. They last held such a trilateral session in December in Jakarta.
------------
(LEAD) S. Korea, U.S., Japan to hold security talks this month: defense chief
SEOUL -- Senior defense officials of South Korea, the United States and Japan will hold trilateral talks later this month, Seoul's defense chief said Thursday, as the three nations seek to bolster security cooperation against military threats from North Korea.
Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup confirmed that the deputy minister-level trilateral meeting will take place this month when asked by Rep. Kim Young-bae of the Democratic Party during a session of the National Assembly's defense committee.
------------
Dossier reveals accounts of 1st high-level diplomacy between N. Korea, U.S.
SEOUL -- The South Korean government on Thursday made public newly declassified documents on the first-ever senior-level diplomacy in 1992 between the United States and North Korea, offering a glimpse into the diplomatic tug-of-war over the North's nuclear program.
The set of mostly 1992 diplomatic documents, spanning some 360,000 pages, highlights accounts of discussions between Washington and Pyongyang amid the then reconciliatory mood fueled over the Korean Peninsula following the adoption of the Inter-Korean Basic Agreement and the Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula at the end of 1991.
------------
(2nd LD) S. Korea, U.S. hold air drills involving B-52H strategic bomber: defense ministry
SEOUL -- South Korea and the United States held combined air drills, involving at least one U.S. B-52H strategic bomber, Wednesday, Seoul's defense ministry said, amid joint efforts to sharpen deterrence against evolving North Korean threats.
The bomber was redeployed to the Korean Peninsula about a month after its last deployment here amid tensions caused by Pyongyang's provocative moves, such as its unveiling of the Hwasan-31 tactical nuclear warhead last week.
------------
(LEAD) UNHRC adopts resolution on N. Korea's human rights
GENEVA/SEOUL -- The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Tuesday adopted a resolution denouncing North Korea's gross human rights violations, which was co-sponsored by South Korea for the first time in five years.
The resolution, adopted by consensus at the 52nd regular session of the UNHRC, denounced North Korea for its widespread and systemic human rights abuses, and urged it to improve its rights record.
------------
(2nd LD) S. Korea, U.S., Japan hold maritime drills involving USS Nimitz carrier
SEOUL -- South Korea, the United States and Japan kicked off a trilateral naval exercise, involving an American aircraft carrier, in waters south of the Korean Peninsula on Monday, Seoul's defense ministry said, amid joint efforts to reinforce deterrence against growing North Korean threats.
The two-day anti-submarine and search-and-rescue exercise, featuring the USS Nimitz carrier, got under way in the international waters south of the southern island of Jeju.
(END)
(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved
