Summary of inter-Korean news this week

NK weekly-inter-Korean news

Summary of inter-Korean news this week

SEOUL, July 21 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of inter-Korean news this week.

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(LEAD) S. Korea hits back after N. Korea warns against U.S. nuclear submarine visit, NCG

SEOUL -- South Korea warned Friday that North Korea will face the "end" of its regime in the event of a nuclear attack after it said the deployment of a U.S. nuclear-capable submarine and other strategic assets here could meet the conditions for its use of nuclear arms.

Seoul's defense ministry renewed the warning after Pyongyang's Defense Minister Kang Sun-nam issued a sharp-tongued statement the previous day, criticizing the arrival of the USS Kentucky, an 18,750-ton Ohio-class nuclear ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), in South Korea and the inaugural meeting of the South Korea-U.S. Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) this week.

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N. Korea's trade reliance on China hits 10-year high in 2022

SEOUL -- North Korea's dependency on China for foreign trade hit its highest level in 2022 since its leader Kim Jong-un took the helm of the reclusive country 10 years earlier, a report showed Thursday.

Pyongyang's trade with Beijing came to US$1.53 billion last year, up about 125 percent from the previous year, according to the report from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA).

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N. Korea stole US$700 mln of crypto in 2022: NIS

SEOUL -- North Korea stole a total of US$700 million worth of cryptocurrency last year, equivalent to the money that would enable the country to fire 30 intercontinental ballistic missiles, South Korea's state intelligence agency said Wednesday.

"We've confirmed that North Korea took $700 million in virtual assets in two separate incidents last year," said a senior official from the National Intelligence Service (NIS), adding that Pyongyang has failed to monetize them yet.

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(LEAD) Yoon says N. Korea should be made to not dare use nuclear weapons

SEOUL -- President Yoon Suk Yeol called Tuesday for strengthening extended deterrence to the point that North Korea dares not use nuclear weapons, his office said.

Yoon made the remark as he stopped by the inaugural session of the South Korea-U.S. Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG), which brought together senior national security and defense officials from both sides to discuss ways to strengthen the U.S. extended deterrence commitment to defending South Korea with all of its military capabilities, including nuclear weapons.

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Number of N. Korean defectors entering S. Korea nearly doubles on-quarter in Q2

SEOUL -- The number of North Korean defectors coming to South Korea reached 65 in the April-June period, nearly doubling from 34 three months earlier, government data showed Tuesday, in an apparent rise after China eased its strict COVID-19 restrictions.

After escaping the North, 18 men and 47 women reached South Korea in the second quarter, bringing the total number of the North's defectors to 33,981, according to data from Seoul's unification ministry.

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