City Pyongyang Financial News

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected photos taken by the country’s new spy satellite of “major target regions”, including the South Korean capital of Seoul and cities that host U.S. military bases, state media said on Saturday. Nuclear-armed North Korea launched the satellite on Tuesday, but South Korean defence officials and analysts said its capabilities have not been independently verified. Kim examined photos of Seoul and other cities of Mokpo, Kunsan, Pyeongtaek and Osan, where U.S. and South Korean military bases are located. The photos were taken as the satellite passed over the peninsula on Friday morning, state news agency KCNA said.

Kim Jong Un inspected photos taken by the country's new spy satellite of «major target regions», including the South Korean capital of Seoul and cities that host U.S. military bases, state media reported on Saturday. Nuclear-armed North Korea launched the satellite on Tuesday, but South Korean defence officials and analysts said its capabilities have not been independently verified. Kim examined the photos, as well as imagery taken of some areas within North Korea, during a visit to the control centre of the National Aerospace Technology Administration (NATA) in Pyongyang on Friday, state news agency KCNA said. The photos were taken as the satellite passed over the peninsula on Friday morning, KCNA said, and included images of Seoul, and Mokpo, Kunsan, Pyeongtaek and Osan, where U.S.

South Korea said on Wednesday it would suspend parts of a 2018 military agreement with North Korea designed to curb the risk of inadvertent clashes along their shared border, in response to Pyongyang's claim to have successfully launched a spy satellite. Among the concrete steps stemming from the move, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said South Korea would immediately resume reconnaissance of the North's forces in border areas. Such surveillance had been curtailed under the pact, South Korean officials said. WHAT HAPPENED IN 2018? The so-called Comprehensive Military Agreement (CMA) signed between the two Koreas in 2018 was the most substantive deal to result from months of historic meetings between leader Kim Jong Un and then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

North Korea said Wednesday it had succeeded in putting a military spy satellite in orbit after two previous failures, as the United States led its allies in condemning the launch as a «brazen violation» of UN sanctions. A rocket carrying the satellite blasted off Tuesday night from North Phyongan province and «accurately put the reconnaissance satellite 'Malligyong-1' on its orbit», state-run news agency KCNA reported. Images in state media showed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un smiling and waving, surrounded by white-uniformed scientists and engineers who cheered and clapped after watching the successful blastoff. The United States led condemnation of the launch, saying it was a «brazen violation» of UN sanctions, while South Korea responded by partially suspending a 2018 military deal with the North, saying it would resume surveillance operations along their border. Japan said that Pyongyang's claims of success could not immediately be independently verified. Tokyo is still analysing the launch and «at this point is not confirming whether the satellite had entered into an orbit around the Earth», chief government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno said. North Korea's previous efforts to put a spy satellite into orbit in May and August both failed.

North Korea fires unspecified ballistic missile off its east coast, 12th this year Japan will work with the United States, South Korea and others to "strongly urge" North Korea not to go ahead with the launch, Kishida said. North Korea had attempted to launch what it called spy satellites twice earlier this year but failed, and South Korean officials have said in recent days that it appeared set to try again soon.

Biden-Xi bilateral will be the marquee moment of the forum, which is dedicated to promoting trade, investment, and economic development among nations around the Pacific Ocean. The meeting came amid rising tension between the two nations following a series of events touched off by the shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon that had wafted across the US earlier this year. 1) Trade, Taiwan, and managing fraught US-Chinese relations are likely to feature in the talks between the two world leaders.

Associated Press reported on Friday. The White House said earlier that it anticipated Biden and Xi would meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit (APEC) in San Francisco. However, the negotiations went down to the eve of the gathering, which kicks off Saturday, the report said.

A Beijing-based art dealer touts itself as China's premier seller of North Korean art, despite stiff U.N. sanctions prohibiting the sale of such goods

International authorities say there's growing evidence that shows Beijing is helping cash-strapped North Korea evade a range of international sanctions designed to hamper Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program

North Korea is poised to close as many as a dozen embassies including in Spain, Hong Kong, and multiple countries in Africa, according to media reports and analysts, in a move that could see nearly 25 percent of Pyongyang's missions close worldwide. North Korea's recent closing of its diplomatic missions was a sign that the reclusive country is struggling to make money overseas because of international sanctions, South Korea's unification ministry said on Tuesday. On Monday, North Korean state media outlet KCNA said the country's ambassadors paid «farewell» visits to Angolan and Ugandan leaders last week, and local media in both African countries reported the shutdown of the North's embassies there. Both Angola and Uganda have forged friendly ties with North Korea since the 1970s, maintaining military cooperation and providing rare sources of foreign currency such as statue-building projects. The embassy closings set the stage for what could be «one of the country's biggest foreign policy shakeups in decades», with implications for diplomatic engagement, humanitarian work in the isolated country, as well as the ability to generate illicit revenue, wrote Chad O'Carroll, founder of the North Korea-focused website NK Pro. More than a dozen missions may close, likely because of international sanctions, a trend of Pyongyang's disengaging globally and the probable weakening of the North Korean economy, he said in a report on Wednesday. Seoul's unification ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said the pullout reflected the impact of international sanctions aimed at curbing funding for the North's nuclear and missile programs. «They appear to be withdrawing as their foreign currency earning business has stumbled

Travis King who crossed to North Korea from South Korea two months ago, has returned to the US. Confirming his arrival, an official with the US Department of Defense said that the private soldier landed in San Antonio early Thursday. In a statement issued Wednesday, Army spokesman Bryce Dubee said that Travis King could face future action from the Army, but for now, the focus is on his «well-being and privacy.»

Reuters, the circumstances surrounding the diplomatic efforts that facilitated King's transfer are not fully disclosed, but this incident represents a noteworthy instance of cooperation involving the United States, North Korea, and China. According to the State Department, King is anticipated to arrive back in the United States later today. At the age of 23, Travis King unexpectedly crossed into North Korea from South Korea on July 18 during a civilian visit to the heavily fortified border.

Also read: If Kim Jong Un uses nuclear weapons, 'his regime will be brought to end': South Korean President "Given the prevailing circumstances, the DPRK (North Korea) is urgently required to further accelerate the build-up of its self-defense capabilities to defend itself impregnably," Kim told the 193-member General Assembly. (Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights! Click here!) North Korea has tested dozens of ballistic missile in the past 18 months despite receiving warning from the US.

ALSO READ: North Korea's Kim Jong Un orders steps to boost ties with Russia amid US, Seoul warning of weapons deal “The North Korean regime’s obsession with the development of nuclear weapons aggravates the North Korean people’s suffering," Yoon said. “The North Korean regime must realize that nuclear weapons will never be able to guarantee its security." To mark the anniversary, South Korea held its first military parade in a decade in Seoul that featured thousands of troops and its latest military hardware such as domestically made long-range surface-to-air missiles.

UN Security Council resolutions that ban any weapons trade with North Korea. Russia, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, voted for those UN resolutions.

Kim Jong Un left Russia on Sunday, ending a visit affirming close ties with Vladimir Putin and fuelling Western fears that Pyongyang might provide Moscow with arms for its assault on Ukraine. Kim's extended tour of Russia's far eastern region, which began Tuesday, has focused extensively on military matters, with his own entourage dominated by officers, a symbolic exchange of rifles with Putin and a tour of a fighter jet factory in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. Before departing, TASS said Kim had been given five explosive drones, a reconnaissance drone and a bulletproof vest as gifts from a regional governor. The Russian agency said the «leader of the DPRK received five kamikaze drones and a 'Geran-25' reconnaissance drone with vertical takeoff», using the official name of North Korea. TASS said the governor of the Primorye region, which borders China and North Korea, also «offered Kim Jong Un a set of bulletproof protection» and «special clothing not detectable by thermal cameras». Later on Sunday the Ria Novosti agency published a video of Kim's departure, and said a «departure ceremony» was held at the Artyom-Primorsky-1 station. Footage shows Kim waving goodbye from his train to a Russian delegation led by Natural Resources Minister Alexander Kozlov, before the Russian march «Farewell of Slavianka» is played as the train departs. The official TASS news agency said that Kim's train was headed around 250 kilometres (155 miles) towards the border. Historic allies, Russia and North Korea are both under rafts of global sanctions — Moscow for its Ukraine assault, Pyongyang for its nuclear tests. The first official visit abroad for the North Korean leader since the coronavirus pandemic has fanned Western fears that Moscow and

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (Reuters) -North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected Russian nuclear-capable strategic bombers, hypersonic missiles and warships on Saturday, accompanied by President Vladimir Putin's defence minister.

Xi Jinping, has linked arms with two anti-Western states, declaring a «no limits» partnership with Russia and pledging «unswerving» support for North Korea. But the specter of a budding bromance between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, after their meeting this week in eastern Russia, may not be as welcome a development for Xi as it might initially seem. Closer ties between Pyongyang and Moscow could result in both countries being less reliant on Beijing. That might diminish China's perceived clout in global negotiations over ending Russia's war in Ukraine and curtailing North Korea's nuclear program. «I doubt Xi is overjoyed to see the Kim-Putin lovefest unfolding across China's border,» said John Delury, a professor of Chinese studies at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stopped in a far eastern Russian city Friday to see a factory that builds the country's most advanced fighter jets on his extended trip that hints at his interest in sophisticated weaponry, as the U.S. and others warned Moscow and Pyongyang against making banned weapons transfer deals. Kim's visits to Russian weapons and technology sites and meetings with President Vladimir Putin have raised speculation he will supply ammunition to Russia for its war efforts in Ukraine in exchange for receiving advanced weapons or technology from Russia as the two nations deepen their ties while both are increasingly isolated and sanctioned in separate confrontations with the West. Russia's state news agency RIA Novosti published video showing Kim's armored train pulling into a station in the city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur and Kim's convoy sweeping out of the station shortly afterward.

The head of the United Nations says all countries, including Russia, must abide by resolutions that ban arms exports from North Korea

Kim Jong Un is in Russia visiting President Vladimir Putin. While several reports had claimed that West fears a purported arms deal between the two nations. Reports have claimed that Kim Jong Un with the help of a translator told President Putin that Russian army and people would triumph against "evil", in what he cast as the West's imperialism in the war in Ukraine.