South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea has concluded that Russian support likely enabled North Korea to put a spy satellite into orbit for the first time this week, and it should be clear in several days whether it is functioning properly, officials said Thursday.

The launch has deepened regional animosities, with both Koreas threatening to breach a past reconciliation deal and take hostile actions along their heavily armed border.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea will partially suspend an inter-Korean agreement Wednesday to restart frontline aerial surveillance of North Korea, after the North said it launched a military spy satellite in violation of United Nations bans, Seoul officials said.

The South Korean announcement — which will likely infuriate North Korea — came hours after the North claimed to have placed a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit in its third such launch attempt this year.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Tuesday made an apparent third attempt to place a military spy satellite into orbit, South Korea’s military said. The launch marks the latest demonstration of North Korea’s determination to build a space-based surveillance system during protracted tensions with the United States.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Wednesday it successfully tested new solid-fuel engines designed for intermediate-range ballistic missiles as it works on enhancing its nuclear-capable arsenal with more powerful, harder-to-detect weapons that can potentially target U.S. military bases in Guam and Japan.

North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said the country’s military scientists tested the first-stage and second-stage missile engines on Saturday and Tuesday. The report did not say when the new missile system was expected to be completed.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — An industrial robot grabbed and crushed a worker to death at a vegetable packaging plant in South Korea, police said Thursday, as they investigated whether the machine was defective or improperly designed.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea said Monday it plans to launch its first domestically built spy satellite at the end of this month to better monitor rival North Korea, which is expanding its arsenal of nuclear weapons.

The plan was unveiled days after North Korea failed to follow through on a vow to make a third attempt to launch its own reconnaissance satellite in October, likely because of technical issues.

SEOUL, Nov 3 (Reuters) - North Korea will increase its military deterrent to ensure its security against a U.S. nuclear arsenal aimed at it, its state media reported on Friday, as it criticised the United States for a recent intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test.

The U.S. Air Force launched a nuclear-capable Minuteman III missile from a base in California on Wednesday but the missile was blown up after an anomaly was detected. The test was attended by South Korean defence officials in their first such visit since 2016.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea has likely supplied several types of missiles to Russia to support its war in Ukraine, along with its widely reported shipments of ammunition and shells, South Korea’s military said Thursday.

In a background briefing for local journalists, South Korea’s military said that North Korea is suspected of sending an unspecified number of short-range ballistic missiles, anti-tank missiles and portable anti-air missiles to Russia, in addition to rifles, rocket launchers, mortars and shells.

SEOUL, Oct 31 (Reuters) - 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.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s top spy agency believes North Korea sent more than a million artillery shells to Russia since August to help fuel Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine, according to a lawmaker who attended a closed-door briefing Wednesday with intelligence officials.