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CNA
2 days ago
- Politics
- CNA
South Koreans flock to Blue House ahead of presidential return
The building is named for the approximately 150,000 hand-painted blue tiles that adorn its roof. Once occupied by former colonial power Japan, the site has housed South Korea's leaders for seven decades. On the campaign trail, Lee vowed to return. "It is traditional, symbolic and optimal," he told local media. QUEUES Official figures show visitors to the Blue House surged ahead of the June 3 snap election: around 427,000 in May - double the number from the same month last year. In all, more than 7.8 million people - including 800,000 foreigners - have visited since the site's May 2022 public opening. "I have come here with my kids for educational purposes, as it might be difficult for us to visit again," said Son Young-ah, 49. One woman, upon leaving the main gate muttered: "With this exit, I may never be able to set foot here again." In early 2018, during a period of warmer ties, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister visited the Blue House - the first by the isolated country's ruling Kim family. "I look forward to seeing Pyongyang and Seoul come closer in the minds of Korean people," Kim Yo Jong wrote in the visitors' book. "BIT OF RENOVATION" The Blue House has long been the subject of public fascination, fuelled in part by a series of misfortunes that have befallen past inhabitants, including assassinations, impeachments, corruption trials and imprisonments. Yoon's relocation may have been in part an effort to escape such a fate - which some believe is linked to the feng shui of the site. But the change in premises failed to spare his presidency: he was impeached in April after his brief martial law declaration and now faces a criminal trial. Yoon's replacement had little interest in continuing to occupy the former Defence Ministry in central Seoul. The ministry is plagued by "security issues such as wiretapping" and lacks the privacy and seclusion of the Blue House, Lee has said. Not all sections of the storied compound - including its administrative offices and an underground bunker - have been opened to tourists. As such, the site "would only require a bit of renovation to reopen", Choi Gi-il, a former presidential security aid, told AFP. He added that the main blue-tiled building was primarily for ceremonial purposes and hosting foreign dignitaries, making it less vulnerable to security breaches. No date has been announced for the return to Blue House, but visitors to the site felt it was imminent. "I held off coming here because I thought I could come here anytime," Kim Jong-chun, 71, told AFP. But he realised it was now or never after Lee's election.
Associated Press
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
North Korean leader's sister denounces denuclearization calls, saying nuclear status is permanent
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday mocked Washington and its Asian allies for what she called their 'daydream' of denuclearizing the North, insisting that the country will never give up its nuclear weapons program. The statement by Kim Yo Jong, one of the country's top foreign policy officials, was in response to a meeting last week between the top diplomats of the United States, South Korea and Japan where they reaffirmed their commitment to push for the North's denuclearization. Noting that North Korea's goals for nuclear weapons expansion are enshrined in its constitution, she insisted that any external discussions of denuclearization constitute 'the most hostile act' and amount to a denial of her country's sovereignty. 'If the U.S. and its vassal forces continue to insist on anachronistic 'denuclearization' … it will only give unlimited justness and justification to the advance of the DPRK aspiring after the building of the strongest nuclear force for self-defense,' she said in comments released by state media, using the initials of North Korea's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. She said North Korea's nuclear weapons status can 'never be reversed by any physical strength or sly artifice.' Putin's war on Ukraine. Kim is ignoring calls by Seoul and Washington to resume denuclearization talks. U.S. President Donald Trump has said he would reach out to Kim again to revive diplomacy, but the North has not responded to that offer. Trump and Kim met three times during Trump's first term, but their diplomacy quickly collapsed over disagreements about ending U.S.-led sanctions in return for North Korea taking steps to wind down its nuclear and missile programs. Kim's foreign policy priority is now Russia, which he has supplied with weapons and troops to help prolong its warfighting in Ukraine. Seoul fears that Kim may receive economic assistance and advanced technology to develop his arsenal in exchange for its military supporting Russia. Kim Yo Jong's statement came a day after South Korea fired warning shots to repel a group of North Korean soldiers who had crossed the border. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said about 10 North Korean soldiers, some carrying weapons, violated the military demarcation line in the eastern section of the border. When South Korea issued warnings and fired warning shots, they did not return fire and returned to North Korea.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
North Korea says its status as a nuclear weapons state can never be reversed, KCNA says
SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korea's status as a nuclear weapons state can never be reversed, no matter how much the United States and its Asian allies demand it, state media reported on Wednesday, citing the powerful sister of its supreme leader. The comments, which state news agency KCNA said were issued on Tuesday, were likely a response to a joint statement by the foreign ministers of South Korea, Japan and the United States made on the sidelines of a NATO meeting last week. The three foreign ministers reaffirmed the "commitment to the complete denuclearization" of North Korea, according to the joint statement. The position of the North's nuclear weapons state, together with its "substantial and very strong nuclear deterrent" is a result of outside hostile threat and "it does not change no matter how desperately anyone denies," said Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to KCNA. "We don't care about anyone's denial and recognition and we never change our option," she said. "This is our steadfast choice that can never be reversed by any physical strength or sly artifice." North Korea has pursued nuclear weapons despite sanctions by the U.N. Security Council over the years since it first conducted an underground nuclear detonation test in 2006. Since then, it is believed to have developed an arsenal of nuclear weapons, although it has not conducted an atmospheric nuclear test. It has been a longstanding policy of Washington and its Asian allies to completely dismantle the North's nuclear programme, but analysts believe Pyongyang has gone beyond the point of agreeing to any deal to achieve that. U.S. President Donald Trump has called the North a "nuclear power" and suggested he would again sit down with its leader Kim Jong Un, with whom he had unprecedented summit meetings during his first term trying to ease security tensions.
Reuters
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
North Korea says its status as a nuclear weapons state can never be reversed, KCNA says
SEOUL, April 9 (Reuters) - North Korea's status as a nuclear weapons state can never be reversed, no matter how much the United States and its Asian allies demand it, state media reported on Wednesday, citing the powerful sister of its supreme leader. The comments, which state news agency KCNA said were issued on Tuesday, were likely a response to a joint statement by the foreign ministers of South Korea, Japan and the United States made on the sidelines of a NATO meeting last week. The three foreign ministers reaffirmed the "commitment to the complete denuclearization" of North Korea, according to the joint statement. The position of the North's nuclear weapons state, together with its "substantial and very strong nuclear deterrent" is a result of outside hostile threat and "it does not change no matter how desperately anyone denies," said Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to KCNA. "We don't care about anyone's denial and recognition and we never change our option," she said. "This is our steadfast choice that can never be reversed by any physical strength or sly artifice." North Korea has pursued nuclear weapons despite sanctions by the U.N. Security Council over the years since it first conducted an underground nuclear detonation test in 2006. Since then, it is believed to have developed an arsenal of nuclear weapons, although it has not conducted an atmospheric nuclear test. It has been a longstanding policy of Washington and its Asian allies to completely dismantle the North's nuclear programme, but analysts believe Pyongyang has gone beyond the point of agreeing to any deal to achieve that. U.S. President Donald Trump has called the North a "nuclear power" and suggested he would again sit down with its leader Kim Jong Un, with whom he had unprecedented summit meetings during his first term trying to ease security tensions.
Saudi Gazette
10-03-2025
- Politics
- Saudi Gazette
North Korea fires ballistic missiles as South begins drills with US
SEOUL — North Korea fired several ballistic missiles into the sea on Monday, South Korea's military said, hours after Seoul and Washington resumed a major annual military drill known as "Freedom Shield." North Korea has long viewed the exercise as a provocation. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile firings were detected from North Korea's Hwanghae province, making them the North's fifth missile launch event this year. Earlier on Monday, South Korea and the US began their joint military exercises which are set to last 11 days. The "Freedom Shield" exercise will include "live, virtual, and field-based training" according to the US government. North Korea issued a statement in response to the start of the drills, calling the exercises a "dangerous provocative act," that increases the risk of military conflict. Last week, Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, warned against further "provocations" after a US aircraft carrier docked in the South Korean port of drills were briefly paused after two South Korean KF-16 fighter jets mistakenly bombed a civilian area in Pocheon, near the North Korean border last people were injured in the incident, which the South Korean air force attributed to human error after one of the pilots entered the wrong coordinates for a bombing South Korean and US militaries halted all live-fire exercises in South Korea following the Korean officials have said that live-fire training will resume after an ongoing investigation into the incident is completed. — Euronews
