Latest news with #NoKwang-chol
South China Morning Post
17 hours ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
South Korea, US kick off Ulchi Freedom Shield drills with 21,000 troops
South Korea and the United States began their annual large-scale joint military exercise on Monday to better cope with threats from nuclear-armed North Korea , which has warned the drills would deepen regional tensions and vowed to respond to 'any provocation' against its territory. The 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield, the second of two large-scale exercises held annually in South Korea, after another set in March, will involve 21,000 soldiers, including 18,000 South Koreans, in computer-simulated command post operations and field training. The drills, which the allies describe as defensive, could trigger a response from North Korea, which has long portrayed the exercises as invasion rehearsals and has often used them as a pretext for military demonstrations and weapons tests aimed at advancing its nuclear programme. In a statement last week, North Korean Defence Minister No Kwang-chol said the drills showed the allies' stance of 'military confrontation' with the North and declared that its forces would be ready to counteract 'any provocation going beyond the boundary line'. Colonel Lee Sung-jun (left), public affairs director for South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff and Colonel Ryan Donald, public affairs director of the United States Forces Korea, at the press briefing of the Ulchi Freedom Shield 2025 exercise on August 7. Photo: AFP
The Star
7 days ago
- Politics
- The Star
N. Korea ready to act over US-S. Korea drills
Don't interfere: A South Korean protester wearing a mask of US President Donald Trump attending a rally to oppose the planned joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea, near the US Embassy in Seoul. — AP North Korea will react with 'resolute counteraction' in the event of provocations from upcoming joint military drills between South Korea and the United States, its defence chief said in a state media dispatch. The warning yesterday came as Seoul and Washington are set to carry out their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, aimed at containing the nuclear-armed North, from Aug 18 to 28. North Korea – which attacked its neighbour in 1950, triggering the Korean War – has always been infuriated by US-South Korean military drills, decrying them as rehearsals for invasion. 'The armed forces of the DPRK will cope with the war drills of the US and (South Korea) with thoroughgoing and resolute counteraction posture ... at the level of the right to self-defence,' North Korean defence chief No Kwang-chol said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency. The United States stations around 28,500 troops in South Korea, and the allies regularly stage joint drills. Seoul and Pyongyang have recently appeared to be heading towards a thaw in relations, with the two sides removing propaganda loudspeakers along the border. Seoul has said North Korean troops have begun dismantling loudspeakers used to blare unsettling noises along the border, days after Seoul's new administration dismantled ones it used to broadcast propaganda. The two countries had already halted broadcasts along the demilitarised zone, Seoul's military said in June, after the election of President Lee Jae-myung, who is seeking to ease tensions with Pyongyang. Relations between the two Koreas had been at one of their lowest points in years under former president Yoon Suk-yeol, with Seoul taking a hard line towards Pyongyang, which has drawn ever closer to Moscow in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Lee has taken a different approach to dealing with the North since his election, including requesting that civic groups cease sending propaganda leaflets over the border by balloon. — AFP
Jordan News
11-08-2025
- Politics
- Jordan News
Pyongyang Threatens to Respond to Joint Military Exercises Between the US and South Korea - Jordan News
Pyongyang Threatens to Respond to Joint Military Exercises Between the US and South Korea North Korea condemned the large-scale joint military exercises planned between the South Korean and US armies, describing them as a "direct military provocation" and warned of a response, despite signs of easing tensions along the border under new leadership in Seoul. اضافة اعلان North Korean Defense Minister No Kwang-chol stated that the army bears a "fundamental mission" to defend national security in the face of the extensive 11-day exercises between South Korea and the US, which he said pose a real and serious threat. No said in a statement released by the North Korean Central News Agency on Monday: "The armed forces of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea will deal firmly and resolutely with the war exercises of the United States and (South Korea), exercising their right to safeguard sovereignty with all their might." South Korea and the United States announced last week that the annual exercises would begin on August 18, aimed at testing command control and troop mobilization as part of a reinforced security strategy against the increasing threat of a nuclear war by North Korea. The two sides stated that much of the field training would be postponed and conducted separately next month, citing weather conditions. The postponement is widely seen as an initiative by the liberal South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, who won early elections in June, to ease tensions with Pyongyang. Relations between the Koreas have deteriorated to unprecedented levels in recent years amid North Korea's continued development of offensive nuclear capabilities and strengthening of military ties with Russia. — (Reuters)
Korea Herald
21-02-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
N. Korean defense chief reaffirms friendship with Russia during banquet for Russian holiday
North Korea's defense minister has reaffirmed "invincible" friendship with Russia during a banquet celebrating Russia's Defender of the Fatherland Day, hosted by the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang, state media reported Friday. The banquet, hosted Thursday by Russian Ambassador Alexandr Matsegora and a defense attache, was attended by Defense Minister No Kwang-chol, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jong-gyu and other military and diplomatic officials, the Korean Central News Agency said. Russia's Defender of the Fatherland Day, observed on Feb. 23, honors the country's military history, veterans and servicemen. In his speech at the event, the North Korean defense chief referred to a summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Pyongyang in June last year, stressing the two countries' alignment. "(Bilateral relations) have transcended and evolved into a comprehensive strategic partnership and invincible friendship, strongly wielding their vitality and power today," No noted. The minister also expressed his "confidence" that the Russian military and people would achieve another "great victory" this year as descendants of a generation of victory in war. Russian Defense Attache Alexei Bartusov, in his speech, called the mutual defense treaty signed between Kim and Putin last year as a decisive moment, stressing the longstanding solidarity between Russians and North Koreans, the KCNA said. He also thanked the North Korean leadership and people for their support of Russia despite the actions of the United States and its followers. North Korea and Russia have been strengthening their ties since the signing of the mutual treaty last year, with the North deploying special forces to support Russia's war against Ukraine and deepening exchanges with Russia in military, economic, sports and other fields. (Yonhap)
