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Straits Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
South Korea to restore pact curbing military activity on North Korean border
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: A North Korean flag flutters on top of a 160-metre tower in North Korea's propaganda village of Gijungdong, in this picture taken from the Dora observatory near the demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas, in Paju, South Korea, April 24, 2018. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo South Korea intends to restore an agreement to suspend some military activity along the border with North Korea, President Lee Jae Myung said on Friday, as his government seeks to improve relations between neighbours still technically at war. The 2018 military accord was designed to curb the risk of inadvertent clashes, but broke down after a spike in tensions. WHAT HAPPENED IN 2018? The so-called Comprehensive Military Agreement (CMA) signed between the two Koreas 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. On September 19, 2018, South Korea's defence minister and his North Korean counterpart signed the CMA in the North's capital, Pyongyang, accompanied by polite applause from the onlooking leaders. Under the CMA, both countries agreed to "completely cease all hostile acts against each other" and implement military confidence-building measures in air, land and sea domains. The measures included the two sides ending military drills near the border, banning live-fire exercises in certain areas, the imposition of no-fly zones, the removal of some guard posts along the Demilitarized Zone, and maintaining hotlines. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Ong Beng Seng fined $30k for abetting former minister Iswaran in obstructing course of justice Life How do household bomb shelters in Singapore really work? Singapore Sengkang-Punggol LRT line resumes full service 4 hours after power fault halts trains Asia Johor authorities seize four Singapore-registered vehicles over illegal e-hailing Singapore Owners call for stronger management rules in ageing condos, but seek to avoid being overburdened Asia Japan's PM Ishiba mentions wartime 'regret', toeing right-wing line On the ground, both sides agreed to completely cease artillery drills and field training within 5 km (3 miles) of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) between the countries. At sea, they installed covers on the barrels of naval guns and coastal artillery and closed gun ports in a buffer zone along the sea border. MILITARY DEAL FALLS APART With inter-Korean and denuclearisation talks long stalled, the military accord started to fracture in recent years amid drills and shows of force along the fortified border between the Koreas as they accused the other of breaches. North Korea's launch of a spy satellite in 2023 further ratcheted up tensions on the Korean peninsula, and the countries walked away from the confidence-building pact. South Korea's National Security Council that year moved to "suspend the effect of Article 1, Clause 3" establishing no-fly zones close to the border in the 2018 military agreement, enabling Seoul to restore reconnaissance and surveillance activities along the border. South Korea's military then restarted aerial surveillance in border areas, the defence ministry said. North Korea in return said its army would "never be bound" by the pact, ripping up the agreement and vowing to restore all military measures it had halted under the deal. In June 2024, former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared a complete suspension of the military pact in response to North Korea's move to send hundreds of rubbish-stuffed balloons across the border. Later that year, as hostilities increased state-run news agency KCNA said North Korea amended its constitution to designate the South as a "hostile state". HOW WILL PYONGYANG RESPOND? President Lee, who won a snap election in June, has sought to re-engage Pyongyang after a period of cross-border tension and shown a willingness to return to dialogue. He touted on Friday his government's efforts to ease tensions, including halting the launch of balloons floated by activists with anti-North Korea leaflets and dismantling loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts across the border. How Pyongyang might respond remains unclear. Top North Korean officials have in recent weeks dismissed moves taken by Lee's new liberal government to ease tensions. Some analysts are also sceptical about the short-term prospects of a favourable response from North Korea to such overtures. REUTERS
Miami Herald
30-07-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Who is Kim Yo Jong, sister and 'right hand' of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un?
SEOUL, South Korea - Since taking office in January, President Trump has expressed an interest in restarting talks with Kim Jong Un, whom he met for a series of unsuccessful denuclearization summits in 2018 and 2019. But throwing cold water on the latest hopes of a Round 2 is none other than Kim Yo Jong, the powerful younger sister of the North Korean leader. In a statement published by the state-run Korean Central News Agency on Tuesday, she said that a precondition for any sort of dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang was U.S. acceptance of North Korea as a nuclear state. "Any attempt to deny the position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state which was established along with the existence of a powerful nuclear deterrent and fixed by the supreme law reflecting the unanimous will of all the DPRK people will be thoroughly rejected," she said in the statement. While adding that the personal relationship between Trump and her brother Kim was "not bad," she warned against trying to leverage this into Pyongyang's denuclearization, a scenario she called "a mockery of the other party." Here's what to know about Kim Yo Jong, who has variously been described as Kim's mouthpiece and a potential successor: Born in either 1987 or 1988, Kim Yo Jong is Kim's only sister, and one of the five children born to Kim Jong Il, who ruled North Korea from 1994 to 2011. She is the vice director of the Propaganda and Agitation Department at the Korean Workers' Party, as well as a member of the State Affairs Commission, North Korea's top decision-making authority. Little is known about her upbringing, other than the fact that she spent part of her youth in Bern, Switzerland, where she was educated alongside her brother. She later attended Kim Il Sung University in North Korea. Since making her first major public appearance at her father's funeral in 2011, Kim Yo Jong has quickly established herself as a key figure in her brother's circle - a feat that none of her other siblings or half-siblings have managed. Passed over for succession in favor of Kim Jong Un, her eldest brother Kim Jong Chul is now reportedly living a quiet life away from politics. Her half-brother Kim Jong Nam, a playboy once known for his fondness for Disneyland - and who some suggested was a CIA informant - was assassinated at an airport in Malaysia in 2017, on orders believed to have come from leader Kim. Kim Yo Jong, who is believed to be one of the North Korean leader's most trusted aides, with considerable influence over foreign policy, has routinely been spotted with her brother during important public events, such as those showcasing the nation's nuclear weapons, and high-profile international trips. She was part of the North Korean delegation to the Winter Olympics in South Korea in 2018. At her brother's summit with then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in that year, Kim Yo Jong attended as a special envoy. Since assuming her current position as vice director of the Workers' Party's Propaganda and Agitation Department in 2014, she has been at the front lines of North Korea's ideological messaging, writing much of Pyongyang's signature invective. She was blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2017. After moves by the U.S. and South Korea to bolster their military alliance in 2023, she called President Biden "an old man with no future" and former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol "a hungry dog barking with the joy of getting a bone." Last year, in response to North Korean defectors in South Korea sending balloons filled with propaganda over the border - which prompted North Korea to retaliate with trash-filled balloons of its own - she threatened a "gruesome and dear price" for what Pyongyang has long seen as hostile acts, denouncing the defectors as "scum." Kim Yo Jong's pedigree and political rise have fueled speculation that she might one day be an heir to her older brother. But with succession having been intergenerational, experts have said the more likely heir will be one of leader Kim's children. South Korean intelligence officials believe that Kim has three children, with the eldest and youngest being sons. Despite the fact that North Korea has always been led by men, the only child to have appeared in public is his young daughter, Kim Ju Ae, whose increasing presence at state events with her father has raised the possibility this tradition may one day be broken. Still, the North Korean leader is believed to suffer an array of health issues related to his weight, such as high blood pressure and diabetes. Experts including Thae Young-ho, a former North Korean diplomat who defected to South Korea in 2016, say this makes Kim Yo Jong's role all the more crucial. In an interview with South Korean media in 2023, Thae expressed his belief that the Kim family's grip on the country may not survive another generation, arguing that ordinary North Koreans were increasingly disillusioned by dynastic rule. Still, he said, "if Kim Jong Un suddenly dies, the system is such that interim leadership can only pass to the No. 2, Kim Yo Jong." Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Los Angeles Times
30-07-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Who is Kim Yo Jong, sister and ‘right hand' of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un?
SEOUL — Since taking office in January, President Trump has expressed an interest in restarting talks with Kim Jong Un, whom he met for a series of unsuccessful denuclearization summits in 2018 and 2019. But throwing cold water on the latest hopes of a Round 2 is none other than Kim Yo Jong, the powerful younger sister of the North Korean leader. In a statement published by the state-run Korean Central News Agency on Tuesday, she said that a precondition for any sort of dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang was U.S. acceptance of North Korea as a nuclear state. 'Any attempt to deny the position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state which was established along with the existence of a powerful nuclear deterrent and fixed by the supreme law reflecting the unanimous will of all the DPRK people will be thoroughly rejected,' she said in the statement. While adding that the personal relationship between Trump and her brother Kim was 'not bad,' she warned against trying to leverage this into Pyongyang's denuclearization, a scenario she called 'a mockery of the other party.' Here's what to know about Kim Yo Jong, who has variously been described as Kim's mouthpiece and a potential successor: Born in either 1987 or 1988, Kim Yo Jong is Kim's only sister, and one of the five children born to Kim Jong Il, who ruled North Korea from 1994 to 2011. She is the vice director of the Propaganda and Agitation Department at the Korean Workers' Party, as well as a member of the State Affairs Commission, North Korea's top decision-making authority. Little is known about her upbringing, other than the fact that she spent part of her youth in Bern, Switzerland, where she was educated alongside her brother. She later attended Kim Il Sung University in North Korea. Since making her first major public appearance at her father's funeral in 2011, Kim Yo Jong has quickly established herself as a key figure in her brother's circle — a feat that none of her other siblings or half-siblings have managed. Passed over for succession in favor of Kim Jong Un, her eldest brother Kim Jong Chul is now reportedly living a quiet life away from politics. Her half-brother Kim Jong Nam, a playboy once known for his fondness for Disneyland — and who some suggested was a CIA informant — was assassinated at an airport in Malaysia in 2017, on orders believed to have come from leader Kim. Kim Yo Jong, who is believed to be one of the North Korean leader's most trusted aides, with considerable influence over foreign policy, has routinely been spotted with her brother during important public events, such as those showcasing the nation's nuclear weapons, and high-profile international trips. She was part of the North Korean delegation to the Winter Olympics in South Korea in 2018. At her brother's summit with then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in that year, Kim Yo Jong attended as a special envoy. Since assuming her current position as vice director of the Workers' Party's Propaganda and Agitation Department in 2014, she has been at the front lines of North Korea's ideological messaging, writing much of Pyongyang's signature invective. She was blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2017. After moves by the U.S. and South Korea to bolster their military alliance in 2023, she called President Biden 'an old man with no future' and former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol 'a hungry dog barking with the joy of getting a bone.' Last year, in response to North Korean defectors in South Korea sending balloons filled with propaganda over the border — which prompted North Korea to retaliate with trash-filled balloons of its own — she threatened a 'gruesome and dear price' for what Pyongyang has long seen as hostile acts, denouncing the defectors as 'scum.' Kim Yo Jong's pedigree and political rise have fueled speculation that she might one day be an heir to her older brother. But with succession having been intergenerational, experts have said the more likely heir will be one of leader Kim's children. South Korean intelligence officials believe that Kim has three children, with the eldest and youngest being sons. Despite the fact that North Korea has always been led by men, the only child to have appeared in public is his young daughter, Kim Ju Ae, whose increasing presence at state events with her father has raised the possibility this tradition may one day be broken. Still, the North Korean leader is believed to suffer an array of health issues related to his weight, such as high blood pressure and diabetes. Experts including Thae Young-ho, a former North Korean diplomat who defected to South Korea in 2016, say this makes Kim Yo Jong's role all the more crucial. In an interview with South Korean media in 2023, Thae expressed his belief that the Kim family's grip on the country may not survive another generation, arguing that ordinary North Koreans were increasingly disillusioned by dynastic rule. Still, he said, 'if Kim Jong Un suddenly dies, the system is such that interim leadership can only pass to the No. 2, Kim Yo Jong.'
Miami Herald
02-06-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
South Korean election officials investigate voting irregularities
June 1 (UPI) -- Ahead of South Korea's snap presidential elections on Tuesday, the nation's diplomatic relations with North Korea and China have risen to the fore -- and officials are investigating voting irregularities. 'The relations between South Korea and China have become the worst ever,' Lee Jae-myung, the left-leaning presidential candidate leading public opinion polls, said in remarks to The New York Times. 'I will stabilize and manage the relations.' The already historically low diplomatic relations between South Korea and North Korea, as well as its relations with China, further soured after then-South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol was removed from office over imposing martial law in April, a move that was short-lived. The bellicose North Korea has distance itself from South Korea following the failed 2019 Hanoi summit between Korean Korean Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump, which continued during Yoon's conservative administration. Pyongyang last year ended its founding goal of reunification and named South Korea its 'principal enemy.' The Yoon administration also shook a delicate diplomatic balance between Washington and Beijing. China was South Korea's biggest post-Cold War trading partner, but the United States was its main military ally. Early voter turnout was strong, but poll watchers expressed concern over irregularities. In past elections, the National Election Commission dismissed the irregularities as 'simple mistakes' or 'minor mistakes.' The NEC has pushed back on claims of polling irregularities. South Korean independent presidential candidate Hwang Kyo-ahn said on Sunday he is withdrawing from the race to support People Power Party's Kim Moon-soo, local media reported. 'I will withdraw my efforts to supporting Kim Moon-soo to protect the government,' he said. My final task is to prevent election fraud. Fortunately, Kim has pledged to address election irregularities.' Polling places are scheduled to receive ballots from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, which is a holiday because of the election. 'We are at a critical juncture,' Lee said on social media Sunday, 'and it is in the hands of each and every one of you that we can return this country to its people, halt the retreat of democracy, and create a truly great Korea. Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
UPI
02-06-2025
- Politics
- UPI
South Korean election officials investigate voting irregularities
1 of 3 | Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung gestures during his final campaign rally for the South Korean presidential election in Seoul on Monday. South Korea will hold its presidential election on Tuesday. Photo by Andres Martinez Casares/EPA-EFE June 1 (UPI) -- Ahead of South Korea's snap presidential elections on Tuesday, the nation's diplomatic relations with North Korea and China have risen to the fore -- and officials are investigating voting irregularities. "The relations between South Korea and China have become the worst ever," Lee Jae-myung, the left-leaning presidential candidate leading public opinion polls, said in remarks to The New York Times. "I will stabilize and manage the relations." The already historically low diplomatic relations between South Korea and North Korea, as well as its relations with China, further soured after then-South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol was removed from office over imposing martial law in April, a move that was short-lived. The bellicose North Korea has distance itself from South Korea following the failed 2019 Hanoi summit between Korean Korean Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump, which continued during Yoon's conservative administration. Pyongyang last year ended its founding goal of reunification and named South Korea its "principal enemy." The Yoon administration also shook a delicate diplomatic balance between Washington and Beijing. China was South Korea's biggest post-Cold War trading partner, but the United States was its main military ally. Early voter turnout was strong, but poll watchers expressed concern over irregularities. In past elections, the National Election Commission dismissed the irregularities as "simple mistakes" or "minor mistakes." The NEC has pushed back on claims of polling irregularities. South Korean independent presidential candidate Hwang Kyo-ahn said on Sunday he is withdrawing from the race to support People Power Party's Kim Moon-soo, local media reported. "I will withdraw my efforts to supporting Kim Moon-soo to protect the government," he said. My final task is to prevent election fraud. Fortunately, Kim has pledged to address election irregularities." Polling places are scheduled to receive ballots from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, which is a holiday because of the election. "We are at a critical juncture," Lee said on social media Sunday, "and it is in the hands of each and every one of you that we can return this country to its people, halt the retreat of democracy, and create a truly great Korea.
