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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea ratified a major defense treaty with Russia stipulating mutual military aid, the North's state media reported Tuesday, as the U.S., South Korea and Ukraine say North Korea has sent thousands of troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine. Russia had completed the ratification of the treaty last week after it was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June. It is considered both countries' biggest defense deal since the end of the Cold War. The C...
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea warned Tuesday it could consider supplying weapons to Ukraine in response to North Korea allegedly dispatching troops to Russia, as both North Korea and Russia denied the movements. NATO's secretary general said that would mark a "significant escalation." South Korea's statement was apparently meant to pressure Russia against bringing in North Korean troops for its war against Ukraine. South Korean officials worry that Russia may reward North Korea by giving it sophisticated weapons technologies that can bo...
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Leading artificial intelligence companies made a fresh pledge at a mini-summit Tuesday to develop AI safely, while world leaders agreed to build a network of publicly backed safety institutes to advance research and testing of the technology. Google, Meta and OpenAI were among the companies that made voluntary safety commitments at the AI Seoul Summit, including pulling the plug on their cutting-edge systems if they can't rein in the most extreme risks. The two-day meeting is a follow-up to November's AI Safety S...
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea called the ongoing South Korean-U.S. military drills a plot to invade the country, as it threatened Tuesday to take unspecified "responsible" military steps in response. The North's warning came a day after the South Korean and U.S. forces kicked off their annual computer-simulated command post training and a variety of field exercises for an 11-day run. This year's drills were to involve 48 field exercises, twice the number conducted last year. In a statement carried by state media, the North's Defense Min...
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Tuesday that leader Kim Jong Un has returned home from a trip to Russia where he deepened "comradely fellowship and friendly ties" with President Vladimir Putin. During Kim's six-day trip to Russia, his longest foreign travel as a leader, the two countries said they discussed boosting their defense ties but didn't disclose any specific steps. Foreign experts speculate the two countries, both locked in confrontations with the West, were pushing to reach arms transfer deals in violation of U.N. S...
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for his military to be constantly ready for combat to thwart plots to invade his country, as he accused the U.S. of conducting "more frantic" naval drills with its allies near North Korea, state media reported Tuesday. The U.S. and South Korean militaries are holding joint summer exercises that North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal. The allies have insisted the drills are defensive in nature. Kim said in a speech marking the country's Navy Day that falls on Monday that the w...
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea's foreign minister on Friday called the Group of Seven wealthy democracies a "tool for ensuring the U.S. hegemony" as she lambasted the group's recent call for the North's denuclearization. The top diplomats from G-7 nations, who met recently in Japan, had jointly condemned the North's recent ballistic missile tests and reiterated their commitment to the goal of North Korea's complete abandonment of its nuclear weapons. Their communique was prepared as a template for leaders at the G-7 summit next month i...
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile toward the sea on Sunday, its neighbors said, ramping up testing activities in response to ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills that it views as an invasion rehearsal. The North's continuation of missile tests showed its determination not to back down despite the U.S.-South Korea exercises, which are the biggest of their kind in years. But many experts say the tests are also part of North Korea's bigger objective to expand its weapons arsenal, win global r...
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Sunday its latest intercontinental ballistic missile test was meant to further bolster its "fatal" nuclear attack capacity and threatened additional powerful steps over upcoming military drills between the United States and South Korea. The United States responded by flying long-range supersonic bombers in a show of force later Sunday for separate joint exercises with South Korean and Japanese warplanes. Saturday's ICBM test, the North's first missile test since Jan. 1, signals its leader Kim Jong U...
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea's spike in missile tests, growing nuclear ambitions and other provocative acts pose a "serious threat" that could lead to a dangerous miscalculation and spark a wider conflict, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said Tuesday. Speaking with The Associated Press at the presidential office in Seoul, the conservative leader reiterated his call for closer security cooperation with the United States and Japan to counter the "dangerous situation" being created by North Korea as he played down the prospect for d...
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea has formally lifted a ban on the import of full-body sex dolls, ending years of debate over how much the government can interfere in private life. Although there are no laws or regulations banning the import of sex dolls, hundreds, and perhaps thousands, have been seized by the customs, which cited a clause in the law that bans the import of goods that "harm the country's beautiful traditions and public moral." Importers complained and took their case to courts, most of which agreed with them and ordered c...
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's military fired warning shots, scrambled fighter jets and flew surveillance assets across the heavily fortified border with North Korea on Monday, after North Korean drones violated its airspace for the first time in five years in a fresh escalation of tensions. South Korea's military detected five drones from North Korea crossing the border, and one traveled as far as the northern part of the South Korean capital region, which is about an hour's drive away, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The m...
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A pair of dogs gifted by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un four years ago ended up at a zoo in South Korea after a dispute over who should finance the caring of the animals. Kim had given the two white Pungsan hunting dogs — a breed indigenous to North Korea — to then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in as a gift following their summit talks in Pyongyang in 2018. But liberal Moon gave up the dogs last month, citing a lack of financial support for the canines from the current conservative government led by President Yoon...
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea's military said Monday its recent barrage of missile tests were practices to "mercilessly" strike key South Korean and U.S. targets such as air bases and operation command systems with a variety of missiles that likely included nuclear-capable weapons. The North's announcement underscored leader Kim Jong Un's determination not to back down in the face of his rivals' push to expand their military exercises. But some experts say Kim also used their drills as an excuse to modernize his nuclear arsenal and i...
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea's recent barrage of missile tests, including Wednesday's record of at least 23 launches, is raising an important question about its weapons program: How does the impoverished country pay for the seemingly endless tests? While some experts say each North Korean launch could cost $2 million to $10 million, others say there is no way to estimate accurately given the North's extremely secretive nature. They say North Korea likely manufactures weapons at a much cheaper cost than other countries because of free l...
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Air raid sirens sounded on a South Korean island and residents evacuated to underground shelters after North Korea fired more than 20 missiles Wednesday, at least one of them in its direction and landing near the rivals' tense sea border. South Korea quickly responded by launching its own missiles in the same border area. The launches came hours after North Korea threatened to use nuclear weapons to get the U.S. and South Korea to "pay the most horrible price in history" in protest of ongoing South Korean-U.S. m...
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — An Iranian competitive climber left South Korea on Tuesday after competing at an event in which she climbed without her nation's mandatory headscarf covering, authorities said. Farsi-language media outside of Iran warned she may have been forced to leave early by Iranian officials and could face arrest back home, which Tehran quickly denied. The decision by Elnaz Rekabi, a multiple medalist in competitions, to forgo the headscarf, or hijab, came as protests sparked by the Sept. 16 death in custody of a 22-year-old w...
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Tuesday fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan, its neighbors said, escalating tests of weapons designed to strike key targets in regional U.S. allies. It is the most significant missile test by North Korea since January, when it fired the Hwasong-12 intermediate-range missile capable of reaching the U.S. territory of Guam. It is also the first time that a North Korea missile has flown over Japan since 2017. The Japanese prime minister's office said at least one missile fired from N...
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea, U.S. and Japanese warships launched their first trilateral anti-submarine drills in five years on Friday, after North Korea renewed missile tests this week in an apparent response to bilateral training by South Korean and U.S. forces. The North's recent five missiles launches, the first such tests in a month, also came before and after U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris visited South Korea on Thursday and reaffirmed the "ironclad" U.S. commitment to the security of its Asian allies. The one-day t...
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A rural South Korean town is getting roasted over its video ad on garlic that some farmers say stinks of obscenity and has even sexually objectified the agricultural product. The controversy surrounds a 30-second video that had been posted on a YouTube channel for Hongseong County, a small central-west South Korean town of about 100,000 people known for its local "Hongsan" garlic, for about two years. The video shows a woman touching the thigh of a man named "Hongsan" with a full garlic head mask and saying words l...
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to bolster his nuclear forces at "maximum speed" and threatened to use them if provoked in a speech he delivered during a military parade that featured powerful weapons systems targeting the United States and its allies, state media reported Tuesday. His remarks suggest he will continue provocative weapons tests in a pressure campaign to wrest concessions from the U.S. and other rivals. The parade Monday night was to mark the 90th anniversary of North Korea's army — the backbone of...
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The U.S. Treasury Department announced new sanctions Friday after North Korea had tested parts of its biggest intercontinental ballistic missile in two recent launches, a sign it is likely to fire that weapon soon to put a spy satellite into orbit in what would be its most significant provocation in years. The Treasury Department noted a March 4 ballistic missile launch in unveiling restrictions against three Russian-based entities that aided ongoing development of North Korea's military capabilities. The companies a...
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Friday marks 10 years since Kim Jong Un, the third generation of his family to rule North Korea, took power after his father's sudden heart attack. Initially considered inexperienced, Kim quickly showed his ruthless willingness to consolidate his rule by having his powerful uncle and other potential rivals executed or purged. His torrid run of nuclear and missile tests in recent years caused many to fear a second Korean War. Kim switched gears again and staged landmark nuclear disarmament summits with then-U.S. P...
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired a short-range missile into the sea early Tuesday, Seoul and Tokyo officials said, in the latest weapon tests by Pyongyang that raised questions about the sincerity of its recent offer for talks with South Korea. In an emergency National Security Council meeting, the South Korean government expressed regret over what it called "a short-range missile launch" by the North. South Korea's military earlier said the object fired from North Korea's mountainous northern Jagang province flew toward the N...
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North and South Korea tested ballistic missiles hours apart Wednesday in a display of military might that is sure to exacerbate tensions between the rivals at a time when talks aimed at stripping the North of its nuclear program are stalled. South Korea's presidential office said the country conducted its first submarine-launched ballistic missile test. It said the domestically built missile flew from a submarine and hit its designated target while President Moon Jae-in and other top officials looked on. Moon said impr...
