North Korea–South Korea relations

North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles on Monday in what analysts said was a calculated move to grab attention as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits South Korea for talks.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the test firing of a "new-type surface-to-sea missile", state media reported Thursday, part of a purported fresh drive to ramp up maritime border security.

North Korea's rubber-stamp parliament has voted to abolish laws on economic cooperation with the South, state media said Thursday, as relations between the two neighbours hit new lows.

Barely two weeks into 2024, tensions on the Korean Peninsula are rapidly escalating, as IFIMES Institute was periodically writing.

Kim Jong Un threatened South Korea with war if "even 0.001 mm" of the North's territory is violated, as Pyongyang abolished agencies that oversaw cooperation and reunification, state media said Tuesday.

South Korea faced a tense situation as North Korea fired approximately 200 artillery shells into waters off its western coast. This abrupt aggression led to an emergency evacuation order for civilians on the border islands of Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong. The Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed the artillery firings, breaching the maritime buffer zone that aimed to reduce border tensions.

North Korea fired more than 200 artillery shells near two South Korean islands on Friday, Seoul's defence ministry said, warning the actions threatened peace and it would respond.

Residents on the two islands were ordered to evacuate, in one of the most serious military escalations between the two Koreas since the North fired a barrage of shells at one of the islands in 2010.

The news was announced today by North Korean state media, after Pyongyang announced that it will deploy stronger armed forces and new weapons along the border with South Korea.
During a visit to North Korea's Air Force Command on Air Force Day on Thursday, Kim presented guidelines for improving the military's combat capabilities, the KCNA news agency reported.

A US soldier under disciplinary action has fled to North Korea across the border with South Korea, Reuters reported, citing US officials.

North Korea was silent about the highly unusual entry of an American soldier across the Koreas' heavily fortified border although it test-fired short-range missiles Wednesday in its latest weapons display.