NK weekly-inter-Korean news
Summary of inter-Korean news this week
SEOUL, Oct. 25 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of inter-Korean news this week.
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(2nd LD) N. Korea launches around 20 leaflet-carrying balloons toward S. Korea
SEOUL -- North Korea launched about 20 balloons carrying propaganda leaflets criticizing President Yoon Suk Yeol toward South Korea early Thursday, the South's military said, in the resumption of its balloon campaign after a five-day hiatus.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it discovered more than 10 trash bundles carrying the leaflets in the broader Seoul area after the latest launch. No hazardous substances had been detected after an analysis.
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Abductee families' group vows to send leaflets to Pyongyang next week
SUWON, South Korea -- A group representing the families of those abducted by North Korea vowed Thursday to fly leaflets into North Korea next week, aiming to raise awareness about the abductee issue.
About 100,000 leaflets bearing the names and photos of abductees in North Korea will be sent across the border from the western border city of Paju sometime next week, the group said in a press conference in Suwon, south of Seoul.
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(2nd LD) Defense chief calls N. Korean troops in Russia 'cannon fodder mercenaries'
SEOUL -- Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun on Thursday called North Korean troops being sent to Russia in an apparent support of its war in Ukraine as "cannon fodder mercenaries," accusing the North's leader Kim Jong-un of selling his army "for an illegal war of aggression."
Kim made the remarks during a parliamentary audit session, a day after the National Intelligence Service told lawmakers around 3,000 North Korean soldiers are believed to have been sent to Russia to support its ongoing war with Ukraine.
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(LEAD) N. Korean leaflets criticizing Yoon, first lady land in Seoul's presidential compound
SEOUL -- Trash carried by a North Korean balloon landed in the presidential compound in Seoul on Thursday, the presidential office said, which included leaflets criticizing President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee.
The South Korean military said earlier that North Korea launched more balloons toward its territory early Thursday, warning they might drift toward the Seoul metropolitan area and the border areas.
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N. Korea installing unidentified structures on disconnected inter-Korean road: source
SEOUL -- North Korea is building unidentified structures on an eastern inter-Korean road that it blew up last week, a source said Thursday, amid heightened cross-border tensions over the North's border activities.
Last Tuesday, North Korea blew up sections of the eastern Donghae Line and the western Gyeongui Line, just north of the border, days after vowing to cut off all roads and railways linked to the South and build front-line defense structures.
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(3rd LD) N. Korea so far sent 3,000 soldiers to Russia; total 10,000 to be dispatched by Dec.: NIS
SEOUL -- Around 3,000 North Korean soldiers were believed to have been sent to Russia so far to support its ongoing war with Ukraine, with a total of 10,000 expected to be deployed by December, South Korea's spy agency said Wednesday.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) shared the information with lawmakers during a closed-door meeting of the parliamentary intelligence committee, according to officials.
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(2nd LD) S. Korea urges 'immediate' withdrawal of N. Korean troops from Russia
SEOUL -- South Korea strongly urged Russia on Monday to take "immediate" action to withdraw North Korean troops from the war in Ukraine, after Seoul's spy agency confirmed the North's deployment of its soldiers to Russia to help the war effort.
First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun called in Russian Ambassador to Seoul Georgy Zinoviev to deliver the government's "grave stance" and "strongly call for the immediate withdrawal of North Korean troops and stop relevant cooperation" with Pyongyang, the foreign ministry said in a release.
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