NK weekly-domestic news
Summary of domestic news in North Korea this week
SEOUL, Aug. 25 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of domestic news in North Korea this week.
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N. Korea's premier sends congratulatory message to new Thai leader
SEOUL -- North Korean Premier Kim Tok-hun has sent a congratulatory message to Thailand's new prime minister, Srettha Thavisin, state media reported Friday, marking his first public activity since the North's leader Kim Jong-un scolded him over recent flood damage.
Earlier this week, the North's leader berated the premier for his "irresponsible" attitude in failing to prevent damage to farmland from the recent typhoon.
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N. Korea slams S. Korea-U.S.-Japan summit as 'Asian version of NATO'
SEOUL -- North Korea on Thursday denounced the trilateral agreement among South Korea, the United States, and Japan as "the Asian version of NATO," and the U.S. scheme to encircle Russia and China.
Pyongyang's defense minister, Kang Sun-nam, issued a statement after the leaders of Seoul, Washington and Tokyo held a trilateral summit at Camp David last week, and agreed to beef up cooperation to deal with North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.
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N. Korea says Japan should immediately retract discharge of treated radioactive water
SEOUL -- North Korea said Thursday that Japan should immediately halt the release of treated radioactive water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea.
In a statement carried by the North's official Korea Central News Agency, a spokesperson for its foreign ministry said the act devastates the earth's environment, and seriously threatens the security and survival of mankind.
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(2nd LD) N. Korea says 2nd attempt to launch spy satellite fails: state media
SEOUL -- North Korea said Thursday its second attempt to launch a spy satellite has ended in failure, citing "an error in the emergency blasting system during the third-stage flight."
Pyongyang said it launched the spy satellite, the Malligyong-1, mounted on a new type of rocket named the Chollima-1, but that it failed due to a problem that is "not a big issue in aspect of the reliability of cascade engines and the system," according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
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(4th LD) Claimed N. Korean space rocket launch ends in failure: S. Korean military
SEOUL -- North Korea's claimed space rocket launch ended in failure early Thursday, the South Korean military said, the second such botched attempt following its earlier failure in May.
The assessment by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) came soon after the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said its second launch of a "military reconnaissance satellite" failed due to an error in the emergency blasting system during the third-stage flight, vowing to conduct another launch in October.
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N. Korea joins China trade fair in another sign of border reopening
SHENYANG, China -- North Korea opened booths for visitors at a Chinese trade fair Wednesday, in another sign the North is reopening its border after more than three years of strict COVID-19 restrictions.
North Korea's participation at the 14th China-Northeast Asia Expo in Changchun, the capital city of China's Jilin province, which shares a border with the North, came a day after a North Korean commercial flight arrived in Beijing.
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(LEAD) N. Korean airliner arrives in Beijing in 1st post-COVID-19 commercial flight
BEIJING -- A flight operated by Air Koryo, North Korea's national carrier, arrived in Beijing on Tuesday, marking the resumption of commercial flights connecting the two countries after a hiatus of more than 3 1/2 years caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The JS151 flight, which departed from Sunan International Airport in Pyongyang, arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport at 9:17 a.m., earlier than its estimated time of arrival of 9:50 a.m.
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(LEAD) N. Korea's Kim scolds premier for 'irresponsible' attitude over flood damage
SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un berated the country's premier over his "irresponsible" attitude in not preventing damage to farmland from the recent typhoon, as Kim inspected a flooded area, the North's state media reported Tuesday.
Kim also criticized the cabinet of Premier Kim Tok-hun for "spoiling" economic plans, saying that administrative and economic rules have "got out of order more seriously," according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
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(2nd LD) N. Korea intends to launch satellite between Aug. 24 and 31: Kyodo
SEOUL -- North Korea has notified Japan of its plan to launch a satellite between Thursday and Aug. 31, according to a Japanese news report, as the country seeks to put a spy satellite into orbit following its failure in May.
The North informed Japan's coast guard of its plan to designate three maritime danger zones -- two of which are west of the Korean Peninsula and the other is to the east of the Philippines' island of Luzon, Japan's Kyodo News reported Tuesday.
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N. Korea slams S. Korea-U.S. military drills, warns of outbreak of 'thermonuclear war'
SEOUL -- North Korea denounced South Korea and the United States on Tuesday for staging their annual joint military exercise, warning that the drills could trigger an unprecedented "thermonuclear war" on the Korean Peninsula.
The North also accused Seoul, Washington and Tokyo of holding their trilateral summit at Camp David last week to adopt a series of documents to "detail, plan and formulate" nuclear war provocations, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a commentary.
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(4th LD) N. Korean leader inspects cruise missile test as S. Korea-U.S. military drills begin
SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited a navy unit and inspected a cruise missile test aboard a warship, Pyongyang's state media reported Monday, as South Korea and the United States began their annual joint military drills.
The North's leader visited the Navy flotilla tasked with defending the east coast and watched the seamen on a patrol ship stage a launching drill of "strategic" cruise missiles, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, without disclosing the date of his visit.
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