Summary of external news of North Korea this week

NK weekly-external news

Summary of external news of North Korea this week

SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of external news of North Korea this week.

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Inequality worsening in N. Korea's capital, rural areas: ministry

SEOUL -- The economic gap between Pyongyang and North Korea's provincial areas appears to be further widening in terms of food rationing, housing and health services, South Korea's unification ministry said Friday.

The assessment came as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has vowed to develop the regional industrial economy by building modernized factories in 20 counties each year over the next decade.

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(LEAD) U.S. not seeing indications of 'direct' N. Korean threat at this time: Washington official

WASHINGTON -- The United States is not seeing indications of a direct military threat from North Korea at the moment, a U.S. official said Thursday, after Washington officials were reported to have warned North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could take some "lethal" military action against South Korea in the coming months.

Earlier in the day, The New York Times (NYT) reported on the possibility of the North's military action as concerns rose over Kim's pugnacious rhetoric against the South and his regime's repeated weapons tests, including this week's launch of what it claimed to be a new strategic cruise missile.

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(LEAD) (News Focus) Tough N.K. rhetoric stirs debate over its intentions, provocation possibility

WASHINGTON -- North Korea's pugnacious rhetoric and unceasing weapons tests are raising tricky questions over whether it is inclined towards preparing for major provocations or cross-border conflict, amid the protracted absence of dialogue with South Korea and the United States.

Some U.S. scholars have stressed the need to take the North's rhetoric more seriously given the shifting security landscape marked by burgeoning cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow, while others dismissed it as an apparent move to reassert its military presence and promote internal cohesion among other reasons.

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N. Korea-linked hackers stole US$1 billion worth of crypto from record 20 attacks last year: report

WASHINGTON -- North Korea-linked hackers stole US$1 billion worth of cryptocurrency through 20 attacks last year, a report by an analysis firm showed Wednesday, marking the highest number of their hacks since record-keeping began in 2016.

The report by Chainalysis showed the 2023 figure -- a drop in the value of stolen crypto from the previous year but a rise in the number of hacking incidents. In 2022, North Korea-linked hackers stole some $1.7 billion from 15 hacks.

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N. Korea attempts to use generative AI for hacking attacks: spy agency

SEOUL -- South Korea's state intelligence agency has detected signs that North Korea tried to incorporate generative artificial intelligence (AI) into its hacking attacks and other illicit cyber activities, officials said Wednesday.

"Recently, it has been confirmed that North Korean hackers use generative AI to search for hacking targets and search for technologies needed for hacking," a senior official at the National Intelligence Service (NIS) told reporters.

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S. Korea's top nuclear envoy stresses need to cut off N.K. funding channels at EU meeting

SEOUL -- South Korea's chief nuclear envoy has called for joint efforts with the European Union to block North Korea from earning money through illicit channels, such as cyberactivities, as a means to fund its nuclear and missile development, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.

Kim Gunn, special representative for the Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, made the call during a visit to the EU headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday (local time), taking note of the North's recent belligerence and missile provocations that pose serious risks to the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and Europe.

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S. Korea urges China to protect N.K. defectors' human rights at U.N. review

GENEVA -- South Korea on Tuesday recommended China protect the human rights of North Koreans who defected to the communist neighbor at a United Nations review session here.

Yun Seong-deok, South Korean ambassador to the U.N. office in Geneva, called on Beijing to provide North Korean defectors with the required protections and humanitarian support at China's fourth universal periodic review (UPR) held under the auspices of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

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Defector-turned-lawmaker proposes designating commemorative day for N.K. defectors

SEOUL -- Rep. Tae Young-ho, a North Korean defector-turned-lawmaker of the ruling People Power Party, said Tuesday he has proposed a bill calling for the designation of a commemorative day for North Korean defectors.

Tae said in a Facebook post that he has submitted the proposed revision to the Act On The Protection And Settlement Support Of Residents Escaping From North Korea that was first enacted in 1997.

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S. Korean envoy lambasts N. Korea-Russia cooperation, UNSC resolution breach

WASHINGTON -- South Korea's top envoy to the U.N. renewed Seoul's criticism of arms transactions between North Korea and Russia during a U.N. Security Council (UNSC) meeting on Monday, as Russia's top diplomat shifted the blame to the West for the prolonging of the war in Ukraine.

South Korean Ambassador Hwang Joon-kook called the weapons transfers between Pyongyang and Moscow "direct" violations of UNSC resolutions during the meeting on the war in Ukraine, where Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized the West's weapons support to Ukraine.

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U.S. flies spy plane after N. Korea's test of underwater nuclear attack drone

SEOUL -- A U.S. surveillance aircraft flew over South Korea on Monday, aviation trackers showed, on an apparent mission to monitor North Korea following its claimed test of an underwater nuclear attack drone.

The U.S. Air Force's RC-135W Rivet Joint was spotted in skies above the city of Incheon, just west of Seoul, and the adjacent Gyeonggi Province, Gangwon Province as well as the eastern and western coasts, according to multiple flight trackers.

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