Summary of domestic news in North Korea this week

NK weekly-domestic news

Summary of domestic news in North Korea this week

SEOUL, Nov. 8 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of domestic news in North Korea this week.

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(LEAD) (US election) N. Korea silent on Trump's presidential victory

SEOUL -- North Korea's state media on Thursday remained silent about former U.S. President Donald Trump's election victory for his second presidential term, with speculation rising that the North's leader Kim Jong-un may send a congratulatory message directly to Trump.

The Republican flag-bearer won Tuesday's presidential election, becoming the second U.S. president ever to serve two nonconsecutive terms, after winning major battleground states, including Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina.

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(3rd LD) N. Korea fires multiple short-range ballistic missiles just ahead of U.S. election

SEOUL -- North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea on Tuesday, South Korea's military said, in the latest saber-rattling just hours ahead of the U.S. presidential election.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launches at about 7:30 a.m. from the Sariwon area in the western province of North Hwanghae, and they flew about 400 kilometers before splashing into the sea.

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(LEAD) N. Korean leader urges completion of flood rehabilitation before Dec. party meeting

SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has inspected flood-hit areas and called for expediting rehabilitation to ensure its completion before a plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in December, state media reported Tuesday.

The visit on Monday to North Phyongan Province, reported by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), marked Kim's third inspection of the site of flood recovery work in the region, where heavy rains caused large-scale flooding in late July, also affecting Jagang and Ryangang provinces.

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N.K. leader's sister says S. Korea-U.S.-Japan air drills justify North's bolstering of nuclear forces

SEOUL -- The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un lambasted the recent joint air drills staged by South Korea, the United States and Japan, claiming they validate her country's policy of bolstering its nuclear forces, the North's state media said Tuesday.

Involving a U.S. B-1B bomber and fighter jets, South Korea, the U.S. and Japan conducted joint air drills Sunday over waters east of South Korea's Jeju Island in response to North Korea's test-firing of the new Hwasong-19 intercontinental ballistic missile last week.

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