NK weekly-inter-Korean news
Summary of inter-Korean news this week
SEOUL, Jan. 27 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of inter-Korean news this week.
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(LEAD) S. Korea to seek normalization of relations with N. Korea this year: unification ministry
SEOUL -- South Korea will push to "normalize" inter-Korean relations this year by seeking to make both "direct and indirect" contact with North Korea, including supporting civilian exchanges, Seoul's unification ministry said Friday.
In its report to President Yoon Suk Yeol on major tasks for 2023, the ministry handling inter-Korean affairs laid out seven key policy objectives focused on improving frosty ties with the North and laying the groundwork for reunification.
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Military says it initially regarded N.K. drone intrusion as non-emergency situation
SEOUL -- South Korea's front-line troops initially viewed North Korea's drone infiltrations last month as a non-emergency situation, an assessment that caused a delay in the military's overall response, Seoul officials said Thursday.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) briefed the National Assembly's defense committee on an interim outcome of its inspection of the botched operation against five North Korean drones that violated the South's airspace on Dec. 26.
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Military blames 'insufficient' threat perception, equipment, training for failure to shoot down N.K. drones
SEOUL -- The South Korean military has cited "insufficiencies" in its threat perception, internal information-sharing, equipment and training for its botched operation to shoot down North Korean drones last month, informed sources said Wednesday.
Ahead of the National Assembly's full defense committee session set for Thursday, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) briefed its lawmakers on the outcome of its weekslong inspection of the operation against the five North Korean drones that violated the South's airspace on Dec. 26.
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9 N. Korean workers in Russia defected to S. Korea last year: source
SEOUL -- Nine North Korean workers dispatched to Russia for dollar earnings defected to South Korea late last year amid Moscow's protracted war with Ukraine, a source said Wednesday.
The North Koreans, all men aged between 20s and 50s, came to the South in December 2022 and have been receiving education at the state-run resettlement center for the North's defectors, according to the source who requested anonymity.
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