NK weekly-inter-Korean news
Summary of inter-Korean news this week
SEOUL, Aug. 18 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of inter-Korean news this week.
------------
No detection of suspected bombing attack near Pyongyang: Seoul spy agency
SEOUL -- South Korea's spy agency said Friday it has not detected the occurrence of a suspected terrorist bombing attack near Pyongyang but is monitoring related situations.
Citing a source familiar with North Korea's situation, the Donga Ilbo, a local newspaper, reported that there were signs of a suspected terrorist attack involving an explosive in the vicinity of the North's capital one or two months earlier.
------------
(2nd LD) N. Korea preparing ICBM launch or other provocations for S. Korea-U.S.-Japan summit: spy agency
SEOUL -- North Korea is preparing to carry out various military provocations, including the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), on the occasion of the upcoming trilateral summit among South Korea, the United States and Japan or the South Korea-U.S. military exercise, a lawmaker said Thursday.
Rep. Yoo Sang-bum of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) made the remarks, citing what the National Intelligence Service (NIS) reported to a closed session of the parliamentary intelligence committee.
------------
(LEAD) N. Korean leader bolsters personality cult with use of title 'President': Seoul
SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has reduced his public activity in recent years but has accelerated his personality cult by using the title reserved for the country's late founder, South Korea's unification ministry said Thursday.
Kim was referred to with the title "President" on 26 occasions in state media reports in the first seven months of this year, up from 23 in 2022, according to data from the ministry. The figure was also up from 16 occasions in 2021 and four in 2020.
------------
Unification minister calls on Beijing not to repatriate N. Korean defectors staying in China
SEOUL -- South Korea's unification minister on Wednesday asked for China's cooperation in not repatriating North Koreans who have been arrested in China after fleeing the North, stressing that such people should be recognized as "refugees."
Minister Kim Yung-ho made the remarks during a seminar in Seoul amid concerns that China could return a huge number of North Korean defectors to their home country against their will if the secretive regime opens up its border with China after years of its self-imposed COVID-19 restrictions.
(END)
(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved
