Summary of external news of North Korea this week

NK weekly-external news

Summary of external news of North Korea this week

SEOUL, Nov. 24 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of external news of North Korea this week.

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S. Korea, Britain issue joint advisory on N.K. hacking attempts

SEOUL -- Spy agencies of South Korea and Britain on Thursday issued a joint warning against North Korea's hacking attempts on software supply chains frequently used by companies and individuals, officials said.

The National Cyber Security Center under South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) and the National Cyber Security Centre under Britain's Government Communications Headquarters said they have officially identified cases of North Korean hacking groups' supply chain attacks.

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(LEAD) NIS says Russia's help was behind N. Korea's successful satellite launch

SEOUL -- North Korea is believed to have received technological assistance from Russia for this week's successful launch of a military spy satellite, South Korea's intelligence agency was quoted as saying Thursday.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) gave the assessment during a closed-door meeting of the parliamentary intelligence committee, saying it believes the North's satellite has successfully entered into orbit, according to Rep. Yoo Sang-bum of the ruling People Power Party.

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U.S. says S. Korea's partial suspension of 2018 inter-Korean military accord 'prudent,' 'restrained' move

WASHINGTON -- The United States regards South Korea's partial suspension of a 2018 inter-Korean military tension reduction agreement as a "prudent" and "restrained" response to North Korea's repeated violations of it, the State Department said Wednesday.

South Korea suspended part of the Comprehensive Military Agreement (CMA) on Wednesday (Korea time) in response to Pyongyang's launch of a space rocket Tuesday. North Korea said later that it will "never be bound" by it and deploy "more powerful armed forces and new-type military hardware" along the inter-Korean border.

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IAEA chief notes 'strong' water release from N. Korea's Yongbyon nuclear reactor

WASHINGTON/GENEVA -- The U.N. nuclear watchdog chief has reported a "strong" water outflow from a reactor's cooling system at North Korea's key nuclear complex in Yongbyon, hinting at the possible test-running of the facility suspected to be designed to produce more fissile material for nuclear bombs.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi explained his agency's observation of the light water reactor (LWR) at the nuclear complex, 100 kilometers north of Pyongyang, during the agency's Board of Governors meeting in Vienna on Wednesday (local time).

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(LEAD) S. Korea plans naval drills with U.S., Japan involving aircraft carrier: defense chief

SEOUL -- Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said Wednesday South Korea plans to hold joint maritime drills with the United States and Japan involving a U.S. aircraft carrier to bolster military readiness and show their resolve against North Korea's provocations.

Shin visited the USS Carl Vinson, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier currently docked in Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, a day after North Korea claimed it successfully placed a spy satellite into orbit in its third launch following two failed attempts earlier this year.

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(3rd LD) USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier arrives in Busan in show of force

SEOUL -- The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier arrived at a naval base in the southeastern city of Busan on Tuesday, South Korea's Navy said, hours after North Korea notified Japan of a plan to launch a space rocket in the coming days.

The nuclear-powered vessel of Carrier Strike Group 1 entered the naval base in Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, in a show of U.S. military might amid heightened tensions over North Korea's plan to launch the rocket between Wednesday and Dec. 1.

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(LEAD) Tours to Panmunjom to partially resume after 4-month hiatus

SEOUL -- A tour program to the truce village of Panmunjom on the inter-Korean border will partially resume this week, the unification ministry said Tuesday.

The move came a day after Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho met with Gen. Paul LaCamera, chief of the United Nations Command (UNC), to discuss how to boost cooperation with the command, an enforcer of the Armistice Agreement that halted the 1950-53 Korean War.

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N. Korea may launch spy satellite 'within a week or so': defense minister

SEOUL -- North Korea may launch its military spy satellite as early as "within a week or so," South Korea's defense minister said Sunday, citing intelligence of the North's preparations.

Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said the launch could take place before South Korea launches its first indigenous reconnaissance satellite on Falcon 9, U.S. aerospace company SpaceX's two-stage rocket, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Nov. 30.

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