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Tag: Korea

North Korea vows to expand nuclear forces, blasts US for ‘outdated’ denuclearization plan

North Korea on Tuesday vowed to expand its nuclear forces under Kim Jong Un and criticized the U.S. and its neighbors in Asia for pushing a denuclearization plan against the authoritarian regime.

North Korea’s foreign ministry denounced the joint pledge between the U.S., South Korea and Japan as an “outdated, absurd plan” and warned of “overwhelming and decisive counteraction” against its rivals who threaten its security.

“As long as the U.S. and its vassal forces’ hostile threat exists, the DPRK’s nukes are means for defending peace and sovereignty and a means for legitimate self-defense entrusted by the constitution of the state,” an unnamed ministry spokesperson said in a statement picked up by the North’s Korean Central News Agency, Reuters reported.

The criticism comes after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi met during a security conference in Germany and reaffirmed their commitment to the Hermit Kingdom’s “complete denuclearization” and maintaining sanctions on the country’s weapons program.

TRUMP MUST NOT REPEAT HIS KIM JONG UN MISTAKE WITH IRAN, SECURITY EXPERT WARNS

North Korea’s foreign ministry vowed to expand its nuclear forces under Kim Jong Un, pictured, and criticized the U.S. and its neighbors in Asia for pushing a denuclearization plan against the authoritarian regime. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

The countries also agreed to bolster defense and deterrence, including by expanding three-way military exercises and strengthening Japan and South Korea’s military capabilities, according to a joint statement released after the meeting.

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 7, 2025. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

President Donald Trump hosted Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House earlier this month and said the U.S. will have relations with the North Korean regime of dictator Kim Jong Un.

NORTH KOREA SLAMS RUBIO’S ‘ROGUE STATE’ LABEL AS ‘NONSENSE,’ VOWS TO PUSH BACK AGAINST TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

“We will have relations with North Korea, with Kim Jong Un. I get along with them very well,” Trump told reporters alongside Ishiba.

President Donald Trump first met with Kim Jong Un in Singapore in June 2018, during his first term as president. (AP/Evan Vucci)

Trump, who first met Kim in 2018 in Singapore and became the first sitting president to meet with the leader of North Korea, is looking to build off his personal diplomacy he established with Kim during his first term.

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Trump met Kim again in 2019 and became the first president to step foot inside North Korean territory from the demilitarized zone.

Fox News Digital’s Chris Massaro and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

February 18, 2025
President Trump says ‘we will have relations with North Korea’; ‘big asset’ that he gets along with Kim

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President Donald Trump hosted Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House Friday and said the U.S. will have relations with the North Korean regime of dictator Kim Jong Un.

“We will have relations with North Korea, with Kim Jong Un. I get along with them very well,” Trump told reporters alongside Ishiba.

Trump, who first met Kim in 2018 in Singapore and became the first sitting president to meet with the leader of North Korea, is looking to build off his personal diplomacy he established with Kim during his first term.

NORTH KOREAN SOLDIERS IN RUSSIA RESORT TO SUICIDE AMID CAPTURE OF FIRST POWS BY UKRAINE

President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference with Japan’s Prime Minister, Shigeru Ishiba, at the White House Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

“We had a good relationship. And I think it’s a very big asset for everybody that I do get along with them,” the president said.

Trump met Kim again in 2019 and became the first president to step foot inside North Korean territory from the demilitarized zone.

Trump said Japan would welcome renewed dialogue with North Korea because relations between Japan and North Korea remain tense since diplomatic relations have never been established.

“And I can tell you that Japan likes the idea because their relationship is not very good with him,” Trump said.

NORTH KOREA SLAMS RUBIO’S ‘ROGUE STATE’ LABEL AS ‘NONSENSE,’ VOWS TO PUSH BACK AGAINST TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

President Donald Trump met with Kim Jong Un in Singapore in June 2018 during his first term as president. (AP/Evan Vucci)

Ishiba said it’s a positive development Trump and Kim met during Trump’s first term. And now that he has returned to power, the U.S., Japan and its allies can move toward resolving issues with North Korea, including denuclearization.

“Japan and U.S. will work together toward the complete denuclearization of North Korea,” Ishiba added.

Prime Minister Ishiba also addressed a grievance involving the abduction of Japanese citizens by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s. Although North Korea released some of the prisoners in the early 2000s, Pyongyang never provided Japan with any explanation for the abduction of its citizens, and there can be no normalization of relations between Japan and North Korea until the issue is resolved.

“And so our time is limited,” Ishiba warned.

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“So, I don’t know if the president of the United States, if President Trump is able to resolve this issue. We do understand that it’s a Japan issue, first and foremost. Having said that, we would love to continue to cooperate with them,” the prime minister added.

February 7, 2025
North Korea slams Rubio’s ‘rogue state’ label as ‘nonsense’

North Korea is criticizing Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s description of the country as a “rogue state,” calling it “nonsense” while vowing to take “tough counteraction” to any provocations from the Trump administration.

Rubio made the remark last week during an appearance on “The Megyn Kelly Show,” where he was speaking about the goals of U.S. foreign policy.

“It’s not normal for the world to simply have a unipolar power. That was not – that was an anomaly. It was a product of the end of the Cold War, but eventually you were going to reach back to a point where you had a multipolar world, multi-great powers in different parts of the planet. We face that now with China and to some extent Russia, and then you have rogue states like Iran and North Korea you have to deal with,” Rubio said, according to the State Department.

North Korea’s foreign ministry said in response that Rubio “talked nonsense by terming the DPRK a ‘rogue state’ while enumerating the foreign policy of the new U.S. administration.”

TRUMP’S ‘DENUCLEARIZATION’ SUGGESTION WITH RUSSIA AND CHINA: HOW WOULD IT WORK?

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service/AP/Mark Schiefelbein)

“The Foreign Ministry of the DPRK deems the U.S. State Secretary’s hostile remarks to thoughtlessly tarnish the image of a sovereign state as a grave political provocation totally contrary to the principle of international law which regards respect for sovereignty and non-interference in other’s internal affairs as its core and strongly denounces and rejects it,” read a statement published by North Korean state media.

“Rubio’s coarse and nonsensical remarks only show directly the incorrect view of the new U.S. administration on the DPRK and will never help promote the U.S. interests as he wishes,” the statement added, taking a swipe at the Trump administration.

NORTH KOREAN SOLDIERS IN RUSSIA RESORT TO SUICIDE AMID CAPTURE OF FIRST POWS BY UKRAINE

President Donald Trump, right, met with Kim Jong Un in Singapore in June 2018 during Trump’s first term as president. (AP/Evan Vucci)

“We will never tolerate any provocation of the U.S., which has been always hostile to the DPRK and will be hostile to it in the future, too, but will take tough counteraction corresponding to it as usual,” it concluded.

Rubio said during the interview that “now more than ever, we need to remember that foreign policy should always be about furthering the national interest of the United States and doing so, to the extent possible, avoiding war and armed conflict, which we have seen two times in the last century be very costly.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, waves after being welcomed by Panama’s Foreign Minister Javier Martinez-Acha, left, upon his arrival at the presidential palace in Panama City on Sunday, Feb. 2. Panama is Rubio’s first trip abroad as secretary of State. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)

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“They’re celebrating the 80th anniversary this year of the end of the Second World War. That – I think if you look at the scale and scope of destruction and loss of life that occurred, it would be far worse if we had a global conflict now. It may end life on the planet,” he also said. “And it sounds like hyperbole, but that’s – you have multiple countries now who have the capability to end life on Earth. And so we need to really work hard to avoid armed conflict as much as possible, but never at the expense of our national interest. So that’s the tricky balance.”

Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.

February 3, 2025
Impeached South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol indicted on insurrection charges

South Korean prosecutors have indicted impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on charges of leading a rebellion after he briefly imposed martial law last month, according to the country’s opposition party, as well as several South Korean media reports.

Yoon, a conservative, has presidential immunity from most criminal prosecutions, but the privilege does not extend to allegations of rebellion or treason. By law in South Korea, the leader of a rebellion can face life in prison or the death penalty.

“The prosecution has decided to indict Yoon Suk Yeol, who is facing charges of being a ringleader of insurrection,” Democratic Party spokesman Han Min-soo said at a press conference, according to Reuters. “The punishment of the ringleader of insurrection now begins finally.”

The move announced Sunday makes Yoon the first sitting South Korean president to face an indictment and criminal investigation, according to the Washington Post.

Yoon became the second conservative president to be impeached in South Korea when the opposition-led parliament voted to suspend his duties on Dec. 14.

IMPEACHED SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT DETAINED WEEKS AFTER MARTIAL LAW CHAOS

South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, attends the fourth hearing of his impeachment trial over his short-lived imposition of martial law at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, on Jan. 23, 2025. (Jeon Heon Kyun/Pool Photo via AP)

He was arrested earlier this month over his Dec. 3, 2024, martial law decree that plunged Asia’s fourth-largest economy and a key U.S. ally into political turmoil. Yoon has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing, calling his martial law a legitimate act of governance meant to raise public awareness of the danger of the liberal-controlled National Assembly, which obstructed his agenda and impeached top officials.

In declaring martial law, Yoon called the assembly “a den of criminals” and vowed to eliminate “shameless North Korea followers and anti-state forces.”

He sent troops and police officers to the assembly, but enough lawmakers still managed to enter an assembly chamber to vote down Yoon’s decree unanimously, forcing his Cabinet to lift it.

Though Yoon rescinded the decree after just six hours, the martial law imposition was the first of its kind in South Korea in more than 40 years and evoked painful memories of past dictatorial rules in the 1960s-80s.

Yoon had resisted efforts by investigative authorities to question or detain him. After a days-long standoff between his security detail and authorities, Yoon was then apprehended on Jan. 15 in a massive law enforcement operation at his presidential compound, becoming the first sitting South Korean president to be arrested. Yoon, a former prosecutor himself, has been held in solitary confinement since then, according to Reuters.

Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attend a rally to oppose his impeachment near the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, on Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

SOUTH KOREA’S IMPEACHED PRESIDENT AVOIDS ARREST ATTEMPT AFTER HOURSLONG STANDOFF

After a local court on Jan. 19 approved a formal arrest warrant to extend Yoon’s detainment, dozens of his supporters stormed the court building, destroying windows, doors and other property, according to the Associated Press. They also attacked police officers with bricks, steel pipes and other objects. The violence left 17 police officers injured, and police said they detained 46 protesters.

Separate from criminal judicial proceedings, the Constitutional Court is now deliberating whether to formally dismiss Yoon as president or reinstate him.

Leading Yoon’s investigation was the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, but since his detainment Yoon has refused to attend CIO’s questioning, saying it has no legal authority to investigate rebellion allegations. The CIO has said it can investigate Yoon’s rebellion allegation as it’s related to his abuse of power and other allegations.

Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attend a rally to oppose his impeachment in Seoul, South Korea, on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

The CIO handed over Yoon’s case to the Seoul prosecutors’ office Friday and asked it to indict him on rebellion, abuse of power and obstruction of the National Assembly.

In a statement Saturday, Yoon’s defense team urged prosecutors to immediately release Yoon and launch an investigation into the CIO.

South Korean media outlets, including Yonhap news agency, reported on Sunday that the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Yoon on rebellion charges.

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Yoon’s defense minister, police chief and several other military commanders have already been arrested over their roles in the martial law decree.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Danielle Wallace is a breaking news and politics reporter at Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on X: @danimwallace.

January 26, 2025