South Korea is holding a rare hearing into the detention of 12 North Koreans who defected to the South.
A group of human rights lawyers – Lawyers for a Democratic Society – who requested the hearing want to determine whether South Korea’s continuing detention of the women is legal.
The North Koreans, who worked as waitresses at a North Korea-run restaurant in China, arrived in Seoul in April.
Seoul said they came of their own free will, while Pyongyang maintains they were abducted.
The hearing will not be public and it is unclear if the women will be present to give their testimony, but it could set a precedent for how South Korea deals with the hundreds of defectors it receives every year.
The defectors have not spoken in public and the South Korean government has indicated that they don’t want to.
Some of their relatives and friends in North Korea have given interviews. According to the Associated Press which has a bureau in Pyongyang, Ri Gum-suk, the mother of one of the workers, So Kyong-ah, said all the parents were heartbroken.
Her husband, So Thae-song told AP: “They say our children defected, making their own free decision, but then why don’t they put our children in front of us parents? I want to hear the words from my lovely daughter. Why don’t they let her meet us? They say they defected willingly as a group. I can’t accept this”.
According to the AP, the interviews were unforced though the interviewees may well have been rehearsed by the authorities in Pyongyang.
The usual procedure when North Koreans defect to South Korea is for them to be accommodated in special centers.
They are questioned by the intelligence service to ascertain whether they are spies, and they are also given courses in how to negotiate life in South Korea – how to get a job, how to use a bank account, etc.
Many North Korean defectors find the transition hard. Suicide rates among defectors are higher than among the general population.
Lawyers for a Democratic Society says it “strives to further the development of democracy in Korea through litigation, research, and investigation”.
The group says it is “dedicated to increasing public awareness and collaborating in joint activities to protect basic human rights and attain social justice”.
Lawyers for a Democratic Society has more than 900 members who are prominent lawyers.
It is fair to say that they are not naturally sympathetic to the current right-of-centre government but their prime concern is the protection of democratic rights.
According to South Korean media, the group of lawyers obtained power-of-attorney from the defectors’ families in North Korea for the hearing.
About a thousand people defect every year from North Korea. The number has fallen in recent years as North Korea’s economy has improved.
Most get over the porous border with China and the indications are that the Chinese authorities are more lenient than they used to be.
These waitresses had visas to be in China because they were working openly there, so the usual argument of the Beijing authorities – that they should simply be returned to North Korea as illegal migrants – didn’t hold.
US citizen Kim Dong-chul has been sentenced to 10 years of hard labor in North Korea.
Kim Dong-chul, who was born in South Korea, was arrested in October 2015 after being accused of spying.
In March, the 62-year-old had made an apparent confession in Pyongyang in front of reporters, saying he was paid by South Korean intelligence officers.
The US has previously accused North Korea of using its citizens as pawns in a diplomatic game. The North Korean government denies the accusations.
Last month, US student Otto Frederick Warmbier was jailed for 15 years for stealing a propaganda sign and “crimes against the state”.
North Korea has previously said Kim Dong-chul had a USB stick containing military and nuclear secrets on him when he was arrested in the special economic zone of Rason.
Kim Dong-chul, who used to live in Virginia, had said he was introduced to South Korean spies by US intelligence officers.
Forced public confessions by foreign prisoners are common in North Korea.
Kim Dong-chul’s imprisonment comes amid a period of high tensions. North Korea has recently conducted a series of missile tests following its fourth nuclear test in January, both of which break UN sanctions.
Pyongyang attempted to launch two mid-range ballistic missiles on April 28 which crashed shortly after their launches, prompting an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.
It is believed North Korea will attempt a fifth nuclear test soon.
The recent burst in activity is thought to be a ramp-up to a rare party congress due to be held on May 6, where leader Kim Jong-un is expected to consolidate power.
President Barack Obama has rejected North Korea’s proposal to halt nuclear tests if the US ceases its annual military exercises with South Korea.
On April 24, Barack Obama told reporters that the US did not take such a proposal seriously and that Pyongyang would “have to do better than that”.
North Korean foreign minister Ri Su-yong made the offer in a rare interview.
Annual military drills conducted by the US and South Korea routinely inflames tensions with North Korea.
Ri Su-yong’s comments came as North Korea said it fired a ballistic missile from a submarine off its eastern coast.
The UN condemned the test, which it called a “serious violation” of past resolutions aimed at curbing North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
International sanctions have been stepped up in the wake of several controversial nuclear and missile tests by North Korea.
The latest allegedly took place last week, with North Korea claiming to have used “cold launch” technology to fire a missile from a submarine, where it is expelled using gas pressure.
North Korea also conducted its fourth nuclear test with a hydrogen bomb in January sparking worldwide condemnation, and claimed last month that it has developed nuclear warheads small enough to fit on ballistic missiles, though experts have disputed such claims.
Analysts believe that North Korea may be gearing up for a fifth nuclear test as a show of strength ahead of the Workers’ Party Congress, the first since 1980.
According to South Korean sources, North Korea appears to have fired a ballistic missile from a submarine off its eastern coast.
It is not clear whether the test was authentic, and if it was, whether it will be considered a success by North Korea.
A successful test would be significant because submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) are hard to detect.
The latest test comes as North Korea gears up for a rare and significant party congress next month.
North Korea is banned from nuclear tests and activities that use ballistic missile technology under UN sanctions dating back to 2006.
A South Korea defense ministry spokesman said: “North Korea launched a projectile which was believed to be a submarine-launched ballistic missile around 6:30 pm in the East Sea (Sea of Japan) near the north-eastern port of Sinpo.”
Photo KCNA
“We are keeping close tabs on the North Korean military and maintaining a full defence posture,” he said.
North Korea has yet to report the test in its own official media. The secretive state has claimed to have carried out similar tests before but some doubt those claims.
The US says photographs supposedly showing one launch in December were manipulated and others think North Korea has fired missiles from submerged platforms, but not submarines.
Regarding this latest test, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the missile travelled about 19 miles, whereas a typical SLBM can travel at least 186 miles.
North Korea has so far conducted four nuclear tests – the first one in October 2006 and the latest in January this year.
The UN Security Council responded to the latter by imposing its strongest sanctions to date over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
In March 2016, North Korea said it had developed nuclear warheads small enough to fit on ballistic missiles, although experts cast doubt on the claims.
Analysts believe North Korea may be gearing up for a fifth test as a show of strength ahead of the North Korean Workers’ Party Congress, the first since 1980.
A senior North Korean spy has defected to South Korea, South Korean officials confirm.
The officer has not been named, but the defense ministry in Seoul said he was a senior colonel in the Reconnaissance General Bureau and left in 2015.
Announcement of defection follows revelation that 13 North Koreans believed to have been working in China had also fled to South Korea. It was the largest group defection since North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, took power in late 2011. South Korean media reported that the restaurant is located in the eastern city of Ningbo.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quoted a source as saying the colonel was seen as an elite among other defectors.
The colonel worked for the North Korean military’s general reconnaissance bureau before defecting, according to Seoul’s defense ministry and unification ministry. Both ministries refused to provide further details including a motive for the defection.
The reconnaissance agency was believed to be behind two deadly attacks blamed on Pyongyang that killed 50 South Koreans in 2010.
There have been occasional reports of lower-level North Korean soldiers defecting but it is unusual for a colonel to flee to South Korea.
More than 29,000 people have fled North Korea since the end of the Korean War, but high level defections are rare.
Some more senior figures have also fled while working overseas.
Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun said South Korea could not release further information on the colonel.
One unnamed official told Yonhap the man was the highest-level military official ever to have defected.
“He is believed to have stated details about the bureau’s operations against South Korea to the authorities here,” said the official.
The Reconnaissance General Bureau handles intelligence gathering and spying operations, as well as cyber warfare, said Yonhap.
The highest-level North Korean who took asylum in South Korea has been Hwang Jang-yop, a senior ruling Workers’ party official who once tutored Kim’s late dictator father, Kim Jong-il. His 1997 defection was hailed as a coup by many South Koreans and a clear sign that North Korea’s political system was inferior to the South’s.
North Korea is jamming GPS signals near the South Korean border, Yonhap news agency reports.
The radio waves have reportedly affected 110 planes and ships, and can cause mobile phones to malfunction.
South Korea’s unification ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee was quoted by AFP news agency as saying it was an “act of provocation”.
Tensions have been high between the two countries since North Korea’s fourth nuclear test in January.
The broadcasts appeared to have started a month ago from various locations along the border, but on March 31 North Korea discharged its largest amount of GPS-jamming signals, according to Yonhap, citing a senior government official.
The South Korean coastguard reported about 70 fishing vessels had been forced to return to port after GPS navigation issues, AFP said. There has been no reported disruption to flights.
According to Yonhap, since 2010 North Korea has been accused of jamming signals at least three other times. It is believed to be using equipment imported from Russia.
Pyongyang has called the allegations “sheer fabrication”.
Since North Korea’s nuclear test in January and subsequent launch of a long-range rocket, South Korea has stepped up security measures including border patrols and allowing the US to fly fighter jets near the border.
In return, North Korea has threatened “indiscriminate” nuclear strikes on the US and South Korea.
According to South Korea’s military, North Korea has fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea.
South Korea said the missiles, launched off the east coast, flew some 300 miles and fell into the water.
Shortly after the launch, Pyongyang announced it “nullifies” all inter-Korean cooperative projects and will liquidate South Korean assets in the country.
Most South Korean assets in North Korea are in the jointly-operated Kaesong industrial zone.
South Korea pulled out of the Kaesong complex in February, after North Korea’s latest long-range missile launch of a satellite. At the time, the North called the shutdown “a declaration of war” and designated Kaesong as a military zone.
On March 9, North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un also claimed scientists have developed nuclear warheads small enough to fit on ballistic missiles.
However, South Korea’s defense ministry said it thought North Korea had “not yet secured miniaturized nuclear warheads”.
Photo Reuters/KCNA
The claim is critical, as without miniaturization Pyongyang cannot put its nuclear weapons on missiles – an ability many analysts think could still be several years away.
In response to the miniaturization claims, State Department spokesman John Kirby said of Kim Jong-un that “the young man needs to pay more attention to the North Korean people and taking care of them, than in pursuing these sorts of reckless capabilities”.
The two missiles launched on March 10 were fired from Hwanghae Province, the South Korean military said. It added that the missiles later fell into the sea off North Korea’s east coast, without providing further details.
Japan promptly lodged a protest to North Korea via its embassy in Beijing, over the latest launches, reported Kyodo news agency.
The missile launches are seen as North Korea’s response to the UN imposing some of its strictest sanctions, after the North conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and last month launched a satellite, both in contravention of existing sanctions.
Tensions have been especially high this week as US and South Korean forces hold their annual joint military exercises known as Key Resolve and Foal Eagle.
This year they are the largest ever, with about 17,000 US personnel and around 300,000 South Korean troops participating – both significant increases on 2015, in addition to increased naval and air force assets.
North Korea has threatened the US and South Korea with nuclear strikes as the two begin their largest ever military drills.
The US and South Korean exercises, Key Resolve and Foal Eagle, are an annual event and always generate tension.
The order for a “pre-emptive nuclear strike of justice” was made in a statement put out by Pyongyang.
Such rhetoric is not uncommon, and experts doubt North Korea’s ability to put nuclear warheads on its missiles.
North Korea says it sees the annual US-South Korean war games as a rehearsal for invasion.
In 2015, North Korea threatened to turn Washington into a “sea of fire”.
“We will launch an all-out offensive to decisively counter the US and its followers’ hysteric[al] nuclear war moves,” a newsreader on the state-run North Korean KRT news channel said of the latest exercises.
Approximately 17,000 US forces are participating in the exercises, alongside around 300,000 South Korean troops – both significant increases on 2015’s numbers.
Despite starting on the same day, Key Resolve is more computer simulation-driven and ends on March 18, while Foal Eagle is more focussed on field exercises and runs until 30 April.
South Korea’s defense ministry has warned Pyongyang against any “rash act that brings destruction upon itself”.
“If North Korea ignores our warning and makes provocations, our military will firmly and mercilessly respond to it,” said spokesman Moon Sang-gyun.
Japan’s foreign minister also demanded that North Korea show restraint.
Though unconfirmed, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, citing military sources, has reported that the exercises will include training for precision attacks on North Korean leadership and its nuclear and missile facilities.
Seoul is expected to announce more sanctions of its own on March 8, which is likely to draw another angry response from Pyongyang.
According to South Korea’s defense ministry, North Korea has fired several short-range projectiles into the sea hours after the UN Security Council unanimously voted to impose some of its strongest ever sanctions against the country.
The projectiles were fired at about 10:00 local time from Wonsan on the east coast, a South Korean spokesman told the Yonhap news agency.
He said they were still trying to determine exactly what was fired.
Yonhap quoted officials as saying all the objects fell into the sea.
The new UN measures are a response to North Korea’s recent nuclear test and satellite launch, both of which violated existing sanctions.
They will result in all cargo going to and from the country being inspected, while 16 new individuals and 12 organizations have been blacklisted.
The US and North Korea’s long-standing ally China spent seven weeks discussing the new sanctions.
President Barack Obama said the international community was “speaking with one voice” to tell the North it “must abandon these dangerous programs and choose a better path for its people”.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye welcomed the sanctions, saying she hoped North Korea “will now abandon its nuclear development program and embark on a path of change”.
North Korea insists its missile program is purely scientific in nature, but the United States, South Korea and even its ally China say such launches like the one which put a satellite in orbit last month are aimed at developing inter-continental ballistic missiles.
North Korea has used 70% of wages earned by workers at Kaesong complex for its weapons program and luxury goods for the elite, South Korea claims.
Last week, South Korea suspended its operations at the jointly-run industrial park following North Korea’s recent rocket and nuclear tests to cut off the money supply.
Pyongyang has called the shutdown “a declaration of war”.
Kaesong was one of the last points of co-operation between the two Koreas.
North Korea reacted to the shutdown by expelling all South Koreans from the complex and freezing the assets of South Korean companies. It has also vowed to cut key communication hotlines with South Korea.
Kaesong saw thousands of North Koreans working for South Korean businesses, making clothing, textiles, car parts and semi-conductors.
On February 14, South Korea’s unification ministry said in a statement the wages, in US dollars, had been paid to the government instead of directly to the workers.
“Any foreign currency earned in North Korea is transferred to the Workers’ Party, where the money is used to develop nuclear weapons or missiles, or to purchase luxury goods,” said Hong Yong-pyo, the unification minister, in a televised interview, referring to Pyongyang’s ruling communist party.
Hong Yong-pyo added that 70% of the money was kept by the North Korean government while workers were given tickets to buy food and essential items, and local currency. The South Korean government cited “multiple channels” as its sources for these claims but did not divulge how it had arrived at the percentage.
South Korea estimates about 616 billion Korean won ($508 million) had been paid to North Korea over the years.
Hong Yong-pyo was quoted by Yonhap news agency as saying that South Korea did not suspend operations earlier at Kaesong because “the international community recognized its significance”, and it shut it down this time because “North Korea was only going to intensify its weapons development, and we needed to make a decisive move to alleviate our people’s security concerns”.
North Korea has announced it is cutting two key communication hotlines with South Korea, amid rising tensions after Pyongyang’s recent rocket and nuclear tests.
The move comes after South Korea suspended its operations at the jointly-run Kaesong industrial park in North Korea.
Kaesong complex is one of the last points of co-operation between the two Koreas and a key source of revenue for Pyongyang.
North Korea has called the shutdown “a declaration of war” and has designated Kaesong as a military zone.
South Korea says the suspension is aimed at cutting off money North Korea uses for nuclear and missile development.
Pyongyang carried out its fourth nuclear test last month, and launched a satellite into space on Sunday, drawing international condemnation.
North Korea previously cut communication hotlines with the South in 2013, but reopened them after relations improved.
The hotlines, which are intended to defuse dangerous military situations, include one used by the military, and another used to communicate with the UN Command at Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). A third hotline is maintained by the Red Cross.
On February 11, North Korea vowed to seize the assets of South Korean companies in Kaesong, and said all workers from the south had to leave by 17:30 local time.
South Korean companies had already started withdrawing managers, equipment and stock after Seoul announced the suspension.
According to South Korean officials, all 280 workers who had been at the facility finally crossed into the South several hours after the deadline expired.
The current Kaesong shutdown came as the US Senate voted unanimously in favor of tougher sanctions against North Korea.
The draft legislation targets any person or entity trading or financing anything related to weapons of mass destruction, conventional arms proliferation, North Korea’s nuclear program, money laundering, narcotics trafficking, human rights abuses, activities that threaten US cyber security, and the import of luxury goods.
All were already sanctioned, but the measures aim to tighten the restrictions.
The bill also authorizes $50 million for radio broadcasts into North Korea and humanitarian aid programs.
The House of Representatives passed a similar bill last month. The two will now have to be reconciled into a final measure needing President Barack Obama’s sign-off.
South Korea is shutting down its operations in the Kaesong industrial park jointly run by the two Koreas.
On February 10, South Korea announced it would suspend its activity there because of North Korea’s recent rocket launch.
Seoul had already restricted some South Korean activity there following Pyongyang’s nuclear test in January.
It is unclear how long the shutdown will last, which Seoul said was aimed at cutting off money North Korea used for nuclear and missile development.
About 124 mostly South Korean companies operate in Kaesong employing thousands of North Koreans.
The companies operating in Kaesong have started taking out easily-moveable equipment and stocks of finished goods and raw materials.
Many North Korean workers failed to turn up for work on February 11. Their South Korean managers cleared their desks and started to leave.
Opened in 2004, the Kaesong complex is the only point of co-operation between South Korea and North Korea.
In April 2013, North Korea shut down the complex for more than four months, after heightened tensions sparked by military drills by Seoul and Washington.
The current shutdown came as the US Senate voted unanimously in favor of tougher sanctions against North Korea.
The draft legislation targets any person or entity trading or financing anything related to weapons of mass destruction, conventional arms proliferation, North Korea’s rocket program, money laundering, narcotics trafficking, human rights abuses, activities that threaten US cyber security, and the import of luxury goods.
All were already sanctioned, but the measures aim to tighten the restrictions.
The bill also authorizes $50 million for radio broadcasts into North Korea and humanitarian aid programs.
The House of Representatives passed a similar bill last month. The two will now have to be reconciled into a final measure needing President Barack Obama’s sign-off.
Republican Senator Cory Gardner, one of the authors of the latest sanctions bill, criticized President Barack Obama’s policy of “strategic patience”.
“The situation in the Korea peninsula is at its most unstable point since the armistice,” he said, referring to the deal to end hostilities in the Korean War in 1953.
Republican senators and presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio interrupted campaigning to go back to Washington DC for the vote.
Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders did not return, although he did express his support for the bill in a statement.
South Korea has decided to suspend operations at Kaesong complex following North Korea’s recent rocket launch and nuclear test.
Kaesong is a jointly-run industrial park in North Korea, the last points of co-operation between the two Koreas and a key source of revenue for Pyongyang.
South Korea said all operations at the complex would halt, to stop the North using its investment “to fund its nuclear and missile development”.
It came as Japan imposed new sanctions against North Korea following the launch.
They include a ban on North Korean vessels coming into port in Japan and on vessels from other countries that have visited the state,
The US warned on February 9 that North Korea could soon have enough plutonium for nuclear weapons.
South Korea, the US, Japan and others see February 7 rocket launch – ostensibly to put a satellite into space – as cover for a banned test of missile technology.
Tensions have risen over the past month since North Korea carried out a fourth nuclear test in early January.
“All our support and efforts… were taken advantage of by the North to develop its nuclear weapons and missile programs,” South Korea’s Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo told reporters.
The announcement came amid reports that North Korea’s military chief, Ri Yong-gil, had been executed on corruption charges.
South Korea’s state news agency Yonhap quoted unnamed sources saying the general, who was appointed in 2013, had been deemed guilty of corruption and pursuing personal gains.
The North Korean satellite launched on February 7 is in orbit but it is not yet clear whether it is working, South Korea’s defense ministry has said.
North Korea has said the Kwangmyongsong-4 is a communications satellite and that February 7 launch was a complete success.
However, the move was internationally condemned as North Korea is banned under UN sanctions from using any ballistic missile technology.
The UN has vowed to impose further sanctions as punishment.
The US said on February 8 that this could include “a range of economic sanctions that would further isolate North Korea” and send a clear signal “that the resolve of the international community here is firm”.
The US has also said it will help South Korea deploy an advanced missile defense system as soon as possible, officials from the Pentagon have said.
South Korea’s defense ministry said the launch indicated North Korea now has long-range missiles with a 7,500-mile range, the Yonhap news agency reports.
It remains unclear whether it has developed the technology to make a missile re-enter the atmosphere, critical if it is to use the missile as weapon.
North Korea insists its space program is purely scientific in nature but the US, South Korea and even Pyongyang’s ally China say the rocket launches are aimed at developing inter-continental ballistic missiles.
According to Japan’s government, North Korea will launch the satellite-bearing rocket between February 7 and 14.
Pyongyang previously said the satellite launch would take place between February 8 and 25.
The planned launch has been condemned by world powers, which say it is a cover for testing a ballistic missile.
North Korea did not inform international organizations of any other changes in its plan and the rocket’s expected flight path remains the same, said South Korea’s defense ministry.
South Korea has warned the North that it will “pay a harsh price” if it goes ahead with its plan to launch the satellite.
Japan’s defense minister said he had issued an order to shoot down any missile that threatened to fall on Japanese territory.
South Korean analysts have speculated that North Korea might do the launch ahead of February 16, the birthday of the late North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il.
North Korea has already provoked international criticism this year with a fourth nuclear bomb test on January 6.
A launch in the coming weeks would constitute another major violation of UN Security Council resolutions banning the state from carrying out any nuclear or ballistic missile tests.
North Korea insists its space program is purely scientific in nature, but the US, South Korea and even ally China say the rocket launches are aimed at developing an inter-continental ballistic missile capable of striking the US.
South Korea’s defense ministry and Japanese media say North Korea appears to be preparing to launch a long-range missile.
Activity has been spotted at a launch station on the North Korea’west coast of the isolated nation.
Earlier this week Pyongyang announced it was planning to launch a satellite at some point in February.
North Korea’s announcement was internationally condemned – critics saying it is a cover to test banned missile technology.
The isolated country also conducted its fourth nuclear bomb test on January 6.
UN sanctions against North Korea prohibit it from carrying out any nuclear or ballistic missile tests.
South Korean state news agency Yonhap quoted defense ministry officials on February 4 as saying activity had been spotted at a site in Dongchang-ri, where the Sohae launching station is located.
Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun also said South Korea’s military was ramping up its air defense readiness so it was ready to intercept any missile or debris falling in its territory. The South has already ordered certain commercial flights to divert their routes.
Japan’s national broadcaster NHK, citing unnamed officials, also reported similar news about activity at Dongchang-ri, and added that a mobile launcher carrying a ballistic missile had also been seen moving near the east coast.
Separately, South Korean President Park Geun-hye said in a statement reported by Yonhap that any long-range missile launch by the North “should never be condoned as it poses a threat to peace on the Korean Peninsula and the world”.
Park Geun-hye said the move was “a desperate measure” by the North to maintain its regime, and showed Pyongyang was not afraid of UN sanctions.
The US-based North Korean analysis website 38 North said recent satellite images show recent activity at Sohae suggesting launch preparations.
These include heightened activity at a building used to receive rocket stages, and a complex that appears ready to conduct engine tests.
North Korean state news agency KCNA reported on February 4 that the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea was holding a meeting among central and army committee members where they discussed how to “further strengthen” the party ahead of a rare political meeting scheduled for May.
Analysts say North Korea’s recent nuclear and missile activity could be a build-up to the upcoming seventh party congress – the first to be held since 1980 – where leader Kim Jong-un is expected to show off the nuclear program.
South Korea warns North Korea it will “pay a harsh price” if it goes ahead with its plan to launch a satellite into space.
North Korea announced on February 2 it intended to carry out the launch between February 8 and 25.
Critics say it is a cover for a test of ballistic missile technology.
Japan’s defense minister said he had issued an order to shoot down any missile that threatened to fall on Japanese territory.
The US has said any North Korean launch would be an “egregious violation” of a UN ban on missile launches by North Korea, and called for more sanctions.
North Korea has always said its space program is peaceful, but it is believed to be developing an intercontinental ballistic missile.
The communist country also conducted its fourth nuclear bomb test on January 6, drawing international condemnation.
Cho Tae-yang, a senior South Korean presidential official, said on February 3 that the satellite plan was considered a “direct challenge to the international community”.
“We warn that if North Korea proceeds with a long-range missile launch, the international society will ensure that the North pays searing consequences for it as the launch would constitute a grave threat to the Korean Peninsula, the region and the world,” he said.
Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe said the launch plan was a “serious provocation” and that he would work with other countries to “strongly demand” North Korea to stop.
China’s top nuclear envoy Wu Dawei, is currently visiting Pyongyang. A Chinese foreign ministry official told the South Korea news agency Yonhap that he planned to discuss the situation with officials there.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) said on February 2 that it had been notified of Pyongyang’s plans to launch a satellite.
However, North Korean media do not appear to have reported on the DPRK’s letter to the UN maritime agency so far.
US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia Daniel Russel said the planned launch argued “even more strongly” for tougher UN sanctions.
Analysts say a new launch would allow North Korea to test some – but not all – of the technology needed for a long-range nuclear strike.
US officials had said last week that North Korea appeared to be preparing for a rocket launch, citing increased activity around the Sohae Satellite Launching Station, also known as Tongchang-ri.
Analysts say that the recent activity could be a build-up to the seventh Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea due to be held in coming months, the first to be held since 1980, where leader Kim Jong-un is expected to show off North Korea’s nuclear program.
North Korea last conducted a long-range rocket launch in December 2012 successfully putting into orbit an object Pyongyang claimed was a communications satellite with the three-stage Unha-3 carrier.
The UN Security Council subsequently called it a “clear violation” of resolutions banning North Korea from missiles tests, and imposed sanctions.
South Korea has fired warning shots at a suspected North Korean drone flown across the DMZ.
Soldiers fired about 20 rounds before the craft turned back, Yonhap news agency said citing South Korean officials.
Earlier, South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye urged China to impose the strongest possible sanctions against North Korea, following its apparent nuclear test.
North Korea claims it has tested a hydrogen bomb.
That claim is doubted by experts, who say the blast, though probably nuclear, was not big enough to have been a thermonuclear explosion.
In her annual press conference, President Park Geun-hye said the international community’s response to North Korea “must differ from the past”, without giving details.
Park Geun-hye said new sanctions on Pyongyang must go further than before, with China’s support crucial. She also warned of possible further action by North Korea, including “cyber terrorism”.
China, North Korea’s closest ally, has repeatedly condemned North Korea’s nuclear tests but is often accused of doing little to try and stop them.
Park Geun-hye stressed China’s past statements but added: “I am certain that China is very well aware if such a strong will isn’t followed by necessary steps, we will not be able to stop the North’s fifth and sixth nuclear tests and we cannot guarantee true peace and stability on the Korean peninsula.”
“I believe the Chinese government will not allow the situation on the Korean peninsula to deteriorate further.”
Last week Secretary of State John Kerry also urged China to take a tougher line, telling his Chinese counterpart the relationship with North Korea cannot be “business as usual”.
President Park Geun-hye also spoke about the steps South Korea was taking with the US to “neutralize North Korea’s provocative actions” including additional deployments of American military assets on the Korean peninsula.
Answering a question about whether Seoul would consider ending its involvement in the jointly-run Kaesong industrial zone, just north of the border, Park Geun-hye said its future depended on Pyongyang’s actions.
Seoul has already limited access to Kaesong from South Korea, to only those directly involved in its operations.
South Korea has decided to resume loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts into North Korea in response to Pyongyang’s claim to have tested a hydrogen bomb.
The move has led North Korea to begin similar broadcasts of its own, the South’s Yonhap News Agency said.
Meanwhile, the UN has agreed to draw up new measures against North Korea.
Although there is skepticism that North Korea carried out the test as claimed, its actions have been condemned internationally.
If the underground test is confirmed, it would be North Korea’s fourth nuclear test and its first of the H-bomb, which is more powerful than an atomic bomb.
South Korea turned the speakers back on at noon local time on January 8.
The loudspeakers – at 11 locations along the border – blast Korean pop, news and weather reports and criticisms of the North over the border.
The broadcasts irritate the authorities in Pyongyang, and North Korea has previously threatened to use force to stop them.
Seoul agreed to stop them last year in a deal with the North to resolve particularly high tensions after a border skirmish.
However, presidential security official Cho Tae-yong announced on January 7 that they would resume, saying North Korea’s test claim had been a “grave violation” of the deal.
On January 7, the US said President Barack Obama and the leaders of South Korea and Japan had “agreed to work together to forge a united and strong international response to North Korea’s reckless behavior”.
South Korea’s presidential office said the international community “must make sure that North Korea pays the corresponding price” for the nuclear test, reported Yonhap news agency.
South Korea has also begun limiting entry to the Kaesong industrial park in North Korea, which is jointly run by both countries. Only those directly involved in operations there will be allowed to enter from the South, said Seoul’s Unification Ministry.
Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe said the test was “a serious threat to our nation’s security and absolutely cannot be tolerated”.
He told parliament Japan would “deal with this situation in a firm manner through the co-operation with the United Nations Security Council”.
Shinzo Abe also added that Japan might take unilateral action, saying it is “considering measures unique to our nation”, without detailing what those measures might be.
Hydrogen bombs are more powerful and technologically advanced than atomic weapons, using fusion – the merging of atoms – to unleash massive amounts of energy.
Atomic bombs, like those that devastated two Japanese cities in World War Two, use fission, or the splitting of atoms.
Many experts, including those from South Korea and the US, say the estimated power of January 6 blast fell far short of what would be expected from a hydrogen bomb.
Some analysts have suggested it is possible Pyongyang tested a “boosted” atomic bomb, which uses some fusion fuel to increase the yield of the fission reaction.
The US and nearby countries including Japan are carrying out atmospheric sampling, hoping to find leaked radioactive material, which would give clues as to what kind of device was tested.
Correspondents say it took about 55 days after the last test to be able to determine the exact nature of it.
South Korea, Japan and the United States have said they will be united in their response to North Korea’s claim to have successfully tested a hydrogen bomb.
North Korea said it carried out the test on January 6.
If confirmed it would be North Korea’s fourth nuclear test, and its first of the more powerful H-bomb.
The UN Security Council has also agreed to start drawing up new measures against North Korea.
However, skepticism remains over whether North Korea really did conduct such a test.
Experts have said the seismic activity generated by the blast was not large enough for it to have been a full thermonuclear explosion.
The White House said President Barack Obama had spoken separately to South Korea’s President Park Geun-Hye and Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe.
They “agreed to work together to forge a united and strong international response to North Korea’s latest reckless behavior”, it said in a statement.
PM Shinzo Abe told reporters: “We agreed that the provocative act by North Korea is unacceptable… We will deal with this situation in a firm manner through the cooperation with the United Nations Security Council.”
He added that Japan may take unilateral action, saying it is “considering measures unique to our nation”.
South Korea’s presidential office said in a statement that Presidents Geun-hye and Barack Obama had agreed to closely co-operate and that the international community “must make sure that North Korea pays the corresponding price” for the nuclear test, reported Yonhap news agency.
The UN Security Council held an emergency session on January 6 and condemned the test claim as “a clear threat to international peace and security.”
Japan’s ambassador to the UN, Motohide Yoshikawa, called for a swift and robust new UN resolution, insisting: “The authority and credibility of the Security Council will be put in question if it does not take these measures.”
However, the UN ambassador for Russia, which has been developing warmer relations with Pyongyang, said it would be going “too far” to say Moscow supported further sanctions.
Meanwhile, South Korea has begun limiting entry to the Kaesong industrial park in North Korea, jointly run by both countries. Only those directly involved in operations there will be allowed to enter from the South, said Seoul’s Unification Ministry.
South Korea has also said it will restart propaganda broadcasts across the border on January 8, an act which North Korea strongly opposes. The broadcasts were stopped in 2015 as part of a deal with North Korea to ease tensions that had escalated sharply in the summer.
The nuclear test came days before North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s 33rd birthday, which falls on January 8 and is expected to be marked by celebrations.
Hydrogen bombs are more powerful and technologically advanced than atomic weapons, using fusion – the merging of atoms – to unleash massive amounts of energy.
Atomic bombs, like those that devastated two Japanese cities in World War Two, use fission, or the splitting of atoms.
South Korea’s intelligence agency also told politicians that the estimated power of the blast fell far short of what would be expected from a hydrogen bomb.
Some analysts have suggested it is possible Pyongyang tested a “boosted” atomic bomb, which uses some fusion fuel to increase the yield of the fission reaction.
The United States and nearby countries are thought to be carrying out atmospheric sampling, hoping to find leaked radioactive material, which would give clues as to what kind of device was tested.
North Korean and South Korean officials are holding rare talks aimed at improving long-strained ties, after a military stand-off in August.
The meeting is taking place at the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone.
Tension between North Korea and South Korea ramped up in August when a border blast injured two South Korean soldiers.
Meetings at that time eventually led to the two Koreas stepping away from a military confrontation.
The two sides are expected to discuss details such as the timing and agenda of higher-level talks, reported South Korean news agency Yonhap.
South Korea’s chief negotiator, Kim Ki-woong, told reporters before the meeting: “We are resolved to maintaining the momentum for dialogue that was started by the August agreement.”
In June 2013, North Korea and South Korea agreed to hold what would have been the first high-level dialogue for six years. However, just the day before the scheduled meeting, Pyongyang canceled it, citing the seniority of the South Korean negotiator.
On August 4, two South Korean soldiers by the border were seriously injured by a landmine blast, which was blamed on the North. North Korea denied planting the landmine.
South Korea began propaganda broadcasts into the North, infuriating Pyongyang which in turn declared a “semi-state of war” and began deploying troops to the frontline.
However, after talks, also held at Panmunjom, the two countries reached a deal to de-escalate tensions with South Korea stopping the broadcasts and North Korea pulling back troops.
South Korea has accepted an offer from North Korea to hold talks on November 26, Seoul officials have confirmed.
The talks, to be held at the Panmunjom truce village, will set the stage for high-level meetings which were agreed in principle in August.
That deal followed a stand-off in August that began with landmine explosions on the border and involved an exchange of artillery fire.
South Korea said it had sent requests for meetings before but had no response.
North Korea and South Korea are technically still at war because the 1950-1953 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
In August 2015, a landmine explosion at the heavily militarized border seriously injured two South Korean soldiers.
In response, South Korea resumed its abandoned practice of blasting propaganda over the border, and evacuated people from the border region. North Korea said it had put its military on a “war footing”.
Tensions bubbled over in a brief exchange of fire at the heavily guarded border.
After crisis talks, South Korea agreed to turned off the loudspeakers while North Korea agreed to step down its military.
The agreement included a pledge to resume talks on improving ties, and to hold the first reunions for families separated during the Korean War in over a year.
North Korea also expressed regret over the mine explosions, though later clarified it was not accepting responsibility for the blast.
China, Japan and South Korea have announced they have “completely restored” trade and security ties, at the first meeting of the countries’ leaders in three years.
Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, Chinese PM Li Keqiang and South Korean President Park-Geun-hye said in a statement they had agreed to resume regular trilateral meetings, not held since 2012.
They also agreed more economic co-operation.
The talks in the South Korean capital Seoul were an attempt to ease ill-feeling fuelled by territorial disputes and historical disagreements.
China and South Korea say Japan has not done enough to atone for its troops’ brutality in World War Two.
They talks were held regularly until three-and-a-half years ago, when they were called off as bad feeling towards Japan intensified.
“We shared the view that trilateral cooperation has been completely restored on the occasion of this summit,” South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in a joint statement, quoted by AFP.
Park Geun-hye said the three leaders had agreed to work together to conclude the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a 16-nation free trade area favored by Beijing.
She said they maintained their goal of “denuclearizing” North Korea, AFP reported.
South Korea and Japan are torn between their allegiance to the US and their need to get on economically with Beijing.
Li Keqiang met Park Geun-hye on October 31 and the two agreed to try to increase trade, particularly through more Korean exports of food to China and co-operation on research into robotics.
The two leaders were joined by Shinzo Abe on November 1.
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