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South Korea has issued a cyber alert after a hacking attack on government websites.
The website of the presidential office was one of several official and media sites hit by an apparently co-ordinated attack on Tuesday morning, reports said.
The identity of the hackers was not known, a government statement said.
The incident came on the anniversary of the start of the 1950-53 Korean War, which divided the Korean peninsula.
“The government can confirm a cyber attack by unidentified hackers that shut down several sites including the Blue House,” the Science Ministry said in a statement, referring to the presidential office.
The website for the office for Government Policy Co-ordination and some media servers were also said to be affected by the attack.
South Korea has issued a cyber alert after a hacking attack on government websites
Messages praising North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and claiming that hacking collective Anonymous was responsible were left on the hacked websites.
However, Anonymous denied any involvement in the South Korean cyber-attacks on its official Twitter account, AFP news agency reported.
Instead, the “hacktivist” group was said to have planned attacks against North Korean websites.
A number of North Korean websites went offline on Tuesday morning and appeared to have been targeted by hackers on Tuesday, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported, citing unnamed sources.
These included the websites of North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency, newspaper Rodong Sinmun, and portal Naenara.
Anonymous has previously claimed to have hacked and vandalized social networking profiles linked to North Korea as part of its Operation Free Korea.
South Korea has raised its cyber-alert level, and asked citizens to review their internet security.
South Korean investigators say North Korea has frequently carried out cyber attacks in the South.
On March 20, cyber attacks on six South Korean banks and broadcasters affected 32,000 computers and disrupted banking services.
South Korea has blamed that incident – which came at a time of heightened tensions between the two Koreas following Pyongyang’s nuclear test on February 12 – on North Korea.
North Korea has also been blamed for previous cyber attacks in 2009 and 2011.
Most Asian markets have fallen again as investors continue to react to news that the Federal Reserve could begin to scale back its stimulus programme.
South Korea’s main index dropped 1.5% while Australia’s lost 0.4%. However, Japan’s Nikkei reversed early losses.
The indexes in Shanghai and Hong Kong were down more than 2% in early trade but pared losses.
On Thursday in the US, the Dow Jones share index fell 2.3% – its biggest drop this year.
The Fed has been trying to support the weak US economy by buying bonds at a rate of $85 billion a month, under a policy known as quantitative easing (QE).
However, on Wednesday, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said that if the US economy continued to show sign of improvement the central bank could start to slow down its bond purchases as early as this year and end the programme next year.
Most Asian markets have fallen again as investors continue to react to news that the Federal Reserve could begin to scale back its stimulus programme
The excess liquidity in the US has meant a lot of funds have been flowing into emerging markets, especially in Asia.
“Asia has benefited from US capital inflows, partly in relation to QE,” said Mitul Kotecha, from Credit Agricole CIB.
“It has been force-fed with steroids, and now that the steroids are going to be pulled back what will happen is a period of transitional volatility that can continue through summer.”
Currencies in Asia were weak as well against the US dollar, however the weakness in the Japanese yen caused a big reversal in the Nikkei in late trade.
The Nikkei, which had sank more than 2% during the morning trading session, finished 1.7% higher.
A weak yen is good news for Japanese exporters as it makes their goods cheaper overseas and boosts profits that are repatriated back home.
Exporters led the gains with Suzuki Motor jumping nearly 4% and Fast Retailing surging more than 6%.
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The United States and South Korea have responded coolly to North Korea’s offer of high-level talks with Washington.
North Korea will be judged “by its actions and not its words”, a US spokeswoman said.
The North proposed talks on “regional peace” with the US on Sunday, but said there should be no “preconditions”.
Last week, planned talks between Pyongyang and Seoul fell through following disagreement over which delegates should attend.
Regional tensions were raised earlier this year after Pyongyang conducted its third nuclear test and threatened to attack South Korean and US targets in the region.
In recent weeks rhetoric from Pyongyang has softened, but US officials appeared skeptical of its offer.
The US and South Korea have responded coolly to North Korea’s offer of high-level talks with Washington
“Our desire is to have credible negotiations with the North Koreans, but those talks must involve North Korea living up to its obligations to the world, including compliance with UN Security Council resolutions, and ultimately result in denuclearization,” US National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said.
North Korea had to live up to its obligations on nuclear proliferation, Denis McDonough, chief of staff to the US president, told US broadcaster CBS news.
“We’ll judge them by their actions, not by the nice words that we heard yesterday,” Denis McDonough said.
“They’re not going to be able to talk their way out of very significant sanctions they’re under now,” he added.
North Korea’s powerful National Defense Commission had also suggested that any talks on reducing nuclear weapons would need to include American weapons as well as North Korean ones.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry said its stance on talks was the same as the US.
“The window of dialogue is open but that the North should take concrete steps first,” ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-seok said.
North Korea has reneged on deals with the US on several occasions in the past. In February 2012, it agreed to a partial freeze in nuclear activities and a missile test moratorium in return for US food aid.
However, it announced plans for a rocket launch in March that year – something the US called a disguised test of banned missile technology – leading the US to suspend its plans for food aid.
The US, Japan and South Korea are scheduled to meet in Washington on Wednesday to discuss resuming six-party talks on nuclear disarmament with North Korea.
The six party talks are the agreed forum for discussing North Korean denuclearization, but have been stalled since 2009.
The US also wants a commitment to denuclearization to be a precursor to negotiations with North Korea.
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North Korea has blamed the South for “arrogant obstructions” that led high-level talks to be cancelled.
South Korea’s “deliberate disturbance” by changing the head of its delegation made “the talks between authorities abortive”, North Korea said.
The planned talks, which followed months of raised tensions, were aborted after the two sides failed to agree on the composition of the delegations.
Seoul said it was disappointed with North Korea’s response.
North Korea’s state-run news agency KCNA described the South’s nomination of Vice-Unification Minister Kim Nam-shik to lead the delegation as “the height of discourtesy and disrespect unprecedented in the history of the North-South dialogue”.
This, and the difficulty in agreeing an agenda for discussion, proved “that the South side had no intent to hold dialogue from the beginning and that it only sought to create an obstacle to the talks, [to] delay and torpedo them”, it said.
It added that this made the North question whether inter-Korean talks were possible.
The two Koreas have not held ministerial-level talks since 2007.
North Korea has accused South Korea of “arrogant obstructions” that led high-level talks to be cancelled
The agreement to hold the talks – seen by analysts as a major development in itself – came in the early hours of Monday after lengthy preliminary discussions in the truce village of Panmunjom.
It came after months of heightened tensions following North Korea’s third nuclear test in February.
After the UN tightened sanctions against the North as a result of the test, Pyongyang threatened to attack South Korea and US bases in the region, cut various hotlines used for intra-Korean communication, and withdrew its workers from a joint industrial park.
South Korean Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae was originally reported as the head of the South’s delegation for Wednesday’s planned talks.
However, when Seoul asked Pyongyang to send Kim Yang-gon, an adviser to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, North Korea refused. Seoul then named its vice-minister as its chief negotiator instead.
North Korea said the implication that Kim Yang-gon was not equal in rank to Ryoo Kihl-jae was “a revelation of its ignorance”, and “a manifestation of [South Korea’s] sinister intention” to abort the talks.
Speaking on Wednesday, South Korean PM Chung Hong-won said Seoul would no longer make “infinite concessions” to North Korea.
“In the past, we have made infinite concessions to the North, but the time has come to hold talks where both sides are represented by officials of the same level,” Chung Hong-won said.
Meanwhile, North Korea has not answered routine calls from South Korea via the Red Cross communications line linking the two countries, South Korea says.
North Korea cut the communications link in March amid rising regional tensions, but restored it last Friday.
South Korean media say the unanswered calls may suggest that Pyongyang has cut the hotline again.
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North Korean and South Korean officials are holding their first government-level talks in more than two years.
The talks are taking place at Panmunjom, a military compound in the demilitarized zone between the two countries.
The meeting comes after months of rising tension and war-like gestures from both sides.
They culminated in the suspension in April of all activity in the Kaesong joint commercial zone.
Kaesong Industrial Complex, which is seen as a symbol of North-South co-operation, had run successfully just inside North Korea for more than eight years.
With tensions between the two countries easing, South Korea invited the North to high level talks in Seoul, but Pyongyang said it wanted lower-level discussions first.
The South Korean delegation hopes to negotiate plans for ministerial-level talks later this week.
At the end of the morning session, a spokesman for the South’s Unification Ministry said the two sides had discussed technical issues for the future ministerial meeting.
“The atmosphere of today’s meeting… was such that the talks have gone smoothly without any argument,” Kim Hyung-suk told reporters in Seoul.
North Korean and South Korean officials hold key talks at Panmunjom, a military compound in the demilitarized zone between the two countries
The South’s three-person delegation – led by the director of the Unification Ministry – left Seoul just before 08:00 for Panmunjom.
Ties between the two Koreas deteriorated earlier this year in the wake of the North’s nuclear test on February 12.
Pyongyang withdrew its workers from Kaesong in April, apparently angered by tightened UN sanctions in the wake of the nuclear test and annual South Korea-US military drills.
Around 53,000 North Korean workers are employed at the Kaesong factory complex by more than 120 South Korean factories.
The zone is a key source of revenue for the North and the biggest contributor to inter-Korean trade.
Last Thursday the North offered talks with the South on the resumption of operations and said it would reconnect a Red Cross hotline if Seoul – which had been seeking such talks – agreed.
The talks closely follow a summit in California between US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Both leaders agreed that North Korea had to denuclearize and that neither country would accept North Korea as a nuclear-armed state, US National Security Advisor Tom Donilon said on Saturday.
China is seen as a key ally of Pyongyang.
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North Korea has announced it will restore the key hotline with South Korea at Kaesong Industrial Complex, as the two countries discuss where to hold talks on the jointly-run industrial zone.
Pyongyang said it would reopen a Red Cross hotline which it cut in March.
It also invited officials to come to Kaesong for talks on Sunday on restarting operations at the factory zone, after the two sides agreed in principle to talks on Thursday.
Work at Kaesong has been halted since April, amid high regional tensions.
Ties between the two Koreas deteriorated earlier this year in the wake of the North’s 12 February nuclear test.
North Korea’s nuclear ambitions are expected to be on the table when the US and Chinese presidents meet in California later on Friday for an informal summit.
The Kaesong factory complex is seen as a symbol of North-South co-operation. Around 53,000 North Korean workers are employed there by more than 120 South Korean factories.
The zone is a key source of revenue for the North and the biggest contributor to inter-Korean trade.
North Korea has announced it will restore the key hotline with South Korea at Kaesong Industrial Complex
However, Pyongyang withdrew its workers in April, apparently angered by tightened UN sanctions in the wake of its nuclear test and annual South Korea-US military drills.
It had already cut a military hotline with South Korea, and another line used to communicate with the UN Command at Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone that divides the two Koreas, in addition to the Red Cross hotline.
On Thursday, however, it offered talks with the South on the resumption of operations and said it would reconnect the Red Cross hotline if Seoul – which had been seeking such talks – agreed.
Pyongyang’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK) said the Red Cross link would be restored from 14:00 local time, AFP news agency said.
The two sides are still working out details of the talks on the industrial zone. The South suggested ministerial-level talks in Seoul on Wednesday, but North Korea has asked for lower-level talks on Sunday in Kaesong, which is located just inside North Korea.
In a statement, Pyongyang said that working-level talks were needed first, “in the light of the prevailing situation in which the bilateral relations have been stalemated for years and mistrust has reached the extremity”.
Kaesong Industrial Complex:
- Launched in 2003, largely financed by the South to increase co-operation
- More than 120 factories employ North Koreans in manufacturing industries, with goods exported to the South
- Complex as a whole produced $470 million worth of goods in 2012 – the biggest contributor to inter-Korean trade
- South Korean companies pay more than $80 million a year in wages to North Korean workers
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North Korea has proposed official talks with South Korea on normalizing commercial projects, weeks after operations at the joint Kaesong industrial zone were suspended.
In a statement from state news agency KCNA, North Korea said the place and date could be “set by the South side”.
Kaesong Industrial Complex, just inside North Korea, is a key source of revenue for Pyongyang.
But it pulled out its workers in April amid high tensions on the peninsula following its February 12 nuclear test.
Since then operations at the zone, where more than 100 South Korean manufacturers employ some 53,000 North Korea workers, have been halted for the first time since the project began a decade ago.
North Korea said late last month it would invite South Korean businessmen back to discuss the resumption of operations but Seoul ruled that out, saying working-level government talks should be held.
There was no immediate response from South Korea.
Mount Kumgang resort is a joint tourism project that has been suspended since a South Korean tourist was shot dead there by a North Korean guard in 2008
The KCNA statement, attributed to the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, said that hotlines cut during the period of high tension would be reconnected if South Korea agreed to the talks.
“We propose holding talks between authorities of the North and the South for the normalization of the operation in the KIZ [Kaesong Industrial Zone] and the resumption of tour of Mt Kumgang,” it said.
The Mount Kumgang resort is a joint tourism project that has been suspended since a South Korean tourist was shot dead there by a North Korean guard in 2008. North Korea has since seized assets of the resort’s South Korean operator.
Restarting reunions of separated families could also be discussed, the North Korea statement said, adding: “The venue of the talks and the date for their opening can be set to the convenience of the South side.”
While South Korea may want to discuss Kaesong, its government has made it clear in the past that more wide-ranging dialogue should be linked to progress on denuclearization.
The offer comes after several months of threats and rhetoric from the communist North Korea.
Apparently angered by the US sanctions imposed after its third nuclear test and annual South Korea-US military drills, it warned of attacks on regional targets and cut key economic and communications links with Seoul.
In recent weeks, however, tensions appear to have lessened somewhat. Late last month, North Korea sent an envoy to Beijing – seen as having the greatest degree of influence on Pyongyang – for talks, for the first time since its nuclear test.
Pyongyang has announced it is willing to allow South Korean managers to visit the suspended jointly-run Kaesong Industrial Complex.
In a statement carried by state media, North Korea said it was prepared to discuss with the businessmen how normal operations could be resumed.
But South Korea expressed worry about its citizens’ safety and asked that government-level talks be held.
Operations at the joint industrial complex have been suspended since the North withdrew its workers in April.
North Korea’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK), responsible for ties with South Korea, said it would guarantee the businessmen’s safety.
“We have given permission for the visit and can even discuss the shipment of products at the industrial complex,” Yonhap news agency quoted the committee as saying.
South Korea “may send with them members” of the governing body that oversees the complex, the committee added.
Pyongyang has announced it is willing to allow South Korean managers to visit the suspended jointly-run Kaesong Industrial Complex
But a spokesman for South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles relations with the North, said what was needed at this stage was talks between both governments, which Seoul has been requesting.
Some 123 South Korean companies have factories inside the Kaesong Industrial Complex, which lies just across the border inside North Korea.
The firms employ some 53,000 North Koreans and the zone is a key revenue earner for the North.
But Pyongyang withdrew its workers two months ago as North-South tensions escalated following Pyongyang’s third nuclear test in February.
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South Korea has decided to suspend operations at two more nuclear reactors over the use of unauthorized parts.
The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission also delayed the start of operations at two other reactors, but said there was no public safety threat.
Two reactors were suspended in late 2012, amid a scandal over parts with fake safety certificates.
South Korea has 23 nuclear reactors which supply about a third of its electricity needs.
The suspension of two reactors raised questions about power supply over the summer, local media said.
The two reactors to be suspended pending replacement of the unauthorized parts are the Shin Kori Reactor 2 and Shin Wolsong Reactor 1, the commission said.
South Korea has suspended operations at two more nuclear reactors over the use of unauthorized parts
Shin Kori Reactor 1, which is currently undergoing maintenance, and Shin Wolsong Reactor 2, a new reactor, will also not operate until parts are replaced.
All components used in South Korean nuclear reactors require specific certification.
But last year a minister revealed that some parts used in two reactors at the Yeonggwang nuclear plant had not been properly vetted.
Knowledge Economy Minister Hong Suk-woo said these were “non-core” parts that included fuses, cooling fans and power switches – items which could be used in other industries but needed international certification for nuclear power plant usage.
Earlier this month, six nuclear power engineers and suppliers were jailed in connection with the supply of components with forged safety certificates mainly to the Yeonggwang complex.
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South Korea’s presidential office has apologized after official Yoon Chang-jung was sacked during a US visit over “shameful” sexual harassment allegations.
Yoon Chang-jung, who was a spokesman for President Park Geun-hye, was alleged to have groped a Korean-American intern in a Washington hotel.
The incident overshadowed President Park Geun-hye’s first visit to the US last week.
Her former spokesman denies sexually harassing the intern, putting it down to “cultural differences”.
President Park Geune-hye’s chief-of-staff, Huh Tae-yeol, told reporters on Sunday that the case was “unconditionally wrong” and “unacceptable” and he apologized to the victim, her family and all South Koreans.
Yoon Chang-jung, who was a spokesman for President Park Geun-hye, was alleged to have groped a Korean-American intern in a Washington hotel
The unnamed intern, in her early 20s, was said to have been employed by South Korea’s embassy specifically for President Park Geune-hye’s four-day trip. The incident was said to have taken place in a hotel bar not far from the embassy.
A police report obtained by the Washington Post and Yonhap news agency said a 56-year-old man had “grabbed her buttocks without permission”.
Yoon Chang-jung, 56, told a televised news conference on Saturday that “if I have hurt her, I ask for her understanding and offer an apology”.
The former spokesman, an ex-newspaper columnist, also apologized for the harm he had caused “to the accomplishments of the successful US visit”.
During the trip, President Park Geune-hye’s first foreign visit since taking office in February, she held a summit with President Barack Obama.
Barack Obama said that they both agreed on the need to “maintain a strong deterrent” towards North Korea and were not going to reward “provocative behavior”.
North Korea will no longer be rewarded for provocative behavior, said President Barack Obama at a joint news conference with South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye.
Flanked by President Park Geun-hye, Barack Obama told a White House briefing North Korea was more isolated than ever.
Park Geun-hye is on her first foreign trip since taking office in February.
Ahead of their meeting, US officials said North Korea had moved two medium-range missiles from a coastal launch site, lowering tensions.
“The days when North Korea could create a crisis and elicit concessions, those days are over,” Barack Obama told Tuesday’s briefing after meeting privately with Park Geun-hye in the Oval Office.
He added: “President Park and myself very much share the view that we are going to maintain a strong deterrent, we’re not going to reward provocative behavior, but we remain open to the prospect of North Korea taking a peaceful path.”
“So far, at least, we haven’t seen actions on the part of the North Koreans that would indicate they’re prepared to move in a different direction,” he said.
North Korea will no longer be rewarded for provocative behavior, said President Barack Obama at a joint news conference with South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye
The visit by Park Geun-hye, South Korea’s first female president, came as the US and South Korea mark 60 years of their military alliance.
Park Geun-hye said South Korea would not tolerate what she called North Korean aggression and escalation.
“Instead of just hoping to see North Korea change, the international community must consistently send the message with one voice, to tell them and communicate to them that they have no choice but to change,” she said.
Pyongyang was believed to have been preparing for a missile launch last month, having threatened attacks in the region.
The threats followed tough new UN sanctions imposed on North Korea in March after its third nuclear test.
North Korea has also been angered by wide-ranging annual US-South Korea military drills, which ended a week ago.
Meanwhile, the state-owned Bank of China said it was halting transactions from North Korea’s Foreign Trade Bank on Tuesday.
It is thought to be the first time that a Chinese entity has made a move against North Korean interests following the recent tension.
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A US official said North Korea has removed two medium-range missiles from a coastal launch site, indicating a lowering of tension on the peninsula.
Pyongyang was believed to be preparing for a launch last month, having threatened attacks in the region.
The threats followed tough new UN sanctions imposed on North Korea in March after its third nuclear test.
North Korea has been angered by wide-ranging annual US-South Korea military drills, which ended a week ago.
The news that the missiles had been removed from the site on the east coast came on the eve of a summit in Washington between the US and South Korean presidents.
South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye is to hold talks with US President Barack Obama later on Tuesday, with the two expected to reiterate a commitment to strong ties. Park, Geun-hye who took office in February, will also address the US Congress on Wednesday.
The Musudan missiles had been ready to launch at any moment but North Korea had now “moved them”, an unnamed US defense official told AFP news agency.
North Korea has removed two medium-range missiles from a coastal launch site, indicating a lowering of tension on the peninsula
A report from South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, citing an unnamed senior government source, backed that up, saying Pyongyang appeared to have lifted its highest combat alert and moved the missiles, although their current location was not confirmed.
The move is the most tangible sign yet that North Korea has stepped back from its threats to launch missiles.
But a senior US official from the National Security Council warned that, given the North’s unpredictable behavior, it was “premature to celebrate it as good news”.
Pentagon spokesman George Little, who declined to comment directly on the missiles’ reported removal, told reporters “what we have seen recently is a provocation pause”.
“And we think that’s obviously beneficial to efforts to ensure we have peace and stability on the Korean peninsula.”
Meanwhile, the Beijing-based Bank of China said it was halting transactions from North Korea’s Foreign Trade Bank.
The US imposed sanctions on North Korea’s main foreign exchange bank after the recent nuclear tests and had urged other countries, including China, to cut ties with the bank.
The Bank of China made the announcement in a statement but did not provide further details.
This is the first time that a Chinese entity has made a move against North Korean interests following the recent tension, according to reports.
North Korea unveiled medium-range Musudan missiles during a military parade in 2010 but had not yet tested them.
Last month, South Korea raised its alert level to “vital threat” amid indications that Pyongyang was preparing for a launch.
At least one ballistic missile with an estimated 2,000-mile range had been fuelled and ready for launch, according to US and South Korean sources.
A test launch would be a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1718, passed in 2006, which states the North “must not conduct any further nuclear test or launch of a ballistic missile”.
Pyongyang had issued a series of threats in apparent response to the expanded UN sanctions and the US-South Korea drills – which saw nuclear-capable B2 and B52 bombers flown over the Korean peninsula.
These included warnings of attacks on Japan, South Korea and US military bases in the region, and a pledge to restart a mothballed nuclear reactor that produced plutonium for its weapons programme.
In addition, it shut down an emergency military hotline between Seoul and Pyongyang, and later withdrew some 53,000 workers in April from Kaesong Industrial Complex on the border with South Korea.
Kaesong complex, which was launched in 2003, employed people from both countries and was seen as one of the last remaining symbols of inter-Korean co-operation.
The final South Korean workers left the factory last week – the first time they have done so since the zone began operating 10 years ago.
However the tone of the rhetoric from North Korea has softened somewhat in recent days, observers say.
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LG Electronics has announced it will begin deliveries of curved OLED television sets in May, making it the first to offer such a product to the public.
The use of organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) allows screens to be made thinner and more flexible than before.
The 55 in (140 cm) model will cost 15 million won ($13,550) and is initially limited to sales in South Korea.
One analyst said that being first to market gave LG “bragging rights”, but suggested demand would be limited.
LG Electronics and its rival Samsung Electronics both showed off curved OLED TV prototypes at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, but did not announce release dates at the time.
LG Electronics has announced it will begin deliveries of curved OLED television sets in May, making it the first to offer such a product to the public
The two businesses are part of larger conglomerates that have separate divisions manufacturing their own television display panels. Many of their competitors buy in the components from third parties, making it harder for them to claim such an exclusive.
OLED tech is based on carbon-based materials that convert electricity into light.
While LCD screens need a backlight to illuminate their crystals, OLED does not need a separate light source.
This allows the newer type of TVs to be made thinner, lighter and more energy-efficient than before, as well as offering the advantage of deeper blacks.
In addition, the OLEDs can be fabricated onto a flexible plastic substrate rather than a rigid glass layer, making it easier to manufacture them into a curved screen.
This has allowed LG to market the new EA9800 model as being only 4.3 mm (0.17 in) thick, weighing 17 kg (37.5 lb) and offering an “Imax-cinema-like” viewing experience.
“With more than five years research behind developing the optimum curvature, the entire screen surface is equidistant from the viewer’s eyes, eliminating the problem of screen-edge visual distortion and loss of detail,” LG Electronics said in a press release.
IHS Screen Digest, a market research firm used by television manufacturers, said it expected Samsung to follow with a similar product soon, although it noted that teething troubles with making large OLED TVs was likely to keep their prices high and output low in the near future.
The firm’s senior analyst Ed Border added that, in the short term, curved TVs were likely to be more valuable as a promotional tool rather than a profit-making product to their makers.
“There’s certain content which is great to see in different ways, but for a lot of what’s on TV seeing it curved is not necessarily going to improve the experience that much,” Ed Border said.
“But I think being curved is a good way of pushing the OLED technology to consumers and acting as a marketing tool.
“Looking forward, I think there will still be room for flatscreen TVs, especially if you are thinking of hanging an OLED screen on the wall or just want to buy a cheaper LCD set.”
LG said it was now accepting orders for the curved TV set in South Korea, and would announce the timing and pricing of versions for markets elsewhere “in the months ahead”.
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South Korea has decided to pull the last of its workers out of Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea, as Seoul announced moves to help affected firms.
A total of 125 South Koreans left the joint Kaesong complex on Saturday, and the remaining 50 were expected to leave on Monday, officials said.
They had been due out at 17:00 local time but were delayed by “details” that needed “ironing out”, officials said.
The move came after North Korea rejected talks on Kaesong industrial park.
Tensions are high following Pyongyang’s third nuclear test in February.
Pyongyang has been angered by tightened UN sanctions imposed after its February 12 nuclear test and by joint US-South Korea military drills, which are scheduled to end on Tuesday.
A total of 125 South Koreans left the joint Kaesong complex in North Korea on Saturday, and the remaining 50 were expected to leave on Monday
Kaesong Industrial Complex, which was launched in 2003 to boost inter-Korean ties, is a factory park situated just inside North Korea.
It is home to 123 South Korean companies which employ North Korean workers, and provides the North with much-needed hard currency.
Earlier this month, North Korea blocked South Korean workers from entering the zone. It withdrew its 53,000 workers from the industrial park a few days later.
Although the North has restricted entry to Kaesong Industrial Complex in the past, this would be the first time that all South Korean workers had withdrawn.
The remaining 50 workers had been expected to cross the border back into South Korea at 17:00.
“The two sides are currently in the process of ironing out some details, with most of the outstanding issues having been worked out,” a spokesman at South Korea’s Unification Ministry said.
He still expected the workers to return on Monday, South Korean news agency Yonhap quoted him as saying.
Earlier on Monday, the Ministry told reporters that North Korea had not yet approved the passage of the workers across the border. Pyongyang said last week it would not hinder those leaving the Kaesong complex.
Some of the workers were reportedly reluctant to leave Kaesong, fearing that company assets would be seized.
Han Jae-kwon, chairman of the Association of Kaesong companies, said: “Those remaining workers are there to take charge of products owned by our customers and raw materials, so we want detailed measures to protect them after the workers have been pulled out.”
The South Korean government said it had set up a taskforce to help companies who had been forced to halt operations at Kaesong.
The taskforce would “assess damages suffered by the firms with factories at Kaesong and… devise comprehensive and practical supportive measures,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
The South Korean government had discussed a variety of support measures, including the possibility of offering businesses loans from the inter-Korean co-operation fund, the statement added.
Meanwhile, North Korea seems to be gearing up for a major land and air military exercise, Yonhap said on Sunday, citing a government source.
A US citizen is also due to be tried soon on charges of attempting to overthrow the North Korean government, according to the North’s official news agency KCNA.
Pae Jun-ho, who is known in the US as Kenneth Bae, was held last year after entering North Korea as a tourist.
No date for the verdict has been confirmed, and it is not clear what sort of sanction Kenneth Bae might face, although North Korea’s criminal code provides for life imprisonment or the death penalty for similar offences.
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North Korea has not responded to South Korea’s calls for formal talks on resuming operations at the joint Kaesong Industrial Complex, officials in Seoul say.
On Thursday, Seoul gave the North 24 hours to agree to talks on the Kaesong Industrial Complex, warning of “grave measures” if its offer was ignored.
South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye has called a security meeting to discuss next steps, Yonhap news agency reported.
North-South tensions are high following Pyongyang’s nuclear test in February.
Pyongyang blocked South Korean access to the site and pulled out its 53,000 workers earlier this month.
North Korea has not responded to South Korea’s calls for formal talks on resuming operations at the joint Kaesong Industrial Complex
“We are keeping close tabs on all developments, but the North has not expressed its position so far,” South Korean Ministry of Unification spokesman Kim Hyung-suk said, shortly before the noon deadline.
“All that remains is for the North to make its decision to resolve the issue,” he added.
A report on South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, citing presidential palace spokesman Yoon Chang-jung, said President Park Geun-hye had scheduled a meeting with foreign affairs and security ministers at 15:00 local time on the matter.
The remaining 175 South Koreans still in the complex are believed to be running out of food and medicines, because the North has refused to allow fresh supplies from the South into the industrial park, which is located inside North Korea.
The South Korean government has refused to spell out what measures it may take, but there is speculation that it may be considering pulling out its remaining citizens from the complex.
However, that would leave South Korean assets open to seizure by the North Korean authorities, as happened before at a moth-balled tourism site run by the two countries.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was aware of the South’s call for talks, and “sincerely [hoped] the operation of the complex [could] return to normal as soon as possible through dialogue,” a UN spokesman said on Thursday.
Kaesong Industrial Complex, which was launched in 2003 as a sign of North-South co-operation, was the biggest contributor to inter-Korean trade and provided the North with much-needed hard currency.
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South Korea’s economy growth rate hit a two-year high in the first quarter of 2013, boosted by a rebound in construction, investment and exports.
The economy grew by 0.9% in the January to March quarter from the Q4 2012, the central bank’s estimates showed.
The data is likely to help allay fears over the health of the Korean economy.
Earlier this year, the government cut its growth forecast for the current year amid a slowdown in exports.
However, the latest data showed a 3.2% quarter-on-quarter growth in exports during the period.
South Korea’s economy growth rate hit a two-year high in the first quarter of 2013, boosted by a rebound in construction, investment and exports
That compares with a 1.2% drop in the previous quarter.
South Korea’s exports, which account for almost half of its overall output, have been hit by slowing demand in key markets such as the US and the eurozone.
Demand in the eurozone has been hurt by the bloc’s ongoing sovereign debt crisis, while the US economic recovery has also been fragile.
Some analysts warned that despite the positive data, exports continue to be fragile as conditions in those markets have not improved substantially.
“I think it’s hard to say that the economy is turning around as export growth completely halted,” said Jun Min-Kyoo, an economist at Korea Investment and Securities.
“Companies are still panicking about poor exports.”
There have also been fears over the impact movements in the currency markets may have on Korean exports.
The South Korean won has risen by nearly 10% against the US dollar since May, making its exports more expensive to foreign buyers.
Meanwhile, there has been a sharp decline in the Japanese yen, which has dipped almost 20% against the US dollar since November 2012, triggered by an aggressive monetary policy stance by the new Japanese government.
There have been fears that because Japan and South Korea compete in similar markets, Korean goods may lose out as a result of the currency moves and that such developments may also hurt South Korea’s overall growth.
However, analysts said the latest data indicated that the moves had not had a significant effect on the sector.
“Exports improved even though the yen was depreciating, suggesting that there hasn’t been any major impact on growth yet,” said Kong Dong-Pak, an analyst at Hanwha Securities.
As a result, policymakers have been taking measures to boost domestic consumption in an attempt to offset the decline in foreign sales and sustain growth.
Last week, the government unveiled a 17.3 trillion won ($15.3 billion) stimulus plan.
It said the funds would be used to help small and medium-sized exporters, create jobs, boost a stagnant property market and cover a shortfall in tax revenue.
The move is expected to help boost annual growth by 0.3 percentage point this year and create 40,000 jobs.
Analysts said that as the plan is implemented and starts to impact real growth, policymakers may revise their projections upwards.
“Once the government’s extra budget starts kicking in, it’s possible that the Bank of Korea could raise its 2013 growth forecast come July,” said Kong Dong-Pak of Hanwha Securities.
North Korea has announced it is ready to talk if UN sanctions against it are withdrawn and if the US and South Korea put an end to joint military drills.
The conditions for dialogue were outlined in a statement from North Korea’s National Defence Commission and carried on official news agency KCNA.
The UN imposed sanctions on North Korea after the country conducted its third nuclear test on February 12.
The US and South Korea’s annual joint military drills began in March.
“If the US and the South enemies… genuinely want dialogue and negotiation, they should take these steps,” the defence commission said.
“The first step will be withdrawing the UN Security Council resolutions cooked up on ridiculous grounds,” the North Korea statement said.
“Second, you need to tell the whole world that you will not get involved in any rehearsal for a nuclear war that threatens our nation. Dialogues and war games can never go together,” it added.
North Korea has announced it is ready to talk if UN sanctions against it are withdrawn and if the US and South Korea put an end to joint military drills.
Tensions have been high on the Korean peninsula since North Korea conducted its third underground nuclear test, which resulted in sanctions from the UN.
In recent weeks, the North has threatened to attack South Korea, Japan and US bases in the region.
South Korean President Park Gyeun-hye has made conditional offers of talks with the North, but the North has said that it was merely a “crafty trick”.
The US had also said it was willing to hold talks with North Korea, but only if previous agreements on disarmament were upheld.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged North Korea to “seriously ” consider a dialogue with the South about Kaesong Industrial Complex.
“I firmly believe that the recent offer of dialogue by the Republic of Korea is genuine and hope that the DPRK takes it seriously,” Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday.
Kaesong, located inside North Korea just across the demilitarized zone from South Korea, was largely financed by the South to increase co-operation.
North Korea has blocked access to Kaesong since April 3 amid rising tension on the Korean peninsula.
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South Korea is the latest Asian country to try and boost economic growth by spending hard, unveiling a 17.3 trillion won ($15.3 billion) stimulus plan.
The funds will be used to help small and medium-sized exporters, create jobs, boost a stagnant property market and cover a shortfall in tax revenue.
Recently, South Korea has been hurt by weak exports and subdued domestic demand.
The move is expected to help boost annual growth by 0.3 percentage point this year and create 40,000 jobs.
“This is a much-needed move,” said Kwon Young-sun, an economist with Nomura.
“It may not boost growth substantially but will help sustain the economy in the medium term amid the various pressures and challenges that it is facing.”
South Korea is the latest Asian country to try and boost economic growth by spending hard, unveiling a 17.3 trillion won stimulus plan
The move comes just weeks after the finance ministry cut the country’s growth forecast for the current year.
It said it expects the economy to grow by 2.3% in 2013, down from its earlier projection of 3%.
The biggest drag on growth has been a slowdown in exports, which account for almost half of South Korea’s total economic output. Shipments have been hit by weak demand in markets such as the US and the eurozone.
At the same time, recent fluctuations in currency markets have triggered concerns over a further slowdown in the sector.
The South Korean won has risen by nearly 10% against the US dollar since May, making its exports more expensive to foreign buyers.
A strong currency also hurts the profits of exporters when they repatriate their foreign earnings back home.
The main trigger for the gain in the won has been Japan’s decision to massively boost its stimulus and spending plans. At the centre of its new policy has been achieving a weaker yen in the hope of boosting exports.
Japan’s yen has dipped nearly 20% against the US dollar since November last year.
There are fears that because Japan and South Korea compete in similar markets, Korean goods may lose out as a result of the currency moves.
John Kerry has called on North Korea’s leaders to “come to the table in a responsible way” to end regional tensions.
Speaking in Tokyo, the fourth and final stop on his Asian tour, US Secretary of State John Kerry warned North Korea it risked further isolation if its threats continued.
John Kerry also reaffirmed the US commitment to defend its allies, including Japan.
The countries the US official had visited were united in seeking the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
On Friday John Kerry visited South Korea, and on Saturday he was in China, whose leaders he has said are “very serious” in their pledge to help reduce tensions – and to help end the North Korean nuclear programme.
North Korea has recently threatened attacks against South Korea and the US, sparking alarm in the region.
Speaking in Tokyo, the fourth and final stop on his Asian tour, US Secretary of State John Kerry warned North Korea it risked further isolation if its threats continued
Speculation has been building that the North is preparing a missile launch, following reports that it has moved at least two Musudan ballistic missiles to its east coast.
Japan is within range of these rockets and has been taking precautions, including setting up batteries of US-made Patriot anti-missile systems around the capital and sending two warships to the Sea of Japan, with orders to shoot down any missiles fired towards the Japanese islands.
At a joint news conference with Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, John Kerry said North Korea had to understand by now “that its threats and provocations are only going to isolate it further and impoverish its people even further”.
“The US will do what is necessary to defend our allies against these provocations, but our choice is to negotiate,” he said.
“We would hope that whatever considerations and fears the North has of the US or others in the region they would come to table in responsible way and negotiate that.”
John Kerry stressed that Seoul, Beijing, Tokyo and Washington had “committed to take action together” and to “making that goal of denuclearization a reality”.
Fumio Kishida said their role was to persuade North Korea that its aggressive behavior “will not benefit them in any way whatsoever” and that the international community had to send out this strong message.
Washington and Tokyo have a security alliance dating back to the 1950s, under which Washington is bound to protect Japan if it is attacked.
On Monday, April 15, North Korea will mark the birth of national founder Kim Il-sung. Such occasions are traditionally marked with shows of military strength and it is thought this year the date could be used for a missile launch.
John Kerry has stressed that it would be a “huge mistake” for North Korea to go ahead with a launch, saying it would further isolate the country and that its people are in need of food, not missiles.
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US Secretary of State John Kerry has hailed China for being “very serious” about a pledge to help resolve tensions over North Korea’s nuclear programme.
The US and China earlier said they were committed to the “denuclearization” of the Korean peninsula.
John Kerry said the two sides would hold further meetings “to bear down very quickly” on how to achieve that goal.
North Korea has recently threatened attacks against South Korea and the US, amid a flurry of bellicose statements.
Speculation has also built that the North was preparing a missile launch, following reports that it had moved at least two Musudan ballistic missiles to its east coast.
John Kerry has said any such launch would be a “huge mistake”.
After a day of meetings in Beijing with President Xi Jinping and other top Chinese officials on Saturday, he said both governments called on North Korea “to refrain from any provocative steps and that obviously refers to any future missile shoot”.
State John Kerry has hailed China for being “very serious” about a pledge to help resolve tensions over North Korea’s nuclear programme
John Kerry, who is on a four-day tour of Asia, continues to Japan on Sunday.
Following John Kerry’s meetings, China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi said his country’s position was “clear cut”.
“China is firmly committed to upholding peace and stability and advancing the denuclearization process on the Korean peninsula,” he said, adding that the issue should be resolved “peacefully through dialogue”.
No specifics were given, though John Kerry said the two sides would hold “further discussions to bear down very quickly with great specificity on exactly how we will accomplish this goal”.
He later told reporters that the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Martin Dempsey, would visit Beijing later this month accompanied by intelligence officials.
He said he wanted to ensure that the pledges made on Saturday were “not just rhetoric”, adding: “There is no question in my mind that China is very serious – very serious – about denuclearizing.”
China is North Korea’s only ally and major trading partner, but has grown increasingly frustrated with its growing belligerence.
However, persuading China to increase the pressure on North Korea will not be easy.
China is still North Korea’s lifeline, and Beijing is unlikely to cut vital supplies of food and fuel since it feels that may make the North even more desperate and unpredictable.
On Saturday John Kerry raised the prospect that if North Korea stopped its nuclear programme – “if the threat disappears” – then the US would no longer have “the same imperative… to have that kind of robust, forward-leaning posture”.
Since the UN imposed fresh sanctions on North Korea in February in response to its third nuclear test, Pyongyang has promised to restart a mothballed nuclear reactor and threatened a nuclear strike against the US mainland.
It has also shut an emergency military hotline to South Korea, and urged diplomatic staff to leave, saying it cannot guarantee their safety.
North Korea says it has also been angered by joint US-South Korean military exercises.
On Saturday, a commentary piece on Chinese state news agency Xinhua said Washington had itself “been fanning the flames” by sending military reinforcements to the region.
But during his trip, John Kerry has stressed that the US has tried to tone down its own statements, and cancelled some military exercises in an effort to defuse tension.
Though North Korea’s rhetoric has been more bellicose than usual, analysts say it fits a long-standing pattern, and may be intended to boost the popularity of Kim Jong-un, who came to power last year.
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PSY performed his new single Gentleman and its accompanying dance at a concert in Seoul on Saturday as he spoke about how he hopes North Koreans will enjoy his music even as tensions remain high on the Korean Peninsula.
PSY released Gentleman in 119 countries on Friday, hoping to replicate the success of Gangnam Style, the smash YouTube hit that made him an international star almost overnight last year.
The choreography for Gentleman – including the arrogant dance, as PSY called it – was unveiled at a Seoul concert in front of more than 50,000 fans. The music video has now been uploaded onto YouTube.
Wearing a black and white houndstooth blazer PSY took to the stage amid a frenzy of screams.
PSY’s concert, which was titled Happening, was sold out and the cool performer certainly put on a show for his loyal fans.
PSY, whose real name is Park Jae-sang, said on Saturday that he regretted the current tensions between South Korea and North Korea.
PSY performed his new single Gentleman and its accompanying dance at a concert in Seoul
The situation has been grabbing global headlines, with North Korea becoming increasingly belligerent with war rumblings, leaving its neighbors wary of a possible missile test by Pyongyang.
“It’s a tragedy. We are the only countries divided right now,” PSY said at a news conference ahead of the concert.
North Korea and South Korea, which are divided by heavily fortified borders, are technically still at war, with the 1950-53 Korean War ending with a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.
PSY said he hoped North Koreans would enjoy his new music. He said his job was to make all people, including North Koreans, laugh.
“Hopefully my Gangnam Style, my Gentleman, my music videos and my choreography… they might enjoy them too,” he said.
When the Gangnam Style video went viral last year, it spun legions of parodies.
Even North Korea’s government created a parody video of the hit, showing that the secretive country is well-versed in South Korean popular culture.
North Korea used its Gangnam Style parody to criticize Park Geun-hye, then the presidential candidate for South Korea’s ruling party. Park Geun-hye was inaugurated as South Korea’s new president in February.
PSY’s Gangnam Style video, featuring his much-mimicked horse-riding dance, made him one of the best-known Koreans in the world.
Gangnam Style is the most watched video of all time on YouTube, gathering more than 1.5 billion views since its release in July.
PSY acknowledged that the massive success of Gangnam Style added to the pressure as he worked on his latest single, but he said he tried to remain true to himself and his Korean roots.
“I tried to find Korean words that people from any country can easily sing along,” he said of Gentleman, which contains lyrics both in English and Korean.
PSY co-composed the music and wrote the lyrics, which poke fun at a self-claimed gentleman who enjoys his time at a dance club.
Audiences have questioned whether PSY will be a one-hit wonder known only for Gangnam Style.
The South Korean musician, whose humble
personality has endeared him to his fans at home since he made his debut more than a decade ago, shrugs off the skepticism.
“Whether or not a couple of my songs become a global hit, I’ve been doing this job for 12 years,” PSY said.
“I will bring more Korean dance moves and Korean songs overseas.”
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US Secretary of State John Kerry has arrived in Beijing to urge China’s leaders to use their influence on North Korea to reduce regional tensions.
Speaking to China’s President Xi Jinping, John Kerry said the world was facing a “critical time”.
John Kerry’s four-day tour of Asia comes amid speculation that North Korea is preparing for a missile launch.
The secretary has said that as the closest ally of Pyongyang China should “put some teeth” into urging restraint.
A flurry of warlike statements from Pyongyang has prompted speculation that it might launch a missile – possibly on April 15, when the country marks the 101st birthday of the nation’s founder and former leader, Kim Il-sung.
North Korea has reportedly moved at least two Musudan ballistic missiles to its east coast, but on Saturday, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quoted officials in Seoul as saying that no new movement of the mobile launchers had been detected for two days.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has arrived in Beijing to urge China’s leaders to use their influence on North Korea to reduce regional tensions
Since the UN imposed fresh sanctions on North Korea in February, its leadership has promised to restart a mothballed nuclear reactor, has shut an emergency military hotline to South Korea, and has urged diplomatic staff to leave, saying it cannot guarantee their safety.
North Korea says it has also been angered by joint US-South Korean military exercises.
Though North Korean rhetoric has been more bellicose than usual, analysts say it fits a long-standing pattern, and may be intended to boost the popularity of Kim Jong-un, who came to power last year.
After arriving in Beijing on Saturday and holding talks with his counterpart, Wang Yi, John Kerry told Xi Jinping the world was facing “a critical time with some very challenging issues”.
Among them were Korean tensions but also “the challenge of Iran and nuclear weapons, Syria and the Middle East, and economies around the world that are in need of a boost”, he said.
John Kerry later said he and Xi Jinping had had “constructive and forward-leaning” talks, without giving further details, Reuters reports.
On Friday, during a visit to the South Korean capital, Seoul, John Kerry said the US would protect itself and its allies, and that his talks in Beijing would aim to “lay out a path that will defuse this tension”.
He said no country had a closer relationship with Pyongyang than China.
Beijing, like Washington, wanted denuclearization on the peninsula, he said, adding: “If that’s your policy, you’ve got to put some teeth into it.”
He warned North Korea against any missile launch, saying it would be a “provocation and unwanted act” which would further isolate North Korea and its people who, he said “are desperate for food, not missile launches”.
China is North Korea’s only ally and major trading partner, but has grown increasingly frustrated with its growing belligerence.
John Kerry will be pressuring China to use its economic leverage to force its rebellious ally to tone down its threats.
But in turn, China is pushing the US to do more to make North Korea feel secure.
In Seoul, John Kerry voiced his support for the vision of a reunified Korean peninsula – so far a development neither Chinese nor Korean leadership want to see.
Russia has also expressed growing concern over North Korea and said on Friday that it had issued “an urgent appeal” to Pyongyang “to refrain from actions which could lead to further escalation of tension”.
US officials including John Kerry have been playing down a leaked report from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) which warned there was “moderate” confidence Pyongyang had developed the technology to mount a nuclear warhead on a missile.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said Pyongyang had “not demonstrated the capability to deploy a nuclear-armed missile”.
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The US has urged China to use all its leverage to help rein in North Korea’s “destabilizing” actions.
US Secretary of State John Kerry is in South Korea, where he is expected to call on China to evoke “a sense of urgency” in its talks with North Korea.
Pyongyang has ratcheted up tensions in the region, threatening nuclear strikes against South Korea and the US.
A leaked US intelligence report has said North Korea may now be capable of mounting nuclear warheads on a missile.
On Thursday, a US Congressman read out what he said was an unclassified section of a Defense Intelligence Agency study. He said it assessed “with moderate confidence” that North Korea could fire a nuclear-armed missile, though with “low reliability”.
North Korea has tested both nuclear weapons and missiles, but it had been thought it had not yet developed a device small enough to be a viable and deliverable weapon.
But the Pentagon later denied the report, with spokesman George Little saying it would be “inaccurate to suggest that the North Korean regime has fully tested, developed or demonstrated the kinds of nuclear capabilities referenced in the passage”.
North Korea has increased its warlike rhetoric following fresh UN sanctions imposed after its third nuclear test in February
South Korea is currently on a high state of alert amid indications that North Korea is preparing for a missile test.
Pyongyang has moved two Musudan ballistic missiles to its east coast. Estimates of their range vary, but some suggest the missiles could travel 2,500 miles.
That would put US bases on Guam within range, although it is not believed that the Musudan has been tested before.
John Kerry is making his first trip to Asia since becoming secretary of state. He will spend time in Seoul and Tokyo as well as in Beijing, North Korea’s last remaining ally and its major trading partner.
A senior administration official told reporters on board John Kerry’s plane: “It is no secret that China has most leverage, most influence, with North Korea and I think fundamentally we would want them to use some of that leverage because otherwise it is very destabilizing and it threatens the whole region.”
The official added that, although Washington was not privy to conversations between China and North Korea, “we would want China to bring a sense of urgency, the need to stop this escalation, into that debate”.
“China has a huge stake in stability and the continued North Korean pursuit of a nuclear armed missile capability is the enemy of stability. That gives us and the Chinese a very powerful objective in common, namely denuclearization,” the official said.
President Barack Obama has urged Pyongyang to end its “belligerent approach… and to try to lower temperatures”.
But he warned that while he preferred to see tensions resolved through diplomatic means, “the United States will take all necessary steps to protect its people”.
China, meanwhile, has denied reports that it is deploying troops along the North Korean border.
A defense ministry official said Beijing was “paying close attention to the development of the current situation on the Korean Peninsula and has always been committed to safeguarding peace and stability in Northeast Asia,” the state Xinhua news agency reports.
North Korea has increased its warlike rhetoric following fresh UN sanctions imposed after its third nuclear test in February and joint military manoeuvres by the US and South Korea.
Pyongyang says it will restart a mothballed nuclear reactor, has shut an emergency military hotline to the South and has urged countries to withdraw diplomatic staff, saying it cannot now guarantee their safety.
However, in the past few days North Korea’s media appear to be in more of a holiday mood, due to the approach of Monday’s celebrations marking the birth of national founder Kim Il-sung – a potential launch date for a new missile test.
On Thursday, foreign ministers from the G8 group of nations condemned in the “strongest possible terms” North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes.
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Images of four North Korean female soldiers in heels and Soviet-style hats were released in the latest act of bravado from dictator Kim Jong- un.
The images were accompanied by a fresh round of North Korean rhetoric claiming the communist state had “powerful striking means” on standby for a launch.
Images of four North Korean female soldiers in heels and Soviet-style hats were released in the latest act of bravado from dictator Kim Jong- un
The official statement is the latest in a torrent of warlike threats seen outside Pyongyang as an effort to raise fears and pressure Seoul and Washington into changing their North Korea policy.
The eyes of the world remain focused on North Korea after South Korea warned that the prospect of a missile attack was “considerably high”.
The US is on standby to intercept any missile fired and warned North Korea it was “skating very close to a dangerous line” after it emerged the secretive state’s weapons system was “fuelled and ready to launch”.
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North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes have been condemned by the G8 foreign ministers in the “strongest possible terms”.
Tensions have risen on the Korean peninsula in recent weeks.
In a communiqué, the ministers also expressed their “deep concern” at the toll of the conflict in Syria.
They also endorsed what they called a historic pledge on preventing sexual violence in conflict.
The G8 nations comprises the US, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada and Russia.
North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes have been condemned by the G8 foreign ministers
Britain currently holds the rotating chairmanship of the G8 and the talks in London are a prelude to the annual G8 summit later this year in Northern Ireland.
Correspondents say Japan, present at the talks, had been looking for a strong statement of solidarity over Korea.
North Korea has been making bellicose threats against South Korea, Japan and US bases in the region.
The G8 ministers reportedly pledged to work to end violence in conflict, calling for urgent action to address “comprehensively” the “culture of impunity” in conflict zones.
“There is no disagreement with the United States over North Korea,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry in London on Wednesday.
South Korea has raised its alert level amid indications that the North is preparing for a missile test.
Pyongyang has moved two Musudan missiles to its east coast. Estimates of the ballistic missile’s range vary, but some suggest it could be as high as 2,500 miles.
A missile therefore has the potential of hitting US bases on Guam, although it is not known whether the Musudan has been tested before.
There is also no evidence North Korea has miniaturized a nuclear weapon sufficiently to be used on a ballistic missile.
Correspondents point to Monday – the birthday of North Korea’s founder Kim Il-sung – as a potential launch date.
North Korea has increased its fiery rhetoric following fresh UN sanctions imposed after its third nuclear test and joint military manoeuvres by the US and South Korea.
Key North Korean anniversaries:
- 11 April – Kim Jong-un elected first secretary of the Workers’ Party and late father Kim Jong-il named General Secretary for Eternity in 2012
- 13 April – Kim Jong-un appointed first chairman of the National Defence Commission in 2012
- 15 April – Birthday of state founder Kim Il-sung (1912-1994)
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