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A high-profile North Korean delegation is making a rare foreign visit to Iran, the state-run KCNA news agency has reported.
The last time officials from Pyongyang made a publicly announced trip to Tehran was in 2019. A delegation headed by North Korea’s minister for external economic relations, Yun Jong Ho, departed for Iran by plane on Tuesday, according to the agency. KCNA did not reveal further details about the visit. In February, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a congratulatory message to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on the 45th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. Kim expressed confidence that “the traditional relations of friendship and cooperation between our two countries forged on the road of joint struggle against imperialism will expand and develop in various fields.” US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said last Tuesday that Washington is “incredibly concerned” about alleged cooperation between Tehran and Pyongyang in nuclear and ballistic missile development. The two countries remain under harsh international sanctions over their weapons programs. Last week, South Korea’s spy agency, the National Intelligence Service (NIS), said it is “keeping tabs on whether the North Korean technology was included in Iran’s ballistic missiles launched against Israel, given the North and Iran’s missile cooperation in the past.” On April 13, Tehran fired several hundred missiles and drones at military targets inside Israel, in response to an earlier strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, which left two generals and several other senior officers dead. Pyongyang has also faced accusations from the West that Palestinian armed group Hamas, which has ties with Iran, used North Korean weapons in its attack against Israel on October 7. At the time, KCNA rejected the claims as “a groundless and false rumour,” aimed to “shift the blame for the Middle East crisis caused by [the US] wrong hegemonic policy onto a third country.” North Korea and Iran have also been accused by the US and its allies of respectively providing artillery shells and drones to Russia amid the conflict with Ukraine. Pyongyang and Tehran have denied the claims, while Russia has insisted it relies on domestically produced weapons for its military operation. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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North Korea launched several ballistic missiles into the sea on Monday, according to officials in South Korea and Japan.
Several projectiles that appeared to be short-range ballistic missiles were fired towards the Sea of Japan from the vicinity Pyongyang and flew roughly 300km before splashing down, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff reported. The military branded the incident “a clear provocation” threatening stability and security on the Korean Peninsula. The Japanese Defence Ministry likewise reported a ballistic missile fired from North Korea and landing off the coast outside of the country’s exclusive economic zone. The Coast Guard said it detected no damage, while the office of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida promised further updates, after analysis of available information is complete. According to the South Korean news agency Yonhap, it was the fourth ballistic missile test by North Korea this year. In early April, Pyongyang fired what is believed to be a new type of a solid-propellant intermediate-range projectile that can potentially deploy a hypersonic glide vehicle. North Korean state media touted the new platform in mid-March. Last Friday, Pyongyang reported testing a new type of warhead for a cruise missile and a new anti-aircraft weapon. In January, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced a major policy shift when he stated that his government is no longer seeking peaceful reunification with the South, a goal that he described as misguided. He said that since Seoul considers itself an enemy of Pyongyang, the peoples governed by the two governments cannot be treated as separated parts of the same nation. The North says it needs advanced weapons systems to protect itself from a possible invasion by the US and its regional allies, including South Korea and Japan. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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4/24/2024
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