South Korea accuses the North of having launched a torpedo to sink the ship which the North has always denied.
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The North’s fourth nuclear test in January saw the UN Security Council – backed by Pyongyang’s main ally China – impose its harshest sanctions to date over the North’s nuclear weapons programme.
The institute has tagged four of the Eurasian black vultures, which are also known as monk vultures, with Global Positioning System tracker units and monitored their annual migrations between the most southerly tip of South Korea in early April and their arrival in their breeding grounds in the far west of Mongolia in late May.
Kim Dong Chul, who has previously said he was a naturalized American citizen and was arrested in North Korea in October, admitted to committing “unpardonable espionage” under the direction of the US and South Korean governments and deeply apologized for his crimes, the North’s KCNA news agency said.
North Korea said Thursday that it had successfully conducted a solid-fuel rocket engine test, which if confirmed would be a major step forward in boosting its missile attack capability against South Korea and the United States.
The meeting reportedly began with an official praising the country’s nuclear achievements and leader Kim Jong-un.
A man who identified himself as Kim Dong Chul, previously said he was a naturalised American citizen and was arrested in North Korea in October, attends a news conference in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this photo released by Kyodo, March 25, 2016.
The exercise was overseen by North leader Kim Jong-un, said the KCNA state news agency, who called on the military to be ready to “ruthlessly” destroy the government in South.
“Reckless provocation will be the road to destruction for the North’s regime”, Park said at an anniversary event for the 2010 sinking of a naval ship that killed 46 people.
The South’s President Park Geun-Hye has ordered the army to be on alert. Last Friday, it launched a medium-range ballistic missile into waters off its east coast for the first time since 2014.
It would seem the tests are meant to use solid propellants to fuel missiles with a range of 400-500 kilometers – which would put the entirety of South Korea within striking range.
Despite its boasts to be making progress, many experts believe the North is a decade or more away from building an ICBM capable of threatening the United States.
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The launch has not yet been independently confirmed, with South Korea’s Defence Ministry saying it will need to be analysed.
