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Japan military on alert for possible North Korean ballistic missile launch

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s military was on alert for a possible North Korean ballistic missile launch, a government source said on Tuesday, with media reporting its navy and anti-missile Patriot batteries have been told to shoot down any projectile heading for Japan.

North Korea appeared to have moved an intermediate-range missile to its east coast, but there were no signs of an imminent launch, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported, citing an unnamed government source.

A South Korean defense ministry official said it could not confirm the Yonhap report and said the military was watching the North’s missile activities closely.

Tension in the region has been high since isolated North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and followed that with a satellite launch and test launches of various missiles.

Japan has put its anti-ballistic missile forces on alert several times this year after detecting signs of missile launches.

The Japanese government source said there were again signs North Korea might be preparing a launch of the intermediate-range Musudan missile, the same missile it attempted to launch in May, prompting the order for the military to go on alert.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said if the North goes ahead with a launch it would again be in violation of U.N. resolutions and defying repeated warnings by the international community.

“It will further isolate the North from the international community,” ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck told a briefing.

The United Nations Security Council in March imposed tightened sanctions against North Korea over its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

North Korea has failed in all four attempts to launch the Musudan, which theoretically has the range to reach any part of Japan and the U.S. territory of Guam.

North Korea tried unsuccessfully to test launch the Musudan three times in April, according to U.S. and South Korean officials, while a May attempt failed a day after Japan put its military on alert.

North Korea is believed to have up to 30 Musudan missiles, according to South Korean media, which officials said were first deployed in around 2007, although the North had never attempted to test-fire them until this year.

(Reporting by Nobuhiro Kubo and Elaine Lies in Tokyo, Ju-min Park, Jee Heun Kahng, James Pearson in Seoul; Editing by Michael Perry)

North Korea diplomat expected to attend China forum with U.S. envoy

SEOUL (Reuters) – A North Korean diplomat who was part of the so-called six-party talks aimed at ending the country’s nuclear program arrived on Monday in China, where she is expected to attend a forum in which the U.S. nuclear envoy will take part, Japan’s Kyodo news agency said.

If the diplomat does take part, it would be a rare gathering of experts from the six countries, coming weeks after Chinese President Xi Jinping said he would like to see the six-party talks resume.

Isolated North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch the following month in defiance of U.N. resolutions, prompting the U.N. Security Council to impose new sanctions.

China, reclusive North Korea’s only major ally, has been angered by its nuclear and missile programs. Xi said in April China wanted to see a resumption of the six-party talks, which have been stalled since 2008.

The North Korean diplomat, Choe Son Hui, is deputy director-general of the North Korean Foreign Ministry’s U.S. affairs bureau, according to South Korea. She was a delegate to the stop-start six-party nuclear talks, hosted by China.

Choe was expected to attend the closed-door Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue in Beijing, hosted by the Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation at the University of California, San Diego, Kyodo said.

The annual dialogue is an informal multilateral conference attended by government officials and scholars from the United States, South Korea, Japan, Russia and China, the five countries involved in the six-party talks along with North Korea.

“We hope that this conference can make a meaningful inquiry into the relevant cooperation issues in northeast Asia,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters in Beijing.

The U.S. State Department said last week that Sung Kim, the U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, would attend the forum in Beijing. Kyodo said Japan may also send its top nuclear negotiator.

State Department spokesman John Kirby said on Monday that Kim has no plans to meet with his North Korean counterparts during the session.

It was unclear if Choe would hold separate meetings with officials from other countries.

Choe attended a security conference in 2012 in China, but no representatives from North Korea have taken part since, according to the Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation.

The visit comes after career diplomat Ri Su Yong, one of North Korea’s highest-profile officials, visited China and held a rare meeting with Xi.

(Reporting by Ju-min Park, additional reporting by Megha Rajagopalan in Beijing and Warren Strobel in Washington; Editing by Nick Macfie and Steve Orlofsky)

Keyboard warriors: South Korea trains new frontline in decades-old war with North

By Ju-min Park

SEOUL (Reuters) – In one college major at Seoul’s elite Korea University, the courses are known only by number, and students keep their identities a secret from outsiders.

The Cyber Defense curriculum, funded by the defense ministry, trains young keyboard warriors who get a free education in exchange for a seven-year commitment as officers in the army’s cyber warfare unit – and its ongoing conflict with North Korea.

North and South Korea remain in a technical state of war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armed truce. Besides Pyongyang’s nuclear and rocket program, South Korea says the North has a strong cyber army which it has blamed for a series of attacks in the past three years.

The cyber defense program at the university in Seoul was founded in 2011, with the first students enrolled the following year.

One 21-year-old student, who allowed himself to be identified only by his surname Noh, said he had long been interested in computing and cyber security and was urged by his father to join the program. All South Korean males are required to serve in the military, usually for up to two years.

“It’s not a time burden but part of a process to build my career,” Noh said.

“Becoming a cyber warrior means devoting myself to serve my country,” he said in a war room packed with computers and wall-mounted flat screens at the school’s science library.

South Korea, a key U.S. ally, is one of the world’s most technologically advanced countries.

That makes its networks that control everything from electrical power grids to the banking system vulnerable against an enemy that has relatively primitive infrastructure and thus few targets against which the South can retaliate.

“In relative terms, it looks unfavorable because our country has more places to defend, while North Korea barely uses or provides internet,” said Noh.

Last year, South Korea estimated that the North’s “cyber army” had doubled in size over two years to 6,000 troops, and the South has been scrambling to ramp up its capability to meet what it considers to be a rising threat.

The United States and South Korea announced efforts to strengthen cooperation on cyber security, including “deepening military-to-military cyber cooperation,” the White House said during President Park Geun-hye’s visit to Washington in October.

In addition to the course at Korea University, the national police has been expanding its cyber defense capabilities, while the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning started a one-year program in 2012 to train so-called “white hat” – or ethical – computer hackers.

NORTH’S CYBER OFFENSIVES

Still, the North appears to have notched up successes in the cyber war against both the South and the United States.

Last week, South Korean police said the North hacked into more than 140,000 computers at 160 South Korean companies and government agencies, planting malicious code under a long-term plan laying groundwork for a massive cyber attack against its rival.

In 2013, Seoul blamed the North for a cyber attack on banks and broadcasters that froze computer systems for over a week.

North Korea denied responsibility.

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has blamed Pyongyang for a 2014 cyber attack on Sony Pictures’ network as the company prepared to release “The Interview,” a comedy about a fictional plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The attack was followed by online leaks of unreleased movies and emails that caused embarrassment to executives and Hollywood personalities.

North Korea described the accusation as “groundless slander.”

South Korea’s university cyber defense program selects a maximum of 30 students each year, almost all of them men. On top of free tuition, the school provides 500,000 won ($427) per month support for each student for living expenses, according to Korea University Professor Jeong Ik-rae.

The course trains pupils in disciplines including hacking, mathematics, law and cryptography, with students staging mock hacking attacks or playing defense, using simulation programs donated by security firms, he said.

The admission to the selective program entails three days of interviews including physical examinations, attended by military officials along with the school’s professors, he said.

While North Korea’s cyber army outnumbers the South’s roughly 500-strong force, Jeong said a small group of talented and well-trained cadets can be groomed to beat the enemy.

Jeong, an information security expert who has taught in the cyber defense curriculum since 2012, said the school benchmarks itself on Israel’s elite Talpiot program, which trains gifted students in areas like technology and applied sciences as well as combat. After graduating, they focus on areas like cybersecurity and missile defense.

“It’s very important to have skills to respond when attacks happen – not only to defend,” Jeong said.

(Editing by Tony Munroe and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

U.S. expects announcement soon on Korea anti missile system

A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor is launched during a successful inter

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Plans for the deployment of the U.S. THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea are moving forward and an announcement can be expected soon, senior U.S. officials said on Thursday.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter told reporters en route to a regional security meeting in Singapore, at which he will meet his South Korean counterpart, that recent North Korean missile tests showed the need for improved missile defenses, even though the test had been failures.

“There have been five consecutive failures there, but…most of the world continues to be concerned about North Korean missile activity,” Carter said after what U.S. and South Korean officials say was the latest failed test of a North Korean intermediate range Musudan missile on Tuesday.

“Whatever the outcome of the test, the fact remains that they are trying to make those missiles fly – that’s the critical fact,” Carter said.

Carter said deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system would come up in his meeting on Saturday with the South Korean defense minister on the sidelines of the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, but added: “It’s not something we need to discuss much because the plans are moving forward.”

He waved aside concerns expressed by China that deployment of the THAAD system’s radars on the Korean peninsula could upset the balance of power by reducing the strategic deterrence of the Chinese ballistic missile system.

“This is an alliance decision; a decision of the United States and the Republic of Korea, which is about protecting us both from a North Korean missile attack …The implementation will be a series of decisions that we take together and it’s for our own protection against North Korea. Everybody should understand that.”

Another senior U.S. defense official said they were still “a lot of technical issues to get through,” but “we will have a public announcement soon.” “We are in the process of continuing our discussions on deployment and we will have an announcement when we’re ready,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The United States and South Korea began formal discussions on deploying the THAAD system in South Korea after North Korea conducted a fifth nuclear test in January and launched a rocket into space the following month as part of a program seen as a cover for intercontinental ballistic missile development.

(Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Almost 46 Million People trapped in slavery globally

Actor Russell Crowe launches the 2016 Global Slavery Index at the London office of Gallup

By Alex Whiting

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Almost 46 million people are living as slaves globally with the greatest number in India but the highest prevalence in North Korea, according to the third Global Slavery Index launched on Tuesday with Australian actor Russell Crowe.

The index, by Australia-based human rights group Walk Free Foundation, increased its estimate of people born into servitude, trafficked for sex work, or trapped in debt bondage or forced labor to 45.8 million from 35.8 million in 2014.

Andrew Forrest, founder of Walk Free, said the rise of nearly 30 percent was due to better data collection, although he feared the situation was getting worse with global displacement and migration increasing vulnerability to all forms of slavery.

Forrest, an Australian mining billionaire and philanthropist, urged businesses to check their supply chains for worker exploitation, saying he found thousands of people trapped in slavery making goods for his company Fortescue Metals Group.

“But I’ve had some of some biggest entrepreneurs in the world look me in the eye and say I will not look for slavery in case I find it,” he said at the launch of the index in London.

Crowe, who played Roman emperor-turned-slave Maximus in the 2000 movie “Gladiator”, described the plight of people “in our communities who are stuck, utterly helpless and trapped in a cycle of despair and degradation with no choice and no hope.”

“As an actor, my role is often to portray raw human emotion, but nothing compares with the people’s lives reflected in the report published today,” he said.

Incidences of slavery were found in all 167 countries in the index, with India home to the largest total number with an estimated 18.4 million slaves among its 1.3 billion population.

But Forrest said India deserved credit for starting to address this problem with the government this week unveiling a draft of its first comprehensive anti-human trafficking law to treat survivors as victims rather than criminals.

North Korea ranked as worst in terms of concentration with one in every 20 people – or 4.4 percent of its 25 million population – in slavery and its government doing the least to end this with reports of state-sanctioned forced labor.

“We need to make it clear we’re not going to tolerate slavery and when there is slavery in a regime we should not trade with them,” Forrest told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

NUMBERS CRITICIZED

Forrest acknowledged the latest data was likely to attract criticism with some researchers accusing the index of flawed methodology by extrapolating on-the-ground surveys in some countries to estimate numbers for other nations.

The 2016 index was based on interviews with about 42,000 people by pollster Gallup in 53 languages in 25 countries.

But Forrest said a lack of hard data on slavery in the past had held back efforts to tackle this hidden crime and it was important to draw a “sand in the line” measurement to drive action. He challenged critics to produce an alternative.

The United Nation’s International Labour Organization estimates 21 million people globally are victims of forced labor but this does not take into account all forms of slavery.

“Without measurement you don’t have effective management and there’s no way to lead the world away from slavery,” he said.

Forrest said the Global Slavery Index aims to measure the prevalence of slavery in the 167 most populous countries as well as the level of vulnerability of people to enslavement and strength of government efforts to combat this.

The 2016 index again found Asia, which provides low-skilled labor in global supply chains producing clothing, food and technology, accounted for two-thirds of the people in slavery.

About 58 percent of people living in slavery are in five countries – India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Uzbekistan.

However the countries with the highest proportion of their population enslaved were North Korea, Uzbekistan, and Cambodia.

The governments taking the least action to tackle slavery were listed as North Korea, Iran, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, and Hong Kong.

By contrast the governments taking most action were the Netherlands, the United States, Britain, Sweden and Australia.

Forrest said a reason for launching the index in Britain was to acknowledge the lead set by the UK government which last year brought in the 2015 Modern Slavery Act.

While Europe has the lowest regional prevalence of slavery, Walk Free said it was a source and destination for forced labor and sexual exploitation. The impact of a mass influx of migrants and refugees fleeing conflicts and poverty has yet to be seen.

Crowe said slavery was a problem that was not going away.

“I think all of us should keep focused on it until we get to that point … where it just gets pushed over the edge and it’s finished,” he said.

(Additional reporting by Belinda Goldsmith, Editing by Ros Russell; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women’s rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)

Good Morning North Korea! Defector takes to the airways

Kim Chung-seong, a North Korean defector and a Christian missionary, speaks during a radio broadcast at a radio station in Seoul

By Ju-min Park

SEOUL (Reuters) – For an hour each day, Kim Chung-seong, a defector from North Korea and a Christian missionary, takes to the microphone in a small Seoul studio.

At 1 a.m., his show, “Hello from Seoul, the Republic of Korea,” sends a mix of gospel music and news into North Korea, defying the isolated state’s efforts to keep its people in the dark about the world, religion and the truth about its leaders.

“Brothers and sisters in the North, I hope this time can be a moment of prayer for a miracle that every party member of North Korea at the party congress can meet God, not take a further step into the cult of personality,” Kim said.

He was referring to the meeting of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party this month, where young leader Kim Jong Un was unanimously elevated to party chairman.

“I am desperately praying that North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and all administrators under him kneel down in front of God and repent for their sins, leave the path of tormenting their people,” Kim, who came to the South in 2004, said in his studio at the Far East Broadcasting Company.

North Korea strictly bans access to outside information, but a growing number of North Koreans consume illicit media, including South Korean TV dramas that show the prosperity of life across the heavily fortified border, via contraband USB sticks and DVDs smuggled from China.

The impoverished North is still technically at war with rich, democratic South Korea because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a treaty. It has also been slapped with UN and other sanctions for its nuclear and missile programmes.

Robert King, U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, told a Senate panel in October that up to 29 percent of North Koreans had listened to foreign radio and said the medium, including the U.S. government’s Voice of America, remained the most important way to get information into the country.

“LISTENING UNDER THE BLANKET”

Kim Myung-jun, professor at Sogang University’s school of mass communications in Seoul, said smuggled USB sticks and DVDs were more about entertainment, whereas radio carried news.

“Once you listen in, you tend to keep listening under the blanket. It gets you addicted,” he said. “AM radio stations like Far East Broadcasting Company have pretty good signals and can be listened to clearly in much of North Korea.”

Kim, the broadcaster, said he tried to delegitimise the three-generation Kim family dictatorship and preach Christian gospel on his show, often with fellow defectors as guests.

“I am not saying everything is bad in North Korea,” said Kim, 39, who has hosted the show for six years.

“But, for example, if the party congress is meant to worship one particular person and make 20 million people that person’s slaves, that is meaningless. That’s what I am talking about on my show.”

North Korea’s constitution guarantees freedom of religion provided it does not undermine the state, but outside of a small handful of state-controlled places of worship, no open religious activity is allowed.

It is also illegal to own a radio that can be tuned, and the only radio or TV sets permitted are those pre-set to state channels. However, many tune in to foreign shows with smuggled Chinese radios and illegally altered North Korean sets.

One weekly guest, defector Ko Ji-eun, said she was a fan of Kim’s show while hiding in China for several years.

After she arrived in Seoul last year, Ko met a fellow defector who had listened to the show while inside the North last year and has since fled to the South.

“North Koreans are now using Chinese earphones not to expose themselves to authorities,” Ko said. “Many people inside North Korea are listening to this radio a lot.”

(Editing by Tony Munroe and Nick Macfie)

Attempted North Korean missile launch fails

KCNA file picture shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watching the ballistic rocket launch drill of the Strategic Force of the Korean People's Army at an unknown location

By Ju-min Park

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea attempted to fire a missile from its east coast on Tuesday but the launch appears to have failed,South Korean officials said, in what would be the latest in a string of unsuccessful ballistic missile tests by the isolated country.

The launch attempt took place at around 5:20 a.m. Seoul time (4.20 p.m. ET), said the officials, who asked not to be identified. They did not elaborate.

Tension in Northeast Asia has been high since North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and followed that with a satellite launch and test launches of various missiles.

Japan put its military alert on Monday for a possible North Korean missile launch.

“North Korea shows no sign of abandoning the development of nuclear missiles and so we will continue to work closely with the U.S. and South Korea in response and maintain a close watch,” Japanese Minister of Defence Gen Nakatani told a media briefing.

North Korea appeared to have attempted to launch an intermediate-range Musudan missile, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency said.

North Korea attempted three test launches of the Musudan in April, all of which failed, U.S. and South Korean officials have said.

Yonhap quoted a South Korean government source as saying the missile was likely to have exploded at about the time it lifted off from a mobile launcher.

China, North Korea’s only major ally, called for the cessation of any action that would exacerbate tension.

“The situation on the peninsula remains complex and sensitive,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a briefing when asked about the launch.

“We think that all sides should avoid any actions that further worsen tensions.”

China has been angered by North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests and signed up to tough U.N. sanctions against its reclusive neighbor in March.

North Korean state media did not mention any missile launch.

A Pentagon statement said that a failed North Korean intermediate-range ballistic missile launch had been detected, but did not pose a threat to North America.

“We strongly condemn North Korea’s missile test in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, which explicitly prohibit North Korea’s use of ballistic missile technology,” the Pentagon statement said.

IN A RUSH?

The North’s flurry of weapons technology tests came in the run-up to the first congress in 36 years of its ruling Workers’ Party this month, where young leader Kim Jong Un consolidated his control.

Tuesday’s launch appears to have been its first missile test since then, and experts said it was unusual to test-fire a missile so soon after a failure.

The South Korean military said the successive tests could stem from Kim’s order in March for further tests of nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles.

“They must’ve been in a rush. Maybe Kim Jong Un was very upset about the failures,” said Lee Choon-geun, senior research fellow at South Korea’s state-run Science and Technology Policy Institute.

North Korea has never carried out a successful launch of the Musudan missile, which theoretically has the range to reach any part of Japan and the U.S. territory of Guam.

The North is believed to have up to 30 Musudan missiles, according to South Korean media, which officials said were first deployed in around 2007.

“It could have cracks and something wrong with the welding,” Lee said of possible causes for the latest failure. “But deployment before test-firing these to complete development seems unusual.”

The attempted launch took place near the east coast city of Wonsan, one of the South Korean officials said, the same area where previous Musudan tests had taken place.

Separately, the international department of China’s Communist Party said diplomat Ri Su Yong, one of North Korea’s highest-profile officials, visited China on Tuesday, meeting the department’s head, Song Tao.

The two expressed a desire to increase cooperation between their parties and work hard to promote regional peace and stability, the department said in a brief statement.

There was no indication of any link between the missile launch and Ri’s visit.

Ri was foreign minister until he was named a member of the politburo during the recent Workers’ Party congress.

(Additional reporting by Se Young Lee in Seoul, Tim Kelly in Tokyo, Ben Blanchard in Beijing and Idrees Ali in Washington; Writing by Tony Munroe; Editing by Robert Birsel and James Dalgleish)

Europe steps up North Korea sanctions with oil, finance bans

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks during a ceremony at the meeting hall of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea

By Robin Emmott

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union stepped up its sanctions on North Korea on Friday with near-blanket trade and travel bans after Pyongyang’s latest nuclear test and rocket launch, a move going beyond new U.N. Security Council sanctions.

Pyongyang is also banned from selling any oil-related or luxury goods to the European Union, while EU nations cannot invest in the country’s mining, refining and chemical industries.

“Considering that the actions of (North Korea) constitute a grave threat to international peace and security in the region and beyond, the EU decided to further expand its restrictive measures,” the Council said.

North Korea’s latest nuclear test was on Jan. 6. On Feb. 7, it launched a rocket that the United States said used banned ballistic missile technology. Pyongyang said it was a peaceful satellite launch.

The EU measures, which diplomats say are designed to show solidarity with major EU trade partners South Korea and Japan, come on top of asset freezes and travel bans for another 16 North Koreans agreed earlier this year. That puts 66 people and 42 companies under the EU sanctions regime.

EU foreign ministers have reinforced their sanctions several times in recent years to include asset freezes and bans on financing and the delivery of banknotes.

EU countries cannot export arms or metals used in ballistic missile systems and are banned from selling gold, diamonds and luxury goods to North Korea. Joint ventures are outlawed.

However, the impact of the new measures is likely to be limited as trade between the European Union and North Korea fell to just 34 million euros in 2014 from more than 300 million euros a decade ago.

Germany and Sweden are also reluctant to totally isolate North Korea. They have maintained diplomatic ties in Pyongyang since the 1970s, providing humanitarian aid to North Koreans.

(Reporting by Robin Emmott; Editing by Tom Heneghan)

South Korea dismissed North Korean proposal as bogus

KCNA picture of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attending a banquet for contributors of the recent rocket launch

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea dismissed on Monday a North Korean proposal for military talks as “a bogus peace offensive” and said it was formally rejecting the overture because it lacked a plan to end the North’s nuclear program.

North Korea’s proposal on the weekend for talks between the two Koreas, a repeat of a call by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a congress of his ruling party this month, came after a period of heightened tension on the peninsula.

North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and launched a long-range rocket in February, triggering tougher international sanctions and the adoption of a more hardline position by South Korean President Park Geun-hye.

North Korea said dialogue between military officials from the two sides was urgently needed to reduce tension, and suggested they be held in late May or early June.

South Korea said the offer was insincere.

“The dialogue proposed by the North does not mention its nuclear program, which is the fundamental issue for peace on the Korean peninsula and South-North ties,” South Korean Defence Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun told a briefing.

“Proposing dialogue without an expression of its position on denuclearization is a bogus peace offensive for bogus peace that lacks sincerity.”

Moon said the South had sent a message over a military hotline on Monday expressing regret over the North’s proposal and asking it to state its position on denuclearization.

This month, at the first congress of North Korea’s Workers’ Party in 36 years, Kim declared his country a nuclear weapons state and vowed to press on with nuclear development, which he said was defensive.

In the run-up to the congress, North Korea test-fired a series of missiles including a submarine-based ballistic missile. It also attempted a launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile.

South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles political ties with the North, said Pyongyang’s intention may be to sow discord among the public in the South and create a rift in the international commitment to sanctions.

“Let me repeat: Now is not the time for dialogue,” said ministry spokesman Cheong Joon-hee.

North Korea came under tougher international pressure with the March adoption of a U.N. Security Council resolution that was even backed its lone major ally China, which disapproves of its nuclear arms program.

South Korea has also cut off all commercial contacts with the North.

The two Koreas have remained in a technical state of war since their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

(Reporting by Jack Kim)

Americans traveling to North Korea risk ‘unduly harsh sentences’: U.S.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Americans who travel to North Korea despite ongoing warnings risk “unduly harsh sentences” for actions that would not be considered a crime in the United States, the U.S. State Department said in its latest travel warning on Monday.

The department, in a detailed warning against such travel, cautioned that at least 14 U.S. citizens have been detained in North Korea in the past 10 years and that American travelers should be aware that possessing any media criticizing the country could considered a crime.

Its strong advice came after two Americans were sentenced in recent weeks in North Korea and when international tensions are increasingly high with the reclusive country over its nuclear weapons program.

Last month, North Korea’s Supreme Court sentenced Korean-American Kim Dong Chul, 62, to 10 years hard labor after he admitted to committing “unpardonable espionage” including stealing military secrets, according to North Korean media.

American student Otto Warmbier was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in March for trying to steal an item with a propaganda slogan, North Korean media reported.

Washington has condemned the punishments, saying North Korea is using U.S. citizens to push its own political agenda. In the past, North Korea has used detained Americans to push for high-profile visits from the United States, with which it has no formal diplomatic relations.

U.S. officials have long warned Americans against traveling to North Korea, and on Monday it outlined a dozen specific actions that “whether done knowingly or unknowingly – ‘have been treated as crimes” in an attempt to further caution travelers.

Showing disrespect toward North Korean leader Kim Jong Un or former leaders, criticizing the government, having an unauthorized interaction with residents, taking unapproved photographs and shopping at certain stores have all been considered crimes, the department said.

Americans traveling there should not expect protection from tour groups or guides or have expectation of privacy, it added.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey and Megan Cassella; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

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