Kim Jong Un

SEOUL, Nov. 14 (UPI) — The United States and South Korea on Friday released a joint fact sheet on a sweeping trade and security agreement that details a $350 billion investment pledge by Seoul and confirms Washington’s approval for its Asian ally to develop nuclear-powered submarines.

The document comes two weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung finalized their trade negotiations on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Gyeongju on Oct. 29.

“With this, the Korea-U.S. trade and security negotiations, which have been one of the greatest variables affecting our economy and security, have finally been concluded,” Lee said in a televised press briefing and Facebook post on Friday.

Lee expressed “gratitude and respect” for Trump’s decision and said both sides “achieved the best possible outcome, based on common sense and reason.”

Under the terms of the deal, Trump’s so-called “reciprocal” tariffs on South Korean goods, including automobiles, will drop from 25% to 15%, returning to the level initially established in July during Lee’s visit to the White House.

In exchange for the lower tariffs, South Korea has pledged to invest $350 billion in the United States, including $150 billion in the U.S. shipbuilding sector and $200 billion for strategic sectors under a memorandum of understanding to be signed by the two countries.

To minimize the impact on South Korea’s foreign exchange market, Seoul’s annual investment cap was set at $20 billion, the fact sheet said.

“The two governments confirmed that Korea’s investments will proceed only within a level our economy can fully sustain and only in commercially viable projects,” Lee said. “The mistrust and concerns of some who were worried this was a ‘de facto grant’ under the guise of investment in projects with difficult returns have been completely dispelled.”

The fact sheet also formalized Washington’s approval for Seoul’s plan to build nuclear-powered submarines, a capability South Korean leaders have pursued for years. Seoul has framed nuclear-powered vessels as essential for tracking North Korean ballistic missile submarines and for expanding its reach across the Indo-Pacific. Officials also see the program as a catalyst for the country’s nuclear energy and naval shipbuilding industries.

The agreement said Washington will work with Seoul to define requirements for the project, “including avenues to source fuel.” Securing enriched uranium for submarine reactors had been a sticking point in the release of the fact sheet, as Seoul has sought revisions to its bilateral nuclear cooperation pact to allow greater flexibility in enrichment and nuclear waste recycling.

Lee called the submarines “a decades-old dream of South Korea and a vital strategic asset for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.”

The agreement comes as Washington and Seoul undertake a broader effort to modernize their security alliance and reshape how the two countries share military responsibilities. The fact sheet noted that South Korea intends to raise defense spending to 3.5% of GDP “as soon as possible,” and reiterated a commitment to the eventual transition of wartime operational control to Seoul.

Seoul also pledged to spend $25 billion on U.S. military equipment purchases by 2030 and outlined plans to provide comprehensive support for U.S. Forces Korea amounting to $33 billion.

“The South Korea-U.S. alliance has evolved and deepened into a truly future-oriented strategic comprehensive alliance encompassing security, the economy, and cutting-edge technology,” Lee said.

As part of that broader strategic framework, the two governments reaffirmed their shared goal of a denuclearized Korean Peninsula and pledged to work together to implement the joint statement of the 2018 Singapore summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The fact sheet called on North Korea to “return to meaningful dialogue and abide by its international obligations, including by abandoning its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.”

North Korea has rejected calls for denuclearization since declaring itself a nuclear-armed state in 2022. In September, Kim signaled a willingness to resume diplomacy with Washington but warned that any discussion of giving up his regime’s nuclear arsenal would be off the table.

SEOUL, Nov. 12 (UPI) — South Korea will again co-sponsor a United Nations resolution condemning North Korea‘s human rights violations, its Foreign Ministry confirmed Wednesday, amid speculation that Seoul might withhold support in an effort to improve relations with Pyongyang.

The draft resolution, introduced last week to the Third Committee of the U.N. General Assembly, “condemns in the strongest terms the long-standing and ongoing systematic, widespread and gross violations of human rights in and by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, including those that may amount to crimes against humanity.”

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea.

The resolution calls on Pyongyang to “respect, protect and fulfill all human rights and fundamental freedoms” and to “immediately close the political prison camps and release all political prisoners unconditionally.”

South Korea was among the 41 U.N. member states that co-sponsored the resolution, maintaining the position of former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s conservative government.

The Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that Seoul’s approach to North Korean human rights would remain a matter of principle.

“Our government, recognizing the importance of substantially improving the human rights of North Korean citizens and committed to continuing cooperation with the international community to this end, has participated as a co-sponsor of this resolution,” the ministry said in a statement sent to UPI.

The move comes as Seoul weighs how to balance engagement with Pyongyang against pressure to address its human rights record. President Lee Jae Myung has made efforts to improve relations between the two Koreas since taking office in June, with conciliatory gestures such as dismantling propaganda loudspeakers and restricting activist groups from floating balloons carrying information across the border.

He has expressed support for renewed diplomacy between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying last month he hoped Trump would have a chance to play the role of “peacemaker” on the Korean Peninsula.

South Korea co-sponsored the resolution from 2008 through 2018, but withdrew during a period of inter-Korean detente between 2019 and 2022 under then-President Moon Jae-in.

In late October, Human Rights Watch and 20 other groups sent an open letter urging Lee’s government to back the resolution, warning that recent domestic policy shifts “signal a troubling move away from support for the victims of North Korea’s repression.”

The rights watchdog praised Seoul for its support on Wednesday.

“South Korea’s co-sponsorship showcases leadership as a democracy upholding law and dignity,” Lina Yoon, senior Korea researcher at Human Rights Watch, told UPI.

“Seoul should sustain it, by supporting U.N. accountability, protecting North Korean escapees, expanding information flows and pressing Pyongyang along with other governments for reforms to end repression,” she said.

The United States was not among the sponsoring countries. In February, President Trump signed an executive order withdrawing the United States from the U.N. Human Rights Council, reinstating the position he adopted during his previous term.

North Korea has long rejected such resolutions as hostile acts, accusing the United Nations and Western powers of using human rights as a pretext to undermine its government.

Following the adoption of last year’s measure, Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry denounced it as a “politically motivated provocation.”

A September report by the U.N. Human Rights Office found that North Korea’s human rights situation “has not improved over the past decade and, in many instances, has degraded,” citing worsening food shortages, widespread forced labor and tight restrictions on movement and expression.

The U.N. General Assembly is expected to vote on the resolution in December.

North Korea issues warning as Washington and Seoul agree on strengthening military ties.

North Korea’s defence minister, No Kwang Chol, has condemned the arrival of a United States aircraft carrier at a port in South Korea and warned that Pyongyang will take “more offensive action” against its enemies.

The minister’s warning comes a day after North Korea launched what appeared to be a short-range ballistic missile into the sea off its east coast.

“We will show more offensive action against the enemies’ threat on the principle of ensuring security and defending peace by dint of powerful strength,” the defence minister said, according to a report on Saturday by the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

“All threats encroaching upon the sphere of the North’s security” will become “direct targets” and be “managed in a necessary way”, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency also reported the defence minister as saying.

The missile launch on Friday followed after Washington announced new sanctions targeting eight North Korean nationals and two entities accused of laundering money tied to cybercrimes, and a visit to South Korea by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Commenting on the visit by US and South Korean defence chiefs to the border between North and South Korea, as well as their subsequent security talks in Seoul, the North Korean defence minister accused the allies of conspiring to integrate their nuclear and conventional weapons forces.

“We have correctly understood the hostility of the US to stand in confrontation with the DPRK to the last and will never avoid the response to it,” No said, using the initials of the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

According to KCNA, the defence minister made his comments on Friday in response to the annual South Korea-US Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) and the recent arrival of the USS George Washington aircraft carrier and the Fifth Carrier Strike Group at a port in Busan.

The arrival of the US strike group also coincides with large-scale joint military drills, known as Freedom Flag, between US and South Korean forces.

While in South Korea for the SCM talks this week, Hegseth posted several photos on social media of his visit to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between the North and the South.

Hegseth said that the core of Washington’s alliance with Seoul would remain focused on deterring North Korea, although the Trump administration will also look at flexibility for US troops stationed in South Korea to operate against regional threats.

I visited the DMZ with my ROK counterpart, Minister Ahn, to meet the brave troops of the U.S., ROK, and UN Command that maintain the military armistice on the Peninsula.

Our forces remain ready to support President Trump’s efforts to bring lasting peace through strength. pic.twitter.com/Uy6gab0zwl

— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) November 3, 2025

Pyongyang described the DMZ visit by Hegseth and his South Korean counterparts as “a stark revelation and an unveiled intentional expression of their hostile nature to stand against the DPRK”.

Pyongyang’s latest missile launch, which Japan said landed outside its exclusive economic zone, came just over a week after US President Donald Trump was in the region and expressed interest in a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

On Friday, the US said it was “consulting closely” with allies and partners over the ballistic missile launch.

“While we have assessed that this event does not pose an immediate threat to US personnel or territory, or to our allies, the missile launch highlights the destabilising impact” of North Korea’s actions, the US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement.

The short-range weapon is believed to have flown 700km (435 miles) and landed in the East Sea, otherwise known as the Sea of Japan.

North Korea has fired at least one ballistic missile towards its eastern waters, the South Korean military has said, just days after United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited South Korea for annual security talks.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed the development on Friday, saying the short-range missile flew 700km (435 miles) towards the East Sea, otherwise known as the Sea of Japan.

The Japanese government also said North Korea had launched a missile, adding that it is likely to have fallen in waters outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

Pyongyang’s latest launch comes four days after South Korea said its neighbour had fired 10 rounds of artillery into its western waters, and about a week after US President Donald Trump gave Seoul permission to build a nuclear-powered submarine.

Experts say the move, which will see South Korea join a small club of countries using such vessels, will greatly enhance its naval and defence capabilities.

South Korea wants to receive enriched uranium from the US to use as fuel for the nuclear-powered submarine, which it plans to build at home, a South Korean presidential official said on Friday.

Since they both took office earlier this year, Trump and his South Korean counterpart Lee Jae Myung have sought to restart dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

However, Kim has shunned any talks with Washington and Seoul since previous discussions with the US collapsed in 2019.

North Korea’s leader said in September that he was open to talks provided that the US drop its demand for Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons. He has repeatedly said his country is an “irreversible” nuclear state.

Last month, Kim attended a major military parade in Pyongyang, along with high-level officials from allied countries, including Russia and China. It showcased some of his nation’s most powerful weapons, including a new intercontinental ballistic missile.

North Korean and Russian military officials met in Pyongyang this week to discuss strengthening cooperation, North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said on Friday.

Pak Yong Il, vice director of the Korean People’s Army’s General Political Bureau, met a Russian delegation led by Vice Defence Minister Viktor Goremykin on Wednesday.

KCNA said the allies discussed expanding ties as part of the “deepened bilateral relations” agreed between Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Earlier this week, South Korea’s spy agency said it had detected possible recruitment and training activities in North Korea, noting this could signal a potential further deployment of troops to Russia.

So far, Seoul estimates that Pyongyang has sent 15,000 soldiers to Russia to aid it in its war against Ukraine, and large numbers have died on the battlefield there.

On Tuesday, the South Korean National Intelligence Service also said it believes that Kim has dispatched about 5,000 military construction troops to its ally since September to help with infrastructure restoration projects.

US Treasury accuses Pyongyang of stealing $3bn in digital assets to finance its nuclear weapons programme over three years.

North Korea has denounced the latest United States sanctions targeting cybercrimes that the US says help finance its nuclear weapons programme, accusing Washington of harbouring “wicked” hostility towards Pyongyang and promising unspecified countermeasures.

The statement on Thursday by a North Korean vice foreign minister came two days after the US Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on eight people and two firms, including North Korean bankers, for allegedly laundering money from cybercrime schemes.

The US Treasury accused North Korea of operating state-sponsored hacking schemes that have stolen more than $3bn in mostly digital assets over the past three years, an amount unmatched by any other foreign actor. The Treasury Department said the illicit funds helped finance the country’s nuclear weapons programme.

The department said North Korea relies on a network of banking representatives, financial institutions and shell companies in North Korea, China, Russia and elsewhere to launder funds obtained through IT worker fraud, cryptocurrency heists and sanctions evasion.

The sanctions were rolled out even as US President Donald Trump continues to express interest in reviving talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Their nuclear discussions during Trump’s first term collapsed in 2019 amid disagreements over trading relief from US-led sanctions on North Korea for steps to dismantle its nuclear programme.

“Now that the present US administration has clarified its stand to be hostile towards the DPRK to the last, we will also take proper measures to counter it with patience for any length of time,” the North Korean vice minister, Kim Un Chol, said in a statement.

He said US sanctions and pressure tactics will never change the “present strategic situation” between the countries or alter North Korea’s “thinking and viewpoint”.

Kim Jong Un has shunned any form of talks with Washington and Seoul since his fallout with Trump in 2019. He has since made Russia the focus of his foreign policy, sending thousands of soldiers, many of whom have died on the battlefield, and large amounts of military equipment for President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine while pursuing an increasingly assertive strategy aimed at securing a larger role for North Korea in a united front against the US-led West.

In a recent speech, Kim Jong Un urged Washington to drop its demand for the North to surrender its nuclear weapons as a condition for resuming diplomacy. He ignored Trump’s proposal to meet while the US president was in South Korea last week for meetings with world leaders attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

Nov. 5 (UPI) — The U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions against eight individuals and two entities accused of laundering proceeds from North Korean cybercrime and information technology worker fraud schemes that help fund Pyongyang’s weapons programs.

The department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said Tuesday that North Korea has stolen more than $3 billion over the past three years, using sophisticated techniques such as advanced malware and social engineering to breach financial systems and cryptocurrency platforms.

“North Korean state-sponsored hackers steal and launder money to fund the regime’s nuclear weapons program,” Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K. Hurley said in a statement. “By generating revenue for Pyongyang’s weapons development, these actors directly threaten U.S. and global security.”

Hurley added that the Treasury is “identifying and disrupting the facilitators and enablers behind these schemes to cut off the DPRK’s illicit revenue streams.”

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea.

Among those sanctioned are Jang Kuk Chol and Ho Jong Son, North Korean bankers who allegedly helped manage illicit funds, including $5.3 million in cryptocurrency — some of it linked to ransomware that has previously targeted U.S. victims.

Korea Mangyongdae Computer Technology Co. and its president U Yong Su were also added to the list. The company allegedly operates IT-worker delegations from the Chinese cities of Shenyang and Dandong.

Ryujong Credit Bank, another target, was accused of laundering foreign-currency earnings and moving funds for sanctioned North Korean entities. Six additional individuals were designated for facilitating money transfers.

Under the sanctions, all property and interests in property of the designated individuals and entities within U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally barred from engaging in transactions with them. Financial institutions dealing with the sanctioned parties may also face enforcement actions.

The move builds on earlier U.S. actions this year against North Korean cyber networks. In July, the State Department sanctioned Song Kum Hyok, a member of the Andariel hacking group, for operating remote IT-worker schemes that funneled wages back to Pyongyang.

The Justice Department also filed criminal charges in 16 states against participants in a campaign that placed North Korean IT workers in U.S. companies.

Tuesday’s OFAC statement cited an October report by the 11-country Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team, which described North Korea’s cybercrime apparatus as “a full-spectrum, national program operating at a sophistication approaching the cyber programs of China and Russia.”

The report added that “nearly all the DPRK’s malicious cyber activity, cybercrime, laundering and IT work is carried out under the supervision, direction and for the benefit of entities sanctioned by the United Nations for their role in the DPRK’s unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs.”

The sanctions follow President Donald Trump‘s recent visit to South Korea, where a much-anticipated meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un failed to materialize.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service told lawmakers Tuesday that a summit could take place after joint U.S.-South Korean military drills scheduled for March, according to opposition lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun of the People Power Party.