Korea

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.

SEOUL, Nov. 6 (Yonhap) — North Korea on Thursday denounced the latest U.S. sanctions on Pyongyang as a demonstration of Washington’s hostile policy, vowing to take proper measures to counter it with patience.

The North’s reaction came as the U.S. announced Tuesday that it had imposed sanctions on eight North Korean individuals and two entities for their involvement in laundering money stolen through illicit cyber activities.

The sanctions came even as U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed his wish to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to resume stalled diplomacy with Pyongyang.

Kim Un-chol, North Korea’s vice foreign minister in charge of U.S. affairs, said in a statement that by imposing fresh sanctions, the U.S. has showed its “invariable hostile” intents toward North Korea in an “accustomed and traditional way,” according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

“Now that the present U.S. 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 statement showed.

Denouncing the U.S. for revealing its “wicked nature,” the North’s official warned Washington should not expect its tactics of pressure, appeasement, threat and blackmail against North Korea will work.

“The U.S. sanctions will have no effect on the DPRK’s thinking and viewpoint on it in the future, too, as in the past,” Kim said, using the acronym of North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

In regard to North Korea’s statement, South Korea’s unification ministry assessed the North appears to have responded to the imposition of U.S. sanctions in a “restrained” manner.

The U.S. move came as North Korea has not responded to Trump’s proposal to meet with the North’s leader during his latest trip to South Korea on the occasion of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gathering.

Earlier this week the U.S. State Department also raised the need to seek U.N. sanctions on seven ships accused of illegally exporting North Korean coal and iron ore to China in violation of U.N. Security Council sanctions over the North’s nuclear and missile programs.

South Korea’s spy agency said this week there were signs that North Korea had been preparing for a possible meeting with the U.S. in time for last week’s APEC gathering.

The National Intelligence Service said there is a high possibility that the North and the U.S. would hold a summit some time after an annual joint military exercise between South Korea and the U.S. in March next year.

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SEOUL, Nov. 5 (UPI) — Non-ferrous metal giant Korea Zinc said Tuesday it nearly doubled its profit in the third quarter of 2025 overa year ago, driven by strong demand across its product lines.

Korea Zinc reported $2.87 billion in revenue during the July-September period, up 29.7% year-on-year, for an operating income of $189 million, up 82.3%. The company said that it has remained profitable for 103 consecutive quarters since 2000.

The Seoul-based corporation said the strong sales of critical raw materials, including antimony, indium and bismuth, as well as precious metals, boosted performance during the three-month period.

Through its integrated smelting process for zinc, lead and copper, Korea Zinc also recovers about 10 by-products of critical raw materials and precious metals, such as gold and silver.

Korea Zinc said that gold and silver contributed about $2.5 billion to revenue during the first nine months of this year, as metal prices remained strong.

The world’s largest zinc manufacturer has also expanded its portfolio of strategic materials. Antimony, indium and bismuth are classified as “critical minerals” by Washington and Seoul.

Early this year, it started exporting antimony, a vital component in electronic and defense production, to the United States. Its global sales of antimony reached $173 million so far this year.

In August, Korea Zinc signed a memorandum of understanding with Lockheed Martin to supply germanium, another critical mineral, to the U.S.-headquartered defense contractor.

“On the back of proactive investments and a diversified portfolio, our strategic minerals and precious metals business did well. New growth areas such as resource recycling are also on a stable trajectory,” Korea Zinc said in a statement.

SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Yonhap) — North Korea fired around 10 artillery shells from its multiple rocket launcher system earlier this week, coinciding with a joint visit by the defense chiefs of South Korea and the United States to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, the South’s military said Tuesday.

The North launched the rockets toward waters off the northern Yellow Sea at around 4 p.m. Monday, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, adding an analysis of the weapons test is under way.

The launch came less than an hour before U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrived at Camp Bonifas, just south of the Joint Security Area (JSA) within the DMZ, for a joint visit to the tense border with Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back.

Separately, the military confirmed the North also fired another 10 artillery rocket shells at around 3 p.m. Saturday, when President Lee Jae Myung and Chinese President Xi Jinping held summit talks in the southeastern city of Gyeongju on the occasion of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gathering.

“Our military is closely monitoring North Korea’s various activities under a steadfast South Korea-U.S. combined defense posture and maintains capabilities and a posture capable of overwhelmingly responding to any threat,” the JCS said.

While the North’s launches involving multiple rocket launchers do not violate United Nations Security Council resolutions, its 240mm multiple rocket launcher puts Seoul and its adjacent areas in target range.

In October, North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles, just about a week before U.S. President Donald Trump was set to visit South Korea on the occasion of the APEC summit.

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SEOUL, Nov. 1 (Yonhap) — North Korea on Saturday denounced the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula as a “pipe dream” that can never be realized, as Seoul has said President Lee Jae Myung and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to discuss the issue during their summit talks.

Lee and Xi are scheduled to hold their first summit talks Saturday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the southeastern city of Gyeongju. The presidential office said denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is on the agenda.

North Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister Pak Myong-ho criticized South Korea for seeking to raise the denuclearization issue whenever an opportunity arises, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

“We will show with patience that no matter how many times it talks about denuclearization, it will remain a pipe dream that can never be realized,” Pak said in a statement carried by the KCNA.

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ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE — President Trump described his face-to-face with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday as a roaring success, saying he would cut tariffs on China, while Beijing had agreed to allow the export of rare earth elements and start buying American soybeans.

The president told reporters aboard Air Force One that the U.S. would lower tariffs implemented earlier this year as punishment on China for its selling of chemicals used to make fentanyl from 20% to 10%. That brings the total combined tariff rate on China down from 57% to 47%

“I guess on the scale from 0 to 10, with ten being the best, I would say the meeting was a 12,” Trump said. “I think it was a 12.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said China agreed to purchase 25 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans annually for the next three years, starting with 12 million metric tons from now to January. U.S. soybean exports to China, a huge market for them, had come to a standstill in the trade dispute.

“So you know, our great soybean farmers, who the Chinese used as political pawns, that’s off the table, and they should prosper in the years to come,” Bessent told Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria.”

Trump said that he would go to China in April and Xi would come to the U.S. “some time after that.” The president said they also discussed the export of more advanced computer chips to China, saying that Nvidia would be in talks with Chinese officials.

Trump said he could sign a trade deal with China “pretty soon.”

Xi said Washington and Beijing would work to finalize their agreements to provide “peace of mind” to both countries and the rest of the world, according to a report on the meeting distributed by state media.

“Both sides should take the long-term perspective into account, focusing on the benefits of cooperation rather than falling into a vicious cycle of mutual retaliation,” he said.

Sources of tension remain

Despite Trump’s optimism after a 100-minute meeting with Xi in South Korea, there continues to be the potential for major tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Both nations are seeking dominant places in manufacturing, developing emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, and shaping world affairs like Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Trump’s aggressive use of tariffs since returning to the White House for a second term, combined with China’s retaliatory limits on exports of rare earth elements, gave the meeting newfound urgency. There is a mutual recognition that neither side wants to risk blowing up the world economy in ways that could jeopardize their own country’s fortunes.

When the two were seated at the start of the meeting, Xi read prepared remarks that stressed a willingness to work together despite differences.

“Given our different national conditions, we do not always see eye to eye with each other,” he said through a translator. “It is normal for the two leading economies of the world to have frictions now and then.”

There was a slight difference in translation as China’s Xinhua News Agency reported Xi as telling Trump that having some differences is inevitable.

Finding ways to lower the temperature

The leaders met in Busan, South Korea, a port city about 47 miles south from Gyeongju, the main venue for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

In the days leading up to the meeting, U.S. officials signaled that Trump did not intend to make good on a recent threat to impose an additional 100% import tax on Chinese goods, and China showed signs it was willing to relax its export controls on rare earths and also buy soybeans from America.

Officials from both countries met earlier this week in Kuala Lumpur to lay the groundwork for their leaders. Afterward, China’s top trade negotiator Li Chenggang said they had reached a “preliminary consensus,” a statement affirmed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent who said there was “ a very successful framework.”

Shortly before the meeting on Thursday, Trump posted on Truth Social that the meeting would be the “G2,” a recognition of America and China’s status as the world’s biggest economies. The Group of Seven and Group of 20 are other forums of industrialized nations.

But while those summits often happen at luxury spaces, this meeting took place in humbler surroundings: Trump and Xi met in a small gray building with a blue roof on a military base adjacent to Busan’s international airport.

The anticipated detente has given investors and businesses caught between the two nations a sense of relief. The U.S. stock market has climbed on the hopes of a trade framework coming out of the meeting.

Pressure points remain for both U.S. and China

Trump has outward confidence that the grounds for a deal are in place, but previous negotiations with China this year in Geneva, Switzerland and London had a start-stop quality to them. The initial promise of progress has repeatedly given way to both countries seeking a better position against the other.

“The proposed deal on the table fits the pattern we’ve seen all year: short-term stabilization dressed up as strategic progress,” said Craig Singleton, senior director of the China program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “Both sides are managing volatility, calibrating just enough cooperation to avert crisis while the deeper rivalry endures.”

The U.S. and China have each shown they believe they have levers to pressure the other, and the past year has demonstrated that tentative steps forward can be short-lived.

For Trump, that pressure comes from tariffs.

China had faced new tariffs this year totaling 30%, of which 20% were tied to its role in fentanyl production. But the tariff rates have been volatile. In April, he announced plans to jack the rate on Chinese goods to 145%, only to abandon those plans as markets recoiled.

Then, on Oct. 10, Trump threatened a 100% import tax because of China’s rare earth restrictions. That figure, including past tariffs, would now be 47% “effective immediately,” Trump told reporters on Thursday.

Xi has his own chokehold on the world economy because China is the top producer and processor of the rare earth minerals needed to make fighter jets, robots, electric vehicles and other high-tech products.

China had tightened export restrictions on Oct. 9, repeating a cycle in which each nation jockeys for an edge only to back down after more trade talks.

What might also matter is what happens directly after their talks. Trump plans to return to Washington, while Xi plans to stay on in South Korea to meet with regional leaders during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, which officially begins on Friday.

“Xi sees an opportunity to position China as a reliable partner and bolster bilateral and multilateral relations with countries frustrated by the U.S. administration’s tariff policy,” said Jay Truesdale, a former State Department official who is CEO of TD International, a risk and intelligence advisory firm.

Boak, Megerian and Schiefelbein write for the Associated Press. Boak reported from Tokyo and Megerian reported from Busan, South Korea. Ken Moritsugu in Beijing and Seung Min Kim and Michelle Price in Washington contributed to this report.

GYEONGJU, South Korea, Oct. 30 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump departed from South Korea on Thursday after a highly anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping that lowered the temperature on a simmering trade war with agreements on rare earth minerals, fentanyl, soybeans and tariffs.

The two leaders met for the first time since 2019 at Gimhae Air Base in the southeastern city of Busan, shortly after Xi arrived in the country for a three-day state visit to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

Speaking to reporters on his way back to Washington aboard Air Force One, Trump described the outlines of a trade deal that he said would be signed “pretty soon.”

According to the president, China agreed to take steps to stop the flow of precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl into the United States. In response, Trump said he halved the 20% fentanyl-linked tariffs he had imposed earlier this year.

“Based on [Xi’s] statements today, I reduced it by 10%. So, it’s 10% instead of 20%, effective immediately,” Trump said.

The reduction brings the overall tariff rate on goods from China from 57% to 47%, he said.

Beijing also agreed to resume purchases of American soybeans and set a one-year pause on its planned export controls of rare earth minerals. China dominates the production and processing of the metallic elements, which are crucial for manufacturing a vast array of high-tech products from smartphones to missiles.

“We have not too many stumbling blocks now,” Trump said. “We have a deal. We’ll negotiate at the end of a year, but all of the rare earth has been settled.”

No official announcement from either side has been released yet, but the U.S. president declared the meeting a “great success.”

“Overall, on the scale of from zero to 10, with 10 being the best, I would say the meeting was a 12,” Trump said.

One topic the two leaders did not discuss was Taiwan, Trump noted. Some analysts had expected Xi to exert leverage in an attempt to soften U.S. support for the self-governing island of 23 million, which China sees as a breakaway province.

“I’m relieved Taiwan apparently didn’t come up in today’s meeting,” Sean King, senior vice president and East Asia expert at New York-based consulting firm Park Strategies, told UPI.

However, King said that the trade deal does not represent significant progress from when Trump kicked off his global tariff scheme in early April, on what the White House dubbed “Liberation Day.”

“We’re seemingly no further along than where we were on Liberation Day,” King said. “Unlike friendly leaders, Xi gave Trump no golden gifts … Right now, for better or worse, it seems like not too much of major trade substance happened in today’s meeting.”

At the start of the meeting, the two leaders had a brief introductory exchange that was open to the media.

“Given our different national conditions, we do not always see eye to eye with each other and it is normal for the two leading economies of the world to have friction now and then,” Xi said.

Xi called on Trump to join him and “ensure the steady sailing forward of the giant ship of China-U.S. relations.”

“I always believe that China’s development goes hand in hand with your vision to make America great again,” Xi said. “Our two countries are fully able to help each other succeed and prosper together.”

After the meeting, Xi traveled to the nearby city of Gyeongju to take part in the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting. Trump attended the APEC summit on Wednesday, where he struck a trade deal with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and delivered a keynote address at a CEO luncheon.

GYEONGJU, South Korea — The United States will share closely held technology to allow South Korea to build a nuclear-powered submarine, President Trump said on social media Thursday after meeting with the country’s president.

President Lee Jae Myung stressed to Trump in their Wednesday meeting that the goal was to modernize the alliance with the U.S., noting plans to increase military spending to reduce the financial burden on America. The South Korean leader said there might have been a misunderstanding when they last spoke in August about nuclear-powered submarines, saying that his government was looking for nuclear fuel rather than weapons.

Lee said that if South Korea was equipped with nuclear-powered submarines, that it could help U.S. activities in the region.

U.S. nuclear submarine technology is widely regarded as some of the most sensitive and highly guarded technology the military possesses. The U.S. has been incredibly protective of that knowledge, and even a recently announced deal with close allies the United Kingdom and Australia to help the latter acquire nuclear submarine technology doesn’t feature the U.S. directly transferring its knowledge.

Trump’s post on social media comes ahead of his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose country possesses nuclear submarines, and after North Korea in March unveiled for the first time a nuclear-powered submarine under construction. It’s a weapons system that can pose a major security threat to South Korea and the U.S.

As Trump visited South Korea, North Korea said Wednesday it conducted successful cruise missile tests, the latest display of its growing military capabilities.

Pentagon officials didn’t immediately respond to questions about Trump’s announcement on sharing the nuclear sub technology with South Korea.

Megerian and Boak write for the Associated Press. Boak reported from Tokyo. AP writer Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report from Washington.

Getty Images

Golden crowns and grand orders

Reuters

BBC/Leehyun Choi

GYEONGJU, South Korea, Oct. 29 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in South Korea Wednesday, where he said he wasn’t able to “work out timing” for a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Trump made the remark during a bilateral meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in the city of Gyeongju, where the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit is being held, after earlier saying he “would love” to meet Kim during his trip.

“I know Kim Jong Un very well. We get along very well,” Trump said. “We really weren’t able to work out timing.”

Trump met Kim three times during his first term — in Singapore in 2018, in Hanoi in 2019 and briefly at the Demilitarized Zone later that year. Speculation had swirled that the two could meet again this week in the DMZ truce village of Panmunjom to restart talks over the North’s nuclear weapons program.

“I know you are officially at war, but we will see what we can do to get that all straightened out,” Trump said to Lee Wednesday. The 1950-53 Korean War ended in a ceasefire but not a peace treaty.

“We’ll have other visits, and we’ll work very hard with Kim Jong Un and with everybody on getting things straightened out because that makes sense,” Trump added.

Lee expressed regret over the missed opportunity and said that he hoped Trump would have a chance to play the role of “peacemaker” on the Korean Peninsula.

“As I mentioned many times, you have wonderful capabilities and skills as a peacemaker,” Lee told Trump. “Chairman Kim has not really accepted your good intention and your gesture, so this time it did not happen. But I believe that we’ve been planting good seeds for a better future.”

Earlier on Wednesday, North Korean state media reported that the country had test-fired sea-to-surface strategic cruise missiles in the Yellow Sea, its latest provocation before Trump’s visit. A week earlier, Pyongyang claimed that it had successfully tested a “new cutting-edge weapons system” involving hypersonic missiles,

At a welcoming ceremony at Gyeongju National Museum, Lee presented Trump with the Grand Order of Mugunghwa, South Korea’s highest decoration to honor his “achievements in paving the way toward peace on the Korean Peninsula.”

Trump is the first U.S. president to receive the honor.

Lee also gave his counterpart a replica of a golden crown from the Silla Dynasty, which ruled from 57 BC to 935 AD.

The crown “symbolizes the long-standing peace of the Silla period, as well as a new era of peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula and shared growth that Korea and the U.S. will build together,” the South’s presidential office said in a statement.

After the ceremony, bilateral discussions were expected to include trade, investment, economic and security cooperation and alliance modernization, the office said.

Trump’s nearly weeklong trip through Asia has focused on making trade deals and bolstering economic ties with countries in the region. He signed a trade agreement with new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Tuesday and inked deals with Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Kuala Lumpur over the weekend.

The most anticipated engagement of Trump’s visit will be on Thursday, when he is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the port city of Busan before heading back to Washington.

The meeting, their first since 2019, comes as the two superpowers are locked in a trade war. Chinese and U.S. economic officials agreed on a framework for a trade agreement on Sunday on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on NBC’s Meet the Press.

In keynote remarks on Wednesday at an APEC CEOs luncheon, Trump said he expected a deal to be finalized during his meeting with Xi.

“We’re going to be, I hope, making a deal. I think we’re going to have a deal. I think it will be a good deal for both,” Trump said. “The world is watching, and I think we’ll have something that’s very exciting for everybody.”

Authors: Marin Ekstrom and Wilder Alejandro Sánchez

Uzbekistan has recently commenced construction of a new airport in Tashkent, valued at $2.5 billion, as a symbol of the country’s reinvention. The project, slated to begin operations in 2029, aims to serve as Central Asia’s key aviation hub by supporting more than 40 take-offs and landings per hour and serving 20 million passengers annually. Economists predict that increased air traffic at the airport could generate $27 billion in annual revenue and create thousands of new jobs.

To achieve this ambitious goal, Tokyo and Seoul will be critical partners: Japan’s Sojitz Corporation, which has extensive experience in the aviation sector, has agreed to invest millions of dollars and share technical expertise. As for South Korea, the Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC) signed a $24.5 million consulting contract to provide operational and service support for the development of the new Tashkent airport.

Investment Incoming

While the Tashkent airport is one of the most recent and buzzworthy examples of Uzbek cooperation with Japan and South Korea, it is hardly the only area of engagement. With a projected 6.2% economic growth rate for 2025, Uzbekistan is on track to become one of the five fast-growing economies in Europe and Central Asia, making it a highly attractive market for trade and investment. In July 2025, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) announced a three-year initiative to fund and implement $3.7 billion in projects across the energy, petrochemical, textile, and infrastructure sectors. Sojitz also agreed to expand its cooperation in the oil and gas sectors, including the Syrdarya II power generation facility. Mining is another lucrative sector, with the Japanese corporation Itochu investing heavily in Uzbek uranium mining operations.

Similarly, South Korea is playing a vital role in financing Uzbekistan’s infrastructure projects, including supplying high-speed trains for its electrified transport networks and providing over $12 million to promote sustainable resource extraction methods and supply equipment and training for Uzbek engineers. Another notable project is a South Korean-funded $150 million medical center in Tashkent.

High-Level Diplomacy

The two East Asian governments have also increased intergovernmental engagement with Uzbekistan in recent years. Visits and engagement between policymakers in Tashkent and Tokyo are relatively common: this year alone, then-Minister of Foreign Affairs Takeshi Iwaya visited Tashkent in June, while then-Minister of Justice Keisuke Suzuki visited in May. While the new Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, has yet to fully formulate her foreign policy strategy, it is hoped that she will continue Tokyo’s engagement with Uzbekistan.

Then-South Korean President Yun Suk Yeol visited Tashkent in June 2024, while President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and current President Lee Jae Myung spoke by phone in July. They pledged to strengthen the “special strategic partnership” and expand “multifaceted cooperation,” noting that Korean companies have invested over US$8 billion in the Uzbek economy.

Japan and South Korea have proven to be invaluable official development assistance (ODA) providers. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Tokyo’s primary international aid organ, along with other Japanese NGOs, have worked extensively on infrastructure and human capital development in Uzbekistan. While Japanese ODA to Central Asia is of lower priority compared to Southeast Asia, Tokyo has consistently remained a top donor to Uzbekistan and the rest of the region. South Korea- which famously transformed from a major aid recipient to a prominent aid donor – has currently designated Uzbekistan as a “priority partner country” in terms of its ODA allocation. South Korean development assistance increased tenfold from 2006 and 2019, concentrating on social infrastructure and public service projects. Given the current instability of the global humanitarian and international development sector, it is difficult to say with certainty which current and future projects involving Japan, South Korea, and Uzbekistan will be pursued.  Nevertheless, ODA from Japan and South Korea has clearly had, and will continue to have, a positive lasting impact in Uzbekistan. 

The Other Pillar: People-To-People Interactions

People-to-people relations, facilitated through tourism and educational opportunities, can serve as additional pillars to strengthen interstate relations. Tourism among the three countries is surging, as Uzbekistan has noted increased tourist traffic from Japan and South Korea and vice versa. Initiatives like “Cool Japan” and “the Korean Wave” have transformed the two East Asian nations into soft power titans, while Uzbekistan is emphasizing strategies such as its Silk Road mystique to boost its soft power and tourism potential. If construction of the new airport stays on track, by the end of the decade, Japanese and South Korean tourists will arrive at a state-of-the-art facility their governments helped build.

Studying abroad is a significant phenomenon in Uzbekistan, ranking fifth globally in 2021 in terms of the number of students studying abroad. Japan offers numerous scholarships, language programs, and exchange programs designed for Uzbek students to study there. South Korea is an even more popular destination, with an estimated 5,000 Uzbek students studying in Korean universities. While comparatively fewer Japanese and South Korean students study in Uzbekistan, exchanges among the three countries can only strengthen their long-term ties.

Finally, Uzbekistan contributes to South Korea’s academic community and workforce: nearly 100,000 Uzbek citizens were living in South Korea as of June 2025, comprising the fifth largest foreign-born population in the country.

The Big Picture

Japan and South Korea have also robustly engaged with Uzbekistan through regional forums. Japan spearheaded the “C5+1” framework, which organizes the five Central Asian republics into a regional unit interacting with an extra-regional actor, with its 2004 “Central Asia + Japan” dialogue. Global Powers like China, Russia, the United States, and the European Union adopted this model for their own engagements with the Central Asian states. The Japan-centered C5+1 has continued, with the most recent summit being held in Astana in 2025. South Korea has helped organize a series of Central Asia-Republic of Korea Cooperation Forums and was set to host the first Central Asia-Korea summit in Seoul in 2025. The arrest of deposed President Yoon Suk Yeol earlier this year, however, has delayed those plans. South Korea announced a “K-Silk Road” initiative in June 2024, an ambitious project encompassing such areas as natural resource extraction, development aid, and cultural exchanges- though the arrest of Yoon has also halted progress on these objectives.

As a corollary to this analysis, it is worth noting two recent developments involving Central Asian engagement with  the Global Powers of China and the US, which often overshadow Japan and South Korea’s efforts in the region. A Chinese company reportedly plans to invest as much as US$500 million in Uzbekistan’s Andijan region to construct a hydroelectric power plant and modernize existing energy infrastructure. Meanwhile, US Ambassador-at-Large for South and Central Asian Affairs Sergio Gor and Deputy Secretary Christopher Landau visited Tashkent in late October as part of a regional tour. 2025 marks the 10th anniversary of the US-Central Asia C5+1 format, and US members of Congress have requested the Trump administration to organize a presidential summit to celebrate this achievement.

The point here is that the Global Powers will continue to engage Tashkent, and matching dollar-for-dollar  investment to compete with them is unrealistic. That being said, Tokyo and Seoul are not necessarily positioning themselves to act like Global Powers in the region. Japanese engagement with Uzbekistan and Central Asia has been characterized by a flexible, piecemeal approach that targets key issues while forgoing rigid diplomatic protocol like geopolitical alliances or treaty obligations. In addition, Japan values “quality over quantity” regarding its projects: while it may not be as flashy or large-scale compared to its Global Power counterparts, Japan aims for long-term sustainability and success. South Korea, for its part, appears to be adopting a similar mode of engagement with Uzbekistan and Central Asia. Being involved in strategic projects, like a significant involvement in Tashkent’s new airport, will help Tokyo and Seoul continue to have a high-profile and visible presence in Uzbekistan’s development projects.

Conclusions

Since President Mirziyoyev took power in 2016, he has sought to create a “New Uzbekistan” characterized by economic dynamism and global integration. Tashkent’s relations with Global Powers like China, Russia, the United States, and the European Union have been extensively analyzed. However, two other countries that have developed their own special and successful partnerships with Uzbekistan are Japan and South Korea.

As the New Uzbekistan gains momentum, Tashkent must rely on international partnerships to sustain development and enhance its international prestige. Given the country’s history of subjugation under empires and global powers, Uzbekistan’s involvement with nations like Japan and South Korea offers an intriguing alternative: robust engagement with less risk of domination. In turn, these East Asian nations can expand their regional influence to offset rival powers, most notably China, and gain access to new markets and resources. The collaboration between these three countries thus offers mutual benefits for all parties.

*Wilder Alejandro Sánchez is president of Second Floor Strategies, a consulting firm in Washington, D.C. He covers geopolitical, defense, and trade issues in Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Western Hemisphere. He has co-authored a report on water security issues in Central Asia, published by the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center and given presentations on environmental issues that affect the region.

Pyongyang says the tests in the Yellow Sea were aimed at impressing its abilities upon its ‘enemies’.

North Korea has test-fired several sea-to-surface cruise missiles into its western waters, according to state media, hours before United States President Donald Trump begins a visit to South Korea.

The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said on Wednesday that the missiles, carried out in the Yellow Sea on Tuesday, flew for more than two hours before accurately striking targets.

Top military official Pak Jong Chon oversaw the test and said “important successes” were being achieved in developing North Korea’s “nuclear forces” as a war deterrent, according to KCNA.

The test was aimed at assessing “the reliability of different strategic offensive means and impress their abilities upon the enemies”, Pak said.

“It is our responsible mission and duty to ceaselessly toughen the nuclear combat posture,” he added.

South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said on Wednesday that the military had detected the North Korean launch preparations and that the cruise missiles were fired in the country’s northwestern waters at about 3pm (06:00 GMT) on Tuesday.

The joint chiefs said South Korea and the US were analysing the weapons and maintaining a combined defence readiness capable of a “dominant response” against any North Korean provocation.

North Korea’s latest launches followed short-range ballistic missile tests last week that it said involved a new hypersonic system designed to strengthen its nuclear war deterrent.

The latest test came hours before an expected summit between Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in the city of Gyeongju, where South Korea is hosting this year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings.

Trump has expressed interest in meeting with Kim during his stay in South Korea, where he is also scheduled to hold a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

However, South Korean officials have said that a Trump-Kim meeting is unlikely.

Kim has said he still personally holds “fond memories” of Trump, but has also said he would only be open to talks if Washington stops insisting his country give up its nuclear weapons programme.

North Korea has shunned any form of talks with Washington and Seoul since Kim’s high-stakes nuclear diplomacy with Trump fell apart in 2019, during the US president’s first term.

Before flying to South Korea, Trump was in Tokyo, where he met with families of Japanese abducted by North Korea on Tuesday, telling them that “the US is with them all the way” as they asked for help to find their loved ones.

After years of denial, North Korea admitted in 2002 that it had sent agents to kidnap 13 Japanese people decades ago, who were used to train spies in Japanese language and customs.

Japan says that 17 of its citizens were abducted, five of whom were repatriated. North Korea has said that eight are dead as of 2019, and another four never entered the country.

SEOUL, Oct. 27 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday he “would love” to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un while traveling in Asia this week, adding that he would be willing to extend his trip in South Korea if Kim agrees to talks.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route from Malaysia to Japan, Trump said he had not been in direct contact with Kim but remained open to another meeting.

“I haven’t said anything, but I’d love to meet with him if he’d like to meet,” Trump told reporters. “I got along great with Kim Jong Un. I liked him. He liked me. If he wants to meet, I’ll be in South Korea.”

Trump is scheduled to travel from Japan to South Korea on Wednesday, where he will meet South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. The meeting with Xi is expected Thursday before Trump’s return to Washington.

When asked whether he would prolong his itinerary to allow time for a potential encounter with Kim, Trump left the possibility open.

“Well, I hadn’t thought of it, but I think the answer would be yeah, I would do that,” he said. “[South Korea]’s our last stop, so it would be pretty easy to do.”

Pressed on what Washington could offer Pyongyang in negotiations, Trump pointed to sanctions as the main bargaining chip. Since 2006, the U.N. Security Council, along with the United States and other nations, has sanctioned North Korea for its nuclear weapons development.

“We have sanctions — that’s pretty big to start off with,” Trump said. “I would say that’s about as big as you get.”

Last month, 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.

“If the United States abandons its vain obsession with denuclearization, acknowledges reality and desires genuine peaceful coexistence with us, there is no reason why we should not sit down with the United States,” Kim said in a speech before North Korea’s parliament.

“I personally still have fond memories of President Trump,” he added.

Trump met Kim three times during his first term — in Singapore in 2018, in Hanoi in 2019 and briefly at the Demilitarized Zone later that year. Their talks collapsed amid disagreements on sanctions relief and steps toward denuclearization.

While speculation about a meeting continues to swirl, a senior South Korean official said Monday that any encounter between Trump and Kim this week is “very unlikely.”

“There are talks the two could meet, but I believe that possibility is very unlikely,” Third Deputy National Security Adviser Oh Hyun-joo told foreign media in Seoul.

South Korea has launched its biggest and most ambitious submarine yet, the Jang Yeong-sil, as the first of the second batch of its locally designed and built KSS-III program. The boat, first of three in this sub-class, is notable for its expanded vertical launch cell arrangement, but also boasts a host of other advanced features.

In a ceremony yesterday, the Republic of Korea Navy and South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) held a launching ceremony for the ROKS Jang Yeong-sil at Hanwha Ocean’s Geoje shipyard, in the southern part of the country.

A construction contract for the submarine was signed in 2019, followed by the steel-cutting ceremony in 2021, while the keel-laying ceremony took place in 2023.

The Jang Yeong-sil, as the first of the Batch II submarines, follows on from KSS-III Batch I, also known as the Dosan Ahn Chang-ho class.

There are some significant differences between the two sub-classes.

The Batch II boats have a surfaced displacement of around 3,500 tons, compared to 3,300 tons for the Batch I submarines. The Batch II is also longer, at 293 feet, compared to just under 274 feet for the Batch I.

More importantly, Batch II brings new capabilities, which the Republic of Korea Navy and DAPA summarize as “enhanced detection, strike capability, stealth, and survivability.”

In terms of detection, Batch II incorporates an updated combat system and sonar system, which are said to offer enhanced information processing and target detection capabilities.

The expanded strike potential of the new submarine is centered around its land-attack capability.

In its Batch I form, the KSS-III already had provisions for six vertical launch system (VLS) cells that are able to accommodate cruise missiles or even submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs). The Batch II, meanwhile, increases the capacity to 10 VLS cells.

The KSS-III submarines put South Korea in a select group of countries that operate submarines with an SLBM capability. Unusually for a weapon of this type, the South Korean weapon has a conventional warhead.

Successful underwater ejection tests of an SLBM from the first of these submarines were reportedly first conducted around September last year.

Few details are known about the SLBM itself, which is variously named Hyunmoo-IV-4 or K-SLBM. Early reports suggested the missile has a range of 311 miles and that it could be a naval variant of the Hyunmoo 2B ballistic missile. More recently, it has been attributed to a range of 497 miles.

A land-based launch of a Republic of Korea Army Hyunmoo 2B ballistic missile:

Beyond SLBMs, the VLS cells could be used to eventually accommodate hypersonic cruise missiles, a type of weapon that Seoul is currently exploring via the Hycore demonstrator program. A submarine-launched hypersonic cruise missile would give South Korea considerable advantages when it comes to conducting short-notice standoff strikes, especially against highly defended and time-sensitive targets.

Other armament on the Batch II comprises six 533mm torpedo tubes that can be loaded with Tiger Shark torpedoes or C-Star-III anti-ship cruise missiles, or alternatively, Submarine Launched Mobile Mines (SLMM).

Stealth and mission endurance are enhanced by the Batch II’s advanced new lithium-ion battery-based submerged propulsion system. This enables it to “operate underwater for longer durations and sustain high-speed maneuvers, thereby reducing the risk of exposure during operations.” While it is still a diesel-electric submarine at its core, with diesel generators and batteries that charge from those generators, the advanced battery tech can take the place of air-independent propulsion (AIP) technology while offering similar, and in some cases superior, capabilities. Even more interesting, is this new boat also has a fuel-cell-based ‘auxiliary’ AIP capability, so it can presumably charge its batteries or even provide propulsion aside from them, while submerged.

Back in early 2017, The War Zone’s Tyler Rogoway looked at the benefits of lithium-ion batteries, which not only offer advantages over traditional lead-acid cells but could challenge AIP technology for use in new-build submarines overall. This prediction now seems to be playing out.

Other stealth features introduced on the Batch II include various noise and vibration reduction technologies, among them a rubber acoustic coating, which combines to ensure the boats produce less underwater radiated noise.

No less importantly, as a domestically designed and produced submarine, the KSS-III Batch II incorporates a greater proportion of locally developed and manufactured components. This reduces South Korea’s reliance on foreign manufacturers and, very importantly, makes it easier to export the design. The KSS-III is already in the running for Canada’s new submarine requirement, with up to 12 boats planned, and there are growing opportunities for selling advanced diesel-electric subs in the Indo-Pacific region and elsewhere.

The ROKS Jang Yeong-sil will soon embark on a series of sea trials and evaluations, and it’s scheduled to be delivered to the Republic of Korea Navy at the end of 2027. Another two Batch II boats, so far unnamed, are now under construction.

The importance of Seoul’s submarine program has increased in recent years, including the decision to abandon plans to build its first aircraft carrier and instead focus on its underwater fleet, which has received more funding.

In particular, the KSS-III program has emerged as a cornerstone of the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation program, or KMPR, also known as Overwhelming Response, an effort to develop ways to retaliate against North Korea, using conventional weapons, should Pyongyang launch a first strike. In particular, submarines are valuable here for bringing the survivable conventional strike capability that the KMPR plan calls for.

The combination of the KSS-III and SLBMs is part of Seoul’s broader focus on missile programs that are being developed and fielded in response to North Korea’s expanding missile capabilities. These also include more powerful land-based weapons, but the SLBM is a much more survivable option, which is of particular importance, bearing in mind the threat of a preemptive strike from the North.

Should the North launch a nuclear attack, the survivability of the submarines should allow a conventional response, even if land-based missiles may have been taken out already. In this way, the SLBMs could be fired against regime targets and command and control facilities, hitting them with much less notice and more kinetic power than a cruise missile barrage. The fact that this quasi-second-strike capability exists should also help dissuade North Korean aggression in the first place.

These submarines and their SLBMs also carry a political dimension, reducing South Korea’s dependence on the United States when it comes to deterrence.

At the same time, the submarines can also take on many other roles in a potential conflict with North Korea, including surgical strikes using cruise missiles, minelaying, insertion of special forces, and, not least, hunting down North Korea’s submarines and new heavily-armed (but questionable) surface combatants.

Potentially, South Korea’s experience with the KSS-III program could lead to even bigger and more ambitious submarines.

In the past, there has been discussion of a potential follow-on nuclear-powered submarine design. With previous missile restrictions on South Korea having been removed, these submarines could potentially be armed with new and bigger SLBMs offering much greater range.

Until the Biden administration scrapped missile restrictions that had been in place since 1979, South Korea was limited to developing missiles with a maximum range of 500 miles. This change could open the door to South Korea developing SLBMs with a range greater than 500 miles, in excess of the Hyunmoo-IV-4.

As it now stands, the KMPR initiative is based around conventional weapons only, but there has been growing speculation that Seoul might eventually commit to developing nuclear warheads, too. SLBMs would be the obvious candidate to deliver these and having this option already integrated into existing submarines would allow for Seoul to move rapidly to fielding a second-strike strategic deterrent if the choice was ever made to do so, which still seems very unlikely at this time.

For now, the Republic of Korea Navy can look forward to starting operations with its most capable submarine so far, providing a powerful and versatile bulwark to fast-paced missile and nuclear developments in North Korea.

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