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US Secretary of Defence Mark Esper pressed South Korea yesterday to pay more for the cost of stationing US troops in the country and to maintain an intelligence-sharing pact with its other Asian ally, Japan, that Seoul is about to let lapse.  Speaking after a high-level defence policy meeting with his South Korean counterpart, Jeong Kyeong-doo, Esper also said the two countries must be flexible with their joint military drills to back diplomatic efforts to end North Korea’s nuclear programme. But he stopped short of announcing any new reduction in military exercises that North Korea has sharply condemned. North Korea said yesterday it had turned down a US offer for new talks ahead of a year-end deadline Pyongyang has set for Washington to show more flexibility in negotiations.  As uncertainty hangs over the troubled peace push, the United States and South Korea are simultaneously scrambling to clinch an agreement in the coming weeks to cover next year’s costs of maintaining a 28,500-strong US military presence aimed at deterring North Korea. South Korea, Esper said, “is a wealthy country and could and should pay more” for the US military deployment. “It is crucial that we conclude the (defence pact) ... with increased burden-sharing by the Republic of Korea before the end of the year,” Esper told a news conference. Jeong said he and Esper shared the view that the cost-sharing pact being negotiated should be fair and mutually agreeable, but it was unclear if they shared any sense of what a fair amount might be.  A South Korean lawmaker said last week that US officials had demanded up to $5bn a year, more than five times what Seoul agreed to pay this year under a one-year deal. US President Donald Trump has rattled South Korea with his insistence it take on a greater contribution for the deterrence against North Korea. A survey by the government-affiliated Korea Institute for National Unification released last week showed 96% of South Koreans opposed paying more for the US military presence. North Korea said in a commentary from state media KCNA yesterday that the US demand for a greater South Korean contribution to defence costs was an attempt to “exploit” and tighten its control over South Korea. The South Korean Foreign Ministry announced another round of defence cost talks would be held on Nov 18-19 in Seoul.  After his talks with Jeong, Esper warned that South Korea’s decision to end an intelligence-sharing pact with Japan, called GSOMIA, would impact military readiness — presumably by slowing the ability of the US allies to directly share information about North Korean military activity. “The only ones who benefit from expiration of GSOMIA and continued friction between Seoul and Tokyo are Pyongyang and Beijing,” Esper said. General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), hosted a video teleconference from Seoul yesterday with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts, during which South Korea’s Park Han-ki stressed the importance of trilateral co-operation, its JCS said. Jeong said both South Korea and Japan would make efforts to narrow differences before the pact expires on November 23. But there was no sign of an imminent breakthrough. Relations between the neighbours plunged after South Korea’s top court last year ordered Japanese firms to compensate some wartime forced labourers.  Japan imposed export controls on South Korea, citing unspecified security reasons. During a meeting with Esper and Milley later yesterday, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said it was difficult to share intelligence with Japan which raised security concerns in restricting exports, though he acknowledged the need for three-way cooperation, Moon’s spokeswoman told a briefing. Esper said he would also ask Japan to make efforts for an amicable resolution of the issue.

South Korea and the United States are expected to cancel a combined air drill for the second straight year to avoid tensions with North Korea as denuclearization talks remain stalled, local media reported Saturday.  Citing an unnamed source, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that the military authorities from the two countries "shared the understanding" to postpone the "Vigilant Ace" military air exercise. Planned to take place around December across the Korean Peninsula, the source told Yonhap that the countries are likely to conduct their own individual drills instead. He added that Seoul and Washington will make a final decision when the two countries' defence ministers hold annual talks later this month. Pyongyang has often accused the US of preparing an attack through joint military exercises with its ally South Korea, threatening that such manoeuvres would affect denuclearization talks. US President Donald Trump met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on the military demarcation line inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating North and South Korea at the end of June and agreed to resume negotiations on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme. Trump is seeking North Korea's denuclearization and has pressured the communist country by ramping up economic sanctions, but progress has stalled in the nuclear talks despite the high-profile June meeting.

South Korean rescuers located three bodies believed to be among seven who went missing after their chopper crashed into the sea shortly after taking off from islets disputed with Japan, officials said Saturday. The helicopter had just picked an injured fisherman up from Dokdo, which is known as Takeshima in Japan, when it went down on Thursday night. One body was found inside the chopper located at a depth of 72 metres, 600 metres south of the islets, while the other two were found in the water nearby, a Coast Guard representative told reporters. The crashed chopper -- which rescuers located on Friday -- sat upside down on the seabed, he said, adding its tail had broken off and had been found 110 metres away. It was not yet possible to identify the three bodies, he said, adding that a search operation was underway to retrieve them and find the other four still missing. The bodies were found by an unmanned submarine, although divers would attempt to retrieve them manually for fear using the submarine's "robot-arm" could damage the remains. "We will do our best till the end to bring those missing back to their families," he added. Ships and divers from the defence ministry and members of the National Fire Agency and civilian volunteers have been mobilised for the search operation, authorities said. The crashed chopper is a Eurocopter EC225, made by the European aerospace corporation Airbus. The seven people on board were five rescuers, the fisherman and a civilian. Seoul has controlled the islets in the Sea of Japan -- or East Sea -- since 1945, when Tokyo's brutal colonial rule on the peninsula ended, while Japan still claims sovereignty over them.

North Korean state news agency KCNA said yesterday another test of super-large multiple rocket launchers a day earlier had been a success, but the test drew protests from neighbouring Japan and South Korea. KCNA said the latest test of the “super-large multiple rocket launchers”, following two tests of the same weapon in August and September overseen by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, indicated the progress of Pyongyang’s weapons development while talks with the United States remain in limbo. The success of the tests was reported immediately and Kim expressed satisfaction and congratulated the scientists who had developed the weapon, KCNA said, suggesting that Kim was not at the site for Thursday afternoon’s test. North Korea’s state newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, showed a photo of the multiple rocket launcher surrounded by yellow flames and smoke. Thursday’s test verified that the “continuous fire system” of the multiple rocket launchers was able to “totally destroy” a group target of the enemy by a surprise strike, KCNA said. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said North Korea’s latest test, which he described as a missile launch, was against UN resolutions and was “extremely regrettable”. Suga said Japan had protested to North Korea over the missile launch. Republican US Senator Cory Gardner, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy, said North Korea was “engaged in increasingly  escalatory behaviour”. “This launch and continued North Korean aggression underscore the need for the Trump Administration to re-commit to the maximum pressure policy” and for Congress to impose additional sanctions against Kim’s government, Gardner said in a statement. However, South Korea’s national security adviser Chung Eui-yong said the North’s missile launches do not pose “very grave threats”. “We’re also test-firing missiles, no less than North Korea does,” he told a parliamentary session. “Our missile defence and intercept capabilities are absolutely superior to theirs.” The weapons test was the first since one day of talks between the United States and North Korea in Sweden ended without an agreement on October 5. It came as North Korea repeatedly emphasises an end-of-the-year deadline that Kim set for denuclearisation talks with  Washington. The situation on the Korean Peninsula is at a critical stage, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters at a daily news briefing on Friday. All sides should work towards a peaceful resolution of the issue, he said. KCNA said last month that while Kim and US President Donald Trump have a “special” relationship, policymakers in Washington were “hostile to the DPRK for no reason”. North Korea’s official name is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

* Airbus helicopter was on medical flight when it crashed * Search ongoing for seven people on board * Chopper crashed into sea, found in 70 metres of water * President Moon orders safety checks on similar models Divers from South Korean rescue services on Friday located an Airbus chopper which fell into the sea with seven people on board off the disputed islets of Dokdo late on Thursday. A body was found close to the wreckage, Yonhap news agency reported. The Coast Guard was unable to confirm the report that a body had also been found and the search for the missing was ongoing. The Airbus H225 Super Puma helicopter, operated by South Korea's fire department, was found in 70 meters of water on Friday afternoon, a coast guard official told a media briefing earlier. South Korea's President Moon Jae-in said he had ordered safety checks for other H225 in service in the country. The helicopter was carrying an injured person to hospital when it crashed about two minutes after takeoff from Dokdo close to midnight, a fire department official said. The Dokdo islets, which South Korea and Japan claim as their territory, are called Takeshima in Japan. Rescue officials were trying to secure the blackbox and voice recorder to find out what went wrong, the official said. An Airbus subcontractor carried out maintenance for the model's main gear system between September and October, followed by test flying, and there were no safety issues found, he added. "We are aware that a H225 operated by the South Korean National 119 Rescue Headquarters, has been involved in an accident," Airbus said in a statement to Reuters, referring to the fire department. "We stand ready to provide full technical assistance to the customer and authorities as required." Airbus Helicopters won a contract in 2017 for two additional H225 helicopters from South Korea's fire department, but the models have yet to be delivered. The fire department currently operates an all-Airbus helicopter fleet comprising two AS365 N2 and two H225. PAST CRASHES The stricken helicopter went into service in 2016. On board were two pilots, one maintenance official, two rescue officials, the injured patient and person accompanying them. The pilots were veterans with about 23 and 17 years of experience respectively, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said. The H225 model, previously known as a Eurocopter EC-225, is a heavy twin-engined helicopter used in search and rescue or military operations worldwide. An accident off Norway that killed 13 North Sea oil workers in 2016 had also involved a H225. But it has suffered commercially since oilfield demand fell and the Norway crash prompted many North Sea workers to boycott the helicopter. It competes with the Sikorsky S-92. The accident in Norway led to a temporary grounding of most of the global fleet and prompted Airbus SE to make design changes to gearboxes. On Aug. 31, an Airbus AS350 helicopter crashed in northern Norway, killing all six people on board and prompting European regulators to order checks on recently delivered versions of some Airbus helicopters. 

South Korea scrambled fighter jets after Russian warplanes entered South Korea's air space identification zone on Tuesday, the latest in a series of such violations, its military said. A total of six Russian military aircraft repeatedly entered the Korea Air Defence Identification Zone (KADIZ) over a six-hour span starting 9:23 a.m. (0023 GMT), Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. The incident marked the 20th breach of KADIZ by a Russian military plane this year, the JCS said. "Our military urgently dispatched fighter jets to track and monitor the aircraft and broadcast warning messages," the JCS said in a statement. Calls to the Russian embassy in Seoul seeking comment went unanswered. The wedge of sea between Japan, Russia, and the Korean peninsula had long been a flashpoint amid a string of regional airspace disputes. In July, South Korean warplanes fired flares and hundreds of warning shots near Russian bombers that violated South Korean airspace during what Moscow said was its first long-range joint regional air patrol with China. But there were no warning shots fired on Tuesday as the Russian aircraft did not enter South Korean territorial airspace, Seoul's military said. An ADIZ is usually an area where countries may unilaterally demand that foreign aircraft take special steps to identify themselves, unlike a nation's airspace, which usually means the space above its territory. The latest incident came a day before the South Korean and Russian militaries hold talks to discuss plans to open a hotline between their air forces as part of efforts to rein in unreported ADIZ entries. 

The United States and South Korea must produce new solutions for the current standoff on the Korean Peninsula, a senior North Korean military official said yesterday, warning that hostile policies towards Pyongyang would lead to serious consequences.  The remarks add to recent comments from Pyongyang expressing discontent at the lack of progress in its negotiations with Washington.  This month North Korea issued a veiled threat about ending the freeze in long-range missile testing amid continued economic sanctions and pressure aimed at pushing it to give up its nuclear and ballistic missiles programmes. Kim Hyong Ryong, North Korea’s Vice Minister of the People’s Armed Forces, said at the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing that North Korea has worked to build lasting piece but that the situation has relapsed into a “dangerous, vicious cycle” of exacerbating tensions because of the actions of the US and South Korean governments. “Though it has been more than one year since the DPRK-US joint statement was adopted, there is no progress in improving bilateral relations between the two countries, completely because of the US’ anachronistic, hostile policies against the DPRK,” Kim said, referring to his country by the initials of its formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. He also accused South Korea of a “double-dealing attitude” in continuing to carry out military drills with the US and buying advanced military equipment. “Bearing in mind our firm will to safeguard peace in the region, the United States and the South Korean authorities must refrain from any actions disrupting the stability of the situation and come up with a new way for solving the problem,” Kim said. North Korea has conducted missile tests in recent months, including that of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, and broke off the latest working-level nuclear talks with the US in early October. Pyongyang’s top negotiator for the talks blamed the US for the breakdown and said Washington “brought nothing” to the negotiating table.  Pyongyang has so far stuck to a freeze in testing of nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles that has been in place since 2017 and allowed for three meetings between its leader, Kim Jong-un, and US President Donald Trump since last year. North Korean state media reported last week on Kim Jong-un’s visit to Mt Paektu, the spiritual homeland of the Kim dynasty, and that his aides are convinced the leader plans “a great operation,” which experts say may signal a major shift in Pyongyang’s stance towards the US in the coming months.  Some analysts say possible North Korean actions could include another space launch or an intercontinental ballistic missile test.

Fans and fellow performers on Tuesday mourned the death of a K-pop star who had long been the target of online bullying, some calling for greater mental health support for those working in the country's notoriously competitive show business industry. The body of Sulli, a former member of top girl group f(x), was discovered Monday by her manager at her home on the outskirts of Seoul. ‘There has been no evidence of an outsider having broken in, or any other crimes committed by another person,’ an official from Seongnam Sujeong Police Agency told AFP. ‘Suicide is among the possible causes.’ Authorities said the 25-year-old had been suffering from ‘severe depression’. South Korea has one of the world's highest rates of suicide which, according to recent government figures, is among the top causes of death for those under 40. ‘I wish I could hope for Sulli to be the last idol to die from suicide and mental illness,’ tweeted one fan. ‘But knowing how cruel society is, I can't help but be afraid about who's going to be the next one.’ Beneath the glitz and glamour, the K-pop industry is known for its cut-throat competitiveness, a lack of privacy, online bullying and relentless public pressure to maintain a wholesome image at all times and at any cost. - Mental health taboo - K-pop stars like Sulli are picked up by agencies at a young age -- usually in their early- or mid-teens -- and their lives then taken over by gruelling singing and dancing training. Taboos about mental illness dissuade many South Koreans from seeking help. Sulli's death echoes that of fellow K-pop star Jonghyun, who took his life in 2017 after battling with depression. Both were members of the SM Entertainment stable, one of the country's biggest talent agencies. K-pop singer Goo Hara, a close friend of the late star, was also sent to hospital last year after a suspected suicide attempt. Goo had been abused by her ex who threatened to post her spycam sex vidoes online. ‘I hope Jin-ri is now in a place where she can do whatever she wants,’ Goo wrote on Instagram -- using Sulli's real name and sharing photos of the two of them together. Sulli, who started her career as a child actress at age 11, made her debut in 2009 for f(x), which quickly became one of K-pop's top girl groups. Known for behaviour considered controversial in South Korea -- including her refusal to wear a bra in public -- she had been relentlessly bullied online throughout her career, with many sexually abusive comments. She recently hosted a TV series where celebrities discussed their experiences of online abuse. She had also candidly shared her experience struggling with panic disorder and social phobia. Her outspokenness resonated with many young South Korean women who have been leading a new wave of feminists fighting a patriarchal society obsessed with looks. ‘Being one of the first female artists in K-pop to talk about mental health and feminism is amazing. I love you so much Sulli - I hope in heaven you are finally free,’ a fan wrote in a tweet.

South Korean Justice Minister Cho Kuk, mired in a corruption scandal involving his family, resigned on Monday after just over a month on the job, saying his appointment had become a political burden for the government. Cho was appointed by President Moon Jae-in on Sept. 9 to lead a reform of the prosecutors' office, which legal critics say has long been susceptible to political pressure. His appointment came as prosecutors were investigating his family's financial investments and the university admissions of his children, which fuelled protests against Cho. "I decided I must not burden the President and the government with my family's affairs anymore," Cho said in a statement announcing his resignation. "I believe that now is the time for me to step down so that reforming the prosecutor's office will be successfully completed," he added. Cho's decision to step down was his own, Moon's chief political advisor Kang Gi-jung told reporters. The controversy over Cho, as well as public discontent over a sluggish economy and stalled diplomatic efforts with North Korea, have pushed Moon's approval ratings to fresh lows. In its latest survey, pollster Realmeter said 41.4% approved of Moon's performance, the lowest since he took office in 2017. The survey of 2,502 people conducted last week found 56.1% disapproved of his performance, up from 52.3% in the first week of October, the pollster said on Monday. Cho had attended a news conference earlier on Monday where he released details of proposed reforms to the prosecutor's office, such as closing some powerful investigative units accused by critics of operating without proper oversight. 

North Korea's foreign ministry ‘strongly demanded’ on Saturday that Japan pay compensation for a fishing boat that sank when it collided with a Japanese patrol boat earlier this week, North Korean state media reported. The collision on Monday was deliberate and ‘a gangster act’ by Japan and Tokyo should take steps to prevent future incidents, a spokesman for the foreign ministry said in a statement carried by state news agency KCNA. ‘We strongly demand that the Japanese government compensate for the infliction of the material damage by sinking our vessel,’ the unnamed spokesman said. ‘If such an incident occurs again, Japan will face an undesirable consequence.’ The Japanese coast guard said on Monday it rescued about 60 North Korean crew members from a fishing boat that sank after it collided with the patrol boat that was chasing it out of Japanese waters. The foreign ministry official disputed Japan's claim that a sharp turn by the North Korean boat caused the accident. The fishing boat was ‘on a normal navigation,’ the official said in the statement. ‘Japan is impatiently trying to justify its deliberate act, and it even acts like a guilty party filing the suit first,’ the official said. ‘Yet, they cannot evade from their responsibility for this incident of sinking our vessel and threatening even the safety of its crew.’ At the time, Japanese authorities said the North Korean boat was fishing illegally in Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

An Iraq-Qatar co-production looking at life in war-torn Baghdad and a Vietnamese tale of a young bookie struggling to support himself and his loved ones have shared the top award at the 24th Busan International Film Festival. Iraqi director Mohanad Hayal's ‘Haifa Street’ and ‘Rom’, from Vietnam's Tran Thanh Huy, won the festival's New Currents award, which hands out two prizes of $30,000 to first- or second-time Asian directors, early Saturday. ‘The decision was tough and these two films are not first and second, this was not a horse-race,’ said New Currents jury head Mike Figgis, the Oscar-nominated director of ‘Leaving Las Vegas’. ‘We saw a lot of great work from young, exciting filmmakers who understand the art of cinema.’ ‘Haifa Street’ was a film with tension from beginning to end, the jury said in a statement. ‘This is a mature, grown-up movie and the director exhibited a confidence and understanding of cinema language which set the film apart,’ their statement read. ‘Good to see a strong gender-balanced cast.’ The New Currents jury praised ‘Rom’ for ‘it's amazing energy’. Among the Hollywood stars to grace this year's event were previously Oscar-nominated Timothee Chalamet, with thousands waiting for his red carpet appearance alongside co-star Joel Edgerton, before the screening of their new film ‘The King’. Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda was in town to collect the Asian Filmmaker of the World award while the Korean industry was out in force, led by opening night host Lee Hanee. This year's festival comes during unprecedented interest in Korean cinema, thanks to the global success of director Bong Joon-ho's Oscar favourite ‘Parasite’. That film is rolling out this week in the United States -- after claiming a Palm D'or at Cannes in May -- but there was a wealth of other local talent on display, with a buzz building around the likes of Yoon Dan-bi's sweeping family drama ‘Moving On’. BIFF had opened with the threat of Typhoon Mitag looming and with hundreds of flights to Korea cancelled, but skies cleared and the festival was able to go ahead with a series of outdoor screenings at venues across the city. ‘There was the possibility of chaos but in the end there were no problems,’ said BIFF chairman Lee Yong-kwan. The festival announced on Saturday it intended to expand it's film funding efforts, including more TV and streaming platform content, and building a Korean cinema museum. This year BIFF screened 299 films from 85 countries, with 118 world premieres, and almost 200,000 attending across its 10-day run. The event ends on Saturday night with the official prize-giving, and with the world premiere of Korean director Lim Dae-hyung's mother-daughter relationship drama ‘Moonlit Winter’.

As negotiators for the United States and North Korea resume talks over Pyongyang’s nuclear programme this weekend, analysts  say that the leaders of both countries face increased incentives to strike a deal, but that it is far from clear they will find common ground after months of deadlock and increased tensions. The meeting in Stockholm will be the first formal working-level talks since US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met in June, vowing to restart negotiations that had stalled after their failed summit in February.  Since June, however, American officials have struggled to persuade North Korea to return to the table. That appeared to change this week when North Korea abruptly announced that it had agreed to hold talks. The stakes have grown for Trump and Kim, but publicly the two sides have shown no sign of where they may compromise.  On Wednesday North Korea test fired a ballistic missile designed for submarine launch, the latest in a series of missile tests that analysts say underscores the need for Washington to move quickly to negotiate at least some limits on Pyongyang’s growing arsenal. Trump continued to downplay the test in remarks to reporters in Washington, noting that the two sides would soon be meeting. North Korea is under tough sanctions that ban much of its trade, although the United Nations has warned that the country has circumvented many of the sanctions.  US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun is expected to lead the American delegation. Biegun has often struck a more pragmatic note than former national security adviser John Bolton, who pushed Trump to maintain a harder line in Hanoi but was fired last month. Policy analysts said Bolton’s departure could help US efforts to revive the talks. But, they said, it would not make Washington’s aim of persuading Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons any easier.  The North Korean delegation will be led by its former ambassador to Vietnam, Kim Myong Gil, who stepped in after his predecessor was reportedly removed in a diplomatic shakeup. “There’s been a new signal from the US side, so we’re going with great expectations and optimism about the outcome,” Kim told reporters in Beijing before boarding for Stockholm. Pyongyang will likely seek a declaration ending the technical state of war that has existed since the 1950-1953 Korean War, opening liaison offices with the United States, and possibly economic aid, said Professor Ramon Pacheco Pardo at King’s College London, who has met with North Korean officials as part of separate semi-official discussions.  But sanctions relief will be at the top of the list for the North Koreans because Kim Jong-un needs to show he is winning material benefits from Washington, Pacheco Pardo said. “North Korea will want sanctions relief, however partial and even if it is the form of their interruption rather than full removal,” he said. “From Pyongyang’s perspective, that would show that the US is serious about a step-by-step process.” Any agreement at the working-level talks would likely be finalised at yet another summit between Trump and Kim, who have pinned hopes for a breakthrough on their personal relationship. The most visible and longest-running part of North Korea’s nuclear programme, the Yongbyon nuclear complex, is a central point of contention. South Korean officials have pressed Washington to accept the closure of Yongbyon in return for lifting at least some sanctions, arguing it would be a significant step toward curtailing North Korea’s ability to build more nuclear weapons. Some observers, however, question how useful Yongbyon is. Nuclear experts and American officials have estimated that North Korea may have had the material necessary to build up to a dozen more warheads since talks with the United States in early 2018. Kim offered to close the facility during the February summit with Trump, but American officials said he wanted too many sanctions lifted in exchange.

North Korea said yesterday it had successfully test-fired a new submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) from the sea to contain external threats and bolster self-defence, ahead of fresh nuclear talks with the United States.  The launch on Wednesday was the most provocative by North Korea since it resumed dialogue with the United States in 2018 and a reminder by Pyongyang of the weapons capability it has been aggressively developing, including intercontinental ballistic missiles, analysts said. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un “sent warm congratulations” to the defence scientists who conducted the test, state news agency KCNA said, indicating he did not attend the launch as he has at previous tests of new weapons systems. The new type of SLBM, called Pukguksong-3, was “fired in vertical mode” in the waters off the eastern city of Wonsan, KCNA said, confirming an assessment by South Korea’s military on Wednesday that the missile was launched on a lofted trajectory. “The successful new-type SLBM test-firing comes to be of great significance as it ushered in a new phase in containing the outside forces’ threat to the DPRK and further bolstering its military muscle for self-defence,” KCNA said. DPRK is short for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.  The test “had no adverse impact on the security of neighbouring countries,” KCNA said but gave no other details about the launch. Photos released in the North’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper, whose front two pages featured the test, showed a black-and-white painted missile clearing the surface of the water, then the rocket engine igniting to propel it into the sky. A State Department spokeswoman called on Pyongyang to “refrain from provocations” and to remain committed to nuclear negotiations. South Korea expressed strong concern and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe condemned the launch, saying it was a violation of UN Security Council resolutions. North Korea rejects UN Security Council resolutions that ban Pyongyang from using ballistic missile technology, saying they are an infringement of its right to self-defence. Talks aimed at dismantling North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes have been stalled since a second summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump in Vietnam in February broke down in disagreement over nuclear disarmament. North Korea fired the missile hours after announcing it would resume talks with the United States by holding working-level negotiations on Oct 5. North Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Myong-gil, arrived at the Beijing airport yesterday with other North Korean officials and booked flights to Stockholm, Sweden, Yonhap reported, citing an airport official. “We’re going for the DPRK-US working-level negotiations,” the negotiator Kim told reporters in Beijing, according to Yonhap. “There’s been a new signal from the US side, so we’re going with great expectations and optimism about the outcome.” The Pukguksong-3 appeared to be a new design that has enhanced range and stability compared with a version tested in 2016, three analysts said. It was probably launched from a test platform and not a submarine, which would be the final stage of testing, said Kim Dong-yub, a military expert at Kyungnam University’s Institute of Far Eastern Studies in Seoul. State news agency KCNA released photos and a report in July of leader Kim Jong-un inspecting a large, newly built submarine, but an unnamed South Korean military source said Thursday that the submarine appears to be still incomplete, Yonhap news agency reported. Leader Kim Jong-un’s absence at the test is “extremely unusual,” Kyungnam University’s Kim said, probably meant to contain the political fallout that could result in the upcoming talks falling apart before they even start. On Wednesday, South Korea’s military said the missile flew 450km and reached an altitude of 910km. It was likely a Pukguksong-class weapon, as the North’s earlier submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) under development were known. South Korean Defence Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo said the Pukguksong, or Pole Star in Korean, would have had a range of about 1,300km on a standard trajectory. North Korea had been developing SLBM technology before it suspended long-range missile and nuclear tests and began talks with the United States that led to the first summit between Kim and Trump in Singapore in June 2018. The latest version of the Pukguksong may be the longest-range North Korean missile that uses solid fuel and the first nuclear-capable missile to be tested since November 2017, Ankit Panda of the US-based Federation of American Scientists said.  North Korea has been developing rocket engines that burn solid fuel, which has advantages in military use compared with liquid fuel because it is stable and versatile, allowing it to be stored in missiles until they are ready for launch.

North Korea fired what may have been a submarine-launched ballistic missile from off its east coast yesterday, a day after it announced the resumption of talks with the United States on ending its nuclear programme.  If confirmed, it would be the most provocative test by North Korea since it started the talks with the United States in 2018. Analysts said it was likely a reminder by Pyongyang of the weapons capability it had been aggressively developing as it gears up for the new round of talks. A State Department spokeswoman called on Pyongyang to “refrain from provocations” and remain committed to the nuclear negotiations. South Korea’s military said it had detected the launch of one missile that flew 450km and reached an altitude of 910km. It was likely a Pukguksong-class weapon, as the North’s earlier submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) under development were known. South Korean Defence Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo told a parliamentary committee that the Pukguksong, or Pole Star in Korean, has a range of about 1,300km and that the missile’s trajectory may have been raised to reduce the distance it travelled. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that, according to initial intelligence, the missile was a submarine-capable ballistic missile launched from a platform at sea.  South Korea expressed concern and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe condemned the launch, saying it was a violation of UN Security Council resolutions.  North Korea rejects UN Security Council resolutions that ban Pyongyang from using ballistic missile technology, saying they are an infringement of its right to self-defence. Talks aimed at dismantling North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes have been stalled since a second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Vietnam in February ended without a deal. The two leaders then met at the Demilitarised Zone border between the two Koreas in June and pledged to reopen working-level talks within weeks.  In a brief statement posted on the foreign ministry’s website late yesterday, China welcomed the planned talks between the United States and North Korea. “It’s hoped that the two sides can move towards each other and achieve positive results from the dialogue,” a ministry spokesperson was quoted as saying.  The ministry did not give any comment on Pyongyang’s missile launch. South Korea’s military said the missile was launched eastward from the sea northeast of Wonsan, the site of one of North Korea’s military bases on the east coast.  Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said it appeared that one missile was launched and had split in two and then fallen into the sea.  The Japanese government had said earlier it appeared North Korea had launched two missiles, one of which fell inside Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). South Korea’s Jeong, asked about Japan’s earlier assessment of two missiles, said the missile might have had at least two stages that separated in flight. North Korea had been developing SLBM technology before it suspended long-range missile and nuclear tests and began talks with the United States that led to the first summit between Kim and Trump in Singapore in June 2018. State news agency KCNA released photos and a report of leader Kim Jong-un in July inspecting a large, newly built submarine, seen as a potential signal that Pyongyang was continuing with its development of an SLBM programme.  The latest missile launch was the ninth since Trump and Kim met in June, but the others have been of short-range land-based missiles. David Wright, missile expert with the Union of Concerned Scientists, put the range of the missile tested yesterday at about 1,900km at standard trajectory. Hours before yesterday’s launch, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui said in a statement the working-level talks with the United Stat— a development that could potentially break what had been months of stalemate.  North Korea’s previous missile launch was on Sept 10, also hours after Choe had expressed Pyongyang’s willingness for talks with the United States. Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said: “North Korea tends to raise the stakes before negotiations in an effort to win unearned concessions.” Trump has played down North Korea’s recent series of short-range launches, saying in September the United States and North Korea “didn’t have an agreement on short-range missiles” and that many countries test such weapons. Vipin Narang, a nuclear expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said the timing of the latest launch enhances leverage for the North and also signals Pyongyang is in for the long haul in its talks with Washington.  “The risk is that testing such a system causes the US to walk away before this weekend, but Kim probably bet that the US is so invested in the talks taking place and making progress ... that the US won’t walk away.”

North Korea fired what appeared to be a submarine-launched ballistic missile, Seoul said Wednesday, just days before Washington and Pyongyang were set to resume long-stalled nuclear talks. Pyongyang frequently couples diplomatic overtures with military moves, as a way of maintaining pressure on negotiating partners, analysts say, and may believe this weapons system gives it added leverage. The United States voiced alarm, with a State Department spokesperson calling on North Korea ‘to refrain from provocations’ and ‘remain engaged in substantive and sustained negotiations’ aimed at bringing stability and denuclearisation. A proven submarine-based missile capability would take the North's arsenal to a new level, allowing deployment far beyond the Korean peninsula and a second-strike capability in the event of an attack on its military bases. The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected a ballistic missile early Wednesday fired in an easterly direction from the sea, northeast of the North Korean port of Wonsan. The missile was ‘believed to be one of the Pukkuksong models’, the JCS said in a statement, referring to a line of submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) under development by the North. Launches like this ‘are not helpful to efforts to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula and we urge North Korea again to stop immediately,’ it added. The North carried out a successful test of the solid-fuel Pukkuksong-1, also known as KN-11, in August 2016 which flew around 500 kilometres. In July, North Korean state media had published pictures of Kim Jong Un inspecting a new type of submarine, fuelling concerns that Pyongyang was pushing ahead with an SLBM programme. Analysts say the missile is believed to have been fired at a lofted angle, adding it is likely an intermediate-range ballistic missile with an actual flight range of around 2,000 kilometres. Vipin Narang, an associate professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, drew a line between a recent series of launches by Pyongyang and Wednesday's test, calling it ‘an explicitly nuclear weapons system’. A part of the missile landed in waters within Japan's exclusive economic zone -- a 200-kilometre band around Japanese territory -- Tokyo said. ‘The launching of ballistic missiles violates UN Security Council resolutions and we strongly protest and strongly condemn it,’ Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters. The North is banned from ballistic missile launches under UN Security Council resolutions. - 'Negotiating position' - The launch came a day after the North's Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said Pyongyang had agreed to hold working-level talks with Washington later this week. The two sides will have ‘preliminary contact’ on Friday and hold negotiations the following day, Choe said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency. US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus later confirmed the talks, which she said would happen ‘within the next week’. ‘It seems North Korea wants to make its negotiating position quite clear before talks even begin,’ Harry Kazianis of the Center for the National Interest in Washington said after Wednesday's launch. ‘Pyongyang seems set to push Washington to back off from past demands of full denuclearisation for what are only promises of sanctions relief,’ he added. It is not the first time the North has followed up an offer of talks with a weapons test. Pyongyang tested what it called a ‘super-large’ rocket launcher last month just hours after Choe released a statement saying that the North was willing to resume working-level talks with Washington. Negotiations between the two have been deadlocked since a second summit between the North's leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump in February ended without a deal. The two agreed to restart dialogue during an impromptu meeting at the Demilitarised Zone dividing the two Koreas in June, but the North's anger at a US refusal to cancel joint military drills with South Korea put the process on hold. Pyongyang also carried out several weapons tests since the meeting that have been downplayed by Trump, who dismissed them as ‘small’ and insisted his personal ties with Kim remained good. Relations thawed last month after Trump fired his hawkish national security adviser John Bolton, who Pyongyang had repeatedly denounced as a warmonger. Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China, North Korea's main ally, said that the United States needed to ease its pressure campaign on Pyongyang. Speaking to reporters, Wang said that North Korea has ‘taken a series of positive measures’ and that the United States should ‘meet halfway and make a positive response.’

North Korea fired two short-range projectiles into the sea early Tuesday, South Korean media reported, just hours after the reclusive nation said it was ready for new talks with the US on its nuclear weapons programme. The projectiles were launched at 6:53 (2153 GMT Monday) and 7:12 towards the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, from South Pyongan province, news agency Yonhap reported, citing the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The JCS said the projectiles both flew around 330 kilometres, but information on their top speed and exact type was still being investigated. Seoul's ‘military is monitoring the situation in the case of additional launches and maintaining a readiness posture,’ the JCS said, calling on Pyongyang to ‘instantly stop such acts that heighten tensions.’  The launches came hours after North Korea's deputy foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, said Pyongyang was ready for new talks on its nuclear weapons programme. ‘We are willing to sit with the US for comprehensive discussion of the issues we have so far addressed, at a time and place to be agreed in late September,’ Choe was quoted by North Korean state news agency KCNA as saying. When asked about the statement, US President Donald Trump called it ‘interesting,’ adding, ‘we'll see what happens.’  Trump has met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times to negotiate North Korea's denuclearization. North Korea's nuclear weapons programme, and economic sanctions placed upon it by the UN and US, have previously been discussed. Choe said that her government expects new proposals from the US, with which Pyongyang must be satisfied before talks can go ahead. Should the US ‘fiddle around again with the worn-out scenario,’ it could be the end of bilateral relations, Choe said. Kim and Trump met on the military demarcation line inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating North and South Korea at the end of June and agreed to resume working-level negotiations on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme. That meeting came after a second summit between the pair, in Vietnam in February, broke up early when the sides failed to make progress on a deal made in Singapore last year. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday told American broadcaster ABC that his government hoped for talks with North Korea ‘in the coming days or maybe weeks.’  For that to happen, the US must make a ‘brave decision’ by the end of the year, according to conditions imposed by Kim after the failed summit in Vietnam.

South Korea’s top court ordered new trials yesterday for former president Park Geun-hye and Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong over the corruption scandal that brought her down, in a blow to the world’s biggest smartphone and memory chip maker. Park is serving a 25-year jail term after being convicted last year on bribery and abuse of power charges.   But Lee, whose sprawling conglomerate is vital to the health of the world’s 11th-largest economy, had many of his convictions quashed on appeal in February 2018 and was released after being given a suspended sentence. Their trials highlighted shady links between big business and politics in South Korea, with Park and her close friend Choi Soon-sil accused of taking bribes from corporate bigwigs in exchange for preferential treatment.  South Korea’s Supreme Court yesterday sent all three of their cases back for new proceedings, saying that errors had been made in the judgements.  After a 10-month trial – in which she boycotted most of the proceedings in protest at being held in custody – Park was convicted in April last year of receiving or demanding more than $20mn from conglomerates, sharing secret state documents, “blacklisting” artists critical of her policies, and firing officials who resisted her abuses of power.  She was sentenced to 24 years, later extended for an additional 12 months.  But the Supreme Court ruled that under the country’s public official election act, courts must rule separately on bribery accusations when incumbent or former presidents face multiple criminal charges.   “We send the case back to the Seoul High Court,” said chief justice Kim Myeong-su.  South Korean media warned that the ruling might not work out in her favour, as if she is convicted again in two separate verdicts she could face a longer total sentence in total. Samsung is by far the biggest of the family-controlled conglomerates that dominate business in South Korea, and crucial to the country’s financial health. Lee is vice-chairman of its flagship subsidiary Samsung Electronics, and his case centred on millions of dollars the group paid Choi, allegedly for government favours such as ensuring a smooth transition for him to succeed his ailing father.  He was initially jailed for five years in 2017 before his successful appeal, which chief justice Kim said “misunderstood the law on bribery”.  In a key section of yesterday’s ruling, the court said three horses worth 3.4bn won (US$2.8mn) that Samsung Group donated for the equestrian training of Choi’s daughter did amount to bribes. It was not immediately clear whether Lee would be returned to prison pending his new trial but analysts said the ruling could complicate management at Samsung Electronics.  Yonhap news agency quoted a high-ranking Samsung official calling the ruling the firm’s “worst nightmare” and adding it increased “uncertainties at the leadership when the company is already going through hard times”.  “Nearly three years after the corruption scandal broke out, it seems like Samsung is back to square one,” they were cited as saying.  Samsung Electronics faces a weak global chip market and export restrictions imposed on key supplies by Tokyo amid a long-running dispute between the neighbours over wartime history.  Japan’s move threatens to disrupt memory chip production and Lee has called it a “crisis”, visiting Tokyo to seek to secure materials.  Samsung Electronics said in a statement that it “deeply regrets” causing concern.  “We will renew our commitment to carrying out the role of a responsible corporate citizen and will avoid a recurrence of past mistakes,” it said, without directly addressing the verdict or its possible consequences.  The firm reported a 53% drop in profits in the second quarter. Its shares closed down 1.7% after the ruling.   Choi – who became close to Park through her father, a shadowy religious figure – received a 20-year prison term last year for using her presidential connections to force companies including Samsung to donate to foundations she controlled, among other charges.  The court also sent her case back for a retrial. Hundreds of Park’s supporters gathered outside the heavily guarded courtroom for yesterday’s ruling, waving South Korean flags and carrying signs reading: “Stop the human rights violation against President Park Geun-hye”.  The daughter of assassinated dictator Park Chung-hee, Park took office in 2013 as a conservative icon who cast herself in the role of daughter of the nation -- incorruptible and beholden to none.  Less than four years later she had been impeached, stripped of all her powers and ousted from office on the back of months-long mass protests that brought millions onto the streets across the country.  Her left-leaning successor Moon Jae-in was swept to power by the public backlash against her and her conservative party.

* S.Korean drills larger than previous exercises * Drills include Aegis destroyer, special forces for first time * Japan lodged protest with S.Korean embassy * S.Korea and Japan in worsening political and economic feud South Korean forces began two days of expanded drills on Sunday around an island also claimed by Japan, prompting a protest from Tokyo only days after Seoul said it would scrap an intelligence-sharing pact with its neighbour amid worsening relations. Tokyo and Seoul have long been at loggerheads over the sovereignty of the group of islets called Takeshima in Japanese and Dokdo in Korean, which lie about halfway between the East Asian neighbours in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea. The latest military drills began on Sunday and included naval, air, and army forces, as well as marines, a South Korean ministry of defence official said. The Japanese foreign ministry called the drills unacceptable and said it had lodged a protest with South Korea calling for them to end. The island is ‘obviously an inherent part of the territory of Japan’, Kenji Kanasugi, the director general at the ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, told the South Korean Embassy in Tokyo in a statement. Ko Min-jung, a spokeswoman for South Korea's presidential Blue House, said the drill was an annual exercise and not aimed at any specific country. ‘It's an exercise to guard our sovereignty and territory,’ she told reporters in Seoul. The exercise included significantly more South Korean forces than previously involved and spanned a wider area in the sea between South Korea and Japan, a South Korean navy official told Reuters. For the first time the drills included an Aegis-equipped destroyer and army special forces, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. Tensions in the region have spiked amid a worsening political and economic spat between South Korea and Japan, a string of missile launches by North Korea, and increasingly assertive military patrols by China and Russia. South Korea announced the scrapping of an intelligence-sharing pact with Japan on Thursday, drawing a swift protest from Tokyo and deepening a decades-old dispute over wartime history that has hit trade and undercut security cooperation over North Korea. Relations between South Korea and Japan began to deteriorate late last year following a diplomatic row over compensation for wartime forced labourers during Japan's occupation of Korea. They soured further when Japan tightened its curbs on exports of high-tech materials needed by South Korea's chip industry, and again this month when Tokyo said it would remove South Korea's fast-track export status. The disputed islands have long been one of the most sensitive areas of contention between Japan and South Korea. A detachment of South Korean guards has been stationed there since the 1950s and South Korea has conducted annual defence drills in the area. The current exercises had been delayed as relations deteriorated, Yonhap news agency reported. In July, South Korea and Japan responded to what they saw as a violation of their air space near the islands by a Russian military plane. The South Korean navy said the drills were designed to underscore its commitment to defending the broader area. ‘The military has changed the name of the drills to 'East Sea Territorial Protection Exercise' reflecting the scale and meaning of the drills to solidify the military's resolve to protect the territory in the East Sea,’ the South Korean navy said in a statement. Previous drills had been called the ‘Dokdo Defence Exercise.’

* Seventh N Korean launch since Trump, Kim met in June * US so far unsuccessful in restarting talks with N Korea * Launch came after US-S Korea joint military drills ended * Japan lodges protest over launches with Pyongyang: Jiji * Launches come amid Japan-S.Korea dispute over wartime labour North Korea fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast on Saturday, the South Korean military said, the latest in a series of launches in recent weeks amid stalled denuclearisation talks. Saturday's launch was the seventh by North Korea since US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met at the inter-Korean border in June. The launches have complicated attempts to restart talks between US and North Korean negotiators over the future of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes. The two leaders agreed in June to restart working-level negotiations but the United States has so far been unsuccessful in its attempts to get the talks going again. The process has been stalled since an unsuccessful second summit between Trump and Kim in Hanoi in February. Trump said earlier this month Kim told him he was ready to resume talks on North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes and would stop missile testing as soon as US-South Korea military exercises ended. However, while the joint military drills are over, North Korea's continued launches caused ‘strong concern’, South Korea's National Security Council (NSC) said on Saturday. Trump said after the latest launches the United States has a good relationship with North Korea. ‘Kim Jong Un has been very straight with me,’ Trump told reporters at the White House. North Korea has repeatedly criticised the mostly computer- simulated drills in recent weeks, as well as South Korea's import of high-tech weapons such as F-35 stealth jets and the US testing of its intermediate-range cruise missile as threatening and hindering dialogue. North Korea's top diplomat called US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo a ‘diehard toxin’ on Friday, saying: ‘We are ready for both dialogue and standoff.’ The remarks came after US envoy on North Korea Stephen Biegun was in Seoul this week to discuss ways to get negotiations back on track. JAPAN LODGES PROTEST South Korea's NSC called for North Korea to stop escalating military tensions and agreed to make diplomatic efforts to bring North Korea to the negotiating table with the United States as soon as possible, South Korea's presidential office said in a statement. A senior US administration official said: ‘We are aware of reports of a missile launch from North Korea and continue to monitor the situation. We are consulting closely with our Japanese and South Korean allies.’ Japanese Defence Minister Takeshi Iwaya said North Korea's missile launches were a clear violation of UN resolutions and could not be ignored. He confirmed that the latest missiles fell outside Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone and posed no immediate threat to Japan's security. Japan's Jiji news agency reported that Tokyo believed the latest projectiles launched by the North were ballistic missiles and had lodged a strong protest with Pyongyang. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JSC) said North Korea had fired what appeared to be short-range ballistic missiles on Saturday at around 6:45 a.m. and 7:02 a.m. KST (2145 and 2202 GMT Friday) from around Sondok in South Hamgyong province. Sondok is the site of a North Korean military airfield. They flew about 380 km (236 miles) and reached an altitude of about 97 km (60 miles), the JSC said, the highest of all nine North Korean launches so far this year. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the two North Korean missiles appeared to be similar to launches in recent weeks. Japan's Coast Guard warned shipping not to approach any fallen debris. South Korea decided to scrap an intelligence-sharing agreement with Japan this week over a long-running dispute with Tokyo about South Koreans pressed into forced wartime labour by Japan. Asked if that affected Japan's ability to gather and analyse information about North Korea, Iwaya said: ‘The agreement was until November, so we want to continue cooperation with the South Korean and American militaries.’ ‘So we'd like to make that offer to the South Korean side,’ he said. South Korea's JSC said that, as the agreement with Japan had not yet expired, it would share information about the latest North Korean launch with Japan, Yonhap reported.

South Korea said yesterday it will scrap an intelligence-sharing pact with Japan, drawing a swift protest from Tokyo and deepening a decades-old dispute over history that has hit trade and undercut security co-operation over North Korea. Seoul’s decision not to extend the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) shows how the political and trade dispute between the Asian neighbours and US allies has now hit some of the region’s most sensitive security issues. The agreement had been due for automatic renewal tomorrow. The arrangement was designed to share information on the threat posed by North Korea and its missile and nuclear activities — a threat underlined by the North’s recent launch of a series of short-range ballistic missiles. Explaining its decision, South Korea’s Kim You-geun, a deputy director of the presidential National Security Council (NSC), said Japan had created a “grave change” in the environment for bilateral security co-operation by removing South Korea’s fast-track export status this month. “Under this situation, we have determined that it would not serve our national interest to maintain an agreement we signed with the aim of exchanging military information which is sensitive to security,” Kim told a news conference. Relations between the northeast Asian neighbours began to deteriorate late last year following a diplomatic row over compensation for wartime forced labourers during Japan’s occupation of Korea. They soured further when Japan tightened its curbs on exports of high-tech materials needed by South Korea’s chip industry and again this month when Tokyo said it would remove South Korea’s fast-track export status. Japan’s foreign minister, Taro Kono, criticised Seoul for what he said was mixing the export controls with security issues. “Given such issues as North Korea, everyone probably understands the importance of this agreement. But this decision was made while linking it to Japan’s review of export controls,” he told reporters. “I cannot help saying they are completely misreading the security environment.” He said Tokyo had summoned the South Korean ambassador in protest. The South Korean decision was likely to be met with dismay in the United States, which fears weakened security co-operation. The Pentagon said it was concerned and disappointed by the move. South Korea’s won currency extended losses against the dollar in offshore non-deliverable forward trade, falling by some 0.4% against the dollar in five minutes after the announcement on concern that trade disputes with Japan could be drawn out. “We strongly believe that the integrity of our mutual defence and security ties must persist despite frictions in other areas of the ROK-Japan relationship,” Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Dave Eastburn said, using the initials of South Korea’s official name, the Republic of Korea. “We’ll continue to pursue bilateral and trilateral defence and security cooperation where possible with Japan and the ROK,” Eastburn said. South Korea’s foreign minister, Kang Kyung-wha, emphasised that the decision to end the intelligence pact was because South Korea had lost trust in Japan. “We will continue to strengthen co-operation with the United States and develop the alliance,” she told reporters in Seoul. South Korea’s defence ministry said that regardless of the end of GSOMIA, it would maintain a “stable” joint defence posture based on a robust alliance with the United States. One Western military source said the intelligence-sharing was sometimes limited but nevertheless an important area of co-operation in the face of threats from North Korea. GSOMIA facilitated the sharing of information on North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats, which remain despite a series of summits and negotiations with North Korea, said Cho Tae-yong, a former South Korean national security adviser who worked on the deal when it was first signed. “Ending GSOMIA is not only the wrong card to play to press Japan, but it is just not helpful for our security,” he said. The decision also comes as China and Russia have been more assertive in the region, flying their first joint military air patrol together in July, which triggered an international incident with South Korea and Japan. Before the signing of the agreement in 2016, under US pressure, South Korea and Japan shared intelligence through the United States. South Korea went ahead with the deal at the time despite opposition from some political parties and a large section of the public, who remain bitter over Japan’s actions during its colonial rule of Korea from 1910 until the end of World War II. A 2012 attempt to seal the deal fell apart in the face of opposition in South Korea toward military cooperation with Japan. Relations between the two US allies now appear to be at their lowest since they normalized ties in 1965, plagued by bitterness over Japan’s occupation, which included the use of South Korean forced labour at some Japanese firms. South Korea had warned it could reconsider the GSOMIA after Japan imposed export curbs and then stripped South Korea of its favoured trading partner status. Seoul said those moves by Japan were in retaliation for a South Korean Supreme Court order for Japanese companies to compensate some of their wartime forced labourers last October. Japan condemned that ruling, saying the matter was resolved by a 1965 treaty normalising ties. It has also cited unspecified security reasons for its export controls.