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North Korea

  1. North Korea deploys south-facing self-propelled guns about 1.4 km from South Korea's Gimpo observatory

    Visitors at the Aegibong observatory in Gimpo, South Korea, said on Tuesday, Oct 27, that they were worried after seeing North Korean self-propelled guns with barrels pointed south. A Reuters reporter saw that one armoured vehicle photographed by South Korean media last Friday had grown to three by Monday, and NHK reported that they were positioned about 1.4 km from the South Korean observatory as the North fortifies its border. Tensions have been high since a landmine blast in the DMZ in September injured three South Korean soldiers; Seoul has demanded an apology while Pyongyang says the incident was fabricated. Kim Yo Jong said last Thursday that the North would deploy loudspeakers for propaganda broadcasts along the entire border within days.

    Oct 28, 2026 Morning
  2. Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis to visit North Korea to open office in Pyongyang, then go to South Korea

    KBS, citing Reuters, reported that the Swiss government said Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis will leave for North Korea on Thursday, Oct 29, to attend the opening of a Swiss diplomatic office in Pyongyang, and will then meet South Korean officials. At Friday's ceremony he will discuss with North Korea the possible resumption of foreign ministry consultations and security on the Korean Peninsula. The office resumed operations on Oct 19 after Switzerland's humanitarian cooperation office closed in 2020 during the Covid pandemic; it is Switzerland's first political and diplomatic post there since ties were established in 1974.

    Oct 27, 2026 Afternoon
  3. Follow-up: Kim Jong-un returns to North Korea after one-day China visit; KCNA cites 'blood-forged' friendship as Choe Son-hui and Kim Yo-jong accompany him

    North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited Dandong in Liaoning province via the New Yalu River Bridge on Saturday, Oct 24, and returned to North Korea the same day. KCNA reported on Oct 25 that Kim toured the Memorial Hall of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea in Dandong and laid a wreath at the memorial tower, saying the North Korean people would pass down their gratitude to the Chinese people for generations; Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui and Workers' Party Central Committee department director Kim Yo-jong accompanied him, and Politburo Standing Committee member Wang Huning received him. Before the China trip he also paid respects at a Chinese People's Volunteers martyrs' cemetery in Hoechang County, South Phyongan province; KCNA said a volunteers' cemetery in Sinphyong County, North Hwanghae province, had been expanded into a martyrs' park with a completion ceremony on Oct 24 attended by a Chinese Ministry of Veterans Affairs delegation. NHK said the visit may have been aimed at coordinating with China ahead of possible renewed talks with the United States.

    Oct 25, 2026 Afternoon
  4. Follow-up: Kim Jong Un guides two-day North Korean army company commanders' conference in Pyongyang, appearing again after death rumours

    South Korea's KBS and Yonhap reported that Kim Jong Un guided the third conference of company commanders of the whole army in Pyongyang on Oct 22-23, stressing 'building a powerful army'; it was the first military-sector conference since the ruling party's Ninth Congress in February. State reports did not mention the DMZ or the United States. South Korea's National Intelligence Service had earlier said rumours of Kim's death were false, and state media published photos of him on an inspection on Oct 20.

    Oct 24, 2026 Afternoon
  5. South Korea's spy agency says rumours of Kim Jong Un's death are false, though his 140 kg weight puts him at high cardiovascular risk

    Hankyoreh, citing several ruling-party members of parliament's intelligence committee, reported that South Korea's National Intelligence Service told the committee on Oct 23 that recent rumours on social media at home and abroad about Kim Jong Un's death or abnormal health were untrue. The agency had reported on Sept 30 that Kim weighs around 140 kg and is at high risk of cardiovascular disease, but was able to run up stairs while inspecting a destroyer and has a dedicated medical team, with no abnormal signs. It also said Kim Yo Jong and a defence ministry adviser inspected 'southern border fortification' sites near the Military Demarcation Line on Oct 20; the committee will audit the agency on Oct 29.

    Oct 24, 2026 Morning
  6. Follow-up: Kim Yo Jong says North Korea's propaganda loudspeakers will be operational along the whole border this month

    Asahi, citing KCNA, reported that Kim Yo Jong, head of the Workers' Party's General Affairs Department, said on Oct 21 that North Korea's psychological-warfare loudspeakers aimed at the South would be 'operational' along the entire Military Demarcation Line within October. She inspected border 'fortification' works with a North Korean defence ministry adviser and said the South had made loudspeaker warning broadcasts and fired warning shots in at least two places that day. CNA said Kim stated that new firepower units had 'entered firing positions', and state media said border troops had been told to take 'swift and resolute action' if South Korean forces threatened their safety. A landmine exploded south of the demarcation line on Sept 21, injuring three South Korean soldiers.

    Oct 22, 2026 Morning
  7. North Korean state media publish photos of Kim Jong Un at exhibition after online rumours of his death

    The BBC and KBS reported that the Rodong Sinmun and KCNA published photos on Tuesday showing 42-year-old Kim Jong Un visiting a clothing and footwear exhibition with his wife and daughter the previous day. A US-based Chinese dissident had claimed on X, without evidence, that Kim died after being taken to a Beijing hospital with a sudden brain haemorrhage, followed by unverified claims online that China had sent 9,000 soldiers into Pyongyang.

    Oct 21, 2026 Morning
  8. Kim Yo-jong says North Korea mulls resuming loudspeaker broadcasts and adding strike assets on border

    In a statement carried by KCNA on Oct 19, Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said the situation on the southern border was 'very unstable' and that Pyongyang was considering resuming loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts into South Korea and deploying additional tactical strike assets on the border. She said that from Oct 15 to 17 South Korean troops issued about 350 loudspeaker warnings and fired about 60 warning shots at North Korean troops reinforcing the border, and that the Lee Jae Myung government's schemes to provoke confrontation surpass those of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration.

    Oct 20, 2026 Morning