Korea

In Kharkiv, Russian strikes injured at least 12 people, resulting in a blackout, as reported by AFP. An airstrike also targeted critical infrastructure in the Sumy region, causing a power outage there as well. In Kryvyi Rih, a rocket attack left four people injured.

The North Korean military today used explosives to destroy sections of roads once used for cross-border exchanges with South Korea, Seoul said in a new episode of rising tensions between the two nations.

A North Korean military guard post is seen from Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Tuesday, June 18, 2024.

Dozens of North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the heavily fortified border with the South on Tuesday and retreated after warning shots were fired, Seoul's military said, adding landmine explosions had injured Pyongyang's troops in the area.

South Korea announced Sunday that it would resume loudspeaker propaganda campaigns against the North, after Pyongyang sent a fresh barrage of trash-filled balloons across the border.

"We will install loudspeakers against North Korea today and carry out the broadcast," the president's office said in a statement.

South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol fully suspended on Tuesday a 2018 tension-reducing military deal with the North in response to a bombardment of trash-carrying balloons sent by Pyongyang last week.

A US soldier under disciplinary action has fled to North Korea across the border with South Korea, Reuters reported, citing US officials.

North Korea was silent about the highly unusual entry of an American soldier across the Koreas' heavily fortified border although it test-fired short-range missiles Wednesday in its latest weapons display.

In an apparent protest over a regular South Korea-US combined military exercise to begin this week, North Korea fired two "strategic cruise missiles" from a submarine in waters off its east coast over the weekend, state media said on Monday, reported Yonhap News Agency.

US President Joe Biden has said that the US is not discussing joint nuclear exercises with South Korea. His statement contradicted a statement by South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, made at a time of rising tensions with North Korea, Reuters reported, citing BTA.

North Korea has passed a law declaring its readiness to launch preventive nuclear strikes, including in the face of conventional attacks, state media said on Sept. 9. 

The move effectively eliminates the possibility of denuclearisation talks, with leader Kim Jong Un saying the country's status as a nuclear state was now "irreversible".