| August 1 | North
Korea’s Foreign Ministry condemned Japan’s publication (July 28)
of the 2023 Defense of Japan White Paper (KCNA, under an
individual researcher) |
| August
2 | Remarks by the spokesperson of
the DPRK Association for Human Rights Studies slamming the U.S.
for confirming the nomination (July 27) of a new Special Envoy
on North Korean Human Rights Issues (KCNA) |
| August 2 | North
Korea slammed South Korea and France for staging joint air
drills (July 25 to 26) (KCNA, under an individual
researcher) |
| August 3 |
Unification Minister talked with heads of
private organizations related to South Korean abductees,
detainees and POWs, and said that an end-of-war declaration will
not be pursued |
| August 3
| South Korea’s UN Ambassador blamed
North Korean regime’s wrong choices for its food crisis during
an open debate of the UN Security Council |
| August 4 | South
Korea, the U.S., and Japan held a high-level online meeting on
cybersecurity to combat North Korean thefts of
cryptocurrencies |
| August 4
| Remarks by the director general of the
North Korean Foreign Ministry’s Chinese Affairs Department
condemning the U.S. for announcing weapons package for Taiwan
(KCNA) |
| August 3 to 5 |
Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un oversaw major
munitions factories (August 6, Rodong/KCNA) |
| August 5 | Statement
by North Korea’s permanent mission to UN in Vienna that the
DPRK's bolstering of nuclear weapons is an action of
self-defense (KCNA) |
| August
8 | President Yoon said that “the
establishment of response capabilities against North Korea’s
nuclear weapons and missiles is our top priority” in the second
Defense Innovation Committee meeting |
| August 8 | The
Ministry of Unification to intensify penalties for unauthorized
civilian inter-Korean exchanges and bar those who violate the
Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act from engaging with
North Koreans for up to a year (Briefing) |
| August 9 | Kim Jong
Un presided over the 7th enlarged plenary meeting of the 8th
Party Central Military Commission (August 10, Rodong/KCNA) |
| August 10 (Local) | South Korea and 73 other countries denounced
North Korea’s continuous development of its nuclear and missile
programs in a joint statement adopted at the first Preparatory
Committee for the 2026 NPT Review Conference (July 31 to August
11) (Vienna, Austria) |
| August
11 | Ministry of Unification
criticized North Korea for unauthorized release of water from
the Hwanggang Dam in a bid to control water levels as it is
against our agreement |
| August
11 to 12 | Supreme Leader Kim
Jong Un oversaw major munitions factories (August 14,
Rodong/KCNA) |
| August 14
| Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un oversaw
typhoon-hit areas in Anbyon-gun, Kangwon-do (August 14,
Rodong/KCNA) |
| August 15
| President Yoon delivered a celebratory
address for Korea’s 77th National Liberation Day
･ “By
contrast, North Korea has stuck to its totalitarian and
repressive rule over the same 70 years. It remained unable to
escape from its horrendous poverty and deprivation. The stark
differences between the Republic of Korea that opted for and
pursued freedom and democracy and North Korea that chose
communist totalitarianism could not be any clearer.”
･
“While steadfastly implementing the ‘Audacious Initiative’ to
build peace by overwhelming force, the government will also work
together with the international community to make the North
Korean regime stop advancing its nuclear and missile programs
and embark on a path to dialogue and cooperation, which will
lead to better livelihoods of its people.” |
| August 15 to 31 | The ROK-U.S. joint military drill / Ulchi
Freedom Shield (UFS), August 21-24, 2023 |
| August 15 | Remarks
by the vice minister of the International Organization
Department at North Korea’s Foreign Ministry condemning the UNSC
for holding an open meeting on North Korea’s human rights
(KCNA) |
| August 16 | North Korea reported on interim findings of
investigation into the U.S. soldier’s (Travis King) border
crossing (July 18) to the North (KCNA)
･ “Private King
crossed into the North as he harbored ill feeling against racial
discrimination within the U.S. Army and society. King expressed
his willingness to seek refuge in North Korea or a third
country.” |
| August 16 |
Beijing and Pyeongyang open borders in
three years and seven months (a pair of buses crossed from the
North border city of Sinuiju into Dandong, China) |
| August 17 (Local) | The U.S. Treasury Department announced
sanctions against three companies from Russia, Kazakhstan and
Slovakia that facilitate the arms trade between Pyeongyang and
Moscow |
| August 17 (Local)
| UNSC held an open meeting on North
Korea’s human rights (New York)
･ After the meeting, 52
countries including, South Korea, the U.S., Japan, and the EU
held a press conference and issued a joint statement |
| August 18 (Local) | The ROK-U.S.-Japan Summit (Camp David, U.S.)
< Joint Statement (August 18, local) of the Republic
of Korea, the United States, and Japan on North Korea >
･ (Regional cooperation) △Commitment to consult with each
other in an expeditious manner to coordinate our responses to
regional challenges, provocations, and threats that affect our
collective interests and security △Improve our trilateral
communication mechanism to facilitate regular and timely
communication between our countries, including our national
leadership
･ (DPRK issues and security cooperation)
△Reaffirm our commitment to the complete denuclearization of the
DPRK △Strongly condemn the DPRK’s ballistic missile launches and
conventional military actions △Establish a new working group to
combat DPRK cyber threats △Strengthen cooperation to promote
respect for human rights in the DPRK △Commitment to the
immediate resolution of the issues of abductees, detainees, and
unrepatriated prisoners of war △Support for the goal of the
ROK’s Audacious Initiative and support a unified Korean
Peninsula that is free and at peace |
| August 18 | Report
on Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un overseeing typhoon-hit areas in
Anbyon-gun, Kangwon-do (Rodong/KCNA) |
| August 18 | Statement by the spokesperson of the General
Staff Department of the Korean People’s army accusing the U.S.
of flying a surveillance aircraft into the North’s exclusive
economic zone (KCNA) |
| August
19 | Remarks by the spokesperson of
the DPRK Association for Human Rights Studies denouncing the
UNSC U.S. for holding a discussion on North Korean human rights
issues (KCNA) |
| August 19 to
27 | North Korean taekwondo
athletes participated in the International Taekwon-Do Federation
(ITF) World Championships (Kazakhstan) |
| August 21 | Reports
on Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un directing a navy fleet stationed
on the east coast (Rodong/KCNA) |
|
August 21 | Supreme Leader Kim
Jong Un made an on-site inspection of a tideland under
restoration work in Pyeongannam-do (August 22, Rodong/KCNA) |
| August 22 | Air Koryo reopened the Pyeongyang-Beijing route
for the first time in three years and seven months |
| August 24 | North Korea announced that its 2nd attempt to
launch a spy satellite has failed (KCNA)
< Emergency Meeting of NSC Standing Committee >
o The committee strongly condemned the launch as a grave
violation of the UN Security Council resolution banning any
launch by North Korea using ballistic missile technology.
o The participants noted that North Korea failed again at a
so-called “space vehicle” launch following the one in May, and
deplored that it is shifting the responsibility for the economic
mismanagement and broken public livelihoods that have forced its
people into starvation and death, to lower-level officials, and
squandering the little resources it has on reckless
provocations.
o President Yoon ordered the NSC to
implement the real-time sharing of missile warning data, enhance
ballistic missile defense cooperation, and hold trilateral
exercises on a regular basis as agreed upon during the
trilateral summit. Meanwhile, President Yoon ordered the NSC to
share its analysis of North Korea’s space rocket launch with the
U.S. and Japan and to prepare against any possible additional
provocations by the North. |
|
August 23 | Supreme Leader Kim
Jong Un made an on-site inspection of the Kumsong Tractor
Factory in Nampo (August 24, Rodong/KCNA) |
| August 24 | Remarks
by the defense minister of North Korea condemning the trilateral
Leaders’ Summit of the Republic of Korea, United States, and
Japan (August 18) (KCNA) |
|
August 24 | Remarks by the
spokesperson of North Korea’s Foreign Ministry condemning
Japan’s discharge of nuclear waste water release in Fukushima
(KCNA) |
| August 25 (Local)
| The UNSC meeting on North Korea’s
satellite launch ended without a concrete outcome (New
York) |
| August 27 | Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un visited the Navy
headquarters to mark Navy Day (August 28) (August 29,
Rodong/KCNA) |
| August 29
| Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un visited the
training command post of the General Staff of the Korean
People’s Army (August 31, Rodong/KCNA) |
| August 30 | Joint
Statement issued by the Republic of Korea, the United States,
Japan, and the United Kingdom condemning arms deal attempt
between North Korea and Russia (Announcement by Permanent
Mission of the Republic of Korea, the United States, and Japan
to the United Nations) |
| August
30 | North Korea fired two SRBMs
toward the East from Sunan, Pyeongyang |
