live to seoul and talk this through with laura bicker. us more. morning. these hotlines _ branch. tell us more. morning. these hotlines are _ branch. tell us more. morning. these hotlines are on - branch. tell us more. morning. these hotlines are on again - branch. tell us more. morning. | these hotlines are on again and off again and remember they were switched onjust off again and remember they were switched on just briefly in august as a gesture of goodwill, according to a state media release by kimjong—un, and then they were cut off again when south korea took part in those joint military exercises and today at 9am local time, exercises and today at 9am localtime, communication local time, communication between north localtime, communication between north and south carolina was once again restored. these hotlines, there are many of them and they include fax lines and they go through various departments and the whole point is to avoid rising tensions, avoid accidental clashes between the military and there are two calls, one in the morn

he has in speaking exclusively to laura bicker.r: for decades, one family maintained rule -- a brutal grip on north korea. occasionally, some slip through their grasp and reveal their secrets. >> north korea's intelligent see -- intelligence agency is the eyes, ears and brain of the supreme leader. reporter: colonel kim kuk-song defected in 2014, but has now for the first time decided to speak out. >> there are many cases where i directed spies to go to north korea on missions. many cases. reporter: he claims kim jong-un gave in order to kill off one of the leaders -- leader's main critics. in 2009 he was a high profile defector in south kea. >> it was a gift to demonstrate loyalty to his father. that is why this act of terro was organized. reporter: the attempt failed. pyongyang always denied it was involved. although some were caught, along with all their kit, colonel claims agents infiltrated many areas of society, including in the early 1990's, the presidential office. >> this level of starvation is unprecedented. reporter: the

laura bicker, bbc news, seoul.iew of sexual assault allegations against prince andrew, the duke of york. as accuser, virginia giuffre, has brought a civil lawsuit in the united states, claiming she was trafficked to london as a 17—year—old by the convict sex offender geoffrey epstein and forced to have sex with prince andrew. the royal has consistently denied all her allegations. in august, britain's my senior police officer that she had asked her team to look again at the allegations, but the police say they have completed that review and no further action will be taken in the uk. looking at some of the other main news from around the world. 16 people have died in a plane crash in russia nearly 1000 kilometres east of moscow. a further six people who were on board the light aircraft were rescued, with serious injuries, and have been taken to hospital. the plane, owned by the local flying club, crashed soon after take—off. most of those on board were members of a parachute team. state media in yemen say six people

laura bicker, bbc news, seoul.ew of sexual assault allegations by the duke of york. lawsuit, alleging that jeffrey epstein lawsuit, alleging thatjeffrey epstein was trafficked and forced to have sex with prince andrew. prince andrew has denied all allegations. in august, the most senior police officers said they were looking at the allegations, they say they have now completed the review and no further action will be taken in the uk. fbi agents have arrested a couple, suspected of selling secrets to a foreign power. they accuse jonathan toebbe of delivering data cards to an fbi agent in return for about $100,000 into cryptocurrency. earlier, our reporter explained how was caught. he was lowered into a trap by fbi, that involved a peanut butter sandwich and a data card that was slept on top of this image always squeezed inside the sandwich. let me explain how we got to this point where this caught him out. let me take you back to april 2020. jonathan toebbe, with lots of access to secrets of the navy, wrote a letter

laura bicker, bbc news, seoul.y injured in a car crash on a country lane near maidstone in kent. the accident happened in the early hours of this morning. kent police said those who died were aged between 18 and 44. a 15—year—old boy, who was a passenger in the car, is in hospital with life—threatening injuries. a team of young female afghan footballers who fled the country after the taliban took control have been told they can come to live in the uk with their families. 35 members of the afghan women's development team, who are aged between 13 and i9, escaped from kabul to pakistan last month. the home office says it is finalising visas for the group. the uk is one of the most nature—depleted places in the world. that's according to a new study from the natural history museum. researchers said there was little room for nature when land is built on or used forfarming. olivia richwold reports. askham bog near york was formed by a retreating glacial here 15,000 years ago. it is brimming with biodiversity, but a new r

laura bicker, bbc news, seoul. we will have more from laura later in the programme. in west virginia on suspicion of selling nuclear warships secrets to what the pair believed was a foreign power. they say he delivered data to an undercover fbi agent in return for about $100,000. joining me is mark lobel. talk us through how they were caught. to us through how they were cau:ht. ., , ., ., caught. to understand how the fbi have alleged _ caught. to understand how the fbi have alleged that - caught. to understand how the fbi have alleged that the - fbi have alleged that the nuclear engineer did something wrong, we need to understand the curious case of the peanut butter sandwich, the curious case of the peanut buttersandwich, half the curious case of the peanut butter sandwich, half a peanut butter sandwich, half a peanut butter sandwich, half a peanut butter sandwich, and this data disc full of nuclear secrets which was either packed on top of a plastic bag or squeezed inside the sandwich like that, this all began in april 2020 with a nuclear package sent to an unname

also as laura bicker. >> one or two listing missiles fired from the eastport.on't know is whether the ballistic missiles were fired from a submarine or from some kind of underwater barge. previous submarine lauhed ballistic missiles -- this is a missile obviously designed to come from the suffering -- a can be tested in oth ways. in previous tests north korea used underwater barges. that was in october of 2019. in january of this year, any military parade, pyongyang showed off the world's most powerful weapon, which was this kind of missile. a submarine-launched ballistic missile. analyst wonder if they have now tested it. heren seoul, theoint chiefs have said it was a ballistic missile. they believe it is possible they believe it is possible it could come from a submarine. we might not know that until we t images. what happens with these images is pyongyang carefully controls them. they will send out images and state newspapers and release them on tv, probably in the next 24 hours. that will give analyst a better understanding of the kind of capabilities pyong

laura bicker, bbc news, seoul. she explained the motivation behind this timing of this interview.at it is a question i have asked him on several occasions. i think when he answers, he talks about trying to free his northern brethren, but i also sense some frustration. he believes that he has all of this political knowledge, insight and knowledge that he would like to impart to others. i think also when it comes to really alerting our viewers, remember he defected in 2014. much of what he alleges is historical. but it does give us an insight into the inside of the regime just as a new, young kim jong—un came to power. indeed, and this revelation that kim jong—un would never give up nuclear weapons, what kind of message does it send to the biden administration as well as north korea's neighbours like south korea and japan? i don't think i've met a north korean dictator who have said that north korea would ever be willing to give up its nuclear—weapons and i think it serves as a timely reminder to those who may be willing to negotiate and are looking to negotiate with north korea, re

laura bicker, bbc news, seoul.n west virginia on suspicion of selling nuclear warships secrets to what the pair believed was a foreign power. they sayjonathan toebbe delivered data cards to an undercover fbi agent for in return for about $100,000 of cryptocurrency. mark lobel has the details. this alleged below the radar attempt to reveal nuclear submarine secrets, now sunk, could have been a thriller the name, the spy who fed me, with data cards slipped into a peanut butter sandwich, and a chewing gum package, with a finale with the title — the spy who bled me, the final data drop—off and a plastic wrapper before the fbi finally cut in. neighbours of the detained couple who live here in this discrete neighbourhood of maryland are in disbelief. wow! laughs. no, it is pretty incredible, it is like out of a movie, you know? it is quite a quiet neighbourhood and everyone is very low — neighbourhood and everyone is very low riding so it was a little _ very low riding so it was a little surprising. it begun last april w

our correspondent in south korea laura bicker spoke to the environment minister and asked if the country: it is possible to set a higher number - but what remains is whether this number is achievable. korea has always turned to the impossible into possible. the goal of 40% is still a challenging task and some say it is impossible but we will turn this number into a reality. one of the biggest challenges south korea is going to have is reducing its coal emissions. right now, coal makes up 43% of its energy. so how are you going to reduce that? translation: the most | common renewable energy will be solar and wind but 70% of the landmass in korea is mountainous, so it is not easy to find the right location to install renewable energy. we are looking at suitable industrial sites such as factory rooftops and wall—mounted solar panels. we are also building a national plan for zero emission buildings. are you still going to invest in coal projects abroad? translation: our. president has already announced in april that we will stop public financing for new overseas coal powered plants. domestic

laura bicker, bbc news, seoul.of sexual assault allegations against prince andrew, duke of york. his accuser has brought a civil lawsuit from the united states, she was trafficked to jeffrey epstein, and she was forced to have sex with prince andrew. the royal has consistently denied all of her allegations. with me as our reporter. graeme, what reasons did the british police give for dropping this case and the review into it? the met police have investigated the allegations into prince andrew a number of times over the years, and consistently what they have said is that these investigations into human trafficking are largely focused on activities and relationships outside of the uk. so they are saying, nfa, if there is something going on it isn't a jurisdiction. this is, innovate, a question for the american authorities, so they say that they don't think they are the appropriate authority to conduct into the circumstances. that, in a large extent, is why they say they are no longer taking any further action. the re

that its initial plan for a 26.3% reduction was not good enough. 0ur correspondent in south korea laura bicker if the country should have been more ambitious with its targets. translation: it is possible to set a higher number but whether this number is achievable. korea has always turned to the the impossible into possible. 40% is still a challenging task and some say it is impossible but we will turn this number into a reality.— into a reality. one of the bi est into a reality. one of the biggest challenges - into a reality. one of the | biggest challenges south into a reality. one of the - biggest challenges south korea is going to have is reducing its coal emissions. right now, cole makes up 43% of its energy. so how are you going to reduce that?— energy. so how are you going to reduce that? translation: the most common — reduce that? translation: the most common renewable - reduce that? translation: the most common renewable energy will be solar and wind but 70% of the landmass in korea is mountains so it is not easy to find the right location to install energy. we are looking at suitable

reiterated that the us is open to meeting north korea without preconditions. 0ur seoul correspondent laura bicker the type of missile. it means it can be launched from a submarine. what we do not know, and this is key, is whether or not it was actually launched from a submarine. in the past, north korea, in october 2019, has filed such a missile, but it fired from an underwater platform, so what we are not sure about is whether it actually came from a submarine or whether they just tested the type of missile, because that will make a clear difference to the kind of threat it poses notjust in south korea and japan, but elsewhere. we know that north korea has one submarine that is capable of launching submarine launched ballistic missiles. it is supposed to be quite an old submarine, it has a diesel engine, so that means it is quite noisy, we are under the impression, certainly from analysts, that any submarine was in the process of being built, but were not quite sure if it was completed. again, that was being built in the same boat from where this missile was fired. certainly we will need to gath

laura bicker is following events from seoul. these hotlines are on and off again.unication between north and south korea was once again restored. there are many of these hotlines that include fax lines and the go between various different departments. the point of them is to avoid rising tension and accidental clashes between the military and there are 2 calls, 1 in the morning and 1 at night, but they have not been happening regularly for over a year. in the state media release which was put out today from north korea the quote then seeing this as a gesture towards durable peace but he has also said that he wants to see active changes towards inter— korean policies. this is something we are looking at here and that is because this is an auspicious date when it comes to inter— korean relations. an historic agreement was signed to work towards peace, economic and military cooperation. it could be while restoring the hotlines today kim jong—un is dangling the prospect of inter— korean talks at a special time because here in south korea we are going towards a presiden

here is our seoul correspondent, laura bicker.e to my submarine but can be tested in other ways. in previous tests, north korea have used underwater barges and that was in october 2019 but injanuary this year, and military parade, they showed off of what was called the world's most powerful weapon, which was this kind of missile. a submarine launched ballistic missile. what analysts are wondering is if they have now tested it. here in seoul, they have said it was a ballistic missile and it's possible i could come from a submarine we might not know that until we get images. what happens with these images. what happens with these images is that pyongyang carefully controls them and they'll send out those images and state newspapers and release them on tv probably within the next 24 hours. i will give analysts a better idea of capabilities that pyongyang now has when it comes to this fleet. thus i get ahead of ourselves when it comes to this thread. pyongyang is thought to this thread. pyongyang is thought to have one some are of fir