NK fires missile as it slams US of hostility

North Korea fired a short-range missile into the East Sea on Tuesday, the South’s military said, just as Pyongyang’s UN envoy defended the country’s right to test weapons and called on the US to drop its “hostile policy” toward the reclusive regime. 　   　 South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North fired one “unidentified projectile” at around 6:40 a.m. into the sea off its east coast from the country’s northern Jagang Province n

Sept. 28, 2021

Seoul refrains from calling Pyongyang’s missile launch ‘provocation’

South Korea’s National Security Council on Tuesday expressed “regret” over North Korea’s new missile launch, but refrained from calling the latest test a “provocation.” Earlier in the day, North Korea test-fired a short-range missile toward the East Sea, Seoul's military said, with more flight data still under analysis. The launch came after a test earlier this month of two short-range ballistic missiles from a train. “NSC members expressed regr

Sept. 28, 2021

NK appears to have held parliamentary session after missile launch

North Korea appears to have convened a session of its rubber-stamp legislature Tuesday after firing a short-range missile earlier in the day, drawing attention to whether any message to South Korea would come out of the meeting. The meeting also comes just days after Kim Yo-jong, the sister of leader Kim Jong-un, expressed a willingness to improve inter-Korean relations and even discuss the possibility of a summit with South Korea on the condition that Seoul drops hostility. State media earlie

Sept. 28, 2021

NK fires missile, blames US ‘hostile policy’

North Korea fired what appeared to be a short-range missile into the East Sea on Tuesday, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The launch took place just minutes before North Korea’s ambassador to the UN urged the US to drop its “hostile policy” at the UN. The JCS offered no details, saying South Korean and US intelligence are looking into the launch, while Japan’s Defense Ministry said the projectile appeared to be a ballistic missile, without

Sept. 28, 2021

N. Korea urges US to give up hostility by permanently stopping joint military exercise

WASHINGTON -- The United States must permanently stop its joint military exercises with South Korea and the deployment of its strategic weapons to the South if it wishes to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula, North Korea's UN ambassador said Monday. Kim Song, the chief of North Korea's mission to the United Nations, also said a good relationship may be formed between the North and the US if and when Washington gives up its hostility toward his country. "If the US wants to see the Korea

Sept. 28, 2021

Cheong Wa Dae shows cautious optimism over North Korea’s overture

South Korea’s presidential office on Monday appeared to be cautiously optimistic about a conciliatory overture from North Korea over the weekend, saying the reclusive regime had shown renewed eagerness for dialogue. On Saturday, Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said the two Koreas could discuss improvements to their long-strained ties if mutual trust is restored. She went on to say that North Korea would consider holding a summit meeting

Sept. 27, 2021

NK slams US as ‘most heinous human rights abuser’

North Korea dismissed the US as the “most heinous human rights abuser” for using its human rights agenda to put pressure on other countries and interfere in their internal affairs, its state media said Monday. 　 The Korea Central News Agency published an article written by Kim Jin-hui, a researcher with the Institute of International Studies of the DPRK, accusing the US of interfering in the sovereignty of countries such as Cuba, Venezuela and Syria, crippling their economic develo

Sept. 27, 2021

N. Korea remains unresponsive to Seoul's hotline calls after Kim Yo-jong's statement

North Korea remained unresponsive to South Korea's calls via liaison and military hotlines Monday despite cautious optimism created after the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said the two Koreas could discuss improvements in long-strained relations. "North Korea did not answer our opening call through the South-North joint liaison office at 9 a.m.," a unification ministry official said. A military official also said a call via the military hotline went unanswered. Kim Yo-jong,

Sept. 27, 2021

N. Korea missile launches show serious threat: Pentagon official

North Korea's recent missile launches show the "seriousness of threat" posed to the United States and South Korea, a Pentagon official said Monday, amid a conciliatory gesture from Pyongyang after a series of weapons tests. Siddharth Mohandas, US deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, made the remark at the start of the biannual 20th Korea-US Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) in Seoul to discuss regional security situations and pending alliance issues. "North Korea'

Sept. 27, 2021

N. Korea to hold parliamentary session after expressing willingness to improve inter-Korean ties

North Korea is set to convene a session of its rubber-stamp legislature this week, drawing attention to whether any message to South Korea would come out of the meeting after the sister of leader Kim Jong-un expressed a willingness to improve inter-Korean relations. State media earlier reported a session of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) will be held Tuesday to discuss adopting laws on youth education and modifications to the national economic plan, as well as adopting the law on developing

Sept. 27, 2021

North Korea’s overture on talks is a test: experts

North Korea’s offer to reopen inter-Korean dialogue could be a test to see South Korea’s response and make it accountable for whatever actions Seoul takes in its dealings with Pyongyang later, experts said Sunday amid growing speculation for a thaw in ties. On Saturday, Kim Yo-jong, who handles propaganda affairs as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s sister, said the regime would be open to talks on conditions, in response to President Moon Jae-in’s call at the UN la

Sept. 26, 2021

S. Korea says N. Korean leader sister's weekend remarks 'meaningful'

The unification ministry on Sunday described the weekend remarks by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister about the possibility of holding "constructive" discussions on inter-Korean issues as "meaningful." On Saturday, Kim Yo-jong said the North could declare a formal end to the Korean War as suggested by the South and even discuss holding an inter-Korean summit if the South treats the North with "impartiality" and mutual respect. The statement, carried by the Ko

Sept. 26, 2021

NK diplomats engaging in illicit financing activities: British gov't report

North Korean Embassies and diplomatic personnel are engaging in illicit financing activities to fund the country's nuclear and other destructive weapons activities, a British government report has said. The British finance ministry's National Risk Assessment of Proliferation Financing (PF) report said its hosting of the North Korean Embassy in London "may pose an inherent" risk, as not all banks in the country may be attuned to UN Security Council (UNSC) sanctions that restrict such

Sept. 25, 2021

N. Korean leader highlights strong ties with China against 'hostile forces'

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said his country's strong relations with China will further grow against "vicious challenges and obstruction by the hostile forces" in a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping, Pyongyang's state media reported Saturday. Kim made the remark in a reply to Xi's earlier letter that offered congratulations on the North's 73rd founding anniversary, where the Chinese leader said he intends to "develop these ties of friendship and cooperation on a lon

Sept. 25, 2021

Why N. Korea wants sanctions lifted first

Days after outgoing South Korean President Moon Jae-in made possibly his last ambitious push to diplomatically resolve the standoff over North Korea's nuclear program, the North on Friday rejected his call for a declaration ending the Korean War, making it clear it has no interest in political statements unless they bring badly needed relief from crippling economic sanctions. Nuclear diplomacy between the US and North Korea has stalled over disagreements over a relaxation of the US-led sanction

Sept. 24, 2021

Seoul to fund up to W10b for groups sending aid to Pyongyang

South Korea on Friday decided to provide up to 10 billion won ($8.51 million) to civilian organizations that are carrying out aid projects for North Korea, as the government seeks to engage the North through humanitarian assistance.  Under the decision approved during a civilian-government committee on inter-Korean exchanges, the Unification Ministry set aside up to 10 billion won to support civilian group-led projects that tackle nutrition and health conditions for vulnerable groups in No

Sept. 24, 2021

[FULL TRANSCRIPT] Moon holds rare inflight news briefing

President Moon Jae-in on Thursday held a rare inflight news briefing on his way back home after wrapping up a packed five-day trip to New York and Hawaii. In his fifth and final keynote speech as president at the UN General Assembly, he reiterated his push for the declaration of a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in an armistice, not in a peace treaty. “I think there is a lack of understanding about an end-of-war declaration. It’s not a peace treaty but the st

Sept. 24, 2021

Kim Yo-jong calls Moon's war-end declaration offer 'admirable idea,' demands end to hostile policy

The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said Friday that President Moon Jae-in's proposal to declare a formal end to the Korean War is an "admirable idea" and Pyongyang is willing to discuss improving inter-Korean relations if Seoul ceases to be hostile toward it. Kim Yo-jong stressed, however, that the right conditions should be created first before an end-of-war declaration is adopted, such as the removal of what she called "inveterate hostile policy and unequal double st

Sept. 24, 2021

N. Korea slams Suga for hostile policy, warns next leader against following in his footsteps

North Korea on Friday accused Japan's outgoing Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of pursuing a "hostile policy" toward the North, warning the country's next leader against following in his footsteps. In a post written by an individual researcher on Japan on its website, the North's foreign ministry said that Suga, along with his predecessor Shinzo Abe, should be entirely blamed for causing the relations between Pyongyang and Tokyo to fall to the "worst status ever." "Suga

Sept. 24, 2021

N. Korea rejects Moon's proposal of end-of-war declaration as 'premature'

North Korea on Friday rejected President Moon Jae-in's proposal to declare a formal end to the 1950-53 war as "something premature," arguing that such a declaration would be meaningless as long as the US "hostile policy" remains unchanged. Vice Foreign Minister Ri Thae-song made the rejection in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency, saying that an end-of-war declaration has "no legal binding force" and will "become a mere scrap of paper in a m

Sept. 24, 2021