UN panel allows Germany to send COVID-19 test equipment to North Korea

A UN Security Council panel has approved sanctions exemptions for a German project to provide North Korea with medical equipment for the prevention of COVID-19, its website showed Thursday. The exemptions will allow Germany to export medical equipment to prevent and control the coronavirus, including the delivery of "six units of a Rotor-Disc 100 Starter Kit" for PCR testing to the North's Ministry of Public Health, according to the website of the North Korea sanctions committee. The

Aug. 19, 2021

Unification minister urges North Korea to return to negotiating table within this year

Unification Minister Lee In-young urged North Korea on Wednesday to come back to the negotiating table within this year, voicing concerns that upcoming political events in the region could slow down the peace process with Pyongyang. During his keynote speech at a symposium in Seoul, Lee stressed the importance for the two Koreas and the US to resume dialogue before the end of this year to bring "sustainable peace." "It is highly likely that the momentum for the peace process on

Aug. 18, 2021

N. Korea reports no coronavirus cases: WHO

North Korea has reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) that the country has conducted coronavirus tests on around 36,000 people so far but found no confirmed cases, the UN agency said Wednesday. According to the WHO's weekly report on COVID-19, 693 North Koreans underwent virus tests from July 30 to Aug. 5, bringing the total number of tested citizens to 35,947, but none were found to have been infected. Of the newly tested citizens, 112 people with symptoms turned out to be those wit

Aug. 18, 2021

N. Korea paper warns officials against corruption, bureaucracy

North Korea's official newspaper on Wednesday warned officials against corruption and urged them to rally for public support amid deepening economic woes. The Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the North's ruling Workers' Party, made the appeal calling on officials to wage a struggle to root out "poisonous weeds" in society, including bureaucracy and corruption. "Winning the hearts of the people is equal to winning the world, and losing the hearts of the people is equal to losing the pa

Aug. 18, 2021

NK views its relations with China as ‘fundamentally distrustful:’ think tank

North Korea views its ties with China as “fundamentally distrustful,” despite its economic dependence on its largest trading partner, a US think tank said Tuesday.  In a report titled “Wilson Memo: The Unique Relationship Between China & North Korea,” the congressional relations office at Washington’s Woodrow Wilson Center analyzed China-North Korea relations to help US policymakers make informed policy on the North.  “North Korea is relativel

Aug. 17, 2021

Unification ministry will keep close watch on NK response to joint exercise: official

South Korea will keep a close eye on how North Korea will respond to a major joint military exercise under way with the United States, the unification ministry said Tuesday, as Pyongyang remains silent in contrast to angry reactions to last week's preliminary exercise. The nine-day computer-simulated Combined Command Post Training, which kicked off Monday, is based largely on a computer simulation with no field training, in consideration of the virus situation, according to South Korea's Joint

Aug. 17, 2021

[Herald Interview] Turn N. Korea into ally, Army general says

South Korea and the US should not miss a rare opportunity to gradually turn North Korea into their ally by helping out Pyongyang, which is desperate to find a way out of its worst economic crisis, said Leem Ho-young, former deputy commander at the allies’ Combined Forces Command. “Let’s think beyond denuclearization. We have to eventually bring North Korea to the alliance-led order. That’s the ‘Grand Bargain,’” the retired four-star Army general said in

Aug. 15, 2021

NK organization demands Japan's atonement for wrongdoings during its colonial rule of Korea

A North Korean organization called Sunday for Japan's sincere apology and atonement for its wrongdoings and atrocities committed during its 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, state media said Sunday. The Korean Committee on Measures for the Sexual Slavery for Japanese Army and Drafting Victims made the request in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency on the occasion of the Korean Peninsula's liberation from Japan's rule. "Still kept buried everywhere in Asia wh

Aug. 15, 2021

Kim, Putin exchange messages on anniv. of Korea's liberation from Japan

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed the friendly ties of their countries and vowed further bilateral cooperation as they exchanged messages to mark the 76th anniversary of the liberation of the Korean Peninsula from Japan's colonial rule, Pyongyang's state media reported Sunday. In a message sent to Putin on Sunday, Kim emphasized that the friendly ties "forged in blood in the struggle against the common enemy" have been carried forward for ge

Aug. 15, 2021

NK media urges S. Korea, US to stop joint military drills, withdraw American troops

A North Korean propaganda outlet on Saturday urged South Korea and the United States to stop their joint military exercise and pull American troops out of the South if the South wants peace on the peninsula.  Tongil Sinbo, a North Korean weekly, renewed the call in a commentary, denouncing the military drill as "an exercise taking place under the collusion with foreign forces."  "It's an operation aimed at preemptively striking our republic and a preliminary training

Aug. 14, 2021

N. Korea slams US for putting millions of residents at risk of eviction during pandemic

North Korea on Friday denounced the expiration of a pandemic-related US government ban on residential evictions, saying Washington should address its own human rights issues before "poking its nose" into other countries' affairs. A US government ban on evictions for residents that have failed to pay rent during the COVID-pandemic expired at the end of last month in most parts of the country, putting millions of vulnerable residents at risk of losing their homes. "Before talking

Aug. 13, 2021

NK envoy demands US troops' withdrawal from S. Korea, denounces military drills as war rehearsal: TASS

North Korea's top envoy in Russia has called for the US troops' withdrawal from South Korea and called the allies' joint military exercise a "war rehearsal," a Russian news agency said Thursday. North Korean Ambassador to Moscow Sin Hong-chol made the demand in an interview with Russia's TASS as Pyongyang recently ramped up criticism of South Korea for going ahead with its summertime combined military exercise with the US. "The US should primarily pull out its aggressive troops

Aug. 12, 2021

N. Korea unresponsive to S. Korea's hotline calls for 3rd day

North Korea did not answer South Korea's phone calls via cross-border communication lines for the third straight day Thursday, officials said, in apparent protest against the summertime military exercise between the South and the United States. The morning calls via the inter-Korean liaison office and military communication channels in the eastern and western border regions went unanswered earlier in the day, according to the officials. North Korea began to shun picking up regular calls late T

Aug. 12, 2021

NK warns of ‘serious security crisis,’ upping threats against Seoul, Washington

North Korea on Wednesday stepped up threats against Seoul and Washington, saying that it will give the allies “a serious security crisis” for hosting joint military drills. “(North Korea) will make (Seoul and Washington) feel how close they are to a tremendous security crisis,” Kim Yong-chol, head of the North’s United Front Department handling inter-Korean affairs, said in a statement. Kim, saying that the South has rejected the chance to improve inter-Korean r

Aug. 11, 2021

Heavy rain pummels northern region of North Korea: state media

Heavy rain battered northern parts of North Korea on Wednesday, the North's state-run broadcaster said, after the country's eastern province was hit with torrential rain earlier this month. The northeastern province of North Hamgyong received more than 100 millimeters of rain from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., with some cities and counties recording up to 50 mm of rainfall per hour, the Korean Central Television reported. Hwadae County in the province received 209 mm of rain from midnight to 8 a.m., with

Aug. 11, 2021

N. Korea allows foreigners to visit 22 more facilities in Pyongyang: Russian embassy

North Korea has allowed foreigners to visit 22 more facilities in Pyongyang, Russia's Embassy in Pyongyang said, in an apparent move to ease coronavirus-prompted restrictions for access to public areas. On its Facebook page, the embassy said it has received a notice from the Protocol Department of the North's foreign ministry, saying that 22 facilities were added to the list of 299 cultural, sports, entertainment facilities and retail outlets in Pyongyang that foreigners can visit. Among them

Aug. 11, 2021

N. Korea refuses to answer S. Korea's hotline calls for 2nd day

North Korea did not answer South Korea's phone calls via liaison and military hotlines for the second consecutive day Wednesday, officials said, as Pyongyang is ramping up criticism against the South for going ahead with its summertime exercise with the United States. The calls via the inter-Korean liaison office and military communication channels in the eastern and western border regions went unanswered at 9 a.m., after the North began to shun their regular calls from Tuesday afternoon, accor

Aug. 11, 2021

N. Korea says it will make S. Korea, US feel serious security crisis every minute

North Korea on Wednesday slammed South Korea and the United States again for going ahead with its joint military exercise, warning it will make the allies feel a serious security crisis every minute. Kim Yong-chol, head of the North's United Front Department handling inter-Korean affairs, made the remarks in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, saying the South Korean authorities have defied the opportunity to make a turn in relations. The denouncement comes just a d

Aug. 11, 2021

NK refuses to answer calls from S. Korea in apparent protest against military drills

North Korea did not answer daily phone calls from South Korea via liaison and military hotlines on Tuesday afternoon, hours after the sister of the North’s leader Kim Jong-un blasted Seoul and Washington for going ahead with combined military exercises.  The inter-Korean communication lines -- the liaison hotline and the military channels in the eastern and western border regions -- were in normal operation until the morning but the afternoon calls went unanswered, officials said.&n

Aug. 10, 2021

High hopes for papal visit to North Korea

South Korea’s budding efforts to resume diplomacy with North Korea are once again fanning expectations for a visit to the reclusive country by Pope Francis. Since the recent reopening of the direct hotlines connecting the two Koreas, officials are reviewing a slew of ideas to expedite inter-Korean talks such as setting up a virtual conference system or holding a family reunion event during the Chuseok holidays in September. Renewed attention is also being paid to the possibilit

Aug. 10, 2021