Blinken reiterates commitment to NK diplomacy to achieve denuclearization

WASHINGTON -- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday reiterated Washington's commitment to diplomacy with North Korea to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, saying, "The ball's in their court." Blinken made the remarks after US President Joe Biden stressed the willingness to engage diplomatically with Pyongyang to take pragmatic steps toward the denuclearization goal, after his first in-person summit with President Moon Jae-in in Washington on Friday. "

May 24, 2021

Lifting of US missile restrictions signifies Seoul's missile sovereignty, Washington's China strategy: experts

Lifting of US missile restrictions signifies Seoul's missile sovereignty, Washington's China strategy: experts The full lifting of US restrictions on South Korean missiles is expected to beef up Seoul's defense capabilities by allowing it to secure longer-range missiles that can fly beyond the Korean Peninsula, experts said Saturday. The decision is also seen as part of the US strategy to counter China, and South Korea's deployment of longer-range missiles could bring the country further into

May 22, 2021

Moon, Biden agree on need for dialogue with N. Korea

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Friday he has agreed with US President Joe Biden on the importance of dialogue with North Korea. The most pressing common task for the allies is to achieve the complete denuclearization of Korea and permanent peace, Moon stressed during a joint press conference with the US leader following their summit talks at the White House. Moon said he and Biden have confirmed that it is vital to have dialogue, based on promises, between Washington and Pyongyang as

May 22, 2021

Moon-Biden joint statement may acknowledge Panmunjeom Declaration

WASHINGTON/SEOUL -- A joint statement by Presidents Moon Jae-in and Joe Biden after their summit talks at the White House on Friday is likely to acknowledge commitments made by the two Koreas under the Panmunjeom Declaration, according to a ranking Cheong Wa Dae official on Thursday. “The Panmunjeom Declaration, along with other commitments made between the two Koreas, will be included in the joint statement,” the official told pool reporters in Washington on condition of anonymi

May 21, 2021

Foreign minister still hopeful on North Korea

Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong continued to be hopeful on North Korea, but failed to give details or reasons when pressed on the issue in a US media interview on Thursday, a day ahead of a summit between President Moon Jae-in and US President Joe Biden in Washington DC. “North Korea has a very unique system of governance. There is only one person who can make final decisions, which is their supreme leader Kim Jong-un. So we thought a top-down approach would be more effective. We tried it

May 21, 2021

Unification minister hopes for S. Korea-US summit to create new momentum for dialogue with N. Korea

Unification Minister Lee In-young on Friday expressed hope that this week's summit between President Moon Jae-in and US President Joe Biden will provide new momentum for dialogue with North Korea. Moon and Biden are set to hold their first face-to-face summit talks in Washington on Friday (US time), with North Korea expected to be one of the key agenda items, along with cooperation on COVID-19 vaccine and semiconductor supplies. The summit comes after the US completed its monthslong review of

May 21, 2021

NK paper warns youngsters against 'bourgeois' culture and 'individualism'

North Korea's official newspaper on Friday urged young people to tighten their ideological discipline, expressing concerns that "bourgeois" culture and "individualism" could make it hard to safeguard socialism. "In a country where younger people stay morally sound and civilized, the country would not wobble under any circumstances but if younger people go corrupt, there would be no future," the Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the North's ruling party, said. The paper

May 21, 2021

Unification minister calls for nonpartisan support for ratification of 2018 summit agreement with NK

Unification Minister Lee In-young called Thursday for nonpartisan parliamentary support for the ratification of a 2018 inter-Korean summit agreement, saying such cross-border issues should be shielded from "wasteful" political controversies. Lee made the remark during a forum in Seoul, saying that the government will soon officially ask for the ratification of the "Panmunjom Declaration" signed by President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un after their first su

May 20, 2021

NK refuses COVAX monitoring, causing delays in vaccination

North Korea is reportedly refusing to cooperate with monitoring by the UN-backed vaccine-sharing program COVAX, which could further delay the supply of vaccines. 　 Early this year, North Korea requested coronavirus vaccines from COVAX, a multinational program that provides the vaccines to developing countries. 　 Pyongyang was to receive 1.7 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine by the end of May through COVAX, but the plan has been delayed as the regime is unwilling to abide by COVAX&rsquo

May 20, 2021

Moon's push for engagement with N. Korea could create tension with US: CRS report

President Moon Jae-in's calls for aggressive engagement with North Korea could create tension with the United States, a recent congressional report said. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) report comes as Moon is in Washington this week for his first in-person summit talks with US President Joe Biden to discuss North Korea and alliance issues, as well as COVID-19 vaccine cooperation. "Although Moon has welcomed the mention of diplomacy, his preference for more aggressive engagement

May 20, 2021

All 13 NK ships inspected last year had safety deficiencies: port control agency

Thirteen North Korean ships underwent safety inspections while docked at ports in the Asia-Pacific region last year and all of them were found to have defects, an intergovernmental port control agency said Thursday. A total of 64 safety deficiencies were discovered with the vessels, and two ships with serious defects were banned from sailing until the problems are fixed, according to the annual report on Port State Control (PSC) by Tokyo MOU. It also placed North Korea on its blacklist, along

May 20, 2021

N. Korea opens regional hospital for better medical service amid coronavirus concerns

North Korea has opened a large hospital in an eastern province to provide better medical service to the people outside its capital, state media said Thursday as the country continues its fight against the global coronavirus pandemic. An opening ceremony took place Wednesday for the hospital renovated from the People's Hospital of South Hamgyong Province, with provincial party leaders in attendance, according to the Korean Central News Agency. The hospital "has been turned into a comprehen

May 20, 2021

NK premier visits limestone mine in latest economic inspection trip

North Korean Premier Kim Tok-hun visited a limestone mine and a collective farm north of Pyongyang, state media reported Wednesday, the latest in a series of on-site inspection trips to economic development sites across the country. The visit to the Sunchon Limestone Mine and the Phyongri Co-op Farm in Sunchon, about 50 km north of Pyongyang, is the third field inspection trip that Kim has made in less than a week as the country struggles to rebuild its economy amid international sanctions and

May 19, 2021

NK accuses Western countries of spreading falsehoods to meddle in internal affairs of other countries

North Korea's foreign ministry on Tuesday accused Western countries of spreading false information "under the signboard of freedom of speech" in an attempt to meddle in the internal affairs of other states. The ministry made the criticism in an article posted on its website, saying that "some specific states" are interfering with the internal affairs of other sovereign countries after spreading false information while posing as "guardians of freedom." Such false i

May 18, 2021

Employment rate of NK defectors drops 3.8% last year amid pandemic: ministry

The employment rate of North Korean defectors in South Korea fell 3.8 percent last year amid the coronavirus pandemic, the unification ministry said Tuesday. The ministry released the latest data in a new master plan on settlement support for North Korea defectors for 2021-2023 and the implementation plan for this year. The employment rate of North Korean defectors last year was 54.4 percent, down from the previous year's 58.2 percent, behind that of South Korean-born citizens (60.4 percent).

May 18, 2021

NK propaganda website calls 1980 pro-democracy movement 'historic event' in anti-fascism movement

A North Korean propaganda outlet on Tuesday described a 1980 pro-democracy uprising in South Korea as a "historic event" in the anti-fascism movement, highlighting people's fearless fight in the face of a bloody crackdown. On Tuesday, South Korea marks the 41st anniversary of the May 18 uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju quelled ruthlessly by the military junta led by then Gen. Chun Doo-hwan. The crackdown left more than 200 people killed and 1,800 others wounded. "The

May 18, 2021

Ministry voices disappointment over N. Korea's decision to pull out of World Cup qualifiers

The unification ministry on Monday expressed disappointment over North Korea's final decision to withdraw from a World Cup qualifier set to take place in the South next month. On Sunday, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) confirmed the withdrawal of the North from the Asian qualifiers for the 2022 Qatar World Cup. "The unification ministry has maintained the stance that it is desirable to use the World Cup and other international games as an opportunity for inter-Korean exchange in sp

May 17, 2021

N. Korea’s Zoom-type app Rakwon gains traction

A videoconferencing platform similar to Zoom is widely used in North Korea as the country’s citizens avoid face-to-face meetings just like most people around the world. According to a report released Thursday by 38 North, a media outlet that specializes in North Korea, the country uses a domestically developed videoconferencing system called Rakwon. The name means “paradise.” The software was developed a decade ago at Kim Il Sung University, and the news of its existence was

May 16, 2021

NK propaganda outlet slams S. Korea's biennial integrated defense drill

A North Korean propaganda outlet on Sunday criticized South Korea's ongoing biennial rear area training and recent joint exercise with the United States, warning that it will only "stab itself in the eyes" by confronting the North. Last week, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) kicked off the Hwarang training in the southeastern city of Daegu and its surrounding North Gyeongsang Province as part of efforts to maintain an integrated defense posture. The exercise is slated to run until Nove

May 16, 2021

China supplied 587 tons of refined oil to N. Korea in March: UN report

China exported around 587 tons of refined oil to North Korea in March, according to data that the country provided to a UN sanctions committee for the first time in six months. According to the latest update on the UN Security Council webpage on its sanctions committee on North Korea, Beijing supplied Pyongyang with 4,893 barrels, equivalent to 587.4 tons, in March. Since its last report in September last year, China had skipped disclosing its monthly oil exports. The March figure represents

May 14, 2021