NK’s Kim calls for unified front with China against ‘hostile forces’

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Chinese President Xi Jinping exchanged messages Monday in which Kim stressed unity and stronger cooperation against hostile forces, in what is seen as a move to bolster their traditional alliance in the face of intensifying tension between China and the US, as well as stalled nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington. 　 The North’s state-run Korea Central News Agency on Tuesday reported on the exchange of messages between the heads of the two coun

March 23, 2021

‘Seoul’s nuclear pursuit would harden NK’s atomic ambitions’

South Korean nuclear armament will make it harder for North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons program, a former commander of the US military in South Korea said at a webinar hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Monday. A growing number of South Koreans see nuclear armament as a feasible option amid stalled nuclear talks between the US and the North, which have yet to narrow differences over which steps to take first between denuclearization and sanctions relief.

March 23, 2021

Unification ministry reviewing ways to send food, fertilizer assistance to N. Korea

The unification ministry is conducting an internal review of ways to provide food and fertilizer to North Korea as humanitarian assistance, an official said Tuesday. "We continue to conduct an internal review as it requires an evaluation of the situation at the North Korea-China border, the overall inter-Korean relations and whether the conditions are right to provide such assistance," a ministry official said. "Our position remains the same over the issue, that we must provide

March 23, 2021

S. Korea, US closely watching N. Korea amid signs rocket launchers being deployed to border islet

South Korea is closely monitoring North Korea's military moves in close coordination with the United States, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Tuesday, amid signs that Pyongyang is deploying multiple rocket launchers on a western border island. Sources say there have been "multiple signs" that the communist country has deployed multiple rocket launchers and other weapons on the inter-Korean border islet of Changrin. "Our military has been closely tracking and monitoring North

March 23, 2021

Kim calls for communication, unity with China against 'hostile forces' all-round challenges'

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for stronger strategic communication and unity with China to address "hostile forces" in a message to Chinese President Xi Jinping, state media said Tuesday. Kim sent the message "to notify the accounts of the 8th Congress of the WPK, as required by the times that call for intensifying the strategic communication between the two parties on the basis of deep comradeship," the Korean Central News Agency said, without mentioning when the

March 23, 2021

China's Xi tells N. Korea's Kim that he upholds political settlement of Korean Peninsula issue

Chinese President Xi Jinping said Monday, in a verbal message to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, that Beijing will uphold a political settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue, according to Chinese state media Xinhua. Xi also said he wants to make efforts for solid development of relations with North Korea. Xi's messages were delivered by senior Chinese diplomat Song Tao to Ri Ryong-nam, North Korea's new ambassador to China, during their meeting in Beijing earlier in the day, Xinhua reporte

March 22, 2021

S. Korea to seek other ways to engage with NK as overseas spectators banned from Tokyo Olympics: ministry

The unification ministry said Monday it will look for opportunities to move forward the Korea peace process amid dimmed prospects for engaging with North Korea through the Tokyo Olympics following Japan's decision to ban foreign spectators. South Korea has been seeking ways to create opportunities to reengage with North Korea through events such as the Tokyo Olympics, which are scheduled for July and August this year. "We will continue to seek ways to move forward the peace process on the

March 22, 2021

Unification minister renews support for private sector efforts to resume aid to N. Korea

Unification Minister Lee In-young on Monday renewed his support for private sector efforts to resume humanitarian assistance to North Korea despite strained cross-border ties and Pyongyang's tight border controls due to the global pandemic. Lee made the remarks in a meeting with Lee Jong-kul, head of the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, a pro-unification civic group, after North Korea recently threatened to disband a party organ handling cross-border affairs in anger over join

March 22, 2021

[Newsmaker] Diplomatic spat between NK and Malaysia deepens

A diplomatic spat between North Korea and Malaysia is escalating over the Southeast Asian country’s decision to extradite a North Korean person to the United States to face money laundering charges. In protest over Malaysia’s decision, North Korea said Friday it would sever diplomatic ties, signaling even further diplomatic isolation for the hermit kingdom. In response to Pyongyang’s move, Malaysia ordered North Korean diplomats stationed in Kuala Lumpur to leave the country

March 21, 2021

After N. Korea cuts ties, Malaysia orders its diplomats out

Malaysia said Friday it'll order all North Korean diplomats to leave the country within 48 hours, in an escalation of diplomat brawl over Malaysia's decision to extradite a North Korean criminal suspect to the United States. Malaysia's announcement came hours after North Korea said it was terminating diplomatic ties with Malaysia because it committed a "super-large hostile act ... in subservience to the US pressure.'' North Korea called the money laundering charges an "absurd fabric

March 19, 2021

Washington stresses Seoul’s ‘input’ in NK policy review

A senior US diplomat on Friday stressed South Korea’s “input” in Washington’s ongoing policy review on North Korea, reiterating the importance of close consultations and coordination between the allies in dealing with the reclusive regime.  The remarks were made by Sung Kim, acting US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, during his meeting with Noh Kyu-duk, South Korea’s top nuclear envoy, at the Foreign Ministry earlier in the day

March 19, 2021

Persuading US to ease sanctions 'top priority' for implementing inter-Korean summit agreements: poll

More than 40 percent of South Koreans think that persuading the United States to ease sanctions against North Korea is a "top priority" to implement inter-Korean agreements aimed at expanding cross-border exchanges and cooperation, a poll showed Friday. According to the poll of 1,000 adults conducted by the presidential National Unification Advisory Council, 43.6 percent said that the persuasion process is necessary more than anything else to implement the 2018 summit agreements "

March 19, 2021

N. Korea says it will sever diplomatic relations with Malaysia for extraditing citizen to US

North Korea said Friday it will cut off diplomatic relations with Malaysia for extraditing one of its nationals to the United States to face money laundering charges and pinned Washington as the "backstage manipulator." Mun Chol-myong, a North Korean businessmen living in Malaysia, was accused of supplying prohibited luxury items from Singapore to Pyongyang and laundering funds through shell companies in violation of UN sanctions. Last week, Malaysia's top court ruled that he can be e

March 19, 2021

N. Korea’s anger to US may actually be an overture

After giving the Biden administration the silent treatment for two months, North Korea this week marshalled two powerful women to warn Washington over combined military exercises with South Korea and the diplomatic consequences of its “hostile” policies toward Pyongyang. The frustration and belligerence, however, may actually be an overture. North Korea’s first comments toward the new US government, while filled with angry rhetoric, can be seen as the start of a diplomatic

March 18, 2021

North Korea says will ignore US while 'hostile policy' in place

North Korea accused the new US administration of adopting "lunatic theory" Thursday, ruling out any engagement with Washington unless it changed course, as President Joe Biden's top envoys held talks in Seoul. The comments from Pyongyang's first vice foreign minister Choe Son Hui came with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin in South Korea on the second leg of an Asian tour to bolster a united front against the nuclear-armed North and an increasingly a

March 18, 2021

N. Korea says will ignore contact from US unless Washington withdraws hostile policies

North Korea said Thursday that it will continue to ignore any contact from the United States unless Washington withdraws its hostile policies toward Pyongyang. North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui also confirmed in a statement that the US reached out to Pyongyang even the day before its combined exercises with South Korea from a "third country." The statement came as the top US diplomat and the defense chief are in Seoul for talks with their South Korean counterparts

March 18, 2021

N. Korean threats topic of US-China talks in Alaska: White House

WASHINGTON -- The United States will discuss ways to mitigate possible military threats from North Korea when its top foreign and national security officials meet their Chinese counterparts this week, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Wednesday. She stressed the importance of all countries working together when it came to reducing threats from the North. "I will say that part of our strategy, as it relates to the denuclearization of North Korea, is of course to lead with diplomacy an

March 18, 2021

NK propaganda outlet carries poster depicting S. Korea-US alliance crushed

A North Korean media outlet on Wednesday unveiled a propaganda poster depicting a club hammer smashing the alliance between South Korea and the United States, as the top US diplomat and the defense chief visited here for discussions on the North and other alliance issues. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin were set to hold one-on-one meetings later in the day with their South Korean counterparts. North Korea is expected to top the agenda during their meet

March 17, 2021

Pro-NK paper stresses Cabinet's role as control tower for economic policy

A pro-North Korea newspaper on Wednesday stressed the importance of the Cabinet's role as a control tower for economic policy as Pyongyang is pushing to implement various development goals put forth during January's party congress. At the eighth congress of the ruling Workers' Party in January, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un admitted to a failure in its previous five-year economic plans and disclosed a new development scheme focusing on "self-reliance." "The power of socialist

March 17, 2021

N. Korea has achieved 'alarming success' in nuclear, missile development: US commander

North Korea has achieved alarming success in its pursuit of nuclear and long-range missile capabilities and continues to expand its arsenal, which includes three ballistic missiles that can reach the US homeland, a US commander said Tuesday. Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander of US Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, also noted the North may resume its long-range missile testing to check the capability of a newly unveiled intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). "T

March 17, 2021