WFP urges countries not to ignore NK food shortage

North Koreans need food and clean drinking water now more than ever before, but the situation is set to worsen, Elisabeth Byrs, spokesperson for the World Food Program, said Tuesday, urging the international community not to look away. More than 10 million people -- nearly 40 percent of the country’s population – are in need for humanitarian assistance, she told reporters, adding that about the same number also lacked access to safe water supplies. Children as well as pregnant an

June 10, 2020

Ex-minister says inter-Korean communication lines not completely cut

North Korea will reach out again through inter-Korean communication lines, a ex-unification minister said, despite its vows to cut all channels with South Korea in anger over the flying of leaflets into the North. Jeong Se-hyun, a top North Korea expert who served as unification minister from 2002 to 2004, made the remarks in a press conference to disclose his new book, a day after the North vowed to cut off all phone lines with the South. "They did not cut the phone cords. They just un

June 10, 2020

S. Korea vows to fully implement inter-Korean military deal despite NK threats

South Korea will fully implement a military tension-reduction agreement with North Korea despite Pyongyang's threat to scrap it, the defense ministry said Wednesday, amid heightened tensions over anti-Pyongyang leaflets. During a meeting of top commanders presided over by Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo, officers said the agreement signed in 2018 has "specifically and practically" contributed to reducing tensions between the two Koreas, according to the ministry "Despite the

June 10, 2020

S. Korea won't attempt to call NK through liaison communication

South Korea will not attempt to call North Korea via a liaison communication line until its operation returns to normal, the unification ministry said Wednesday, after Pyongyang apparently severed cross-border phone lines in anger over anti-Pyongyang leaflets. On Tuesday, North Korea called the South an "enemy" and vowed to cut off all inter-Korean communication lines in anger over anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent from the South. It has since not answered routine daily phone calls from t

June 10, 2020

N. Korea 'ablaze with fury' over anti-Pyongyang leaflets: Rodong Sinmun

North Korea's main newspaper on Wednesday lashed out at South Korea over anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent by defectors and other activists into the communist state, saying "the whole country is ablaze with fury." On Monday, the North called the South an "enemy" and vowed to cut off all inter-Korean communication lines in anger over such leafleting, and it has since not answered routine daily phone calls from the South via liaison and military hotlines. The Rodong Sinmun, the o

June 10, 2020

US disappointed in N. Korea's recent actions to sever ties with S. Korea: State Dept.

WASHINGTON -- The United States is disappointed in North Korea's recent actions to sever ties with South Korea, the State Department said Tuesday, urging the communist nation to return to diplomacy and cooperation. The comments came in response to a series of actions North Korea has taken in anger over anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent by defectors into the North. Earlier Tuesday, the North vowed to cut off all inter-Korean communication lines and refused to answer South Korea's phone calls via li

June 10, 2020

UN expert voices concern over NK food shortages amid pandemic

A UN special rapporteur on North Korea's human rights situation expressed concerns over the communist nation's food shortages Tuesday, saying the country's border closure due to the new coronavirus has exacerbated its already dire conditions. Tomas Ojea Quintana urged the United Nations to reconsider sanctions imposed on the country, citing reports of an increase in the number of homeless people and a surge in medicine prices in the North. He also called on Pyongyang to allow humanitarian grou

June 9, 2020

[News Analysis] North’s move aimed at US, provocations in store: experts

North Korea on Tuesday cut all inter-Korean communication channels in what it called the first step in exacting the price of betrayal by South Korea. In addition to the move -- the seventh of its kind since 1976 -- the North’s official media reported that Pyongyang’s leaders have already reviewed phased plans for “projects against the enemy” saying that all activities concerning the South will now be hostile. The North has officially blamed leaflets sent by South Kor

June 9, 2020

North cuts off communications with South, warns of hostile actions

North Korea on Tuesday cut all communication channels including the hotline between Cheong Wa Dae and its leadership, prompting concerns for tensions escalating between the two Koreas. The decision was announced by the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency, which also announced that all projects concerning South Korea will now become “projects against the enemy.” “From 12 noon June 9, the communication line between the North and South’s governments main

June 9, 2020

S. Korea's military hotline calls to N. Korea unanswered after severance warning

North Korea did not answer South Korea's phone calls via their military hotlines Tuesday, the defense ministry said, after the North vowed to sever all communication lines with the South in its first step against what it called an "enemy." Earlier in the day, North Korea said it will "completely" close the inter-Korean liaison line, as well as hotlines between their militaries and presidential offices, at noon Tuesday in protest against Seoul's failure to stop defectors fro

June 9, 2020

NK refuses to answer calls from S. Korea at noon after vowing to sever all phone lines

North Korea did not answer daily phone calls from South Korea via liaison and military hotlines on Tuesday after vowing to cut off all inter-Korean communication lines in anger over anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent from the South. The decision to sever all phone lines at noon Tuesday was the latest in a series of angry protests the communist nation has made since last week while blasting Seoul for failing to stop North Korean defectors from sending propaganda leaflets criticizing Pyongyang's leade

June 9, 2020

Missed call at border liaison office puts Seoul on edge

An unanswered phone call at the inter-Korean liaison office put Seoul officials on edge for hours Monday, as it came after North Korea’s threats to shut it down completely. 　 The Unification Ministry said that the North finally answered its phone call in the afternoon, after missing earlier ones in the morning. 　 The two Koreas exchanged communication at the scheduled 5 p.m., but the North did not mention why it skipped the earlier call, according to the ministry. 　 There were speculat

June 8, 2020

Vice unification minister visits DMZ war remains excavation site to take look at forestry project

Vice Unification Minister Suh Ho visited a war remains excavation site inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on Monday to take a first-hand look at a research project to restore forests in the region, his office said. During his visit to Arrowhead Ridge in the central border town of Cheorwon, Suh was to be briefed by the Korea Forest Service on its research plans to restore the forest region and enhance biodiversity, officials said. The research kicked off Monday and will run through Friday. T

June 8, 2020

NK threats signal leader Kim's push to elevate sister's status: experts

North Korea's recent threats to abolish an inter-Korean liaison office and end other major summit agreements signal leader Kim Jong-un's intention to solidify the political status of his sister, Kim Yo-jong, experts said Monday. Last week, Kim Yo-jong issued a harshly worded statement, denouncing a campaign by North Korean defectors and other activists in the South to send anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets into the communist nation as a hostile act running counter to a series of peace agreeme

June 8, 2020

Inter-Korean military hotlines in normal operation: Defense Ministry

Military communication lines between South and North Korea are operating normally Monday, defense ministry officials said, though the North did not answer the South's call via inter-Korean liaison communication. Earlier in the day, unification ministry spokesperson Yoh Sang-key told a regular press briefing that the South made a liaison phone call to the North this morning but has yet to get an answer. It is the first time the communist country has not answered the South's calls. "The (

June 8, 2020

NK answers second liaison phone call from S. Korea amid leaflet tensions

North Korea answered the second daily liaison phone call from South Korea on Monday, the unification ministry said, after an earlier call went unanswered and sparked speculation that Pyongyang might be carrying out its threat to abolish a joint liaison office. Monday's twice-a-day liaison phone calls were a focus of attention as the two sides were to have such calls for the first time since the North vowed to scrap the joint liaison office in anger over anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets sent

June 8, 2020

NK leader holds politburo meeting, makes no mention of inter-Korean issue

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has presided over a politburo meeting of the Workers' Party and discussed measures to develop the chemical industry, but inter-Korean issues and other external matters were not on the agenda, according to state media Monday. The meeting, held Sunday, came just two days after the North vowed to abolish an inter-Korean liaison office in anger over anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets sent from South Korea. Four items were on the agenda, but the leaflet issue was not

June 8, 2020

North Korea building case for further provocation: experts

Pyongyang ratcheting up threats against Seoul in the last few days, halting the inter-Korean liaison office and scrapping a military agreement, could be a prelude to military provocations, experts here said Sunday. 　 The North lashed out with a series of threats from Thursday, in retaliation against Seoul’s failure to prevent defector-run civic groups from sending anti-North Korean leaflets across the border. On Sunday, the North’s state newspaper Rodong Sinmun carried pages of rep

June 7, 2020

N. Korea vows to abolish inter-Korean liaison office in anger over leaflets

North Korea vowed Friday to abolish an inter-Korean liaison office in the first in a series of measures in anger over anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent from South Korea, even after Seoul promised to ban such leaflet campaigns. The United Front Department, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said in a statement that leader Kim Jong-un's sister, Kim Yo-jong, ordered officials to look into implementing a series of measures she threatened to take a day earlier unless Seoul stops North Korean defectors

June 6, 2020

N. Korea blasts leaflet campaigns in South, threatens to shut inter-Korean office

North Korea on Friday threatened to shut down an inter-Korean liaison office as it continued to criticize South Korea over civilian-led anti-Pyongyang leaflet campaigns. "We will abolish the inter-Korean liaison office located in the Kaesong industrial complex immediately," the North's United Front Department said in a statement condemning the anti-Pyongyang leaflet campaigns in the South. On Thursday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister, Kim Yo-jong, issued a strongly worded s

June 5, 2020