US to continue 'patient' diplomacy with N. Korea: official

WASHINGTON -- The United States will continue "patient" diplomacy with North Korea to make clear that the regime needs to return to denuclearization talks, a senior State Department official said Wednesday.The official spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss last week's meetings involving the top diplomats of South Korea, the US and Japan. His remark suggests Washington is not willing to offer concessions to get Pyongyang back to the negotiation table."On North Kor

Jan. 23, 2020

Seoul eyes rail project to engage NK

 Seoul appears to be looking to resume a joint railway project with Pyongyang as it seeks a breakthrough in inter-Korean relations, amid halted nuclear negotiations between the US and North Korea. 　South Korean President Moon Jae-in last week called for a renewed drive on various inter-Korean projects, such as cooperation on the border area, a joint bid to co-host the 2032 Summer Olympics, an inter-Korean railway and road project and individual tourism. 　Ever since he floated plans for Seou

Jan. 22, 2020

NK media confirm appointment of new defense minister

North Korean state media confirmed Wednesday the appointment of a military official who directed the construction of key tourism facilities as the country’s new defense minister.Kim Jong-gwan, vice minister of the People’s Armed Forces, was assumed to have replaced No Kwang-chol as the minister, as he was named an alternate member of the Workers’ Party politburo during a party meeting at the end of last month.The North’s Korean Central News Agency had disclosed a photo of

Jan. 22, 2020

NK paper reports on 'Wuhan pneumonia' amid report of temporary border shutdown

North Korea's official newspaper reported Wednesday on the outbreak of a new type of pneumonia-like illness in China, as a tour agency reported that the North has temporarily shut down its borders with China as a precaution.The new strain of coronavirus, also known as "Wuhan pneumonia," has killed at least six people and infected about 300 others in China alone, with countries such as the United States, Thailand, Japan and South Korea reporting its outbreak. North Korea has not reporte

Jan. 22, 2020

NK state media confirms appointment of new defense minister

North Korea's official news agency on Wednesday confirmed the appointment of a military official spearheading leader Kim Jong-un's key pet construction projects as the country's new defense minister.Kim Jong-gwan, vice minister of the People's Armed Forces, has been believed to have replaced No Kwang-chol as minister since he was named an alternate member of the politburo of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea during a key party meeting held at the end of December.On Wednesday, Pyongyang's offici

Jan. 22, 2020

North Korea says may seek 'new path' of weapons build-up

GENEVA (AFP) -- Pyongyang on Tuesday warned that it could seek a "new path" and accelerate its weapons programme, after Washington imposed fresh sanctions on North Korean companies amid stalled nuclear talks.North Korean representative Ju Yong-chol told the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva that his country's efforts to improve relations with Washington had been met with hostility."Although the US is talking about the resumption of dialogue, it has no intention at all from the b

Jan. 22, 2020

US reaffirms need for inter-Korean cooperation, denuclearization to move in lockstep

WASHINGTON -- The United States reaffirmed Monday that inter-Korean cooperation should proceed "in lockstep" with progress in North Korea's denuclearization, as Seoul continued to push for individual tours to the North.Earlier, Seoul's unification ministry said it is looking at ways to hold talks with Pyongyang on allowing tours to North Korea on an individual basis. The push has gained traction after President Moon Jae-in cited it last week as a way to expand inter-Korean exchanges wi

Jan. 21, 2020

South Korea should take active role in denuclearizing North: ex-minister

South Korea should take an active stance in dealing with North Korea amid stalled inter-Korean ties, such as by showing its resolve to halt joint military exercises with the US, a former unification minister said Monday. “For the past 1 1/2 years since the Singapore summit, Seoul’s stance was that inter-Korean relations need to adjust to the speed of US-North Korea dialogue. But with the deadlocked denuclearization talks, inter-Korean relations are reaching their worst state,&r

Jan. 20, 2020

Seoul pushes for NK tourism despite rift with Washington

South Korea is pressing ahead with its controversial plan to allow individual trips to North Korea by its own citizens, Seoul’s Unification Ministry confirmed Monday, reiterating that the US-led international sanctions in place against the North do not apply to tourism. “We are reviewing options on individual travel to North Korea,” a senior Unification Ministry official said. The ministry handles inter-Korean affairs. The officials said the two Koreas would discuss security

Jan. 20, 2020

[Feature] Love without borders, or nuclear threats?

A chaebol heiress accidentally crashes in North Korea while paragliding. She is rescued by a North Korean military officer who ends up protecting her and risking his life to send her back home to Seoul. Despite the differences in accent, lifestyle, culture, upbringing and ideology, they fall in love. This is the premise of “Crash Landing on You,” the latest hit drama from tvN. With a top-notch cast led by actress Son Ye-jin and actor Hyun Bin, the rom-com, which premiered Dec. 1

Jan. 20, 2020

N. Korea holds state funeral for former anti-Japanese fighter

North Korea has held a state funeral for a former female anti-Japanese fighter considered close to late founding leader Kim Il-sung, according to Pyongyang's state media on Monday. The memorial service for Hwang Sun-hui, deputy to the North's rubber-stamp parliament and curator of the Korean Revolution Museum, was held in Pyongyang on Sunday, according to the Korean Central News Agency.Hwang, called by state media a "veteran fighter of the first generation of the Korean revolution," di

Jan. 20, 2020

N. Korea holds agricultural conference to discuss increasing food production

North Korea held an agricultural conference to discuss ways to increase food production, state media said Monday, amid Pyongyang's intensifying "self-reliance" efforts in various areas in the face of crippling global sanctions. During the three-day conference until Sunday, participants reviewed "their work with main emphasis on positively exchanging and sharing the high-yield experience of the agricultural front on which the best achievements were made even under the worst conditi

Jan. 20, 2020

Nearly half of N. Korean party vice chairmen replaced in recent convention

Ri Su-yong, former North Korean foreign minister and vice chairman of the ruling party's Central Committee, and four others seem to have been replaced in a recent plenary party meeting, according to a North Korean report on Sunday.On Jan. 1, North Korea announced a major party personnel reshuffle, disclosing the results of a four-day plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party.  But the list of those who were dismissed in the reshuffle was not released at that time

Jan. 19, 2020

N. Korean ambassadors to China, UN head home: source

BEIJING -- North Korea's top envoys to China and the United Nations returned to Pyongyang on Saturday, a source in Beijing said, spurring speculation the North could review its nuclear negotiating strategy with the United States. Pyongyang's Ambassador to China Ji Jae-ryong and Ambassador to the UN Kim Song left the Chinese capital on an Air Koryo flight from the Beijing international airport in the morning, the source said.  North Korean ambassadors to Angola and Singapore were also seen a

Jan. 19, 2020

N. Korea slams Japan's plan to set up military space unit

North Korea on Saturday slammed Tokyo's plan to establish a military space unit, saying the plan is a dangerous and reckless move to make Japan a "military giant.""Japan is madly keen on exploiting even the outer space for its sinister purpose of building up 'defense capacity,'" the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Pyongyang's official mouthpiece, said in its editorial. "The outer space can never be reduced to a theatre for the state of aggression, the war-thirsty stat

Jan. 19, 2020

Inter-Korean cooperation will occur within framework of denuclearization: official

South Korea's push for inter-Korean cooperation will be done in a way that can facilitate the denuclearization negotiations between the United States and North Korea, a senior presidential official said Saturday. The official made the remark one day after the office of President Moon Jae-in openly reproached US Ambassador Harry Harris for his remarks on Moon's plans to resume inter-Korean cooperation, calling them "very inappropriate."Amid concerns about the allies' friction over a pos

Jan. 18, 2020

US military leader expresses full confidence in ability to defend against new NK missiles

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- The vice chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday that he has "100 percent confidence" in the US ability to defend itself from new North Korean missiles.Air Force Gen. John Hyten made the remark during a seminar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, noting that North Korea has made significant strides in its missile development. "I don't say 100 percent very often. I have 100 percent confidence in those capabilities against North

Jan. 18, 2020

US State Dept. says it supports inter-Korean cooperation

The US State Department said it supports inter-Korean cooperation, Voice of America reported Friday.　“The United States supports inter-Korean cooperation and coordinates with our ROK ally to ensure inter-Korean cooperation proceeds in lockstep with progress on denuclearization,” an official at the State Department spokesperson’s office said, when asked to comment on recent remarks by the South Korean foreign minister, according to the US broadcaster.Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-

Jan. 17, 2020

Pyongyang demands Seoul tear down inter-Korean resort facilities

North Korea asked South Korea through the inter-Korean liaison office in December to tear down buildings at the inter-Korean resort town on the east coast near Kumgangsan, Seoul officials familiar with the matter said Thursday. Pyongyang requested Seoul do so by February this year. “I can’t confirm anything at the moment because the matter is under consultation between the two Koreas,” one official said. “On the matter of the resort, our position is that those in charge

Jan. 17, 2020

Seoul calls shots in engaging Pyongyang: official

South Korea is a sovereign country that dictates its own North Kore policy, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said Friday, in response to remarks by US Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris that Washington should be consulted on potential cross-border tourism to Pyongyang. “The US has made it clear through many channels that it respects the sovereignty of South Korea, and our North Korea policy falls under that description,” spokesperson Lee Sang-min said at a press briefing. On

Jan. 17, 2020