N. Korea, Belarus agree to strengthen cooperation, high-level contacts

The vice foreign ministers of North Korea and Belarus, both key allies to Russia, agreed Thursday to strengthen high-level contacts and cooperation across various sectors, encompassing the economy and cultures, as well as on global affairs, North Korean state media reported on Friday. The bilateral talks in Pyongyang between North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Im Chon-il and his Belarusian counterpart took place amid closer alignment with Russia and their provision of support in its war against U

April 19, 2024

N. Korea slams US envoy's Asian tour as 'aid-begging' trip to enliven anti-Pyongyang sanctions

North Korea on Friday denounced the recent visit to South Korea and Japan by the top US envoy to the United Nations, calling it an "aid-begging" trip to invigorate the "weakened illegal" sanctions against Pyongyang. Late last month, the UN Security Council failed to extend the mandate of the panel of experts monitoring the enforcement of sanctions against the North's nuclear and missile programs due to Russia's veto. The operation of the panel is set to expire on Ap

April 19, 2024

North Korea removes streetlights along cross-border roads with South

North Korea recently removed streetlights and other facilities along roads connecting to the South, according to South Korean military authorities on Thursday. The South Korean military said its surveillance caught North Korea taking down streetlights lining the roads leading from the South to the Kaesong industrial park, a now-defunct inter-Korean manufacturing complex launched as a part of Seoul’s past pro-rapprochement policy, and to Kumgangsan, the mountain that is one of the North&r

April 18, 2024

S. Korean parliamentary chief calls for stronger S. Korea-US efforts to address NK threats

South Korea's National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo stressed the need Wednesday to beef up joint deterrence efforts by Seoul and Washington to address evolving North Korean military capabilities, which he said pose a "direct" threat to the continental United States. Kim made the remarks during a forum hosted by the Institute for Korean Studies at George Washington University, urging Pyongyang to cease its nuclear threats and return to the "path of denuclearization." &quo

April 18, 2024

NK leader celebrates completion of 10,000 new homes in Pyongyang

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has attended a ceremony marking the completion of building another 10,000 new homes in Pyongyang, state media said Wednesday. Kim attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday for the completion of new apartments in the Hwasong district of Pyongyang as part of a housing project to build a combined 50,000 new homes in the capital by 2025, the Korean Central News Agency said. Kim called for workers to attain the remaining goals for the five-year project to "turn

April 17, 2024

Senior US officials discuss N. Korea, Taiwan, South China Sea in talks with Beijing officials

Senior US officials discussed with Beijing officials a range of regional and global issues, including North Korea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea during their visit to China this week, the State Department said Monday. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink and National Security Council Senior Director for China and Taiwan Affairs Sarah Beran met with Executive Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu and Yang Tao, director general of the North Ameri

April 16, 2024

N. Korea has capability to genetically engineer biological military products: US report

North Korea has the capability to genetically engineer biological military products, an annual US report showed Monday, noting Pyongyang has a "dedicated, national-level offensive" biological weapons program. The State Department issued the report, titled "Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments." It was prepared in consultation with the Department of Defense, Department of Energy and the Joint Chiefs of Staff

April 16, 2024

S. Korea, US hold NK human rights talks in Washington

Diplomats from South Korea and the United States held a new session of their bilateral dialogue on North Korean human rights in Washington on Monday, as the two sides see a close link between Pyongyang's weapons programs and its rights conditions. Chun Young-hee, director general for the Korean Peninsula peace regime at Seoul's foreign ministry, and Julie Turner, the US special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, led the second session of the dialogue that was relaunched in Nov

April 16, 2024

'Day of Sun' reference over N. Korean late founder's birthday reemerges in state media

North Korean state media referred to the birthday of North Korean late founder Kim Il-sung as the Day of the Sun on Monday after stopping using the term in recent weeks while calling it "the April holiday." Kim's birthday, April 15, has been revered as the Day of the Sun in North Korea and celebrated as one of the secretive country's most important national holidays, along with the birthday of his late son and successor Kim Jong-il in February. The North's founder died

April 15, 2024

N. Korea elevates high-level exchanges with China, Russia

North Korea has been intensifying high-level diplomatic exchanges with China and Russia, as evidenced by the visit of China's third-highest-ranking official to Pyongyang and the dispatch of ministers to Russia this week. China's No. 3 official, Zhao Leji, who arrived in Pyongyang on Thursday for a three-day visit to the neighboring country, met for a luncheon with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Saturday, North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency reported on Sunday. Th

April 14, 2024

N. Korea's Kim vows to further develop ties with China

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met with China's top legislator, Zhao Leji, in Pyongyang and discussed ways to further deepen bilateral ties, the North's state media said Sunday. During the luncheon meeting held Saturday, Kim said Zhao's visit to Pyongyang is "of very weighty significance in demonstrating the invincibility of the DPRK-China friendship and further developing the traditional friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries as required by the times,&

April 14, 2024

China's top legislator meets N. Korean leader to deepen ties

China's top legislator Zhao Leji met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang on Saturday as they move to further strengthen bilateral ties, according to foreign news media. Zhao is the first high-ranking Chinese official to visit the North since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. In his meeting with the No. 3 official in the Chinese Communist Party, Kim said Pyongyang is "unwaveringly" committed to cementing and further developing its cooperative ties with B

April 13, 2024

Pyongyang, Beijing vow strong friendly ties: KCNA

High-ranking officials from North Korea and China attended the opening ceremony of the "year of DPRK-China friendship" in Pyongyang to bolster their ongoing relations, Pyongyang's state media said Saturday. Choe Ryong-hae, chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK, and Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress of China, attended the ceremony at the East Pyongyang Grand Theatre on Friday to mark the 75th anniversary of the

April 13, 2024

NK leader vows to deal 'death-blow' to enemy in event of confrontation

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has vowed to mobilize all means to deal a "death-blow" to the country's enemy without hesitation should it opt for military confrontation with the North, state media said Thursday. Kim made the remark during his visit to the Kim Jong-il University of Military and Politics on Wednesday, the Korean Central News Agency said, calling the university named after Kim's late father a military training school for core commanding officers. "He said

April 11, 2024

China's No.3 official to visit N. Korea

China's top legislator and No. 3 official, Zhao Leji, is set to visit North Korea from Thursday to Saturday as the two countries mark the 75th anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties this year, China's Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday. The delegation of the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government, led by Zhao, will "make an official goodwill visit" to North Korea, the Chinese Foreign Ministry's spokesperson Mao Ning said. Mao explained that the invitatio

April 9, 2024

N. Korea revs up festive mood ahead of late founder's birthday

North Korea has held a photo exhibition and a youth art festival to celebrate the upcoming 112th birthday of late founder Kim Il-sung, state media reported Tuesday. Kim died of heart failure in 1994 at age 82, opening the way for his son, Kim Jong-il, to take over in communism's first hereditary succession of power. Despite the senior Kim's death, his birthday, April 15, is revered as the Day of Sun and is celebrated as one of the communist country's most important national holida

April 9, 2024

N. Korea's Kim sends message to Putin over flooding in Russia

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has sent a message consoling Russian President Vladimir Putin over heavy floods that hit Russia's southern region, state media said Monday. Kim's message came in response to media reports that Russia declared a federal emergency after heavy floods in the country's Orenburg region forced thousands of people to evacuate. "Kim Jong-un, on behalf of the DPRK government and people and on his own behalf, extended deep consolation to the Russian presi

April 8, 2024

Regular inter-Korean liaison contact remains severed for 1 year amid frosty ties

Regular communication between the two Koreas through cross-border hotlines has remained severed for one year as the North continues to be unresponsive to calls from the South amid increasingly frosty ties. The two Koreas used to hold routine calls twice a day -- once in the morning and the other in the afternoon -- via liaison and military hotlines, but the North has stopped answering calls from the South since April 7, 2023. The move came a day after Seoul called on Pyongyang to stop its unauth

April 7, 2024

Biden, Kishida to discuss N. Korean threats, trilateral cooperation with S. Korea: White House

President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will discuss an array of issues, including North Korean threats and the two countries' trilateral cooperation with South Korea, during their summit next week, a White House official said Wednesday. The two leaders are set to hold the summit on April 10 as Washington and Tokyo are stepping up defense cooperation amid growing security uncertainties stemming from North Korea's evolving military threats, China's growing assertiveness and

April 4, 2024

N. Korea claims successful launch of new IRBM tipped with hypersonic warhead

North Korea said Wednesday it has successfully test-fired a new intermediate-range ballistic missile tipped with a hypersonic warhead, saying that all missiles the country has developed are now solid-fuel and nuclear capable with warhead control capability. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un guided the testing of the Hwasong-16 missile Tuesday, according to the Korean Central News Agency. The South Korean military said Tuesday it detected the firing of an IRBM from the Pyongyang region and the miss

April 3, 2024