Biden says NK insults ‘badge of honor’

Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden has responded to North Korea’s recent description of him as a “rabid dog,” saying he wears such insults as a “badge of honor.” The former US vice president made the remarks in a statement Friday, a day after Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency said in a commentary that rabid dogs like Biden “must be beaten to death with a stick,” according to US media outlets, including The Hill. Biden has been

Nov. 17, 2019

N. Korean leader watches air show, calls for readiness to fight enemies

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attended a military air show and called on pilots to be ready to fight "enemies armed to the teeth," state media said Saturday. The air contest at Wonsan Kalma Airport on the North's east coast was "held by way of letting all the aircraft equipped with maximum armament conduct bombing flight and firing flight under the command of the formation flight by the flight commanding officers," according to the Korean Central News Agency in English. Aft

Nov. 16, 2019

NK says it will remove S. Korean facilities from Kumgangsan

Pyongyang sent an ultimatum to Seoul on Monday, warning that it will unilaterally remove all South Korean-built facilities from the Kumgangsan resort unless Seoul tears them down on its own, North Korean state media said Friday.Dismissing South Korea’s calls for talks to salvage the long-suspended tourism venture at the mountain resort, the North said it would develop the resort in its own way, and that there was no room for the South to meddle. “We sent an ultimatum on Nov. 11 that

Nov. 15, 2019

Key UN committee condemns North Korean violations of rights

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- A key UN committee approved a resolution Thursday condemning North Korea's widespread human rights violations which may amount to crimes against humanity -- a decision denounced by the country's UN mission as "politically motivated" and based on "fabrications."The resolution, sponsored by the European Union and joined by the United States and others, was approved by consensus by the General Assembly's human rights committee, with a bang of the chai

Nov. 15, 2019

N. Korea says it sent ultimatum to S. Korea over Mount Kumgang project

North Korea sent an ultimatum to South Korea earlier this week that it will unilaterally remove the South-built facilities from its Mount Kumgang resort unless Seoul tears them down on its own, Pyongyang's official news agency reported Friday.The North's tough stance suggests little room for inter-Korean negotiations that South Korea has sought in an effort to keep the long-suspended tour project that was considered one of the most tangible symbols of inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation.

Nov. 15, 2019

NK nuke envoy voices willingness to meet US, but presses for solution

North Korea's top nuclear envoy said Thursday he is willing to meet with his US counterpart if Washington unveils a fundamental solution to the nuclear impasse by a year-end deadline.Kim Myong-gil said US nuclear envoy Stephen Biegun has proposed nuclear talks with North Korea in December via a third country. "If the negotiated solution of issues is possible, we are ready to meet with the US at any place and any time," Kim said in a statement carried by the Korean Central New

Nov. 14, 2019

N. Koreans deported according to 'principles' and 'standards': official

GANGHWA ISLAND -- Last week's deportation from South Korea of two North Koreans accused of killing 16 fellow fishermen was carried out in accordance with appropriate "principles and standards," a high-ranking unification ministry official said. The two men in their 20s were sent back to the North through the truce village of Panmunjom last week, five days after they were captured near the eastern inter-Korean sea boarder. Three days of investigation found that they had been fleein

Nov. 14, 2019

Unification minister meets Hyundai Group chairwoman over Kumgangsan tours

South Korean Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul met with Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun on Thursday to discuss the controversy surrounding the plans to dismantle its facilities at the Kumgangsan tourist resort in North Korea. The ministry has held a series of talks with Hyundai Asan -- the inter-Korean business unit of Hyundai Group, which holds a 50-year license to operate a tour program to the scenic Kumgangsan -- since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un last month ordered the removal of

Nov. 14, 2019

[Graphic News] N. Korea ranks 193rd out of 195 countries in ability to cope with epidemic

　North Korea ranks 193rd out of 195 countries in terms of its ability to prevent, detect and respond to an epidemic, a recent global health security index showed.　The impoverished North scored 17.5 points in the index compiled by the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a US-based nonprofit organization, and the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, coming higher than only two countries -- Equatorial Guinea and Somalia.　The global average was 40.2 points.　Meanwhile, South Korea ranked 9th in the index

Nov. 14, 2019

N. Korea warns US against joint military drills with S. Korea

North Korea's top governing body demanded Wednesday the United States cancel planned joint military drills with South Korea, warning otherwise it would face a "greater threat." The State Affairs Commission, chaired by leader Kim Jong-un, also repeated that Pyongyang would seek a "new way" unless Washington changes its stance and comes up with new solutions in their nuclear talks by the end of this year. South Korea and the US conducted regular joint drills in March and August

Nov. 14, 2019

US issues financial advisory against NK

The US Treasury Department issued another advisory against financial dealings with North Korea on Tuesday.In its latest advisory, the department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network reminded financial institutions not to do business with North Korea, which the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force recently targeted in a call for countermeasures because the North lacks adequate systems to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism.On Oct. 18 the FATF, an intergovernmental bo

Nov. 13, 2019

US, N. Korean officials had meeting during Moscow forum last week: VOA

US and North Korean officials had a meeting during last week's international nonproliferation conference in Moscow, a former American diplomat was quoted as saying.Thomas M. Countryman, former assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation, made the remarks after attending the Moscow Nonproliferation Conference involving 250 participants from more than 40 countries, including the North, according to the Voice of America."I was told that there was such a meeting

Nov. 13, 2019

[Graphic News] Over 800 North Koreans have defected to S. Korea this year

　Over 800 North Koreans have defected to South Korea so far in 2019, government data showed, indicating their annual figure will be similar to that recorded a year earlier.　A total of 828 North Koreans defected to the South during the January-October period, according to data provided by the Unification Ministry handling inter-Korean affairs.　At the current rate, the annual number of North Koreans settling here is expected to be similar to 1,137 registered last year. (Yonhap)

Nov. 12, 2019

Parliamentary inquiry into N. Korean deportation an option

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party on Tuesday said the parliament could open an investigation into what really happened when Seoul deported two North Korean fishermen on Thursday a week ago. “The committees -- intelligence, defense and foreign affairs -- will convene to find out what happened that day,” said Na Kyung-won, floor leader of the Liberty Korea Party. “If that’s not enough, we could open a parliamentary investigation.” Last Thursday, South Kor

Nov. 12, 2019

Safety guarantees prerequisite for individual tours to Kumgangsan: Unification Ministry

South Korea can allow individual trips to Kumgangsan in North Korea only if Pyongyang guarantees the safety of the visitors, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said.Seoul is considering the possibility of allowing individual visits to the mountain resort, after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered the removal of South Korea-funded facilities from the resort late last month. “Like non-Koreans traveling to North Korea, individual tours do not violate international sanctions against Pyongy

Nov. 12, 2019

North Korea assails US, South Korea and UN nuclear agency

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- North Korea on Monday accused the United States of "political and military provocations" and South Korea of "double-dealing behavior."North Korea's UN Ambassador Kim Song made the accusations in a speech to a General Assembly meeting on the International Atomic Energy Agency, which he accused of "ignorance of the prevailing reality of the Korean peninsula."Kim said relations between the US and North Korea "have made little progress"

Nov. 12, 2019

Unification Ministry denies claims of deporting North Koreans illegally

The Unification Ministry on Monday denied that two North Koreans were returned to the North unlawfully, saying they were not entitled to protection due to the serious nature of their crimes. “The two North Koreans are not subjected to protection under the North Korean Refugees Protection and Settlement Support Act, as they are ‘nonpolitical’ serious criminals and their acceptance as refugees could pose a danger to the lives and safety of citizens here,” Lee Sang-min, the

Nov. 11, 2019

[Exclusive] Jim Rogers still optimistic about investing in N. Korea

SINGAPORE -- Jim Rogers, the Singapore-based US investor and chairman of Rogers Holdings, said he was still optimistic about investing in North Korea even after the country’s leader Kim Jong-un ordered the removal of all South Korean facilities from the Kumgangsan resort.　“I’ve never met the man so I don’t know what he thinks, but I speculated that maybe, what he was doing was part of a negotiation ploy,” Rogers said in a telephone interview with The Korea Herald on

Nov. 11, 2019

Nonproliferation conference ends without meeting between US, NK envoys

MOSCOW -- A nuclear nonproliferation conference in Moscow has wrapped up without a separate meeting between a US special envoy for North Korea and a North Korean foreign ministry official handling American affairs who attended the event.US Special Envoy for North Korea Mark Lambert and Jo Chol-su, director-general of the North American department at the North's foreign ministry, had gathered in the Russian capital for the 2019 Moscow Nonproliferation Conference, raising speculation over possible

Nov. 10, 2019

NK official calls on US to meet year-end deadline before 'window closes'

South Korea's top nuclear envoy met with the US special envoy for North Korea in Moscow on Saturday, South Korea's foreign ministry said, as Pyongyang warned of a closing window of opportunity on a nuclear deal.Lee Do-hoon held a breakfast meeting with Mark Lambert and the two discussed how to deal with North Korea following last month's collapse of working-level talks between North Korea and the US, the foreign ministry said without elaborating.The talks in Stockholm -- the first since the coll

Nov. 10, 2019