NK website unveils revised constitution aimed at strengthening Kim's status

A North Korean propaganda website on Saturday unveiled the full text of the country's revised constitution, which is apparently aimed at bolstering leader Kim Jong-un's legal status.The website, called Naenara, made public the constitution that the 14th Supreme People's Assembly, the country's rubber-stamp legislature, amended during its second session late last month.In the latest revision, Article 104 stipulated new responsibilities for the chairman of the State Affairs Commission, the North's

Sept. 21, 2019

Weather agency says 3.5 magnitude quake occurs in Pyonggang, North Korea

South Korea's state weather agency said Saturday that a 3.5 magnitude earthquake occurred in Pyonggang, North Korea's Kangwon Province.The Korea Meteorological Administration said there may not be any damage from the "natural" quake that took place 31 kilometers northwest of Pyonggang's county office at 3:11 p.m (Yonhap) 

Sept. 21, 2019

Previously unidentified underground facilities identified at Yongbyon complex: 38 North

Two previously unidentified underground complexes have been identified at North Korea's mainstay nuclear compound in Yongbyon, north of Pyongyang, a US website monitoring the communist state has said.In an expert analysis of satellite imagery by Frank V. Pabian, 38 North on Thursday revealed the underground complexes, located east and southeast of Yongbyon across the Kuryong River, saying their purposes remain unknown. The findings are based on the presence of tunnel entrances and visible spoil

Sept. 21, 2019

NK chief negotiator welcomes Trump's 'new method', voices optimism over talks

A chief North Korean negotiator on Friday welcomed US President Donald Trump's recent remark suggesting a "new method" of resolving the impasse in denuclearization negotiations. Kim Myong-gil, known to be Pyongyang's counterpart for the United States' top nuclear envoy, Stephen Biegun, made the remarks in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency, also expressing optimism over an upcoming working-level meeting with Washington expected to take place as early as late this mon

Sept. 20, 2019

Pro-N. Korea paper welcomes Bolton's exit, voices concerns over Pompeo

A pro-North Korea newspaper said Friday that the recent dismissal of John Bolton as the US national security advisor was a "good thing," but voiced concerns over Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, calling him a "destabilizing factor" that could undercut Washington's diplomacy with Pyongyang.North Korea has long denounced Bolton and Pompeo for their hawkish views on its regime that it sees as hampering denuclearization talks. It earlier called Bolton a "security-destroying a

Sept. 20, 2019

UNC confirms Hambak Island in Yellow Sea as N. Korean territory

The United Nations Command recognizes the border island of Hambak in the Yellow Sea as North Korean territory, an official of Seoul's defense ministry said Friday.Controversy erupted recently over the ownership of the small uninhabited island near the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border, after some government data and maps erroneously marked it as South Korean territory. In an interview with Voice of America on Friday, former UNC commander Gen. Vincent Brooks also claimed that the

Sept. 20, 2019

Trump says 'new method' may be good for NK talks

US President Donald Trump has suggested that a "new method" could help break the impasse in denuclearization negotiations with North Korea.Trump made the remark to reporters Wednesday as he criticized former National Security Adviser John Bolton for advocating the "Libyan model" in talks with the North. The Libya model calls for North Korea to unilaterally dismantle its nuclear weapons program before receiving any concessions in return and has incurred the wrath of Pyongyang,

Sept. 20, 2019

Dismantlement of Yongbyon complex most crucial next step for NK denuclearization: expert

Dismantling North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear complex is the "most immediate next step" in the denuclearization process, an American scientist said Thursday, rebutting claims that the plant is too outdated to consider its closure a major concession from the North.Siegfried Hecker, a Stanford University professor, made the remarks during a seminar in Seoul, stressing that while Yongbyon's dismantlement will not end the North's nuclear program, it will "dramatically" limit its nuc

Sept. 19, 2019

Unification minister highlights progress in easing tensions with NK after Pyongyang summit

Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul said Thursday that cross-border military tensions between the two Koreas have declined significantly thanks to the implementation of their summit agreements last year.Kim made the remark during an event in Seoul to mark the first anniversary of the third inter-Korean summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang last year.The two held three summit meetings, including the latest one in September, where they ag

Sept. 19, 2019

US official says he assumes N. Korea continues to make nukes

The top American diplomat for East Asia said Wednesday he assumes North Korea continues to make nuclear weapons but declined to offer details.The remark by David Stilwell, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, comes as Washington and Pyongyang are expected to resume denuclearization negotiations soon, although no meetings have been scheduled. Talks have been stalled since February's summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ended with

Sept. 19, 2019

No attack weapons deployed on N. Korea's Hambak Island in Yellow Sea: Seoul ministry

No offensive weapons are deployed on North Korea's border island of Hambak in the Yellow Sea, the defense ministry said Wednesday, after security concerns arose following media reports that the communist nation could have deployed weapons like multiple rocket launchers there."Not a single attack weapon exists on the island," a senior defense ministry official told reporters, noting that the deployment of those weapons may constitute a violation of an inter-Korean military pact signed l

Sept. 18, 2019

NK nuclear reactor shut down for enough time for re-fuelling: IAEA

North Korea's main plutonium-producing reactor has been shut down for enough time for it to be re-fuelled, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a recent report, stressing Pyongyang's nuclear activities remain a cause for "serious concern."The 5-megawatt reactor at the North's Yongbyon nuclear complex showed signs of intermittent operation between mid-August and late November last year, but there have been no indications of operations there since early December, the agency sai

Sept. 18, 2019

Russian border guards injured in clash with N. Korean poachers

MOSCOW (AFP) -- Three Russian coast guards were injured Tuesday in a clash with North Korean fishing boats in the East Sea, after which 80 fishermen were detained, Russia's FSB security service said.The FSB security service, which controls the border and coast guard, said in a statement that guards observed two fishing vessels and 11 motor boats while on duty in Russian waters of the Eas Sea.The larger boat's crew attacked coast guard officers who boarded the vessel, and three officers &quo

Sept. 18, 2019

N. Korea chased off Japanese fishing boats in late August: KCNA

North Korea's coast guard chased off Japanese fishing boats illegally operating in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) late last month, Pyongyang's state media reported Tuesday, rebutting Tokyo's claims that armed North Korean boats had trespassed in its own zone. "The expulsion of the Japanese ships from our zone is a just and righteous exercise of our sovereign rights," North Korea's foreign ministry was quoted as saying by the English-language report of the Korean Central News Agency

Sept. 17, 2019

[News focus] One year on, inter-Korean military pact remains unfulfilled promise

The inter-Korean military agreement that was hailed as a “nonaggression pact” when it was signed just a year ago has become a “merely nominal” agreement as its first anniversary approaches Thursday.The defense chiefs of the two Koreas signed the Comprehensive Military Agreement on Sept. 19, 2018, in Pyongyang on the sidelines of the third summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.  It was not the first bilateral military ag

Sept. 17, 2019

Trump declines to comment on report Kim invited him to North Korea

WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Reuters) -- US President Donald Trump on Monday declined to comment on a newspaper report that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had invited him to visit Pyongyang and said conditions were not ready yet for such a visit."The relationship is very good but I don't want to comment on that," Trump told reporters at the White House when asked whether Kim had invited him to North Korea.A South Korean newspaper on Monday cited diplomatic sources as saying Kim had invited

Sept. 17, 2019

Trump says it isn't time for him to visit N. Korea

US President Donald Trump said Monday it is not the right time to visit Pyongyang after a newspaper reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un invited him for what would be their third summit.Trump said last week that he expected to meet Kim again "at some point" this year.The South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo reported Monday that Kim invited Trump to Pyongyang in a letter sent in August."I don't want to comment on that," Trump told reporters at the White House when ask

Sept. 17, 2019

N. Korea expects talks with US likely to take place in a few weeks

A North Korean official said Monday that working-level talks with the United States will likely take place "in a few weeks" but emphasized that discussions on denuclearization will be possible only after all threats to its regime are fully removed. In a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency, the director-general of the North Korean foreign ministry's department of American affairs also warned that it will be the US that determines whether the upcoming meeting serves

Sept. 16, 2019

Pyongyang confirms ready to resume talks, but gives conditions

The long-stalled US-North Korea working level talks on denuclearization could take place soon, a senior North Korea official signaled in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency on Monday that also set out conditions for the resumption of dialogue.The director general of the North Korean Foreign Ministry’s department of American affairs said working-level talks will likely take place in a few weeks. He said the two countries may forge closer relations or hostility depend on wh

Sept. 16, 2019

Moon stresses supporting US-NK dialogue

Ahead of his trip to the US, President Moon Jae-in’s role in resolving North Korean issues is once again in the spotlight as Pyongyang reaches out to Washington for a dialogue. The South Korean president is set to head to the US to attend the UN General Assembly and hold a summit with US President Donald Trump on Sunday.  “The unchanging trust among the leaders of the South, the North and the US and resolve for peace will be the power that drives the Korean Peninsula peace

Sept. 16, 2019