S. Korea reaffirms commitment to UN sanctions on N. Korea after panel report

South Korea will continue to abide by UN sanctions on North Korea until the communist nation's complete denuclearization, Seoul's foreign ministry said Friday. The ministry made the statement in response to the latest assessment published Thursday by a UN Security Council committee monitoring sanctions on the communist state.The UN report concluded that North Korea's illegal smuggling of resources such as refined oil and coal through ship-to-ship transfers remains in place in violation of the sa

Sept. 6, 2019

Food aid to N. Korea unlikely to be delivered by end of Sept.: unification ministry

Promised food aid is unlikely to be delivered to North Korea by the end of this month, the unification ministry said Friday.In June, South Korea announced it would provide 50,000 tons of rice to the North via the World Food Programme (WFP) to help the impoverished country address its worsening food shortages. Its original plan was to complete the delivery by September. But the North is reportedly refusing to accept the aid, taking issue with a joint military exercise South Korea and the United S

Sept. 6, 2019

UN panel recommends future NK sanctions focus on cyberattacks

A United Nations panel of experts recommended Thursday that the Security Council draft future sanctions against North Korea with a focus on its cyberattacks.The experts made the recommendation in a new report to the UN Security Council committee monitoring sanctions implementation against the North, saying the regime is estimated to have illegally acquired as much as $2 billion through cyberattacks.The report covered the period Feb. 2 - Aug. 2, and detailed the regime's increasingly sophisticate

Sept. 6, 2019

N. Korea continues to develop ICBM program: UN panel

North Korea's missile programs are designed to support its development of intercontinental ballistic missiles, a United Nations panel of experts said Thursday, underscoring the ongoing threat posed by the regime.The panel made the assessment in a new report for the UN Security Council committee monitoring sanctions implementation against North Korea, adding that the regime's nuclear weapons program also continues unabated.The report covers the period Feb. 2 - Aug. 2, and comes as US-North Korea

Sept. 6, 2019

North Korea wants UN staff cut, but UN says they're vital

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- North Korea wants the number of UN international staff in the country reduced by the end of the year over what it claims is the politicization of aid by parties hostile to its government, but the United Nations says the mission's current "light footprint'' is vital.Kim Chang Min, secretary general of North Korea's National Coordinating Committee, said in a letter to the UN resident coordinator in North Korea that in recent years "UN supported programs failed to b

Sept. 6, 2019

N. Korea’s state media slams S. Korea for deploying US stealth jets

North Korea’s state media lashed out at South Korea on Thursday for introducing F-35A fighter jets from the United States, saying it proves that Seoul has not given up its ambition to attack the North.“This reckless act demonstrates the war-mongering force in South Korea has not given up is ambition to take a preemptive strike against us,” the Korean Central News Agency said. “The South’s move to build up its armed forces will only justify our military measures tens

Sept. 5, 2019

Trump seeks to entice NK to the table

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Washington is not looking for a leadership change in North Korea, amid failure to resume denuclearization talks. While answering a question from reporters about tensions in Iran, Trump brought up North Korea and said the two countries have “tremendous potential,” seemingly urging the regime to return to the denuclearization talks.“Iran can be a great country and North Korea can be a great country,” he said. “They can be

Sept. 5, 2019

China's top diplomat returns home after Pyongyang visit

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has returned home after a three-day visit to Pyongyang but without meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the North's state media reported Thursday.Wang arrived at the Beijing Capital International Airport on Wednesday evening, after meeting with his North Korean counterpart, Ri Yong-ho, and Ri Su-yong, vice chairman of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea's Central Committee, in Pyongyang. Reporting on Wang's meeting with the vice chairman, the North's main

Sept. 5, 2019

Trump: US is not looking for regime change in NK

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the United States is not looking for regime change in North Korea, appearing to extend another invitation to Pyongyang to return to denuclearization talks.Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump again lumped North Korea and Iran together as he suggested the possibility of striking a deal with both."Iran can be a great country and North Korea can be a great country," he said. "They can be great. We are not looking for a regime c

Sept. 5, 2019

North Korea tells United Nations to cut international aid staff - letter

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -- North Korea has told the United Nations to cut the number of international staff it deploys in the country because the world body's programs have failed "due to the politicization of UN assistance by hostile forces," according to a letter seen by Reuters on Wednesday.The United Nations estimates 10.3 million people - almost half the country's population - are in need and some 41 percent of North Koreans are undernourished, while Pyongyang said in February it

Sept. 5, 2019

North Korean foreign minister will not attend UN gathering of world leaders

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -- North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho will not attend the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations later this month "due to his schedule," the country's mission to the UN told Reuters on Wednesday.Ri has attended the high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York for the past three years. North Korea was initially listed on a tentative speaking schedule - dated July10 - to again be represented at ministerial level, but a rev

Sept. 5, 2019

[Graphic News] 42% of N. Koreans likely to face food insecurity by 2029: USDA

　Forty-two percent of North Korea’s population is expected to remain food insecure even 10 years later, a recent US Department of Agriculture report said, as the impoverished country grapples with worsening food shortages. 　Referring to North Korea as one of Asia’s “most food-insecure” countries, along with Yemen, the International Food Security Assessment, 2019-2029 by USDA’s Economic Research Service showed an estimated 57.3 percent of North Korea’s populati

Sept. 4, 2019

N. Korea slams Japan over suspected plan to discharge radioactive water

North Korea's state media slammed Japan on Wednesday over its suspected plan to discharge radioactive water into the sea, saying it would be a criminal act that could bring about a nuclear calamity in the region.Environmentalist group Greenpeace earlier said that Japan is planning to discharge about 1 million tons of radioactive water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean. Japan has said that it has not made any specific decision yet on how to dispose of the cont

Sept. 4, 2019

S. Korea seeks global support for NK denuclearization, peace on Korean Peninsula

South Korea's vice defense minister on Wednesday held a series of bilateral talks with his counterparts from foreign countries and asked for their continued support for efforts to denuclearize North Korea and build peace on the peninsula, his office said. On the sidelines of the 8th Seoul Defense Dialogue under way in Seoul, Vice Defense Minister Park Jae-min met with his counterparts from Singapore, Uzbekistan, the Philippines and Ethiopia, to share their assessment on the recent security situa

Sept. 4, 2019

Kim Jong-un stresses science and technology education

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un highlighted the importance of science and technology education, saying people educated abroad should be hired as university professors in the North, Pyongyang’s state media said Wednesday. Kim made the statement during a meeting with leading officials of the North’s Workers’ Party last month. The message was delivered to a national conference of teachers held Tuesday, the North’s Korean Central News Agency said.“Science and technology

Sept. 4, 2019

UN chief urges N. Korea to release all political prisoners

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on North Korea to release all political prisoners, accusing Pyongyang of a series of human rights abuses at prison camps, such as arbitrary arrests, beatings, forced labor and executions.Guterres made the appeal in a report submitted for the 74th Session of the General Assembly, which is slated to kick off on Sept. 17. The report covers the North's overall human rights situation from September last year to July this year."Citizens of the Demo

Sept. 4, 2019

Crisis level of peninsula remains unchanged despite NK missiles: think tank

The crisis level of the Korean Peninsula remained unchanged last month despite a series of short-range projectile launches by North Korea, an international think tank said in a recent report.The International Crisis Group's global crisis tracker Crisis Watch marked the situation on the peninsula as "unchanged" while noting the five rounds of projectile launches carried out by the North in August. The group also said South Korea and US President Donald Trump played down the North's laun

Sept. 4, 2019

Nuke envoys of S. Korea, Russia hold talks on North Korea's denuclearization

The top nuclear envoys of South Korea and Russia held talks in Russia on Tuesday on North Korea's denuclearization and other peninsula issues, Seoul's foreign ministry said.Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, met with his Russian counterpart, Igor Morgulov, in Russia's Far Eastern city of Vladivostok, the ministry said in a release.They discussed the current situation on the Korean Peninsula, including North Korea's latest series of missile launch

Sept. 3, 2019

S. Korean diplomat holds working-level talks with US on NK issues

South Korea and the United States held working-level talks in Washington last week about the North Korean nuclear standoff and inter-Korean issues, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.Rhee Dong-yeol, director-general of the Korean Peninsula Peace Regime Bureau at the ministry, had broad discussions over the matters with his US counterparts last Thursday, according to the ministry. His visit follows the latest meeting between top nuclear envoys of the two allies, Lee Do-hoon and Stephen Biegun, tha

Sept. 3, 2019

China, North Korea vow close consultation on Korean Peninsula issues

The foreign ministers of North Korea and China agreed to consult closely on Korean Peninsula issues during a bilateral meeting in Pyongyang, amid stalled denuclearization talks with the US. Chinese State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi met with North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho following his arrival in Pyongyang on Monday for a three-day visit. Marking the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and North Korea, Wang and Ri said t

Sept. 3, 2019