US says it is aware of reports of NK missile launch

The United States is aware of reports of a missile launch from North Korea and will continue to monitor the situation, a State Department spokesperson said Tuesday ahead of the expected resumption of denuclearization negotiations with the regime.The response comes after South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea had fired multiple unidentified projectiles into the East Sea early Wednesday (Seoul time), six days after it launched two short-range ballistic missiles into the waters. "

July 31, 2019

[Breaking] N. Korea fires multiple unidentified missiles off east coast: JCS

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast Wednesday, South Korea's military said, the second such launch in less than a week. The first missile was launched at 5:06 a.m., and the second at 5:27 a.m., from the Kalma area in the North's eastern port of Wonsan, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.Both are estimated to have flown about 250 kilometers at an approximate altitude of 30 km, the JCS said, adding that the South Korean and US militaries are analyzing more d

July 31, 2019

US blacklists North Korean for supporting nuclear program

The US Treasury Department on Monday slapped a sanction on a North Korean man for allegedly evading trade restrictions by importing and exporting goods to support the regime’s weapons program.The move came amid growing skepticism over the US president’s North Korea policy, with last week’s short-range ballistic missiles tests by the North and a delay in resumption of denuclearization talks. Kim Su-il, who works in Vietnam, was blacklisted by the US Department of the Treasu

July 30, 2019

Korean American pastor says he was spying in NK

Korean American pastor Kim Dong-chul, who was freed from North Korea last year after about 2 1/2 years in detention, said he had been spying for Seoul and Washington, NK News reported Monday.Kim was arrested in the northeastern city of Rason in October 2015, and was sentenced to 10 years of hard labor on charges of espionage and subversive acts against Pyongyang in April 2016. The North Korean state media at the time said Kim confessed in a press conference to collecting Workers’ Party, go

July 30, 2019

Seoul to prepare for tangible achievements in inter-Korean ties

South Korea will continue to make preparations toward producing tangible achievements in inter-Korean ties, despite stalemated relations between two Koreas, the unification ministry said Tuesday."We will continue to make efforts to improve inter-Korean relations, including the implementation of South-North join declarations," the ministry said in a report submitted to the National Assembly, referring to summit agreements their leaders signed last year."We will consistently send a

July 30, 2019

Pompeo hopes talks with N. Korea will resume 'very soon'

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that he's hopeful working-level talks with North Korea will resume "very soon."In remarks to The Economic Club of Washington DC, Pompeo also said he hopes there are "creative solutions to unlocking" the current impasse over dismantling North Korea's nuclear weapons program in exchange for sanctions relief."We hope that we can have working-level discussions starting again very soon, so that we can unlock the Rubik's Cube,"

July 30, 2019

US sanctions N. Korean over ties to WMD program

The United States on Monday sanctioned a Vietnam-based North Korean on suspicion of supporting North Korea's weapons of mass destruction program in violation of UN sanctions.The US Treasury Department announced the measure on its website, saying the individual, Kim Su-il, is tied to the North's ruling Workers' Party and an employee of its affiliate, the Munitions Industry Department.That department, it said, was previously sanctioned by the US and the UN for its involvement in "key aspects&

July 30, 2019

[Graphic News] North Korean economy contracts 4.1% last year

　North Korea’s fragile economy is estimated to have contracted for a second consecutive year in 2018, South Korea’s central bank said last week, an apparent outcome of what many have called unprecedentedly strong international sanctions against the communist state.　The country’s real gross domestic product  is believed to have shrunk 4.1 percent last year from the year before, according to the Bank of Korea. (Yonhap) 

July 29, 2019

Three North Koreans who crossed NLL repatriated

Three North Koreans who crossed into South Korea in the East Sea on Saturday were repatriated to the North, as a daylong investigation uncovered no evidence of espionage activities, the Ministry of Unification said Monday. A wooden boat and the three crew members were transferred to North Korean authorities in the afternoon after the ministry announced that they had departed for the inter-Korean sea border. The government notified the North of the repatriation decision through the inter-Korean l

July 29, 2019

Three North Koreans to be returned to North

The three North Koreans who crossed into South Korea in the East Sea will be returned to the North, the Ministry of Unification said Monday. The three North Koreans crossed into South Korean waters late Saturday on a wooden boat. The vessel was detected by South Korean Navy and towed into a military port in Gangwon Province on Sunday. “The government plans to return the North’s wooden boat and the crew across the Northern Limit Line in East Sea this afternoon,” the Unifica

July 29, 2019

S. Korean fishermen held in North Korea return home

A Russian fishing vessel and its crew, including two South Koreans, held by North Korea have returned home, the Ministry of Unification said Sunday. The South Korean fishermen were held in North Korea along with 15 Russian crew members, after their ship Xiang Hai Lin 8 was seized by North Korea’s coast guard in the country’s northeastern waters on July 17.  The Russian crab fishing boat arrived in Sokcho in South Korea’s Gangwon Province at about 1 p.m. on Sunday, after ha

July 28, 2019

N. Korean fishing boat being probed for ‘mistakenly’ crossing into South

A North Korean fishing boat carrying three passengers crossed the marine border into South Korea in the East Sea late Saturday, Seoul’s military said Sunday. The boat has been towed to a South Korean military port for investigation.According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the wooden boat was first spotted about 5.5 kilometers above the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border, at around 10:15 p.m. on Saturday. It started moving down in a straight line to cross the NLL at 11:21 p.m.

July 28, 2019

N. Korean military's fishing boat 'mistakenly' crosses sea border into S. Korea

A fishing boat apparently operated by North Korea's military has been towed into a South Korean port for investigation after sailing across the inter-Korean sea border, the military authorities here said Sunday.Three North Koreans, one wearing the communist nation's military uniform, were aboard the 10-meter-long wooden boat, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It was first spotted sailing in waters 5.5 kilometers north of the Northern Limit Line in the East Sea at around 10:15 p.m. on Satur

July 28, 2019

N. Korea emphasizes economic development on armistice anniversary

North Korea urged its people to focus on economic development with a strong will to protect its regime on the armistice anniversary Saturday. The Rodong Sinmun, the North's main newspaper, said in an editorial that people and its soldiers should move forward in creating a strong communist nation, adding they should make a leap in the area of economic development on the 66th anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.The armistice signed on July 27, 1953, l

July 27, 2019

NK marks armistice anniversary with warning of 'merciless' fight against invasion

North Korea threatened a "merciless" response to any enemy attacks Friday ahead of the 66th anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.Kim Su-gil, director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army, made the remarks during his speech at a meeting to mark the anniversary slated for Saturday. "We have to launch merciless attacks to vigorously crush those who even dare to invade 0.001 millimeter of our holy sky, land, and sea,

July 26, 2019

Moon's advisor says NK sanctions relief possible if Pyongyang takes concrete denuclearization steps

North Korea could get sanctions relief if it takes concrete denuclearization steps, including a verifiable dismantlement of its key Yongbyon nuclear facility, a special security advisor to President Moon Jae-in said Friday.Moon Chung-in, special presidential advisor for unification, foreign and security affairs, made the case amid a prolonged standstill in the talks between the North and the United States. "If the North shows concrete progress (in its plan) for denuclearization, I beli

July 26, 2019

N. Korea's 'new' ballistic missiles similar to Russia's Iskander: Seoul

The short-range missiles that North Korea test-fired this week were a new type of ballistic weapon similar to Russia's Iskander, the military authorities here said Friday, citing the projectiles' unique flight pattern.North Korea on Thursday fired two short-range missiles into the East Sea from near the eastern coastal town of Wonsan, and both flew around 600 kilometers at an altitude of around 50 km, according to an officer at the Joint Chiefs of Staff."Differing from a general parabolic t

July 26, 2019

Trump says N. Korea hasn't tested missiles other than 'smaller ones'

US President Donald Trump said Thursday that North Korea hasn't tested missiles other than "smaller ones," in an apparent attempt to keep dialogue with the North alive despite its recent test-firing of short-range ballistic missiles.Trump made the remark in an interview with Fox News a day after the North fired two short-range ballistic missiles, insisting that he gets along "very well" with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un."They haven't done nuclear testing. They really

July 26, 2019

NK's new type of short-range missiles won't affect allies' defense posture: CFC

The new type of short-range missiles North Korea recently tested were not a threat aimed at South Korea or the United States, and they do not affect their joint defense posture, the Combined Forces Command said Friday.On Thursday, North Korea fired two short-range missiles into the East Sea from near the eastern coastal town of Wonsan, according to Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff. It later said they were believed to be "a new kind of short-range ballistic missile," which showed a similar

July 26, 2019

US seeks to keep diplomacy with NK alive despite missile launches

The United States on Thursday insisted to continue its diplomacy with North Korea despite the communist state's new missile launches, apparently keeping hopes alive that the latest provocation would not derail efforts to resume nuclear talks between the two countries. The test of two short-range ballistic missiles on Thursday (Seoul time) marked a new turn in the on-again, off-again negotiations to dismantle the North's nuclear weapons program.It raised questions about whether working-level talk

July 26, 2019