North Korea slams Japan over its trade spat with Seoul

SEOUL (AFP) -- North Korea's state media has slammed Japan for its recent trade restrictions against Seoul over wartime slavery disputes, accusing Tokyo of "destroying the trend of peace" on the Korean peninsula.After South Korea's high court ordered Japanese firms that used forced labour to compensate Korean victims, Tokyo earlier this month restricted the export of several chemicals to South Korea that are crucial to its world-leading chip and smartphone companies. South Korea's left

July 21, 2019

FAO predicts food shortages in N. Korea will worsen in Q3

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations forecast North Korea will suffer worsened food shortages in the third quarter, the Radio Free Asia reported Saturday. In its quarterly Early Warning Early Action food security and agriculture report, the FAO reportedly placed North Korea among nine countries at "high risk" of food crises. The report picked drought and African swine fever virus as major factors that threaten the North's food security. The eight other high-risk

July 20, 2019

N. Korea calls Japan's export curbs politically motivated move for electoral gain

North Korea on Saturday claimed that Japanese export restrictions targeting South Korean companies are politically motivated and aimed at getting more votes in an upcoming election.Japan has tightened regulations on exports to South Korea of three critical industrial materials in an apparent retaliation over last year's South Korean Supreme Court rulings that ordered Japanese firms to compensate victims of forced labor during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.The North's offi

July 20, 2019

NK’s warning against joint drills aimed at gaining time for nuke talks: think tank

North Korea’s recent warning that a joint US-South Korea military exercise will hamper denuclearization talks could be an attempt to buy time to prepare for negotiations with the US, a state-run think tank said Thursday.During a press conference, the Institute for National Security Strategy said Pyongyang is likely to take an uncompromising approach in the upcoming negotiations. Talks between the two countries have hit a deadlock after the summit between US President Donald Trump and North

July 18, 2019

Discussions on sanctions exemptions under way for Seoul's food aid for N. Korea

Discussions are currently under way with the United States to get sanctions exemptions for South Korea's plan to send food aid to North Korea, a government source here said Thursday.The Seoul government and the World Food Programme are trying to secure ships that will be used to transport 50,000 tons of rice to the impoverished state struggling with worsening food shortages, he added."Negotiations are under way between the WFP and the US on sanctions exemptions that are needed for ships and

July 18, 2019

US-NK talks likely to resume only after allies' joint drills: ex-minister

Working-level nuclear talks between the United States and North Korea will likely resume only after the planned joint military exercises between South Korea and the US are over, a former unification minister has said.Jeong Se-hyun made the remark during a meeting with reporters on Wednesday, following Pyongyang's warning earlier this week that it will decide whether to open the working-level talks after "keeping watch over the US move," criticizing the allies' joint military exercises

July 18, 2019

China supplies 1,536 tons of refined oil to N. Korea in May: report

China exported 1,536 tons of refined oil to North Korea in May, according to its monthly report to a UN sanctions committee Thursday. The May figure brought China's cumulative supply of refined oil products to the North to 5,730 tons this year, the report posted on the website of the sanctions committee on North Korea showed. The cumulative figure is almost on a par with the 5,920 tons that China supplied to the North during the same period a year earlier.The amount represents about one-fourth o

July 18, 2019

US suspect in NK Embassy raid released on bail

SEOUL/LOS ANGELES -- A US citizen accused of involvement in a raid on the North Korean Embassy in Madrid in Feb. has been released on bail as he awaits a court trial on possible extradition to Spain. Christopher Ahn, a 38-year-old Korean-American and former Marine, was released Tuesday for a $1.3 million bail under the condition of home confinement. He was arrested in April following an extradition request from Spain, which has accused him and his anti-North Korea group of raiding and stealing c

July 18, 2019

N. Korea prioritizes security guarantee more than sanctions: think tank chief

North Korea seems to consider a security guarantee more important than sanctions relief in its denuclearization negotiations with the United States, a Seoul-based think tank chief has said.Lim Kang-taeg, head of the state-run Korea Institute for National Unification, made the remark during a meeting with reporters Tuesday, saying Pyongyang seems to have changed its strategy to bring the security guarantee issue to the forefront after the collapse of the Hanoi summit between its leader Kim Jong-u

July 17, 2019

US hopes N.Korea talks go ahead despite Pyongyang threat

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The United States said Tuesday it hoped to hold denuclearization talks with North Korea, despite a warning from Pyongyang that US-South Korean military exercises could affect their planned resumption. The North had earlier Tuesday hinted that it could even reconsider its moratorium on nuclear testing over next month's drills, which have been held for years but were scaled down to facilitate dialogue with Pyongyang.It was the first statement from the North on the talks since U

July 17, 2019

Trump says time is 'not of the essence' in handling N. Korea

US President Donald Trump has said that time is "not of the essence" in handling North Korea, amid concerns that renewed tensions over a planned South Korea-US military exercise could hamper the resumption of working-level nuclear talks with the regime.Trump made the remarks during a Cabinet meeting Tuesday where he also boasted of "tremendous progress" in his diplomacy with Pyongyang and predicted that "good things" will ultimately happen. The remarks came hours af

July 17, 2019

North Korea suggests it might lift weapons test moratorium

PYONGYANG (AP) -- North Korea on Tuesday suggested it might call off its 20-month suspension of nuclear and missile tests because of summertime US-South Korean military drills that the North calls preparation for an eventual invasion.The statement by the North's Foreign Ministry comes during a general deadlock in nuclear talks, but after an extraordinary meeting of the US and North Korean leaders at the Korean border that raised hopes that negotiations would soon resume.The comments ramp up pres

July 17, 2019

N. Korean envoy seems alive despite report of execution: S. Korea's spy agency

A North Korean nuclear negotiator, reported to have been executed as punishment for the failed summit in Hanoi with the United States, appears to be alive, South Korea‘s state intelligence agency told lawmakers here Tuesday.　Citing multiple sources, a Seoul-based newspaper reported in late May that the negotiator, Kim Hyok-chol, had been executed by gunshot in a purge by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un of some officials involved in preparations for his Hanoi meeting with US President Donal

July 16, 2019

NK says planned S. Korea-US military drill will affect working-level nuclear talks

North Korea warned Tuesday that the agreed-upon resumption of working-level nuclear talks with the United States would be affected if the US goes ahead with joint military exercises with South Korea.A spokesman of the North‘s foreign ministry made the remark, referring to the 19-2 Dong Maeng exercise slated for next month.The remark indicates the North could reconsider the agreement to resume working-level talks if the planned exercise takes place. The North has long denounced such exercis

July 16, 2019

Nearly half of N. Koreans suffer from undernourishment: UN report

Nearly half of North Korea's total population suffer from undernourishment, a recent UN report said as the impoverished country grapples with worsening food shortages. According to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2019 released by the Food and Agriculture Organization on Monday, the prevalence of undernourishment in North Korea's total population came to 47.8 percent from 2016 to 2018.The number is sharply up from the 2004-2006 period, where the comparable figure stood at 35

July 16, 2019

Pompeo hopes US, North Korea can be 'more creative' in nuclear talks

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday he hoped both North Korea and the United States could "be a little more creative" when the two sides restart talks aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.Speaking in a radio interview on "The Sean Hannity Show," Pompeo did not say when the negotiations would resume. At the end of June he had said it would likely happen "sometime in July... probably in the next two or three weeks." President Donald Trump m

July 16, 2019

Pyongyang promotes Kumgangsan tour program for foreigners

North Korea will resume its Kumgangsan tour program in late July, the country’s propaganda media outlet said Monday, in an apparent attempt to overcome the economic burden of the international sanctions.According to DPRK Today, the four-day tour program, which will run through the end of November, includes activities such as hiking, fishing and spa treatments. The treks will enable travelers to see natural wonders such as Manmulsang, a unique formation of cliffs and strangely shaped rocks;

July 15, 2019

Ex-CIA official advocates nuclear freeze for North Korea as next negotiation step

A nuclear freeze is the next "logical" option the United States could take in its negotiations with North Korea as it is impossible to resolve the nuclear issue in a "a single, one-step agreement," a former senior CIA official has said.In a Washington Post column on Sunday, former acting CIA director Michael Morell also stressed that a freeze, however, cannot be the end state of the negotiations and should require Pyongyang to declare all of its nuclear programs.  "

July 15, 2019

US waits for North Korea’s response on working-level nuclear talks

The US government is waiting for a response from North Korea after proposing to resume working-level negotiations on denuclearization this week, diplomatic sources said Sunday. North Korea has yet to give an answer to the offer made through a diplomatic channel last week. After their surprise meeting June 30 at the inter-Korean border, US President Donald Trump said he and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had agreed to resume working-level negotiations “within two to three weeks.&rdquo

July 14, 2019

Japan exported prohibited items to N. Korea: UN reports

Japan exported some strategic items and luxury goods to North Korea over the past several years in violation of international sanctions, UN reports have shown.According to 10 reports that the UN panel of experts wrote between 2010 and 2019, there have been multiple cases where restricted items, including sensitive equipment and luxury goods, have been shipped to North Korea from Japan despite UN sanctions. The revelation came at a time when Japan has accused the South of leaking sensitive indust

July 14, 2019