Joint railway survey to kick off Friday: ministry

The two Koreas have agreed to begin a joint inspection of cross-border railways this week, which involves the test-operation of trains on North Korean rail tracks, the Ministry of Unification said Wednesday. “The South and North agreed to start an 18-day joint inspection of the inter-Korean railway by moving about 2,600 kilometers along the North Korean section of the railway from Nov. 30,” the ministry said. The joint operation will be divided into two parts. The first part will involve a six-d

Nov. 28, 2018

N. Korea yet to answer Seoul's proposal to begin railway inspection this week

North Korea has yet to respond to South Korea's proposal to launch a joint railway inspection this week, the unification ministry said Wednesday.The South made the proposal on Monday after the U.N. Security Council granted a sanctions exemption for the field survey, but the North hasn't given a clear-cut response yet, ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun told a regular press briefing. (Yonhap)When a South Korean official asked about the offer during a meeting of liaison officers in the North's borde

Nov. 28, 2018

Additional sanction waivers necessary if Koreas to earnestly push for railway project: report

Additional sanctions exemptions are necessary if South and North Korea are to push in earnest for a project to modernize and reconnect their cross-border railways, a UN official was quoted as saying Wednesday.The reported remark by a Dutch diplomat leading the UN Security Council committee on North Korea sanctions means that a recent sanctions waiver granted by the council is limited to a joint railway survey the two Koreas are scheduled to undertake before launching the main construction. (Yonh

Nov. 28, 2018

N. Korea's titular leader arrives in Venezuela

North Korea's titular leader is in Venezuela to meet with top officials of the Southern American country for discussions on bilateral relations, the North's state media reported Wednesday.Kim Yong-nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People`s Assembly (left), arrives in Venezuela, Nov. 28 (Yonhap)Kim Yong-nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, arrived in Caracas on Monday for an official visit, according to the Korean Central News Agency. It did not provide d

Nov. 28, 2018

NK leader willing to allow nuke site inspection: source

WASHINGTON/SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has expressed a willingness to allow inspectors into the country's main nuclear complex, a senior diplomatic source said Tuesday, citing a message sent to US President Donald Trump.Kim earlier expressed a willingness to permanently shut down the site in Yongbyon if the US took "corresponding" measures, but his apparent offer to allow verification has not been reported. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (Yonhap)If true, Kim's offer would mark a si

Nov. 28, 2018

French official arrested on suspicion of spying for North Korea: report

A French official has been taken into custody on suspicion of spying for North Korea, a number of foreign media outlets reported Tuesday. According to reports citing unnamed French sources, Benoit Quennedey, an official with the French Senate, was arrested on suspicion of “collection and delivery of information to a foreign power likely to undermine the fundamental interests of the nation.” Benoit Quennedey. Screen captured from YouTubeQuennedey is said to be undergoing questioning by French int

Nov. 27, 2018

S. Korean aid group to visit N. Korea this week

South Korea has allowed a major aid group to visit North Korea this week to discuss ways to expand humanitarian aid to the impoverished country, the organization said Tuesday.The unification ministry gave the green light to the Seoul-based Korean Sharing Movement for 14 of its officials to visit North Korea for four days starting Wednesday, it said. (Yonhap)They plan to meet with North Korean officials to discuss future projects that could take off if international sanctions on the communist nat

Nov. 27, 2018

NK Foreign Minister’s Vietnam visit may include visit to SEZs: expert

North Korea’s foreign minister is reportedly scheduled to visit Vietnam later this week, with reports saying his intention is to learn more about the Southeast Asian country’s model of economic reform. But experts say Vietnam’s special economic zones may be even higher on the agenda. Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho will embark on a trip to Vietnam from Thursday to Sunday, a Vietnamese news agency reported Monday, citing Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry. The ministry added that Ri is to visit Vietnam at th

Nov. 27, 2018

Controversy erupts over US suspension of bomber missions over peninsula

　Controversy erupted Tuesday over a US general’s remarks that South Korea had asked the US Air Force to stop sending bombers over the Korean Peninsula in an effort to support ongoing diplomatic talks with North Korea. 　According to Agence France-Presse, US Pacific Air Forces Commander Gen. Charles Brown told Pentagon reporters Monday that US bombers are no longer conducting flights over South Korea, as Seoul has asked for such missions to be halted.  　While the Ministry of National Defense decli

Nov. 27, 2018

Govt. draws up five-year blueprint for developing relations with N. Korea

The government has put together a five-year blueprint for improving relations with North Korea and will report it to the National Assembly later this week, unification ministry officials said Tuesday.The Third Basic Plan for Developing Inter-Korean Relations lays out the objectives and directions of the government's policy on inter-Korean relations for 2018-2022. It will replace the second basic plan drawn up in 2013 during the administration of former President Park Geun-hye. (Yonhap)Officials

Nov. 27, 2018

N. Korea's sports minister in Japan for Olympics-related session

TOKYO -- North Korea's sports minister arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday to attend a meeting on the Olympics, local media reported.Kim Il-guk, who also serves as the president of the communist nation's Olympic Committee, plans to join the two-day session of the Association of National Olympic Committees to open in the Japanese capital on Wednesday. North Korea`s Sports Minister Kim Il-guk (Yonhap)The Japanese government allowed him to enter the country as an "exception" to far-reaching sanctions again

Nov. 27, 2018

State Department official suggests possibility of family reunions

A senior US State Department official has suggested the possibility of Korean-Americans holding reunions by video or phone with their long-lost loved ones in North Korea, a news report said Tuesday.Radio Free Asia reported that the unidentified State Department official talked about the possibility of such reunions during a phone call earlier this month with the head of the National Coalition of Divided Families, an association of Korean-Americans seeking to organize reunions with relatives in t

Nov. 27, 2018

Joint Korean handball team to have 4 soldier-athletes from North: coach

The joint Korean handball team at next year's men's world handball championships will have four solider-athletes from the North, the South's head coach said Tuesday.Cho Young-shin said that the four North Korean players who will join the joint Korean team are soldiers, and they will team up with 16 South Korean athletes at the 2019 World Men's Handball Championship, to be co-hosted by Germany and Denmark from Jan. 10-27. The South`s head coach Cho Young-shin. (Yonhap)The rosters are set at 16 pl

Nov. 27, 2018

S. Korea in talks with UNC for inter-Korean railway inspection: official

South Korea is in talks with the United Nations Command to prepare for a joint railway inspection with North Korea expected to take place later this week, a government official said Tuesday."Working-level consultations are underway with the UNC," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity. "We have proposed holding the joint railway survey to the North and are waiting for its answer now."The consultations with the UNC, which monitors the implementation of the Korean War truce, are nee

Nov. 27, 2018

Chinese agency sells Christmas tour programs to Pyongyang

A Chinese-based agency is selling tour programs to spend Christmas Day in North Korea's capital, Pyongyang.According to the website of Young Pioneer Tours, a three-day tour to Pyongyang sells for 475 pounds (US$608) and a four-day program, which also includes tours to the border city of Kaesong and the Demilitarized Zone bordering South Korea, sells for 595 pounds ($762). Pyongyang (Yonhap)The agency specializes in North Korea tourism. Late American student Otto Warmbier used one of its programs

Nov. 27, 2018

NK release of American detainee loses spotlight as nuclear talks stall

WASHINGTON -- The United States' low-key response to North Korea's latest return of a detained American citizen could partly be attributed to stuttering nuclear negotiations, analysts said Monday.Bruce Byron Lowrance was reportedly flown out of North Korea soon after the country's state media announced his deportation on Nov. 16.Lowrance was detained last month after illegally crossing the border with China under the direction of the US Central Intelligence Agency, according to the Korean Centra

Nov. 27, 2018

NK intensifies criticism against US, S. Korea over human rights issue

North Korea's media ramped up criticism of the United States and South Korea on Tuesday for joining the recent adoption of a United Nations resolution condemning the North's miserable human rights situation."Such irrational acts aimed at negating the other's dignity and regime and antagonizing it are bound to hinder improving bilateral relations and building mutual trust between North Korea and the US, with no help in moving things forward," Uriminzokkiri, a North Korean external propaganda outl

Nov. 27, 2018

Pro-NK newspaper casts doubt on Washington's intention over talks

A pro-North Korean newspaper in Japan said Monday that the United States' recent move to coordinate the pace of denuclearization dialogue and the inter-Korean cooperation raises doubt over whether Washington has a willingness to move nuclear talks with Pyongyang forward. South Korea and the US launched a working group last week for more systemic and frequent discussions on ways to deal with Pyongyang as the US expressed concerns about a possible mismatch of progress in denuclearization talks and

Nov. 26, 2018

US using human rights issue to draw concessions in nuclear negotiations: NK

North Korea’s state-run newspaper on Monday lambasted the US, claiming that the country has been using the communist nation’s human rights conditions as a means to draw concessions in denuclearization talks between the two countries. In a Korean-language commentary titled “Dissecting the US’ hideous intentions reflected in its complaints on human rights issues,” Rodong Sinmun mentioned the Human Rights Watch report released earlier this month, which had claimed there was widespread sexual violen

Nov. 26, 2018

Two Koreas discuss date for joint railway survey this week

South Korea has proposed to North Korea that the two countries begin a joint railway inspection by the end of this week, the South’s Ministry of Unification said Monday.“(The ministry) has acknowledged that there are ongoing discussions (regarding the joint survey on cross-border railways) this week,” Baik Tae-hyun, a ministry spokesman, told a regular press briefing. A test-operation of a train on a section of a cross-border railway running through the west coast of the Korean Peninsula in 2007

Nov. 26, 2018