Hyundai Group chief to visit Mount Kumgang for anniversary of suspended tour program

Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun will visit North Korea next week to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its long-suspended tourism program to a scenic North Korean mountain, a government official said Thursday.More than 100 South Koreans, including Hyundai executives, lawmakers, former officials and journalists, will visit Mount Kumgang on the North's east coast for two days from Sunday, according to the unification ministry official."The government approved their request for a visit to Mo

Nov. 15, 2018

N. Korea to resume int'l amateur golf competition next year: report

North Korea plans to resume its international golf championship for amateurs next year after a lapse of two years, American broadcaster Radio Free Asia said Thursday, citing a British tour agency.Britain's Lupine Travel reportedly told RFA that the Amateur Golf Open Pyongyang will take place at the Pyongyang Golf Club on the outskirts of the North's capital on Sept. 5-6, 2019. (Reuters)The North-organized amateur golf competition had been held annually since 2011 but stopped after its sixth even

Nov. 15, 2018

N. Korea's media ramp up criticism of S. Korea for military exercises

North Korea's media repeated its criticism of South Korea for carrying out military exercises on Thursday, calling them an "outright provocation" and "violation" of the inter-Korean agreement to halt hostility toward each other."The war training commotion by the warmongers is a grave violation of the agreement between the militaries of the North and the South that promised to completely halt hostilities toward each other," Uriminzokkiri, the North's external propaganda outlet, said in a commenta

Nov. 15, 2018

US, N. Korea expected to reschedule high-level talks soon: envoy

South Korea's ambassador to the United States said Wednesday that he expects the US and North Korea to soon reschedule last week's canceled high-level talks.The planned New York meeting between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his North Korean counterpart, Kim Yong-chol, was abruptly postponed due to what the US called scheduling issues. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (Yonhap)Ambassador Cho Yoon-je told reporters the US views the cancellation as a "postponement" and is in talks with the

Nov. 15, 2018

China eases enforcement of sanctions on N. Korea: US report

China has begun to ease the enforcement of sanctions on North Korea despite pledging to maintain pressure until the regime gives up its nuclear weapons program, a US Congress-related report showed Wednesday.The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission noted in its annual report that China had implemented sanctions more thoroughly than in the past between early 2017 and early 2018. (Yonhap)But there appeared to be an uptick in bilateral exchanges since the June summit between US President

Nov. 15, 2018

N. Korean officials arrive in S. Korea to attend int'l forum

A group of North Korean officials arrived in South Korea on Wednesday to attend an international forum and tour various local facilities.The five-member delegation is led by Ri Jong-hyok, vice chairman of the Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee. They arrived at Incheon International Airport in the evening."I am very pleased to step onto the South's soil at a historic time when North-South relations have entered a turning point," Ri told reporters upon arriving at the airport just west of Seoul. 

Nov. 14, 2018

Is North Korea deceiving US with ‘undeclared’ missile bases?

　A Washington think tank’s report about undeclared missile bases in North Korea has prompted debate over whether Pyongyang is keeping its promises to the US, with many commentators questioning how the controversy will affect denuclearization talks down the road.  　Beyond Parallel, a team that specializes in North Korea issues at the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said in its report published Monday that it has identified 13 out of an estimated 20 missile bases that Nort

Nov. 14, 2018

NK officials to arrive in S. Korea for peace forum

Seven North Korean officials were to arrive in South Korea late Wednesday to attend an international peace forum. The delegation includes Ri Jong-hyok, vice chairman of the Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, Kim Song-hye, director of the United Front Department’s tactical office, and five other North Korean officials, the Ministry of Unification said earlier this week. They plan to stay here from Wednesday to Saturday. Kim Song-hye, director of the North Korean United Front Department`s tactic

Nov. 14, 2018

N. Korea continuing nuclear, missile activity even after summit with US: Seoul

North Korea is presumed to be continuing nuclear and missile activity even after its first summit with the United States in June, South Korea's spy agency was quoted as saying Wednesday.The National Intelligence Service made the report during a closed-door meeting of the parliamentary intelligence committee, according to participants. The report came as the North's denuclearization process has made little headway in recent weeks, with the planned high-level talks between the US and the North can

Nov. 14, 2018

Koreas to hold meeting to discuss aviation cooperation

The two Koreas will hold a meeting later this week to discuss cooperation in the aviation sector, the unification ministry said Wednesday.The meeting will be held on Friday at the joint liaison office in the North's border town of Kaesong, according to the ministry.Son Myung-soo, a senior official of the transport ministry, will lead a South Korean delegation. His North Korean counterpart is Ri Yong-son, deputy director-general of the General Administration of Civil Aviation. Baik Tae-hyun, Unif

Nov. 14, 2018

S. Korea's envoy seeking to visit US to discuss instituting working group on NK

South Korea's top nuclear envoy is seeking to visit Washington as early as next week to discuss the launch of a "working group" with the United States for closer coordination on North Korea's denuclearization, diplomatic sources in Seoul said Wednesday.Seoul's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs Lee Do-hoon has been coordinating a schedule for talks with his US counterpart Stephen Biegun to fine-tune details over the formation of the dialogue channel.During Bie

Nov. 14, 2018

N. Korea to host int'l health and sports science fair Nov. 22-26

North Korea plans to open an international exhibition on health goods and sports science in Pyongyang next week, a media report said Wednesday.The "Pyongyang International Sci-Tech Exhibition: Health and Physical Culture" will be held at the Sci-Tech Complex in the North's capital from Nov. 22-26, according to the Korean Central News Agency."The exhibition will bring together over 100 units of the DPRK (North Korea) and different countries and regions. It will exhibit functional health goods, me

Nov. 14, 2018

Trump dismisses NYT report on N. Korea's hidden missile bases as 'inaccurate'

US President Donald Trump has dismissed a news report on North Korea's hidden missile bases as "inaccurate," amid growing skepticism over Pyongyang's willingness to follow through on its denuclearization commitment.Citing a report issued by Beyond Parallel, a group at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, The New York Times said earlier this week that the North is continuing its ballistic missile program at more than a dozen "undisclosed" sites identified in commercial satellite im

Nov. 14, 2018

Stalled nuclear negotiations to result in bleak outlook for inter-Korean projects: experts

With what seems like stalled nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang and signs of possible discord between Seoul and Washington on North Korea issues, experts forecast a cloudy outlook for inter-Korean cooperation projects. On Monday, the two Koreas held a second meeting of their joint roads research group for the modernization of cross-border roads, but failed to produce noteworthy results, such as dates for joint surveys of their roads.  Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon (Yonh

Nov. 13, 2018

Report about NK secret missile bases worsen prospect of denuclearization talks

With the United States and North Korea deadlocked over denuclearization negotiations since their first summit in Singapore, the prospect of future talks appears to have worsened following a report of what the US suspects to be undeclared missile sites in the North.Beyond Parallel, a team that specializes in North Korea issues at the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said in its report published Monday that it has identified 13 out of an estimated 20 missile operating bases

Nov. 13, 2018

N. Korean officials urged to closely study public sentiment in times of adversity

The official mouthpiece of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party on Tuesday urged its officials to pay closer attention to public sentiment.The Rodong Sinmun said in a front-page editorial that the ruling party's officials should respect their subordinates and ordinary people, particularly in times of adversity and hardship. "(Officials) should always fulfill the ethics of mixing with the people and sharing both joy and sorrow with them. There should never be a specialization of oneself, formality

Nov. 13, 2018

Report of NK's 'undisclosed' missile bases not new, S. Korea says

SEOUL/WASHINGTON -- South Korea's presidential office on Tuesday played down a new report on North Korea's "undisclosed" missile sites, saying the state intelligence communities of South Korea and the United States earlier acquired relevant information.Cheong Wa Dae added that it's going too far to call the North's continued activity a "great deception" given that it has no specific agreement to dismantle or disclose the facilities mentioned in the report issued by Beyond Parallel, a group at th

Nov. 13, 2018

S. Korean women's football league fails to hold All-Star Game with N. Korea

South Korea's women's football body said Monday it failed to reach an agreement with North Korea on holding a women's football league All-Star Game. The Korea Women's Football Federation, which governs the WK League, South Korea's top women's football league, said it planned to stage the WK League All-Star Game with a North Korean team, but the two sides failed to narrow their differences. North Korean and South Korean women`s football team during match, February 29, 2016 (Yonhap)"Following the

Nov. 13, 2018

[Newsmaker] Complete dismantlement of 20 guard posts in DMZ underway

With the two Koreas’ militaries completing the withdrawal of troops and firearms from frontline guard posts over the weekend, the work is underway to destroy 20 guard posts in the spirit of continuing inter-Korean reconciliation. The South Korean Army said Monday that it had begun destroying 10 guard posts on the southern side of the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone. The dismantling work will be completed by the end of November and followed by a verification process in December.The two Korea

Nov. 12, 2018

Unification Minister’s US trip aims to create consensus on inter-Korean ties: expert

Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon will embark on a trip to the US on Tuesday, feeding speculation that Seoul plans to make more direct efforts to create a consensus among US lawmakers and the public on inter-Korean relations. Cho will visit Washington, DC, and New York from Tuesday to Saturday to attend the 2018 Korea Global Forum and meet with US government officials and lawmakers, according to the Ministry of Unification. The forum is hosted annually by the Unification Ministry.  Unificatio

Nov. 12, 2018