NK media reports on sports talks with Seoul, omits outcome

North Korea’s state media on Saturday reported on the country’s sports talks with South Korea a day earlier but didn’t mention the outcome of the meeting. North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency reported that sports talks were held at the joint liaison office in the North’s border town of Kaesong for “implementing the historic September Pyongyang Joint Declaration.” South Korea’s Vice Sports Minister Roh Tae-kang (right) and his North Korean counterpart, Won Kil-u shake hands at the joint liais

Nov. 3, 2018

Trump cites N. Korea’s invitation of inspectors as progress

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump remained optimistic about the prospects of North Korea’s denuclearization, citing the regime’s invitation of outside inspectors to its nuclear and missile sites.Speaking Thursday at a midterm election campaign rally in Missouri, Trump mentioned the fact that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has committed to allowing international inspectors into the nuclear testing site in Punggye-ri and the missile engine testing facility in Dongchang-ri. US President Dona

Nov. 3, 2018

Koreas agree to formally inform IOC of intent to co-host 2032 Olympics

South Korea and North Korea agreed on Friday to inform the International Olympic Committee formally of their intention to co-host the 2032 Summer Games.The two sides reached that agreement during their sports talks in the North's border town of Kaesong. Following their first sports talks in four months, the Koreas issued a joint communique, detailing other areas of cooperation. (Yonhap)The Koreas said they will try to field a joint team at next year's men's handball world championships.The Korea

Nov. 2, 2018

Koreas resume exchanging information on illegal fishing near sea border

South and North Korea exchanged information on foreign boats illegally fishing through their military communication line for the first time in about 10 years Friday, Seoul's defense ministry said.The information was shared at around 9 a.m. through their military communication line on the vessels illegally fishing around the Northern Limit Line, the de facto sea border between the two Koreas, according to the ministry. (Yonhap)The move is part of efforts to enforce the agreement their military au

Nov. 2, 2018

Two international taekwondo bodies agree to create joint organization for integration

PYONGYANG -- Two international taekwondo bodies on Friday agreed to establish a joint organization for their integration after holding talks in Pyongyang.World Taekwondo, led by South Korean Choue Chung-won, and the International Taekwondo Federation, headed by North Korean Ri Yong-son, signed an agreement at the Yanggakdo International Hotel in Pyongyang that calls for forming a joint organization to integrate taekwondo.The 49-member WT delegation, including the all-South Korean taekwondo demon

Nov. 2, 2018

Kim Jong-un’s health good despite family history of diabetes, high blood pressure: lawmaker

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s health is in relatively good condition, though he has a family history of diabetes and high blood pressure, according to lawmakers briefed by South Korea’s spy agency. (Yonhap)The National Intelligence Service has used 3-D video analysis designed to monitor changes in a person’s body to check Kim’s condition for years, its official told lawmakers at a briefing to the parliamentary intelligence committee earlier this week. The NIS is also analyzing a soil sample

Nov. 2, 2018

Liaison office chiefs from 2 Koreas hold meeting

The South Korean and North Korean heads of the inter-Korean liaison office met Friday after a month of no-shows by the North Korean side, amid delays in some of their cross-border projects. 　Unification Vice Minister Chun Hae-sung and his North Korean counterpart, Jon Jong-su, held an hourlong meeting at the liaison office in North Korea’s border city of Kaesong to discuss a wide range of issues concerning inter-Korean relations, according to Seoul’s Unification Ministry.　The two sides reaffirme

Nov. 2, 2018

N. Korea slams Japan over UN human rights resolution

North Korea's media lambasted Japan on Friday for submitting a new UN human rights resolution against its regime, saying that it is a plot to tarnish the North's reputation and kill its socialist system.In a commentary, the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North's ruling party, also emphasized that Pyongyang would not give in to any such outside pressure."The North Korean human rights resolution fabrication scheme is the outcome of a plot and a criminal trick to tarnish our republic'

Nov. 2, 2018

S. Korean delegation departs for sports talks with N. Korea

A South Korean delegation departed for sports talks with North Korea on Friday to discuss ways to cooperate on future Olympic Games. South Korean Vice Sports Minister Roh Tae-kang will meet his North Korean counterpart Won Kil-u with other officials at the joint liaison office in the North's border town of Kaesong. The meeting will start at 10 a.m.South Korean Vice Sports Minister Roh Tae-kang (right) shaking hands with North Korean Vice Sports Minister Won Kil-u (Yonhap)The two sides will discu

Nov. 2, 2018

S. Korea analyzing soil sample from NK's nuclear test site: lawmakers

South Korea's spy agency is analyzing a soil sample collected from around North Korea's nuclear test site, which Pyongyang demolished in May, lawmakers said Friday.In a briefing to the parliamentary intelligence committee this week, the National Intelligence Service also said it is monitoring North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's health through a 3-D video analysis program, according to the committee members. (Yonhap)"The NIS has asked outside experts to look into soil that was collected right after

Nov. 2, 2018

US says sanctions on N. Korea will remain in place

WASHINGTON -- The United States said Thursday that sanctions on North Korea will remain in place until it gives up its nuclear weapons program, remarks following North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sharp rebuke of "vicious sanctions."The two sides have been working to implement a deal reached by US President Donald Trump and Kim to achieve "complete" denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.North Korea is reportedly seeking sanctions relief in return."President Trump has been very clear that sanct

Nov. 2, 2018

Koreas to hold meeting of liaison office chiefs

South and North Korea will hold a meeting of liaison office chiefs for the first time in about a month on Friday, a unification ministry official said Thursday.(Yonhap)Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung and his North Korean counterpart, Jon Jong-su, will meet at around 10 a.m. at the liaison office in the North's border town of Kaesong, according to the official. Chun and Jon, the co-heads of the office, last met on Sept. 28.When the office was launched in mid-September, they agreed to meet

Nov. 1, 2018

Eight years on, artillery sound silenced on Yeonpyeong Island

YEONPYEONGDO, Incheon -- When North Korean artillery shells slammed into a residential area on the island of Yeonpyeongdo in 2010, the barrage of fire blew up houses, reducing them to smoldering ruins. Four people died and dozens more were injured in the North’s first attack on civilians since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. Among the victims were Marines serving at the Yeonpyeongdo artillery unit, which fired back toward the North’s western artillery bases. Eight years later, the two Koreas

Nov. 1, 2018

[Herald Interview] Carrying on the sunshine legacy

The first-ever inter-Korean summit in 2000 changed the course of history for the Korean Peninsula. Efforts to mend ties with North Korea by then-South Korean President Kim Dae-jung were recognized by the world, and earned him the Nobel Peace Prize – and today, his youngest son is seeking to continue his father’s legacy.“My late father in 1998 wanted to create a platform for civilian exchange between the South and the North, at a time when the two governments lacked any form of exchange,” Kim Hon

Nov. 1, 2018

NK leader lambastes sanctions, inspects key economic zone

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un criticized international sanctions against his regime, pledging to prove to “hostile forces” that his country is capable of growing into a powerful nation, the North’s media reported Thursday. “The hostile forces are foolishly keen on vicious sanctions to stand in our way toward promotion of the people’s wellbeing and development and to lead us to change and submission,” the Korean Central News Agency quoted Kim as saying during a trip to the Wonsan-Kalma tourist

Nov. 1, 2018

N. Korean websites condemn US for intervening in inter-Korean cooperation

North Korea's propaganda media on Thursday hurled criticism at the United States for intervening in inter-Korean affairs.Uriminzokkiri, a website controlled by the Pyongyang government, said in a commentary that unreasonable interference by foreign forces should be thoroughly resisted. (Yonhap)"The problem is that the United States speaks openly about peace guarantee on the Korean Peninsula and support for improvement in inter-Korean relations but its behavior is contradictory in practice," said

Nov. 1, 2018

Sexual abuse accepted as part of ordinary life in N. Korea: report

Sexual abuse against women by officials in positions of authority has come to be part of ordinary life in North Korea, a human rights watchdog said Thursday, calling on Seoul to address human rights abuses in its negotiations with Pyongyang. 　The 86-page report by the US-based Human Rights Watch details how North Korean women engaged in trade and market activities and detained in prison camps have become easy targets for men in positions of power on the back of pervasive gender discrimination. 　

Nov. 1, 2018

NK human rights resolution submitted to UN panel

The South Korean government said Thursday it supports a new North Korean human rights resolution submitted to a UN panel.The Third Committee is expected to pass the resolution by consensus and forward it to a UN General Assembly session for a vote next month, according to Kim Deuk-hwan, deputy spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.If it's adopted, it would mark the 14th straight year for the UN to condemn the communist nation's human rights abuse in writing. (Reuters)This year's resoluti

Nov. 1, 2018

N. Korean leader criticizes sanctions

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has criticized international sanctions on his regime, blasting "hostile forces" for attempting to hamper its efforts to improve the lives of its people, the North's state media reported Thursday.Kim made the accusation during a trip to a construction site of the Wonsan-Kalma tourist area on the North's east coast, according to the Korean Central News Agency. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (second from left) speaking during his trip to a construction site in Wonsa

Nov. 1, 2018

Koreas halt all 'hostile' military acts near border

The armed forces of South and North Korea are at the forefront of the peace process with the implementation of a bilateral confidence-building pact Thursday, the South's top military officer said.The two sides ceased all "hostile acts" against each other along the border -- land, sea and air -- as of the start of the day in accordance with the comprehensive military agreement, Army Gen. Park Han-ki, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters, as he toured Yeonpyeong Island, just south

Nov. 1, 2018