N. Korean leader calls for expanding war deterrence in more 'offensive' way: KCNA

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called for expanding his country's war deterrence in a more "practical and offensive" manner, state media said Tuesday, in response to joint military drills by South Korea and the United States. Kim made the remarks while presiding over an enlarged meeting of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea on Monday, according to the Korean Central News Agency. Kim raised the need to expand the North's war deterre

April 11, 2023

N. Korea again unresponsive to daily phone call via inter-Korean liaison line: ministry

North Korea again did not respond to daily morning calls with South Korea through an inter-Korean liaison communication channel Monday, according to Seoul's unification ministry. The North was unresponsive to routine opening calls at 9 a.m. after it stopped answering calls from the South on Friday morning, according to the ministry. Calls from the liaison hotline do not take place on weekends. The two Koreas are supposed to hold phone calls twice a day, at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., via their joint

April 10, 2023

Inter-Korean military hotlines go unanswered for three days

North Korea has refused to take regularly held, inter-Korean, military-to-military calls from South Korea for three days without explanation, South Korea’s Defense Ministry said Sunday morning. The two Koreas hold calls twice a day, in the morning and afternoon, via liaison and military hotlines. But North Korea has stopped answering regular calls across all inter-Korean communication channels since Friday morning. Inter-Korean military hotlines -- which operate at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. seven

April 9, 2023

N. Korea conducted another test of underwater nuclear-capable attack drone this week

North Korea said Saturday it carried out another test of an underwater nuclear-capable attack drone this week, proving the weapon system's reliability and "fatal" striking capability. The North tested the Haeil-2 underwater strategic weapon system from April 4-7, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). "The system will serve as an advantageous and prospective military potential of the armed forces of the DPRK essential for containing all evolving military actions

April 8, 2023

Inter-Korean hotlines go dead amid tensions

North Korea did not answer the daily routine calls South Korea makes using its military and nonmilitary hotlines -- another sign that inter-Korean tensions have been escalating quickly as the North accuses the South and its biggest ally, the US, of ramping up tensions with their annual military drills. The Unification Ministry in Seoul, which handles the nonmilitary lines, confirmed Friday that Pyongyang had not picked up the calls, made once each in the morning and afternoon, saying assessment

April 7, 2023

Nuclear envoys urge repatriation of NK workers abroad

The chief nuclear envoys from South Korea, the US and Japan called on the international community and countries employing North Korean workers to help repatriate them as per United Nations Security Council resolutions preventing their overseas income from bankrolling the North’s nuclear and missile programs. At a regular meeting held in person in Seoul on Friday, South Korean chief nuclear negotiator Kim Gunn, his US counterpart Sung Kim and Japanese counterpart Takehiro Funakoshi undersco

April 7, 2023

Cables show NK tried to undermine US amid efforts for Korean peace

North Korea had sought to undermine the US-led United Nations Command and joint military exercises between US and South Korea, the two biggest deterrents preventing the North’s potential attacks, amid efforts for peace on the Korean Peninsula, according to the latest diplomatic cables released Thursday. The declassified papers made public by the Foreign Ministry in Seoul to update the public on events dating to 30 years ago showed the North had asked US allies and partners to remove their

April 6, 2023

Dossier reveals accounts of 1st high-level diplomacy between N. Korea, US

The South Korean government on Thursday made public newly declassified documents on the first-ever senior-level diplomacy in 1992 between the United States and North Korea, offering a glimpse into the diplomatic tug-of-war over the North's nuclear program. The set of mostly 1992 diplomatic documents, spanning some 360,000 pages, highlights accounts of discussions between Washington and Pyongyang amid the then reconciliatory mood fueled over the Korean Peninsula following the adoption of the

April 6, 2023

N. Korea slams UNHRC's adoption of resolution on its human rights as 'document of fraud'

North Korea on Thursday condemned the latest adoption of a resolution by the United Nations Human Rights Council that denounced the North's human rights violations as "the most heavily politicized document of fraud." Han Tae-song, the North's permanent representative to the UN office in Geneva, said his country "categorically" rejected the UN resolution as an "intolerable act of political provocation and hostility," according to the Korean Central News Age

April 6, 2023

NK journalists summoned to Pyongyang, urged to become ‘loyal spokespersons’

North Korea held a rare conference of the national union of journalists earlier this week for the first time in 22 years to discuss ways to strengthen state-controlled media’s role as a propaganda tool to “maximize the effectiveness of indoctrination and ideological penetration,” state media reported Wednesday. The purpose of the Kim Jong-un regime summoning its journalists to Pyongyang was clear. Journalists in the country with the worst press freedom in the world were urged t

April 5, 2023

N. Korea holds conference of journalists' union for 1st time in 22 years

North Korea held a conference of its journalists' union earlier this week for the first time in 22 years and urged its members to become "devoted spokespeople" of the ruling Workers' Party, state media reported Wednesday. The 9th conference of the Journalists Union of Korea took place in Pyongyang on Monday and Tuesday, joined by top state media officials, including Ri Chun-hee, the iconic news presenter for Korean Central TV, according to the Korean Central News Agency. Duri

April 5, 2023

S. Korea, US, Japan nuclear envoys to discuss N. Korea

The chief nuclear envoys from South Korea, the US and Japan will discuss North Korea on Friday at a regular in-person meeting to adjust their policy on denuclearization, amid the North’s repeated rejection of peace efforts by the three-way coalition. The gathering in Seoul, usually held every three months on a rotational basis from Tokyo to Jakarta, is expected to present a more united front as Pyongyang continues to threaten to use nuclear weapons as long as South Korea and its biggest al

April 4, 2023

N.Korea urges US to extradite raider of its embassy in Spain

North Korea urged the US to extradite Christopher Ahn, a former US Marine accused of raiding the North Korean Embassy in Madrid, to Spain in a press statement issued Tuesday. Ahn was among a group of people associated with the Free Korea organization opposed to the North Korean regime. The group staged a break-in at the North Korean Embassy in February 2019 and escaped with computer drives, a cellphone and other digital files, which they later handed over to the FBI. Since Ahn was arrested in Lo

April 4, 2023

Indonesian foreign minister attends Iftar in Seoul

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi (front row, center) attended the Iftar dinner hosted by Indonesian Ambassador Gandi Sulistiyanto (front row, fourth from right) in Yeouido, Seoul, last Wednesday. Iftar is a meal taken by Muslims at sunset to break the daily fast during Ramadan. Marsudi was in Seoul to attend the 2nd Summit for Democracy, the Indo-Pacific Regional Anti-Corruption Meeting and the 4th Indonesia-Korea Joint Commission Meeting (JCM). The dinner was followed by an informal

April 4, 2023

N. Korea repeats nuclear threat as S. Korea steps up joint drills

North Korea reiterated Sunday that it was serious about its warning that it would use nuclear weapons against South Korea if its annual military exercises with the US continued, calling them “provocations” warranting countermeasures. In a dispatch by the North’s official Rodong Sinmun, North Korea blamed higher inter-Korean tension on an “obsession with war” that is now close to a climax as the two allies stage their largest amphibious landing drills in years. The

April 2, 2023

US says Russia seeks munitions from NK in exchange for food

The US authorities announced on Thursday that Russia is pursuing a plan to secure additional ammunition in exchange for food to North Korea, targeting a Slovak national arms dealer with sanctions for allegedly facilitating the exchange of goods between Russia and North Korea. In a briefing with reporters, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said, “We remain concerned that North Korea will provide further support and Russia’s military operations against Ukraine and we ha

March 31, 2023

Seoul lifts lid on once-classified N. Korea human rights reports

The South Korean government will release a comprehensive report on human rights abuses and violations committed in North Korea, ranging from human experimentation to the public execution of pregnant women, for the first time on Friday. Since the enactment of the North Korean Human Rights Acts in 2016, the Korean government has published classified state reports on the human rights situation in North Korea. The reports were not open to public for years during the liberal-leaning Moon Jae-in admin

March 30, 2023

US will continue building defense capabilities against N. Korean nuclear threats: Kirby

WASHINGTON-- The United States will continue to build its defense capabilities against North Korea's evolving nuclear threats, a US National Security Council spokesperson said Tuesday, noting the North continues to ignore US overtures for dialogue. John Kirby, NSC coordinator for strategic communications, also highlighted the importance of joint South Korea-US military exercises. "We are well aware that Kim Jong-un continues to fire off missiles and he continues to try to improve the

March 29, 2023

Kim Jong-un reveals nuclear warhead, calls for more weapons-grade material

For the first time, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un revealed his country’s nuclear warhead in person alongside a system meant to manage such operations, saying the regime needs an “exponentially bigger” nuclear arsenal amid potential preparations for a nuclear test. The North’s official Korea Central News Agency said Tuesday that on the previous day, Kim inspected new tactical nuclear weapons as well as technologies needed to make compatible all weaponry, including nuclea

March 28, 2023

NK human right violations must be 'fully exposed': Yoon

President Yoon Suk Yeol said Tuesday that his administration will "fully expose" North Korea's human rights violations to the international community in its first human rights report on the reclusive regime to be released soon. Presiding over a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning, Yoon said, “The reality of North Korean people's gruesome human rights violations must be fully exposed to the international community.” He did not elaborate on when the report will be pu

March 28, 2023