Lee Dae-jun’s family files criminal complaint against ex-Moon officials

The family of Lee Dae-jun, a South Korean fisheries official killed by North Korean soldiers at sea in 2020, on Wednesday filed a criminal complaint against national security and civil affairs officials of former President Moon Jae-in’s Cheong Wa Dae. Kim Ki-yun, an attorney working with the family, told reporters outside Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office that three ex-Cheong Wa Dae officials were reported to prosecutors for suspicions of obstruction of the execution of of

June 22, 2022

[Herald Interview] ‘Penalties need to specifically affect Kim Jong-un for deterrence’

South Korea and the US’ deterrence against North Korea’s missile and nuclear threats have been too weak, and the allies should impose stronger penalties that specifically affect Kim Jong-un to deter provocations, says US defense expert Bruce Bennett. This year alone, North Korea staged 19 arms demonstrations, and its seventh nuclear test is also seen to be imminent. South Korea and the US have repeatedly issued strong warnings to North Korea, but few experts think that there w

June 22, 2022

N. Korea holds party meeting to discuss ‘crucial, urgent’ tasks for military buildup

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un convened the first meeting of the Central Military Commission in one year to discuss and decide on “crucial and urgent tasks” to bolster its military, the state media reported Wednesday. The third enlarged meeting of the eighth Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea kicked off Tuesday, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said. The first and second meetings were held respectively in February and June 2021. Members of t

June 22, 2022

N. Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases stay below 20,000 for 4th day: state media

North Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases remained below 20,000 for the fourth consecutive day, according to its state media Wednesday. More than 15,260 people showed symptoms of fever over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters. It did not provide information on whether additional deaths have been reported. As of last Wednesday, the death toll remained at 73,

June 22, 2022

Unification Minister to push to launch long-delayed N.Korean human rights foundation

South Korea’s Unification Minister will push to expeditiously establish a North Korean human rights foundation which has been postponed for more than six years, but he also clarified that the government will not use the human rights issue as a means to apply pressure on the Kim Jong-un regime. Unification Minister Kwon Young-se on Tuesday proposed the priority issues he aims to resolve during his term, speaking at his first news conference since his inauguration in May. Kwon’s go

June 21, 2022

Yoon says his administration may revisit 2019 deportation of two North Korean fishermen

South Korea may revisit another controversial North Korea decision made during the Moon Jae-in administration, President Yoon Suk-yeol hinted Tuesday.  Speaking to reporters, Yoon said his administration may look into the 2019 repatriation of two North Korean fishermen who sailed into South Korean waters. The two, aged 22 and 23, said they wished to defect to South Korea in handwritten statements. In less than five days of their capture, South Korea deported both after concluding they

June 21, 2022

N. Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases stay below 20,000 for 3rd day: state media

North Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases remained below 20,000 for the third consecutive day, according to its state media Tuesday. More than 17,250 people showed symptoms of fever over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters. It did not provide information on whether additional deaths have been reported. As of last Wednesday, the death toll stood at 73, with

June 21, 2022

[Herald Interview] Moon sided with North Korea, says wife of man shot dead by North’s troops

The widow of Lee Dae-jun, a South Korean fisheries official killed and burned by North Korean troops in 2020 at sea, said the Moon Jae-in administration seemed more sympathetic toward the North than the bereaved family. In a phone interview with The Korea Herald on Sunday, Lee’s widow Kwon Young-mi said the family had often felt the previous administration was “siding with North Korea.” Over the weekend, the Democratic Party of Korea’s leadership hit back at the rece

June 20, 2022

N. Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases stay below 20,000 for 2nd day: state media

North Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases remained below 20,000 for the second consecutive day, according to its state media Monday. More than 18,820 people showed symptoms of fever over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters. It did not provide information on whether additional deaths have been reported. As of last Wednesday, the death toll stood at 73, with

June 20, 2022

N. Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases fall below 20,000

North Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases dropped below 20,000, according to its state media Sunday. More than 19,310 people showed symptoms of fever over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters. It did not provide information on whether additional deaths have been reported. As of Wednesday, the death toll stood at 73, with a fatality rate of 0.002 percent. The

June 19, 2022

Family of South Korean man killed by North Korea slams Moon admin’s defection claims

The family of the South Korean man who was shot dead in 2020 by North Korean troops at sea on Friday accused the preceding Moon Jae-in administration and the then-ruling Democratic Party of Korea of “insisting without evidence” that the deceased had tried to defect to the North. A day earlier, the Coast Guard and the Ministry of Defense corrected their earlier determination that Lee Dae-jun, a Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official, sought a North Korea defection. The mari

June 17, 2022

US conveys concerns over N.Korean nuclear test to China during high-level talks

The United States conveyed its concern to China over a possible North Korean nuclear test during the recent high-level bilateral talks, top White House officials said on Thursday. US national security advisor Jake Sullivan and top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi met on Monday in Luxembourg and discussed regional and global security issues and key pending issues in US-China relations. Speaking at an online event hosted by the Washington-based Center for a New American Security, Sullivan said a m

June 17, 2022

NK leader's sister sends medicine to patients with new infectious disease: KCNA

Key aides to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, including his sister, have donated medicine to help people stricken with a new infectious disease in the country's southwestern region, according to Pyongyang's state media Friday. Kim Yo-jong, the leader's younger sister who serves as vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), and other leading officials asked the "primary Party committees of their departments to send medicines

June 17, 2022

N. Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases below 30,000 for 3rd day: state media

North Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases remained below 30,000 for the third consecutive day, its state media said Friday. More than 23,160 people showed symptoms of fever over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day, the official Korean Central News Agency said, citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters. It did not provide information on whether additional deaths have been reported. As of Wednesday, the death toll stood at 73, with a fatality rate of 0.

June 17, 2022

‘Not defection’: Coast Guard U-turns on South Korean man’s killing by North Korea

INCHEON -- South Korea’s Coast Guard on Thursday reversed its earlier assertion that South Korean government worker Lee Dae-jun, who was killed by North Korean soldiers at sea nearly two years ago, was attempting to defect to the North.　 “After a comprehensive investigation, we have failed to find any evidence to believe that the official had intended to defect to North Korea,” said Park Sang-chun, chief of the Incheon Coast Guard, in a news conference. He offered his condo

June 16, 2022

Signs of reenabling another tunnel detected at N.Korean nuclear test site: CSIS

North Korea appears to be at work to reactivate another unused tunnel at the Punggye-ri nuclear testing site, and has completed preparations for an oft-speculated nuclear test in Tunnel No. 3, a Washington-based think tank said Wednesday. Commercial satellite images acquired Tuesday show new indications of construction activity below the entrance to Tunnel No. 4 at the nuclear test site in Punggye-ri in Kilju County of North Hamgyong Province. A new caisson wall is under construction and cons

June 16, 2022

New infectious disease outbreak reported in N. Korea; leader Kim sends medicine: KCNA

North Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases recorded remained below 30,000, while the country reported an outbreak of an "acute enteric epidemic" in its southwestern region Thursday. More than 26,010 people showed symptoms of fever over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters. It reported one additional death, with the death toll rising to 73. The count

June 16, 2022

N. Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases under 30,000 for 2nd day: state media

North Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases remained under 30,000 for the second consecutive day, its state media said Thursday. More than 26,010 people showed symptoms of fever over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters. It reported one additional death, with the death toll standing at 73. The total number of fever cases since late April came to over 4.55 mill

June 16, 2022

N. Korea slams US-led security pacts, upcoming RIMPAC exercise as tools for hegemony

North Korea on Wednesday accused the United States of campaigning to maintain its hegemony in the Indo-Pacific region and putting it in jeopardy of conflicts via its regional security initiatives and upcoming multinational maritime training. In a post on the foreign ministry's website, Ri Myong-hak, a researcher at the ministry-affiliated Institute for Disarmament and Peace, took aim particularly at the US-led Quad forum involving India, Australia and Japan, as well as AUKUS, a trilateral s

June 15, 2022

US extends North Korea national emergency declaration

US President Joe Biden on Monday continued to declare a national emergency concerning North Korea on the grounds of its nuclear and missile threats, extending sanctions against the regime. Separately the same day, the United Nations called for relaxing sanctions on Pyongyang to enable COVID-related assistance. In a message sent to Congress, Biden said the risk posed by North Korea of proliferation of weapons-usable fissile material on the Korean Peninsula “continue to constitute an unusu

June 14, 2022