US and 9 other UNSC members condemn N. Korean missile launch, urge Pyongyang to engage

The United States and nine other member countries of the UN Security Council on Monday condemned North Korea's recent missile launch while urging Pyongyang to engage in sustained dialogue. The call came in a joint press conference that followed a closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss issues including North Korea's latest missile test. "The DPRK's February 27 (local time) launch of a ballistic missile is yet another example of the DPRK's recent pattern of destabilizing be

March 1, 2022

N. Korea says it conducted “important test” for developing spy satellite

North Korea on Monday said it conducted an “important test” for developing a spy satellite, which the country’s leader Kim Jong-un previously pointed to as a key task in its defense development plan. North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency said the National Aerospace Development Administration and the Academy of Defense Science “conducted an important test Sunday under the plan of developing a reconnaissance satellite.” The test confirmed the &ld

Feb. 28, 2022

NK missile launch aimed at gaining attention amid Ukraine crisis: defense minister

North Korea's ballistic missile launch this week appears aimed at demonstrating its policy line of "power for power" and grabbing global attention amid the armed conflict in Ukraine, South Korea's defense minister said Monday. Suh Wook made the remarks during a hastily assembled meeting of top commanders, following Sunday's missile launch that the North claimed to be a test for developing a "reconnaissance satellite." Pyongyang unveiled its policy principle of "power for

Feb. 28, 2022

NK officials pledge to shore up 'shortcomings' in carrying out ruling party tasks

Participants in an ongoing gathering of North Korea's ruling party officials have acknowledged "shortcomings" in implementing party tasks and pledged to improve them, Pyongyang's state media reported Monday. The 2nd Conference of Secretaries of Primary Committees of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), the first since late 2016, opened Saturday, as the North appears intent to tighten discipline and unity among party ranks amid economic woes aggravated by sanctions and pandemic-driven res

Feb. 28, 2022

N. Korea claims to have conducted test of 'reconnaissance satellite' seen as ballistic missile

North Korea claimed Monday to have carried out an "important test" for developing a "reconnaissance satellite" despite South Korea's characterization of it as a ballistic missile launch. Sunday's test came amid concerns the North could fire a long-range rocket under the disguise of a satellite launch or conduct other provocative acts following its veiled threat last month to suspend its voluntary moratorium on nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests. &qu

Feb. 28, 2022

Top S. Korean, US nuclear envoys discuss N. Korea's missile launch

Senior South Korean and US government officials handling North Korea affairs had phone consultations Sunday on Pyongyang's latest missile test, Seoul's foreign ministry said. Noh Kyu-duk, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, and his American counterpart Sung Kim shared their assessments of the North's move and expressed "deep concern and regret," it said. Earlier in the day, the North lobbed a ballistic missile into the East Sea in its eighth show of

Feb. 27, 2022

NSC holds emergency meeting over N. Korea's launch of unidentified projectile

The presidential National Security Council (NSC) on Sunday expressed grave regret over North Korea's launch of a ballistic missile, calling for Pyongyang to immediately stop acts that threaten peace on the Korean Peninsula. National security adviser Suh Hoon presided over the NSC meeting, shortly after North Korea fired a suspected ballistic missile that marked the North's eighth show of force this year. NSC members "expressed deep concern and grave regret over North Korea's launch of a b

Feb. 27, 2022

N. Korea fires unidentified projectile eastward: S. Korean military

North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Sunday, South Korea's military said, in the recalcitrant regime's eighth show of force this year. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launch from around the Sunan area in Pyongyang at 7:52 a.m., and that the missile flew about 300 kilometers at a top altitude of 620 km. The latest launch, the first in just under a month, came 10 days ahead of South Korea's presidential election and amid the armed conflict in Ukraine

Feb. 27, 2022

Xi expresses gratitude to NK leader over congratulatory Olympic messages

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has expressed gratitude for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's messages about the Beijing Winter Olympics and voiced hopes for developing the two nation's friendly ties, the North's state media said Saturday. Xi sent a letter Monday to the North's leader to deliver his thanks to Kim for having sent congratulatory messages for the opening and the "successful" closing of the Winter Games, according to the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Xi said Kim's

Feb. 26, 2022

N. Korea ranked one of worst countries for political rights and civil liberties: report

North Korea has been rated as one of the worst countries in terms of freedom, a recent report by a US-funded freedom watchdog showed Friday. In an annual Freedom House report titled, "Freedom in the World 2022," the North received a combined freedom score of 3 out of 100 -- zero points for political rights and 3 points for civil liberties. It ranked only above Turkmenistan at 2 points, and South Sudan and Syria with just 1 point each among 195 countries assessed by the organization. Th

Feb. 25, 2022

Vietnam monitoring bank accounts of N. Korean embassy employees: report

The Vietnamese government is closely monitoring bank accounts of North Koreans in the country as part of efforts to implement UN sanctions against Pyongyang, an international organization's report showed Thursday. The Southeast Asian country has taken proactive measures against Pyongyang's activities prohibited under UN Security Council sanctions, according to an evaluation report on Vietnam's steps to combat money laundering released by the Financial Action Task Force. Based in Paris, the organ

Feb. 24, 2022

Next president should take ‘consistent approach’ to NK human rights: UN expert

A UN expert on Wednesday called on the next South Korean president to take a “consistent approach” to North Korean human rights issues, pointing to the Moon Jae-in government’s decision to stop co-sponsoring a UN resolution as a bad precedent. Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, underscored that the next South Korean government should maintain consistency in dealing with North Kore

Feb. 23, 2022

Gangwon governor bets again on Olympics for inter-Korean rapprochement

PYEONGCHANG, Gangwon Province — Four years ago this week, the PyeongChang Winter Olympics came to a grand finale. During the Games, South and North Korea enjoyed a moment of peace, with athletes from either side of the Demilitarized Zone marching together during the opening and closing ceremony. It was here in Gangwon Province that the two Koreas also fielded a unified team for the first time in Olympics history, with their joint women’s hockey team. 　 Preceded by a year of nuclear

Feb. 23, 2022

COVAX reduces COVID-19 vaccines allocated for N. Korea: UN agency

The COVAX Facility, a global vaccine distribution platform, has reduced the amount of COVID-19 vaccines allocated for North Korea, a UN website showed Tuesday, apparently canceling a batch of jabs developed by a US company, in a move seen attributable to the lack of a response from Pyongyang. A total of 1.29 million vaccines have been allocated to the North, according to the UN Children's Fund's COVID-19 Vaccine Market Dashboard, down 252,000 from the previous 1.54 million doses as of earlier th

Feb. 22, 2022

N. Korea massacred over 1,100 Christians, Catholics during Korean War: report

North Korea's military massacred more than 1,100 South Korean Christians and Catholics during the 1950-53 Korean War, a state reconciliation panel said Tuesday. The North's Korean People's Army killed 1,026 Christians and 119 Catholics during its retreat from the South following an amphibious Incheon landing operation by United Nations forces, also known as Operation Chromite, on Sept. 26, 1950, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission said, citing a report from Seoul Theological University.South

Feb. 22, 2022

N. Korean leader Kim congratulates China's Xi on 'successful' closing of Beijing Olympics

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has sent a verbal message to Chinese President Xi Jinping to congratulate China on the "successful" closing of the Beijing Winter Olympics, according to Pyongyang's state media Tuesday. "In the message the respected Comrade Kim Jong-un extended heartfelt warm congratulations to General Secretary Xi Jinping upon the splendid proceeding of the Beijing Winter Olympics as a novel and special grand sports festival," the North's Korean Central News A

Feb. 22, 2022

Seoul urges N. Korea to return to dialogue as Beijing Olympics wrap up

South Korea's unification ministry on Monday urged North Korea to return to dialogue amid speculation Pyongyang may resume major weapons tests following the end of the Beijing Winter Olympics. North Korea conducted seven rounds of missile tests in January, but refrained from shows of force during the Olympics period which ran from Feb. 4-20. Asked to comment on the possibility of Pyongyang resuming its weapons tests, Lee Jong-joo, spokesperson for Seoul's unification ministry handling inter-Ko

Feb. 21, 2022

1 in 4 students think unification with NK unnecessary: survey

One out of 4 South Korean students think that unification with North Korea is unnecessary, a survey showed Friday. In the online survey of 72,524 elementary, middle and high school students conducted by the education ministry and the unification ministry from Nov. 1 to Dec. 10, 61.2 percent replied that unification is necessary, while 25 percent said it is not needed. The rate of students against unification increased for the third consecutive year from 19.4 percent in 2019 and 24.2 percent in 2

Feb. 18, 2022

Beijing vows continued support for Pyongyang on late NK leader's birth anniversary

A senior Chinese official has said Beijing will continue support for North Korea on the 80th birth anniversary of the North's former leader Kim Jong-il, describing their relations as "forged by blood," according to Pyongyang's state media Friday. Ji Bingxuan, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress, made the remarks Wednesday during an event held at the North Korean Embassy in Beijing to mark the anniversary, the North's official Korean Central New

Feb. 18, 2022

N. Korea’s ‘massive scale’ crypto theft jumps 40% in 2021: report

North Korean state-sponsored cryptocurrency theft and money laundering have continued on a “massive scale” to generate illicit funds, while the total amount of stolen cryptocurrency jumped 40 percent just last year. North Korea-affiliated hackers launched “at least seven attacks on cryptocurrency platforms that extracted nearly $400 million worth of digital assets last year,” Blockchain data platform Chainalysis Inc. said on Wednesday in its 2022 Crypto Crime Report. Th

Feb. 17, 2022