Over 24,000 video messages await delivery to separated families in N. Korea

Families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War in South Korea have produced more than 24,000 video messages for their long-lost relatives in the North, but almost all of them have yet to be delivered, Seoul's unification ministry said Tuesday. Of the 24,077 video letters produced since 2005, including 1,004 created this year, only 20 of them were sent to North Korea in 2008 following inter-Korean Red Cross talks the previous year, according to the ministry. South Korea has been pushing to hold r

Dec. 21, 2021

N. Korea's military staging wintertime drills, S. Korea says

North Korea's military is conducting a wintertime exercise, as South Korea and the United States are closely monitoring related moves, Seoul's defense authorities said Tuesday. "We believe that wintertime drills by North Korea's military are under way," Col. Kim Jun-rak, the spokesperson of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), told reporters. The North usually kicks off a regular military training in December, which continues through early spring often involving artillery firing drills.

Dec. 21, 2021

N. Korean leader 3rd most searched politician online in 2021: data

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is the third most searched politician by internet users worldwide this year, data showed Tuesday. Online searches for Kim totaled a monthly average of 1.9 million, behind US President Joe Biden, who topped the list with 7 million searches, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson with 2 million, according to German data analytics firm Statista. Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel ranked fourth with 1.4 million searches. The most searched keyword related to t

Dec. 21, 2021

[Hwang’s China and the World] Dealing with North Korea in 2022, not very optimistic

Understanding the other half of the Korean Peninsula, North Korea, is literally arduous as its ‘Arduous March’ reminds. From the emotional 2018 when the peninsula was overwhelmed with the Panmunjeom Declaration to the disappointing meeting at Singapore, today we are standing in the middle of North Korea’s impassiveness and indifference.  On the motionless circumstance, there exists a possibility of North Korea’s provocation. It seems unpredictable but also might be

Dec. 20, 2021

S. Korean govt. cautious on possible change in political status of N. Korean leader's sister

South Korea's unification ministry responded cautiously Monday to reports of a possible change in the stature of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister, days after she was seen standing alongside members of the powerful politburo of the North's ruling party during a memorial event last week. Kim Yo-jong, apparently influential in the secretive regime, was spotted between members and alternate members of the politburo during a memorial event for her father and late North Korean leader Kim Jong

Dec. 20, 2021

US seeks ‘step-by-step’ approach toward denuclearization: Sullivan

The Biden administration seeks a “step-by-step” approach toward denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, which is a midpoint between strategic patience and grand bargain with Pyongyang, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Friday. Sullivan explained the Biden administration pursued striking a balance between the North Korea policy previously implemented by the Obama and Trump administrations, expressing his skepticism of the predecessor’s approaches. “T

Dec. 19, 2021

N. Korea urges 'absolute trust' in its leader, marking his father's death anniversary

North Korea's state media called for "absolute trust" in leader Kim Jong-un, as the country marked 10 years since the death of former leader Kim Jong-il on Friday. Kim died on Dec. 17, 2011, after having ruled the reclusive regime since the death of his father and national founder, Kim Il-sung, in 1994. Kim Jong-un, the third son of the late leader, took over the helm of the North in another hereditary succession of power. In a front-page editorial, the North's main newspaper, the Ro

Dec. 17, 2021

Britain names new ambassador to North Korea

David Ellis, a former British deputy head of mission in Tokyo, has been appointed as the country's new ambassador to North Korea, London's foreign ministry has said. Effective immediately, Ellis will temporarily work from London to replace Colin Crooks who will serve as the new ambassador to South Korea starting next year. "I am delighted to have been appointed British Ambassador to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," Ellis wrote on his Twitter account, referring to the North

Dec. 17, 2021

UNSC members urge resuming open discussion on N.Korean human rights

Six UN Security Council members and Japan called for publicly discussing North Korea’s human rights situation, after a four-year hiatus in holding an open session at the Security Council. The seven urged other member countries on the 15-member UNSC to resume a public discussion on the subject by issuing a joint statement highlighting human rights violations and abuses by the Kim Jong-un regime. Wednesday’s joint statement was issued after UNSC members had a closed-door consultatio

Dec. 16, 2021

N. Korea in commemorative mood ahead of 10th anniv. of ex-leader's passing

North Korea is holding a series of events memorializing late leader Kim Jong-il ahead of the 10th anniversary of his passing this week, Pyongyang's state media said Thursday. Kim, the father of current leader Kim Jong-un, died on Dec. 17, 2011, after having ruled the reclusive regime since the death of his father and national founder, Kim Il-sung, in 1994. In Pyongyang, young workers and students held a meeting to remember the late leader, and an art exhibition opened with works depicting his

Dec. 16, 2021

Kim Jong-un regime ‘strategically’ continuing public executions in isolated areas: NGO

North Korea has continued public executions in isolated areas under the Kim Jong-un regime, in an apparent strategic move to prevent the leakage of inside information and avoid international monitoring, a human rights nongovernmental organization said in a report. The Seoul-based Transitional Justice Working Group on Wednesday released the report “Mapping Killings Under Kim Jong-un: North Korea’s Response to International Pressure” based on interviews with hundreds of North K

Dec. 15, 2021

‘Golden time’ in inter-Korean relations is up till March presidential election: KINU

The runup to the March 9 South Korean presidential election could be a “golden time” to make strides in the stalled diplomacy with North Korea and a potential inter-Korean summit could be an answer for a breakthrough, experts at the state-funded think tank said Wednesday. 　 “The period up till the presidential election could be the ‘golden time’ where decisive change could happen (on the peninsula),” Lee Sang-sin, a research fellow at the Korea Institute for

Dec. 15, 2021

Brother of North Korea's founder Kim dies: state media

Kim Yong-ju, a brother of North Korea's late founder Kim Il-sung, has died, according to Pyongyang's state media Wednesday. The North's leader Kim Jong-un sent a wreath the previous day to express condolences over his death, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. Kim Yong-ju was a former honorary vice chairman of the standing committee of the North's rubber-stamp Supreme People's Assembly, and a winner of the Order of Kim ll-sung and the Order of Kim Jong-il, the report said, without givi

Dec. 15, 2021

N. Korea to convene parliamentary meeting in February

North Korea will hold a session of its rubber-stamp legislature in February to discuss the state budget and issues of adopting laws on childcare and overseas compatriots, Pyongyang's state media reported Wednesday. The standing committee of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) held a plenary session the previous day and made the decision to open the parliamentary meeting on Feb. 6, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The plenary meeting was presided over by Choe

Dec. 15, 2021

Moon says US, China, N. Korea agree in principle on end-of-war declaration

President Moon Jae-in said Monday that the United States, China and North Korea agree in principle on declaring a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War and Seoul will push to make it happen. Moon was speaking at a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison after bilateral summit talks in Canberra. He said he believes an end-of-war declaration will help revive stalled talks between South and North Korea and between North Korea and the US. (Yonhap)  

Dec. 13, 2021

New NK sanctions could put brakes on Seoul’s hopes of diplomacy with Pyongyang: experts

The announcement of fresh US sanctions against North Korea might deal a blow to Seoul’s attempts to revive diplomacy with Pyongyang, experts said Sunday. 　 The US on Friday declared extensive sanctions and visa bans on human rights grounds against officials and entities in eight countries, including China, Russia, Myanmar, Bangladesh and North Korea. The action, coinciding with international Human Rights Day and a two-day summit on democracy led by Washington, is a tool to “draw a

Dec. 12, 2021

N.Korea continues operating main nuclear reactor at Yongbyon: CSIS

North Korea is operating its main plutonium-producing nuclear reactor at the Yongbyon complex, a Washington-based think tank revealed Wednesday, citing thermal infrared imagery. The CSIS Korea Chair said in a report it found the “clear and conclusive evidence” that the 5-megawatt reactor was operating based on thermal image analysis. The 5-megawatt nuclear reactor at the Yongbyon Nuclear Complex is the core of Pyongyang’s proliferation efforts given that the reactor has been

Dec. 9, 2021

Most S. Koreans with families in N. Korea have no information on their fate: poll

Eight out of 10 families divided by the 1950-53 Korean War have yet to confirm the fate of their parents and siblings in North Korea, a government survey showed Thursday. According to the unification ministry's poll on 5,354 separated family members living in South Korea and abroad, 82 percent said they do not know whether their family members in the reclusive neighbor are still alive. Among those who are aware of the fate and whereabouts of their dispersed family members, half of them obtaine

Dec. 9, 2021

Advisers to rival presidential candidates clash over NK policy

Advisers to South Korea’s two leading presidential candidates agreed during a forum in Washington that the alliance with the US needs to be strengthened, but opinions diverged on how to denuclearize North Korea. 　 Former South Korean Ambassador Wi Sung-lac, who advises Lee Jae-myung of the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea, and Kim Sung-han, a professor at the Korea University Graduate School of International Studies who advises Yoon Suk-yeol of the conservative opposition People

Dec. 8, 2021

Politics or misguided conviction? Is Moon obsessed with ending the Korean War?

With the clock ticking on his term in office, President Moon Jae-in is taking every opportunity to push his agenda to declare the end of the Korean War. But experts are raising questions about his motivations and about the validity of his goal. “The declaration of an end to the war is the first step toward peace and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula,” Moon said in a congratulatory video speech at the 2021 Seoul UN Peacekeeping Ministerial in Seoul on Tuesday night. He urge

Dec. 8, 2021