N. Korea orders overseas missions not to antagonize US: S. Korea's state intelligence agency

North Korea has recently ordered its overseas missions not to antagonize the United States amid an ongoing power transition in Washington following the presidential election win by Joe Biden, according to Seoul lawmakers Friday. The Kim Jong-un regime also executed a big shot in the Pyongyang money change market in late October for a sudden exchange rate fluctuation and an official in August for bringing in prohibited goods amid toughened border customs control due to the new coronavirus pandem

Nov. 27, 2020

N. Korea enforces home classes for kids amid COVID-19 concerns

North Korea appears to be enforcing home classes for elementary school students as a way to avoid classroom gatherings amid nationwide anti-coronavirus efforts, according to state media reports. Uriminzokkiri, one of the North's propaganda websites, said that elementary school teachers in Pyongyang are visiting homes of their students every three days for education as vacation continues. "With the vacation for kids in place, such a new schedule has been started," the website said. &q

Nov. 27, 2020

Unification minister calls for food, fertilizer aid to N. Korea

Unification Minister Lee In-young said Thursday that South Korea should provide food and fertilizer aid to North Korea next spring at the latest to help the impoverished nation address chronic food shortages. "There are warnings that the coronavirus is crippling production and supply chains for crops, and climate change is making things worse, which will likely cause extreme famine and difficulty in securing food," Lee said at an international forum in Seoul to discuss ways to realize

Nov. 26, 2020

Minister's remark on sharing vaccines with NK an expression of 'sincerity': official

Unification Minister Lee In-young tried to convey his "sincerity" about inter-Korean cooperation when he called for sharing coronavirus vaccines with North Korea, an official said Thursday, following criticism the appeal was inappropriate as South Korea has yet to secure enough vaccines. Last week, Lee said that the South should share coronavirus vaccines with the North even if the country runs short of its own supplies. The remark came under fire from conservatives as it came at a ti

Nov. 26, 2020

N. Korea faces serious humanitarian crisis: report

North Korea faces a serious humanitarian crisis due to shortages of food, clean water and medical services aggravated by poor governance and repressive internal political measures, a Swiss international nongovernmental organization has said. According to the annual "Inform Severity Index" report compiled by the Geneva-based Assessment Capacities Project (ACAPS), North Korea faces a "very high" level of humanitarian crisis severity. This represented the highest level of a s

Nov. 26, 2020

S. Korea to mass produce advanced tactical ground-based missiles

South Korea decided Wednesday to mass produce a new type of tactical ground-based missiles designed to destroy underground artillery bases in North Korea, officials said. During the defense project promotion committee presided over by Defense Minister Suh Wook, the government approved the plan to produce more than 200 units of the Korean Tactical Surface to Surface Missile (KTSSM) by 2025, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA). Under the 450 billion won ($406.14 m

Nov. 25, 2020

NK paper calls for quality over quantity to achieve self-reliance

North Korea's official newspaper called Wednesday for putting quality ahead of quantity in construction and manufacturing, saying an obsession with speed will end up with defects and a waste of money and efforts. "By focusing solely on the speed without ensuring quality, we cannot avoid re-production and re-construction and our precious materials and funds will only go to waste," the Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the North's ruling party, said in an editorial. The paper stressed the im

Nov. 25, 2020

[News Analysis] Blinken likely to pursue multilateral, step-by-step approach on NK

US President-elect Joe Biden named Antony Blinken, his closest foreign policy adviser who also served as deputy secretary of state in the Obama administration, as his secretary of state, drawing attention to how he will go about dealing with North Korea. Blinken has advocated multilateral efforts for sustained diplomacy and a step-by-step approach on North Korea’s nuclear program. Blinken has also said before that the 2015 deal on Iran’s nuclear program, reached between Iran and si

Nov. 24, 2020

‘N. Korean who jumped border fence into South was gymnast’

A North Korean man who fled here early this month said he used to be a gymnast and was able to jump over the 3-meter fence along the inter-Korean border, a Seoul official familiar with the matter said Monday. The man, reportedly of small stature and in his late 20s, has been under investigation by Seoul’s defense authorities over his defection route and motives. Seoul officials had him jump twice to verify his claim. Authorities suspect his light body weight and gymnastics experience co

Nov. 24, 2020

Panmunjom tours to remain in operation despite toughened social distancing scheme

A recently resumed tour program to the truce village of Panmunjom will remain in operation despite this week's toughened social distancing measures against the coronavirus, as necessary preventive steps have already been enforced, a unification ministry official said Tuesday. The tours to the Joint Security Area (JSA) and other sites inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas resumed earlier this month after more than a year of suspension due to the outbreak of African swine

Nov. 24, 2020

[Newsmaker] N. Korea repeats ‘self-help’ in antivirus effort

North Korea said Monday that self-help is the way to power through the obstacles ahead, like the coronavirus pandemic, and no one should challenge that direction. “Self-help is the way of life we’ve maintained to this day and it’s in our blood. We display that and there is nothing we cannot overcome,” the official state newspaper said, urging Workers’ Party members to be a brigade moving forward to grab victory. The North still claims it has yet to report an infec

Nov. 23, 2020

UN expert condemns Seoul for not sponsoring NK human rights resolution

A UN envoy on North Korea condemned South Korea for opting out of co-sponsoring a North Korean human rights resolution at the United Nations, saying this sends the wrong signal to the reclusive regime. 　 “They should have a more vocal and outspoken position with regards to the human rights agenda as it was in the past,” Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea, said during a recent interview with Radio Free Asia. “I would like to see South

Nov. 23, 2020

Unification minister says breakthrough in inter-Korean ties could come 'sooner than expected'

Unification Minister Lee In-young on Monday called on South Korean conglomerates to prepare for possible inter-Korean cooperation despite the current stalled relations, stressing that a breakthrough in cross-border ties could "come sooner than expected." Lee made the remark at a meeting with officials from South Korean conglomerates, including Samsung Electronics, SK Group, LG Group and Hyundai Motor Group, whose leaders accompanied President Moon Jae-in during his visit to Pyongyang

Nov. 23, 2020

Unification minister calls for resuming liaison office communications with N. Korea

Resuming round-the-clock liaison communications between the two Koreas would be the starting point for a new change in the currently stalled inter-Korean relations, Unification Minister Lee In-young said Monday. Lee made the remarks during a forum arranged to discuss ways to normalize communication lines between the two Koreas that have remained severed since the North blew up the liaison office in its border town of Kaesong in June in protest of anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent from the South. &q

Nov. 23, 2020

Defense chief vows to safeguard peace with strength on NK attack anniversary

Defense Minister Suh Wook vowed Monday to safeguard peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula with strength as he marked the 10th anniversary of North Korea's deadly artillery attack on a South Korean border island. The shelling on Nov. 23, 2010, of Yeonpyeong Island, a front-line island near the Yellow Sea border, marked the North's first attack on South Korean territory since the 1950-53 Korean War. Two Marines and two civilians were killed. "True peace needs to be supported by stron

Nov. 23, 2020

N. Korea calls for tighter border controls amid global COVID-19 resurgence

North Korea on Sunday called for tighter border controls against the coronavirus, urging its officials to stay on "high alert at all times" amid a global resurgence in the virus cases. North Korea has recently intensified calls for tightened preventive measures against COVID-19 after leader Kim Jong-un held a politburo meeting of the Workers' Party and stressed the need to "keep a high alert, build a tight blocking wall and further intensify the anti-epidemic work." "B

Nov. 22, 2020

Unification minister renews calls for inter-Korean virus cooperation amid criticism

South Korea will push actively ahead with cooperation with North Korea once coronavirus vaccines and cures are developed, Unification Minister Lee In-young said Friday, after coming under fire for calling for sharing coronavirus vaccines with the North. "When vaccines and treatment for COVID-19 are developed and distributed in the near future, a new environment will be created in the Korean Peninsula in which people and goods can come and go," Lee said during a meeting with medical ex

Nov. 20, 2020

[Newsmaker] UNICEF to spend $22.7 million on North Korean aid in 2021

UNICEF will direct $22.7 million in 2021 to aid projects in North Korea, where socioeconomic conditions are thought to be worsening due to the coronavirus pandemic, a report showed Friday. According to the Humanitarian Action for Children 2021-Democratic People’s Republic of Korea report released Wednesday, UNICEF calculated it would need a greater amount than this year’s $19.5 million initial budget for North Korea when physical access is again possible next year. UNICEF originall

Nov. 20, 2020

N. Korea slams UN Security Council for taking issue with its space program

North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations has criticized the UN Security Council for labeling its outer space program as threats, calling the agency an "undemocratic organ devoid of impartiality." Kim Song, the chief of the North Korean mission to the UN, delivered a statement at the plenary meeting of the UN General Assembly session earlier this week, stressing the importance of reform of the UN agency for better representation of its member states. "Until now even after 7

Nov. 20, 2020

Biden's N. Korea policy will be different from Obama's: S. Korean lawmakers

WASHINGTON -- US President-elect Joe Biden's approach toward North Korea will be different from that of former US President Barack Obama, a group of South Korea's ruling party lawmakers said Thursday. The South Korean delegation, led by Rep. Song Young-gil of the Democratic Party, said that the Biden administration's North Korea policy will not resemble that of the Obama administration, which is often described as "strategic patience." "Personally, I believe the biggest differen

Nov. 20, 2020