NK leader confers pistols to officers on armistice anniversary

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un marked the 67th anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War by visiting a war cemetery and presenting army officers with pistols, state media said Monday. Kim paid homage to the North's soldiers killed in the Korean War and buried at the Fatherland Liberation War Martyrs Cemetery to commemorate the anniversary of the armistice, the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. "The undying feats of the defenders

July 27, 2020

‘High chances’ that defector returned to North via border: Seoul

South Korea’s military said Sunday that an unidentified person may have crossed the inter-Korean border to North Korea, supporting the North’s claim that a defector returned home a week ago with COVID-19 symptoms.  The North’s Korean Central News Agency said earlier in the day that the homecoming had prompted leader Kim Jong-un to chair an emergency Politburo meeting, where he raised the country’s coronavirus alert to the highest level and ordered a complete shutdow

July 26, 2020

NK leader adopts 'maximum emergency system' after defector returns with coronavirus symptoms

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un convened an emergency politburo meeting of the Workers' Party and adopted the "maximum emergency system" against coronavirus after a defector returned home from South Korea with virus symptoms, state media reported Sunday. During the meeting held on Saturday, Kim also said he took "the preemptive measure of totally blocking Kaesong" after the "runaway" returned to the border city on July 19 after crossing the military demarcation li

July 26, 2020

[Photo News] Swedish ambassador practices yoga in Pyongyang

Swedish Ambassador Joachim Bergstrom has been practicing yoga at iconic sites in North Korea’s capital Pyongyang since May. The Swedish ambassador practices yoga near the Ryugyong Hotel on May 9. Ambassador Bergstrom practices yoga in front of the Juche Tower on June 21. The ambassador practices yoga at various places in Pyongyang earlier this month. (Photos: Reuters-Yonhap) By Kim Tae-eun (kimt17@heraldcorp.com)

July 25, 2020

[Herald Interview] Assembly panel chief Song suggests Trump invite NK leader’s sister to US

  US President Donald Trump could try for a breakthrough in the stalemated talks with North Korea by inviting the sister of the North’s leader Kim Jong-un to Washington, a senior Seoul politician versed in North Korean affairs has suggested. Rep. Song Young-gil, who chairs the South Korean parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, said an official invitation from Trump may be what Kim’s younger sister Yo-jong meant in her recent bewildering remarks about

July 24, 2020

[Herald Interview] NK likely to conduct nuclear test or reentry test this year: Singaporean expert

SINGAPORE -- A Singaporean defense expert who has regularly interacted with North Korean diplomats here until last year said he expects Pyongyang to conduct a seventh nuclear test or a nuclear warhead reentry test, which is its next crucial step in achieving recognition as a nuclear power, around the US presidential election in November. “My assessment, with high level of confidence, is that the Kim Jong-un regime will resume testing strategic nuclear weapons,” Graham Ong-Webb

July 23, 2020

NK could react positively if S. Korea, US exercise flexibility on joint drills: minister nominee

North Korea could respond if South Korea and the United States exercise flexibility on their summertime joint military exercises as it could be seen as a "new message" for Pyongyang, unification minister nominee Lee In-young said Thursday. Lee made the remarks during a parliamentary confirmation hearing as military authorities of South Korea and the US are in discussion on whether to scale back or call off a major combined exercise reportedly scheduled for next month amid the global

July 23, 2020

UN investigator to request Seoul’s explanation over defector groups inspection

A UN investigator on North Korea said it will request a detailed explanation from the South Korean government for its decision to inspect defector-led activist groups. 　 Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea, voiced concern and expressed discontentment over Seoul’s recent actions against the North Korea-focused human rights groups, in an interview with Radio Free Asia and Voice of America on Wednesday (local time). He stressed that while all countr

July 22, 2020

NK to hold conference of war veterans, first in two years

North Korea is set to hold a national conference of war veterans for the first time in two years, to mark the 67th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, state media reported on Wednesday. 　 The Korean War ended in an armistice on July 27, 1953, and was never replaced with a formal peace treaty, leaving the two sides technically at war. The North officially refers to the war as the Fatherland Liberation War and claims victory. 　 The Korea Central News Agency reported the sixth national con

July 22, 2020

Minister nominee proposes ‘barter’ exchange to break inter-Korean impasse

Unification Minister nominee Lee In-young on Tuesday proposed small-scale trade, or bartering, between the two Koreas as a way to break the inter-Korean impasse and work around the international sanctions imposed on Pyongyang. 　 Resorting to the barter system is one of Lee’s “new and creative” solutions to rekindle stalled relations with Pyongyang under the current sanctions regime, which bans the transfer of “bulk cash” into North Korea. 　  “I hope t

July 21, 2020

N. Korea has zero confirmed cases of COVID-19: WHO

Over 1,100 North Koreans were tested for COVID-19 by early July, and all of them turned out negative, an official of the World Health Organization said Monday. A total of 1,117 people got tested for the novel coronavirus as of July 9, Edwin Salvador, WHO representative to North Korea, said in an interview with Radio Free Asia. As of now, 610 North Korean nationals are in quarantine, and all of them are laborers working at the seaport in Nampo or along the land border between the North’s

July 21, 2020

S. Korea rejects UNC request to hold annual ceremony in Panmunjom

South Korea has rejected a request from the United Nations Command to hold an annual ceremony on the inter-Korean border due to concerns over the new coronavirus and inter-Korean tensions, a unification ministry official said. The remarks came after a local newspaper reported the ministry rejected a UNC request to hold an annual ceremony in the Freedom House located in the border village of Panmunjom to mark the 67th anniversary of the signing of the 1950-53 Korean War armistice agreement. &

July 21, 2020

Seeking NK’s compensation for liaison office demolition 'would be difficult'

Unification Minister nominee Lee In-young condemned the demolition of the joint liaison office by North Korea last month as “irrational,” but said it would be difficult to seek compensation from Pyongyang, a document showed Monday. 　 “The North’s demolition of the joint liaison office is against the Panmunjom Declaration and the agreement for the operation of the liaison office,” he said in a written answer submitted to the Assembly ahead of his confirmation heari

July 20, 2020

NK leader strongly rebukes officials for building Pyongyang hospital 'in careless manner'

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un strongly criticized officials for carrying out the construction of a large-scale general hospital "in a careless manner" and ordered the replacement of all of those responsible, state media said Monday. Kim made the remarks during a "field guidance" trip to the construction site for Pyongyang General Hospital, one of his top-priority projects he has vowed to complete by Oct. 10, the 75th founding anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party. He a

July 20, 2020

NK leader discusses 'war deterrent' at Central Military Commission meeting

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has presided over a Central Military Commission meeting of the ruling Workers' Party and discussed "the key issues of further bolstering a war deterrent of the country," state media reported Sunday. The meeting held on Saturday also examined the "strategic mission" of major military units for coping with the "military situation around the Korean Peninsula" and approved "major key munitions production plan indices," accordi

July 19, 2020

N. Korea claims it is developing coronavirus vaccine

North Korea is developing a vaccine for the novel coronavirus on its own, Pyongyang's science research council said Saturday. According to a report posted on Mirae, the website run by the North's State Commission of Science and Technology, its scientists are currently conducting clinical trials to develop a vaccine for COVID-19. The report said the vaccine development is led by a medical biology institute under the North's Academy of Medical Science using angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (AC

July 18, 2020

Govt. revokes operation permits for 2 NK defector groups over leafleting

The unification ministry revoked the operation permits of two North Korean defector groups Friday, saying their campaigns to send propaganda leaflets into the communist nation "gravely hindered" efforts toward unification. The move came a month after North Korea blew up an inter-Korean liaison office in its border city of Kaesong in anger over leaflets criticizing leader Kim Jong-un, saying such leafleting violates a series of peace agreements between the two sides. The decision to

July 17, 2020

US mulls ‘new proposals’ for NK: report

Multiple senior White House aides said Washington is now considering new proposals that they hope will be a “breakthrough” in stalled denuclearization talks with North Korea, a US magazine reported Thursday. If a deal can be struck, the hope is that the agreement will be signed at a potential third summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this fall, according to an article by Harry Kazianis, a senior director of Korean studies at the Center for t

July 17, 2020

S. Korea reiterates vow to crack down on anti-Pyongyang leaflets

Efforts to improve the human rights of North Koreans, including guaranteeing their right to know, should be made in a way that does not escalate tensions, the unification ministry said Friday, renewing its pledge to crack down on launches of leaflets into the communist nation. The remark comes after a local newspaper reported Friday that Park Sang-hak, the defector activist heading Fighters for a Free North Korea, and an international organization are preparing to file a petition to the United

July 17, 2020

Pompeo says he hopes to see another US-NK summit

WASHINGTON -- US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday that he hopes to see another US-North Korea summit this year, but remains skeptical it will happen. In an interview with Fox News, Pompeo said he has yet to see evidence that the two sides could make progress by bringing the two countries' leaders together for what would be their fourth meeting. "We're not going to have a summit, we're not going to bring Chairman Kim and President Trump together unless there's something they c

July 17, 2020