Experts hope medical cooperation can break inter-Korean impasse

Amid stalled relations between Seoul and Pyongyang, some experts assert that cross-border public health care cooperation could open up opportunities to resolve the impasse between the two Koreas, as both battle the novel coronavirus pandemic.   　 “North Korea has been pushing ahead with a policy of ‘self-reliance,’ but it would be difficult, especially as the country deals with COVID-19,” said Jeong Se-hyun, executive vice chair of the National Unification Advisory

April 20, 2020

NK warns Trump rapport with Kim shouldn’t be self-serving

North Korea warned US President Donald Trump not to use his personal rapport with leader Kim Jong-un for “selfish purposes,” saying Kim had not sent the “nice note” Trump claimed to have received. “The relations between the leaders of both countries are not to be taken up just for diversion or be misused for selfish purposes,” the North’s Foreign Ministry said on late Sunday in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency. The message ca

April 20, 2020

N. Korea denies sending letter to Trump recently

North Korea on Sunday denied any recent correspondence with US President Donald Trump, less than a day after Trump mentioned having received a "nice note" from leader Kim Jong-un. "The US media reported Saturday that the US President mentioned receiving a 'nice note' from our top leadership in a press conference," the North said in a statement carried by its outlet Korean Central News Agency. "We cannot know for sure whether the US president reminisced about past corr

April 19, 2020

N. Korea's refined petroleum imports exceeded UN limit up to 8 times: UN panel

North Korea's imports of refined petroleum products exceeded the annual limit imposed by the United Nations by up to eight times in the first 10 months of last year, a UN panel of experts said in a new report cited by foreign media Friday. The 267-page report for the UN Security Council's North Korea sanctions committee also said the communist country continued to enhance its illicit nuclear and ballistic missile programs in violation of Security Council resolutions. The annual report by the

April 18, 2020

N. Korea continued nuclear activities in 2019: US State Department

North Korea continued nuclear activities last year in violation of its commitments to abandon all nuclear programs, the US State Department has said. In a summarized report to Congress Wednesday, the department also said North Korea has likely had a biological warfare program since at least the 1960s. The report discusses US and other nations' compliance last year with various arms control and nonproliferation agreements. "North Korea's continuing nuclear activities make clear that it

April 18, 2020

North Korea calls for vigilance, tighter coronavirus quarantine

North Korea on Friday called for heightened vigilance against the novel coronavirus pandemic, and to continuously step-up national quarantine measures, even when the country insists it is totally free of the virus.  “Nothing is more precious than the safety of peoples’ lives,” said North’s state newspaper the Rodong Sinmun. “That is a major reason why national countermeasure against the global pandemic was discussed as the first agenda during the Politburo me

April 17, 2020

Individual trips to N. Korea to be pursued in consideration of virus fight: official

South Korea remains unchanged in its push for active cross-border exchanges, including allowing individual tours to North Korea, but such projects should be pursued in consideration of progress in the anti-coronavirus fight, the unification ministry said Friday. South Korea has pushed for individual trips to North Korea as a way to improve inter-Korean relations without violating sanctions on Pyongyang, but no progress has been made. Making matters worse has been the coronavirus pandemic that

April 17, 2020

US allows coronavirus aid to sanctioned NK

The US Treasury Department on Friday said it had allowed nongovernmental organizations to provide coronavirus-related humanitarian aid to sanctioned North Korea, including testing kits and respiratory devices.  The department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control released the list of items that have gained exemptions for countries like North Korea, Iran and Venezuela to assist in their battle against COVID-19.  OFAC said it is authorizing NGOs to provide items for the civilians o

April 17, 2020

NK paper urges high-level alertness, tight border control against pandemic

North Korea's official newspaper Friday called for high-level alertness and tight border control to ward off the new coronavirus as the communist state is bracing for a long fight against the global pandemic. Last week, North Korea held a politburo meeting presided over by leader Kim Jong-un and adopted a resolution, calling for "strict national countermeasures to thoroughly check the infiltration of the virus" amid little prospect for the danger to disappear in a short time. "

April 17, 2020

Journalist quarantined in N. Korea says strict guidelines were in place

A reporter quarantined for nearly a month in North Korea has said the communist nation was following strict coronavirus guidelines, including taking the temperatures of those quarantined three times a day. Roh Geum-soon, a journalist at the Choson Sinbo, a pro-North Korea newspaper in Japan, also said in a YouTube video posted Sunday that she was not allowed to go out of her hotel in Pyongyang during the quarantine period. Roh said she was quarantined for 30 days, though she did not specify t

April 16, 2020

N. Korea makes no mention of visit to mausoleum by leader Kim on late founder's birthday

North Korean state media reported Thursday that senior officials paid their respect at the mausoleum of late national founder Kim Il-sung to mark his 108th birthday but did not mention whether leader Kim Jong-un also paid a visit there. That raises the possibility that Kim skipped an annual visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun that he has made on the birthday of the national founder and his grandfather since he rose to power after the death of his father and former leader Kim Jong-il in lat

April 16, 2020

N. Korea marks late founder's birthday quietly amid anti-coronavirus efforts

North Korea marked the 108th birthday of late national founder Kim Il-sung, grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un, relatively quietly Wednesday without large-scale celebratory events drawing crowds of people amid efforts to ward off the coronavirus pandemic. The founder's birthday, referred to in the North as the Day of the Sun, is the country's biggest national holiday and has often been commemorated with massive military parades displaying new weapons and other cultural and sports events

April 15, 2020

US flies spy planes following N. Korea's missile launches

A series of US surveillance aircraft have flown near and over the Korean Peninsula, an aviation tracker said Wednesday, following North Korea's launch of what appeared to be cruise missiles off its east coast. The US Air Force's RC-135U Combat Sent was spotted en route to waters between South Korea and Japan, Aircraft Spots tweeted, without giving details on the time of its operation. On Tuesday, the Air Force's E-8C and the Navy's EP-3E were also seen operating over South Korea after the Nor

April 15, 2020

NK fires cruise missiles in fifth weapons test

North Korea fired what appeared to be multiple cruise missiles into the East Sea on Tuesday morning, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, adding that it was maintaining readiness while monitoring developments in case of additional launches.　 The projectiles flew at least 150 kilometers from the eastern coastal town of Munchon during the 40-minute firings that began at around 7 a.m., according to the JCS. Along with the projectile launches, the North also flew multiple Sukhoi-varian

April 14, 2020

US flies spy plane over Korean peninsula following NK missile launches

A US surveillance aircraft flew over South Korea on Tuesday, an aviation tracker said, on an apparent mission to monitor North Korea shortly after the communist nation fired what appeared to be cruise missiles off its east coast. The US Navy's EP-3E was spotted in skies above South Korea at around 10 a.m. (Seoul time), Aircraft Spots tweeted. Earlier in the day, North Korea fired surface-to-ship cruise missiles near its eastern coastal town of Munchon at around 7 a.m., according to the Joint

April 14, 2020

N. Korea fires barrage of missiles on eve of founder’s birthday, S. Korea’s elections

North Korea fired what appeared to be cruise missiles off its east coast and air-to-ground missiles from fighter jets into the East Sea on Tuesday, South Korea’s military said, in muscle-flexing maneuvers on the eve of the late national founder’s birthday and the South’s general elections. The surface-to-ship cruise missiles were fired northeastward from areas near its eastern coastal town of Munchon at around 7 a.m. during a time period of more than 40 minutes, the Joint Chi

April 14, 2020

N. Korea approaches deadline for completion of tourist zone

North Korea has the deadline coming up this week for a project to develop the Wonsan-Kalma region on the east coast into a new tourist zone, but it is unclear how much the project has progressed, a unification ministry official said Tuesday. In April last year, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un extended the construction deadline of the Wonsan-Kalma tourist zone and ordered officials to complete it by April 15, 2020, the birthday of late state founder and his grandfather Kim Il-sung. "North

April 14, 2020

N. Korea likely to scale down celebrations for late founder's birthday amid virus fears: official

North Korea is likely to scale down celebrations for the birthday of late founder Kim Il-sung this week as the country is in an all-out fight against the new coronavirus, a unification ministry official said Tuesday. The North is to mark the 108th birthday anniversary of the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un on Wednesday, one of the biggest national holidays for the reclusive communist state that is usually celebrated with various events, including a military parade. This year's anniv

April 14, 2020

US supports NK people amid coronavirus pandemic: White House

The United States supports the people of North Korea and other countries vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic, the White House National Security Council said Monday, underscoring Washington's commitment to providing humanitarian aid. The NSC statement was posted on its Twitter account together with a link to a press release issued by the Treasury Department last week. The Treasury said Thursday that it continues to allow US sanctions exemptions for the delivery of humanitarian aid to countries

April 14, 2020

N. Korea's paper urges absolute obedience of antivirus guidelines

North Korea's official newspaper called Tuesday for absolute obedience of anti-coronavirus guidelines, urging people not to let their guard down as the country is bracing for a long fight against the global pandemic. North Korea claims to have no confirmed COVID-19 infection, but the country has taken drastic preventive measures at an early stage, such as closing its border with China and toughening quarantine criteria. "What we have to stay away from is to be complacent about the achiev

April 14, 2020