N. Korea says it tested 'super-large' multiple rocket launchers

North Korea has tested "super-large" multiple rocket launchers, state media reported Monday, a day after South Korea's military said the communist state fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles. Seoul's military said Sunday that the missiles were fired from the eastern coastal city of Wonsan, flying 230 kilometers with a maximum altitude of 30 km. The launches marked the latest in a series of weapons tests or artillery firing drills the North has conducted this ye

March 30, 2020

NK propaganda outlet gives first response to online sex crime case in S. Korea

A North Korean propaganda outlet on Sunday gave its first reaction to a high-profile online sex crime case in South Korea, condemning the South as a society where corruption is rampant. Referring to the "Nth room case," Meari reported that South Korea has been shocked by an online sex abuse case involving minors. At least 74 people, including 16 underage girls, are known to have been exploited in the Nth room case, in which the arrested prime suspect, Cho Ju-bin, allegedly l

March 29, 2020

NK tests missiles as US chained to antivirus efforts

North Korea fired what appeared to be two ballistic missiles into the East Sea on Sunday morning, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, urging the regime to halt the “inappropriate” military act amid the coronavirus pandemic. It was the North’s fourth weapons test this year, all in March. 　 The missiles flew approximately 230 kilometers from Wonsan on the North’s eastern coast and reached a peak altitude of 30 kilometers. South Korea’s key security offici

March 29, 2020

US flies surveillance plane over Korean Peninsula as NK fires missiles

A US surveillance aircraft flew over South Korea on Sunday on an apparent mission to monitor North Korea as the communist nation fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles the same day. The US Navy's EP-3E was spotted in skies above South Korea at 25,000 feet, Aircraft Spots tweeted. The exact time of its operation was not immediately clear. Earlier in the day, North Korea fired two projectiles from the eastern coastal city of Wonsan toward the East Sea, marking the fourth

March 29, 2020

Cheong Wa Dae convenes emergency meeting over N. Korean missile launches

South Korea's national security adviser and other top security officials held an emergency videoconference Sunday to discuss North Korea's firing of two projectiles believed to be short-range missiles, the presidential office said. Chung Eui-yong, chief of the presidential National Security Office, presided over the session held at around 7 a.m., shortly after the North fired the projectiles into the East Sea from the coastal city of Wonsan. Participants, including Defense Minister Jeong Kye

March 29, 2020

N. Korea fires 2 short-range ballistic missiles into East Sea: JCS

North Korea fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Sunday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, the latest in a series of projectile launches even as the country is on high alert against the coronavirus. Both were fired northeastward from the eastern coastal city of Wonsan at 6:10 a.m. within a 20-second interval and flew around 230 kilometers at a maximum altitude of around 30 km, the JCS said, adding that South Korean and US intelligenc

March 29, 2020

UN chief champions sanctions relief to combat COVID-19

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres advised loosening sanctions on some countries so that they can better counter the coronavirus outbreak, during a teleconference with G-20 countries Thursday. “I also appeal for the waiving of sanctions that can undermine countries’ capacity to respond to the pandemic,” he said. The UN chief repeated that countries under sanctions should be able to import key medical supplies and receive relief goods in their efforts to combat COVID-19. A

March 27, 2020

NK’s latest missiles large enough to carry nuclear warheads

A pair of missiles North Korea fired Saturday had a payload capacity sufficient to carry nuclear warheads, 38 North said Wednesday. The Washington-based website monitors North Korea. The firings on March 21 marked Pyongyang’s third weapons test this year, following two rounds in the same month. The missiles were the North’s variant of the US surface-to-surface missile ATACMS. The website said it suspected that the North Korean missiles had payload compartments that were 700-750 mi

March 26, 2020

Gyeonggi Province's coronavirus-related aid project to N. Korea halted: official

A coronavirus-related aid project to North Korea planned independently by the Gyeonggi Province government was suspended, as it failed to meet the requirements necessary for government approval, a unification ministry official said Thursday. Local media outlets reported earlier that the Gyeonggi provincial government approved a motion last month to provide North Korea with medical supplies, such as masks and test kits, worth 1.2 billion Korean won ($980,000) to help with Pyongyang's preventive

March 26, 2020

NK party officials congratulate artillery unit in rare visit

Officials of two key departments at North Korea's ruling Workers' Party visited a western military unit to congratulate soldiers after they won a recent artillery fire competition overseen by leader Kim Jong-un, state media reported Thursday. The group visit to the artillery battalion of the 3rd Corps of the Korean People's Army is seen as unusual as it came amid intensified efforts to prevent the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus since the North declared a national emergency system in late Janua

March 26, 2020

NK media advise avoiding crowded areas in anti-virus efforts

North Korea on Wednesday advised its people against going to crowded areas, saying the coronavirus can be transmitted even through eye infections. Introducing a medical study conducted abroad, the Rodong Sinmun, the daily of the North's ruling Worker's Party, highlighted social distancing measures as the COVID-19 virus was found to be more contagious than previously known. "There is a risk of transmission of the coronavirus through the eyes ... the respiratory system is not the only rout

March 25, 2020

UN rights chief advises easing NK sanctions amid virus spread

Michelle Bachelet, UN high commissioner for human rights, said Tuesday that North Korea needs UN sanctions relief because its health care system lacks the resources to counter the coronavirus. “Obstacles to the import of vital medical supplies, including over-compliance with sanctions by banks, will create long-lasting harm to vulnerable communities,” she said. She was implying UN sanctions could hamper Pyongyang’s coronavirus response. Bachelet said the North Korean public

March 25, 2020

NK’s foreign currency income likely to shrink over virus spread

North Korea’s foreign currency income looks set to shrink this year, as the coronavirus halts Chinese tourism, one of the few remaining legitimate sources of hard currency for the cash-strapped regime, a Seoul-based think tank said in its latest report. Pyongyang, which closed its borders with Beijing to contain COVID-19, has long relied on tens of thousands of its people working in China, Russia and elsewhere to send dollars back home, but many workers have been sent back because of UN s

March 24, 2020

Financial support to NGOs for anti-virus cooperation possible if N. Korea agrees: official

Local non-government organizations can receive government financial support for coronavirus-related North Korea aid projects if they have an agreement with Pyongyang, a unification ministry official said Tuesday. The remark came amid hopes for resuming aid projects in North Korea after US President Donald Trump expressed an intention to help with Pyongyang's fight against the coronavirus in a recent personal letter to leader Kim Jong-un. "We have established regulations on humanitarian a

March 24, 2020

Ministry emphasizes inter-Korean anti-virus cooperation following Trump's offer to help N. Korea

South and North Korea should work together in preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus from the perspective of "humanitarian" and "mutually beneficial" cooperation, Seoul's unification ministry said Monday. The emphasis on cross-border cooperation came a day after North Korea announced that US President Donald Trump expressed an intention to help its fight against the coronavirus in a personal letter to leader Kim Jong-un. "Our government's

March 23, 2020

NK paper calls for unconditional adherence to coronavirus quarantine rules

North Korea's main newspaper called Monday for "unconditional and absolute" adherence to coronavirus quarantine regulations, saying allowing exceptions to the law could affect the very existence of the country. The Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the North's ruling Workers' Party, made the appeal in an editorial, stressing that it is also an important political issue for all people to strictly abide by regulations and order established under the national emergency quarantine system. &quo

March 23, 2020

With status elevated, sister speaks for Kim Jong-un

Kim Yo-jong, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, seems to have risen above her leadership title as deputy chief of Pyongyang’s propaganda affairs to Kim Jong-un’s personal messenger, aggressively weighing in on US relations and the inter-Korean agenda. In her second known official statement, released Sunday, she disclosed that US President Donald Trump had sent Kim Jong-un a letter, saying Washington was ready to expand cooperation with Pyongyang to combat the cor

March 22, 2020

Kim Jong-un oversees ballistic missile tests

The two short-range projectiles North Korea fired into the East Sea on Saturday were ballistic missiles and the test was overseen by leader Kim Jong-un, the North’s Korean Central News Agency said Sunday, adding the “strategic and guided weapons” would soon be operational. The missiles flew approximately 410 kilometers and reached a peak altitude of 50 kilometers from Sonchon, along the North’s western coast. In its third weapons launch this month, the North was suspect

March 22, 2020

NK newspaper mentions 'at least 1 meter distance' in anti-virus efforts

North Korea's main newspaper on Sunday called public attention to keeping "at least one meter distance" from others in what appears to be a social distancing effort to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. Introducing foreign countries' measures to curb COVID-19 outbreaks, the Rodong Sinmun, the daily of the North's ruling Workers' Party, mentioned such social distancing measures as staying away from others and avoiding public transportation. Pyongyang has claimed to have no C

March 22, 2020

N. Korea says leader Kim oversaw test of newly developed tactical guided weapon

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has overseen a test of a newly developed "tactical guided weapon," state media reported Sunday, a day after South Korea said the communist nation fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea. The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Saturday that the North conducted the launches from areas near its western county of Sonchon in North Pyongan Province, and the missiles flew around 410 kilometers, reaching a maximum altitud

March 22, 2020