N. Korea says will suspend plan to remove Mt. Kumgang facilities due to coronavirus fear

North Korea has suspended its plan to remove South Korean-built facilities at the Mount Kumgang resort on its east coast as part of efforts to prevent the spread of a new strain of coronavirus, the unification ministry said Friday. Pyongyang notified Seoul of the decision Thursday through a telephone line they opened after the two Koreas agreed to temporarily shut down their joint liaison office in the North's border town of Kaesong earlier in the day until the threat from the virus is "c

Jan. 31, 2020

Biegun, Philippine foreign secretary discuss NK denuclearization

WASHINGTON -- US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun met with the top diplomat of the Philippines on Thursday and discussed the importance of achieving North Korea's denuclearization, the State Department said. Biegun and Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. held talks in Washington and reaffirmed the value of the two countries' alliance, the department said in a readout. "They also discussed the importance of that partnership to face current global health challenges, ac

Jan. 31, 2020

US ready to respond to any 'late Christmas gift' from N. Korea: Pentagon official

WASHINGTON -- The United States is ready to respond to any "late Christmas gift" from North Korea, a Pentagon official said Thursday, referring to the possibility of a North Korean provocation, such as a long-range missile test. North Korea warned last year that it could send a "Christmas gift" to the US in protest of stalled denuclearization negotiations between the countries, adding to concerns that the regime could resume its nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missil

Jan. 31, 2020

8 NK officials defect, 7 others caught at border: report

Eight North Korean government officials appear to have defected to China earlier this month, while another seven were caught at the border, a US radio station reported Thursday.  　　 　 North Korean authorities carried out an emergency operation Jan. 2 to capture the defectors, flying a team to Samjiyon Airport near the Chinese border to track them down. The use of an airplane, which is rare in defector chases, indicates the severity of the case, the report said.  　 Eight of the 15 of

Jan. 30, 2020

Koreas to temporarily close inter-Korean liaison office over virus

South Korea and the North will temporarily suspend the operation of the inter-Korean liaison office in the border town of Kaesong, amid concerns about the rapid spread of Wuhan coronavirus. 　 The shutdown decision was made after negotiations between the representatives of both countries earlier Thursday morning, the Unification Ministry here said. The office will close down for an unspecified time, until the threat of the spread of the newly identified virus disappears. 　 Fifty-eight South Ko

Jan. 30, 2020

Satellite imagery suggests security patrols at NK nuclear test site

WASHINGTON -- North Korea's decommissioned nuclear test site in Punggye-ri shows signs of routine security patrols, a US monitor said Wednesday. In commercial satellite imagery from Jan. 17, footpaths and vehicle tracks were visible in the snow around the portal areas and at the main administrative support area, 38 North said on its website. The imagery also showed snow-cleared roads leading from the security barracks area to the command center, it said. "There are no indications of ren

Jan. 30, 2020

N. Korea calls Wuhan virus fight ‘grave political matter’

North Korea on Wednesday ordered all-out prevention to fight the Wuhan coronavirus, describing such preventive efforts as a “grave political matter” that could determine the fate of the nation. 　 “All party organizations must regard efforts of stopping the spread of the new coronavirus as a grave political matter that is concerned with the fate of the nation and reinforce (relevant) political activities,” according to Pyongyang’s official newspaper, the Rodong Si

Jan. 29, 2020

US defense official expresses support for peace declaration with N. Korea

WASHINGTON -- A senior US defense official on Tuesday voiced support for a peace declaration between the United States and North Korea, saying such an agreement would be beneficial to Washington if it can be negotiated. John Rood, under secretary of defense for policy, was commenting on the possibility the administration of US President Donald Trump could offer a peace declaration as part of a denuclearization deal with the North. In particular, he was asked by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) of the Ho

Jan. 29, 2020

N. Korea's official newspaper calls fight against coronavirus matter of national existence

North Korea's official newspaper called Wednesday for a nationwide drive to stem the spread of the new coronavirus, calling such preventive efforts an "important political matter" that could affect national existence. North Korean media outlets have reported almost daily on the fast-spreading outbreaks of the pneumonia-like illness in China and other nations, and Pyongyang's measures to keep the virus from spreading into the country, though it has not confirmed any case of its own.

Jan. 29, 2020

NK’s foreign reserves take a dive after sanctions: report

North Korea was holding foreign exchange reserves of between $3 billion and $6.6 billion in 2014, but that dipped heavily after the country came under strict US-led sanctions in 2017, the Bank of Korea said Tuesday in its latest report. The report, which was largely based on estimations and assumptions because analysts lacked data from the isolated country, said the North’s holdings of US dollars may have sharply shrunk since the sanctions -- by an estimated $1 billion each year. The Nor

Jan. 28, 2020

North Korea on high alert to contain Wuhan coronavirus

North Korea is on high alert to contain the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus and is stepping up quarantine efforts, as the deadly respiratory virus that originated in China continues to spread across Asia and the world. 　 Pyongyang’s official newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun on Tuesday said the government has taken emergency measures to prevent the virus from spreading in the country, as it shares a border with China. The newly identified respiratory virus has killed over 100 people in mainl

Jan. 28, 2020

Satellite images show activity at NK missile site

Satellite imagery has shown vehicle activity at a North Korean missile site on the outskirts of Pyongyang, which could signal the imminent launch of missiles or missile engine tests, CNN said Sunday, citing US defense officials familiar with the latest assessment. Vehicles have been spotted at the missile research center in recent days, but they are not believed to be fueling missiles. The US officials were uncertain whether the North was preparing to launch short or medium-range missiles or en

Jan. 27, 2020

1,047 NK defectors arrive in S. Korea last year, lowest in 18 years

A total of 1,047 North Korean defectors arrived in South Korea last year, the lowest number in 18 years, according to data from the unification ministry on Monday. The total includes 202 males and 845 females. By quarter, 229 arrived in the first three months of the year, 320 in the second quarter, 226 in the third and the remaining 272 in the fourth, according to the data. The number of defectors arriving in the South rose after 2000 before peaking in 2009 at 2,914 people. Since current lead

Jan. 27, 2020

Kim Jong-un's aunt makes 1st public appearance in over 6 years

Kim Kyong-hui, a once-powerful aunt of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has made her first public appearance in more than six years, Pyongyang's state media showed Sunday.The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that Kim Jong-un attended a concert celebrating Lunar New Year's Day on Saturday at the Samjiyon Theater in Pyongyang with his wife, Ri Sol-ju. The KCNA, monitored in Seoul, added that Kim Kyong-hui, widow of Kim Jong-un's late uncle Jang Song-thaek, joined the leader and his wife

Jan. 26, 2020

Seoul mulls providing financial aid to separated families for NK visit: minister

South Korea is considering providing financial support for families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War to visit North Korea, Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul said Saturday.Kim‘s remarks are in line with the government’s broader push to allow South Koreans to make individual trips to the North as a way to ease tensions and facilitate stalled denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington.“The government is considering helping the elderly people with the cost of visit

Jan. 25, 2020

Int‘l Red Cross spends $268,000 to help N. Korea fight food insecurity

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies spent $267,700 on one of its projects last year to help North Korea fight food shortages amid unfavorable weather conditions, the federation said in a recent report.The money was spent on deploying mobile water pumps, training farmers on the use and maintenance of the device and procuring spare parts in the face of little rainfall, it said in the final report on the operation to combat North Korea’s drought and food insec

Jan. 25, 2020

N. Korea ranks lowest in world democracy index last year: report

North Korea placed last in a world democracy index in 2019 as it scored zero in electoral process and civil liberties, a report showed Saturday.The communist state ranked at the bottom among the 167 countries surveyed with the lowest score of 1.08 out of 10.00, according to the Democracy Index 2019 published this week by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the research arm of the British weekly The Economist.The North‘s ranking in the EIU index has not changed since the London-based age

Jan. 25, 2020

N. Korea to receive $42m to fight tuberculosis, malaria: report

The Global Fund, an organization set up to fight epidemic diseases, will provide $42 million to help North Korea fight tuberculosis and malaria, according to the Voice of America on Friday. In an email sent to the VOA on Thursday (US time), the Global Fund said it has agreed with Pyongyang over the financial support, and it began to make the payment of the fund to the North. The Switzerland-headquartered Global Fund has provided more than $100 million to North Korea to help cure those diagn

Jan. 24, 2020

North Korea to make Munich Security Conference debut in 2020

North Korea will send a delegation to the Munich Security Conference for the first time in the 56-year history of the top diplomatic gathering, organizers said Thursday.An MSC spokesperson confirmed that North Korean vice foreign minister Kim Son-gyong would attend next month's event.The announcement comes a month after Pyongyang declared it was abandoning moratoriums on nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests.The self-imposed ban on tests had been the centerpiece of two years of nu

Jan. 23, 2020

Seoul closely monitoring N. Korea's expected meeting of diplomats

South Korea is keeping a close watch on North Korea over a possible meeting of its overseas diplomatic mission chiefs, a unification ministry official said Thursday, amid speculation Pyongyang could discuss its nuclear strategy during the session.Last week, top North Korean envoy to China Ji Jae-ryong and Ambassador to the UN Kim Song returned home. The North Korean ambassadors to Angola and Singapore were also seen at the Beijing airport on the same day, indicating a possible meeting scheduled

Jan. 23, 2020