North Korea may develop ICBM carrying multiple warheads: experts

Signs of the resumption of activity at some military test sites in North Korea have been observed, less than two weeks before the year-end deadline the regime set for denuclearization negotiations with the United States. Amid speculation that the North may carry out a military provocation, experts say its actions may involve tests for the development of submarine-launched ballistic missiles and intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of carrying multiple warheads.According to a report releas

Dec. 17, 2019

Prospects dim for US-N. Korea nuclear talks: ministry

Prospects are dim for denuclearization talks between the US and North Korea next year, with the possibility of the communist regime escalating military tension, the South Korean government said Tuesday. “If there is no progress in North Korea-US negotiations by the year-end deadline, the possibility of North Korea’s leader declaring the suspension of the talks in his New Year’s address cannot be ruled out,” the Unification Ministry said in a press release on its evaluatio

Dec. 17, 2019

NK leader visits mausoleum to mark 8th anniversary of father's death

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited the mausoleum in Pyongyang where his late father's body is enshrined to commemorate the eighth anniversary of his death, the North's state media said Tuesday.Kim paid tribute to his deceased father and former North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun where the bodies of late Kim and the country's founder, Kim Il-sung, lie in state, according to the Korean Central News Agency.Kim Jong-il died in 2011 after ruling the communist

Dec. 17, 2019

US rejects proposal by China, Russia for NK sanctions relief

WASHINGTON -- The United States on Monday rejected a reported proposal by China and Russia to lift some United Nations sanctions on North Korea, saying Pyongyang has yet to make progress toward denuclearization.A spokesperson for the State Department made the comment after Reuters reported that China and Russia proposed a draft UN resolution seeking partial sanctions relief, including the lifting of sanctions on North Korean exports of statues, seafood and textiles."Now is not the time for

Dec. 17, 2019

Trump says US is watching N. Korea closely

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said Monday that he would be disappointed if something was "in the works" in North Korea and that the United States is watching the regime closely.Tensions between the two nations have escalated ahead of a year-end deadline set by the North, after which the regime has hinted at resuming nuclear or long-range missile tests.Trump's comments come after North Korea on Friday carried out a second presumed engine test in less than a week at its Sohae s

Dec. 17, 2019

China, Russia propose lifting some UN sanctions on N. Korea, US says not the time

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -- China and Russia on Monday proposed the UN Security Council lift a ban on North Korea exporting statues, seafood and textiles, according to a draft resolution seen by Reuters, in a move Russia said is aimed at encouraging talks between Washington and Pyongyang.The draft also called for a ban to be lifted on North Koreans working abroad and the termination of a 2017 requirementfor all such workers to be repatriated by next week. The draftwould also exempt inter-Ko

Dec. 17, 2019

N. Korea's crop harvest up 2% on improved weather conditions

North Korea's crop production for this year is estimated to have slightly increased from a year earlier on the back of relatively improved weather conditions, data showed Monday.The combined crop output of the communist nation is estimated to reach 4.64 million tons this year, compared to 4.55 million tons a year earlier, according to the Rural Development Administration. The production of rice, a key staple food for Koreans, is estimated to have risen 1.8 percent over the period to reach 2.24 m

Dec. 16, 2019

Biegun proposes meeting with North Korean counterparts

US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun on Monday proposed a meeting with North Korean officials during his visit to Seoul, saying Washington is willing to discuss all issues of interest to Pyongyang if they resume denuclearization talks. He said it was “not too late” for North Korea to choose a “better way,” following the regime’s second “crucial” test at its long-range rocket launch site Friday. The test may have been an attempt to adv

Dec. 16, 2019

N. Korean newspaper touts late leader on eve of 8th anniversary of his death

North Korea's main newspaper on Monday published a series of articles lauding late leader Kim Jong-il on the eve of the eighth anniversary of his death.Kim died on Dec. 17, 2011, after ruling the communist nation for 17 years after the death of his father and national founder, Kim Il-sung, in 1994. Current leader Kim Jong-un, the third son of the late leader, took over the North in another hereditary succession of power.In a front-page editorial, the Rodong Sinmun said the late leader achieved u

Dec. 16, 2019

Biegun arrives in Seoul amid deadlock in NK-US nuclear talks

US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun arrived in Seoul on Sunday for a “close coordination” with allies amid the deadlock in the denuclearization talks with Pyongyang just weeks before the communist regime’s year-end deadline. A day before, North Korea issued statements to announce that it had carried out “another crucial test” at a satellite launching site, warning the United States to “hold off” any action to “rattle&

Dec. 15, 2019

Activities resume on NK naval shipyard, SLBM demonstration should not be ruled out: think tank

Minor activity has resumed at a submersible test stand barge at Nampo Naval Shipyard in North Korea, and there is the possibility that Pyongyang might test a submarine-launched ballistic missile before its year-end deadline, a US-based think tank said Sunday.Satellite imagery collected in the last several months indicate that minor activity has resumed as of Dec. 2, after a two-month hiatus since September, said Joseph Bermudez and Victor Cha of Beyond Parallel, a team that specializes in North

Dec. 15, 2019

N. Korea raps officials for 'leadership flaws' amid economic drive

North Korea's cabinet has rapped officials for "flaws" in leadership and strategies that undermine its national push for economic development, urging them to work hard to achieve goals set in a five-year economic development scheme.The North made the call during an extended cabinet meeting it recently convened to review the work that has been done over the past four years and to discuss what measures should be taken for next year, the cabinet newspaper Minju Choson reported Saturday. &

Dec. 14, 2019

Biegun to visit Seoul next week ahead of NK year-end deadline

US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun was set to arrive in Seoul on Sunday, just weeks ahead of Pyongyang's year-end deadline for Washington to show flexibility to advance their stalemated nuclear talks.His three-day visit comes amid rising tensions in the wake of Pyongyang's apparent rocket engine test earlier this month and Washington's subsequent warnings against additional "hostile" acts.Escalating tensions further, the North on Saturday said it carried out "

Dec. 13, 2019

Malaysian court approves N. Korean's extradition to US

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) -- A North Korean man is likely to face money-laundering charges in the United States after a Malaysian court approved his extradition Friday, in a case his lawyers claim is politically motivated. Mun Chol -myong has denied FBI claims that he led a criminal group that violated sanctions by supplying luxury goods to his isolated homeland and laundered funds through front companies. The 54-year-old, who has lived in Malaysia with his family for a decade, was arrested in May foll

Dec. 13, 2019

N. Korea could announce end to nuke talks later this month: think tank

North Korea could announce an end to denuclearization talks with the United States when it convenes a meeting of the ruling Workers' Party later this month, a state-run think tank said Friday.The North said last week it will convene a plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the WPK later this month to address "crucial issues in line with the needs of the development of the Korean revolution and the changed situation at home and abroad."The announcement came as Pyongyang has ramped

Dec. 13, 2019

Seoul seeks to support swine fever control in NK via NGOs

The South Korean government plans to help control the African swine fever outbreak in North Korea by providing support through international nongovernmental organizations.The Unification Ministry is taking steps to donate money from the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund to international NGOs seeking to control and prevent the disease in North Korea, government sources said Friday.The Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Promotion Council under the ministry is expected to deliberate and vote on the

Dec. 13, 2019

US hopes N. Korea refrains from nuclear, long-range missile tests: Pentagon

WASHINGTON -- The United States hopes North Korea will refrain from nuclear and long-range missile tests, but remains ready to respond to the threat, the Pentagon said Thursday.Joint Staff Vice Director Navy Rear Adm. William Byrne Jr. made the remark in response to North Korean statements hinting at a resumption of nuclear and long-range missile tests in the coming weeks."I'm not going to share any classified information," he said during a press briefing at the Pentagon when asked if

Dec. 13, 2019

US warns N. Korea against 'ill-advised' action

WASHINGTON -- A top US diplomat warned North Korea on Thursday against taking any "ill-advised" action in light of its veiled threats to resume nuclear and long-range missile tests.David Stilwell, US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, made the remark as North Korea has threatened to take a "new way" unless the US offers concessions in their stalled denuclearization negotiations before the end of the year. Washington has urged Pyongyang to stick t

Dec. 13, 2019

N. Korea slams US over UN meeting

North Korea slammed the United States on Thursday for convening a UN Security Council meeting, saying the "provocative act" has helped it decide which path to take in the deadlocked nuclear talks.A spokesperson of the North's foreign ministry made the remarks after the UNSC held a session on Wednesday at the request of the US At the meeting, the US envoy called on the council to "act accordingly" against Pyongyang's tension-heightening behavior. "We will never toler

Dec. 12, 2019

23,000 North Korea workers sent back home as UN deadline looms

Some 23,000 North Korea workers abroad have been repatriated in the last two years under a UN sanctions resolution adopted in 2017, according to data from a UN panel monitoring sanctions implementation that was released Thursday.The resolution adopted by the UN Security Council in December 2017 calls for the repatriation of all North Korean workers by the end of this year to stop them from earning foreign currency that could be funneled into the regime’s missile and nuclear programs. Based

Dec. 12, 2019