US urges N. Korea to refrain from 'threatening' activity, return to diplomacy

The United States urged North Korea Sunday to refrain from further "threatening" activity and engage in "serious and sustained" diplomacy, after Pyongyang fired several cruise missiles, the latest in a recent series of its weapons tests. A State Department spokesperson made the call, noting that Pyongyang has increasingly engaged in "threatening" and "irresponsible" military activities, including missile launches. Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said th

Jan. 29, 2024

N. Korea's foreign minister meets visiting Chinese vice FM: state media

North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui has met with a visiting senior Chinese diplomat in Pyongyang, its state media reported Saturday, as the North appears to be seeking to strengthen ties with Beijing amid its stepped-up cooperation with Russia. On Friday, Choe met with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong, who is visiting North Korea this week, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a brief dispatch. Noting that this year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of

Jan. 27, 2024

China’s vice foreign minister visits N. Korea

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong arrived in Pyongyang on Thursday, marking the first high-level exchanges of the year as both countries commemorate the 75th anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties. North Korea's state-run media on Friday reported the arrival of the delegation of the Chinese Foreign Ministry led by Sun via the city of Sinuiju, the capital of North Pyongan Province, but did not share any further details. The meeting notably followed a one-month interval since the

Jan. 26, 2024

N. Korea could turn to nukes 'more easily' in crisis: US think tank report

North Korea could resort to nuclear weapons in a crisis "more easily" as it is making "significant" progress toward implementing a more robust nuclear strategy, a US think tank report said Thursday. The conservative Heritage Foundation released the 2024 Index of US Military Strength, providing its analysis of threats from North Korea, China, Iran and Russia, as well as terrorist threats from the Middle East and North Africa. Calling the North a "perennial" problem i

Jan. 26, 2024

US not seeing indications of 'direct' N. Korean threat at this time: Washington official

The United States is not seeing indications of a direct military threat from North Korea at the moment, a US official said Thursday, after Washington officials were reported to have warned North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could take some "lethal" military action against South Korea in the coming months. Earlier in the day, The New York Times reported on the possibility of the North's military action as concerns rose over Kim's pugnacious rhetoric against the South and his regi

Jan. 26, 2024

NK conducts most crypto hacks in 2023: report

North Korea-linked hackers carried out the largest number of cryptocurrency thefts in 2023, despite a decrease in the overall amount stolen, a US blockchain analysis firm reported Wednesday. The number of hacks surged to 20 in 2023, marking the "highest number on record" since 2016, according to an online report released by Chainalysis, headquartered in New York. The trend of cryptocurrency theft has steadily increased since 2020, with North Korea-associated hackers conducting five, ni

Jan. 25, 2024

Defense chief warns N. Korea will face end of regime if it wages war

South Korea's defense chief said Wednesday that North Korea will face the end of its regime if it wages war, hours after the North fired several rounds of cruise missiles into the Yellow Sea in its latest series of weapons tests. Defense Minister Shin Won-sik issued the warning during his visit to the 17th Fighter Wing at Cheongju Air Base, 112 kilometers south of Seoul, which operates 40 F-35 stealth fighter jets. "North Korea has defined the Republic of Korea as its principal enemy

Jan. 24, 2024

Korean character spotted on missile Russia fired into Ukraine: report

A handwritten Korean character was found on a ballistic missile Russia fired into Ukraine, a report showed Wednesday, adding to growing suspicions over arms transactions between North Korea and Russia amid their deepening military ties. Earlier this month, the White House revealed that the North has provided Russia with several dozen ballistic missiles, some of which were used to strike Ukrainian targets in late December and early January. "On a barometer documented in Ukraine on January 11

Jan. 24, 2024

N. Korea fires several cruise missiles into West Sea: JCS

North Korea fired several cruise missiles toward the West Sea on Wednesday, the South Korean military said, the latest in a series of saber-rattling that heightened tensions. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North's launch took place around 7 a.m. but did not elaborate, citing an ongoing analysis. "While strengthening our monitoring and vigilance, our military has been closely coordinating with the United States to monitor additional signs of North Korea's provocations," th

Jan. 24, 2024

US maintains 'appropriate' defense posture against NK threats: White House official

A White House official expressed confidence Tuesday that the United States is keeping an "appropriate" defensive posture against North Korean threats, amid tensions heightened by Pyongyang's continued weapons tests and hardening rhetoric. John Kirby, the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, made the remarks in response to a question of whether there has been a change in the North's military posture following its tough rhetoric against the South

Jan. 24, 2024

Kim Jong-un nostalgic for engagement approach of 2018: Seoul defense chief

Shin Won-sik, the minister of national defense of South Korea, says North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could carry out a nuclear weapons test at any time this year if he believes he could gain what he wants from the next US president by doing so. In an interview with The Korea Herald on Monday, the South Korean defense chief said North Korea’s Kim may seek to leverage the US presidential election in November to get the incoming administration in Washington to accede to his demands. North Kore

Jan. 23, 2024

S. Korean envoy lambasts N. Korea-Russia cooperation, UNSC resolution breach

South Korea's top envoy to the UN renewed Seoul's criticism of arms transactions between North Korea and Russia during a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, as Russia's top diplomat shifted the blame to the West for the prolonging of the war in Ukraine. South Korean Ambassador Hwang Joon-kook called the weapons transfers between Pyongyang and Moscow "direct" violations of UNSC resolutions during the meeting on the war in Ukraine, where Russian Foreign Minister Sergei

Jan. 23, 2024

N. Korea defends its stepped-up military measures at intl. forum

North Korea has defended its measures to bolster military capabilities as a just exercise of the sovereign right against Washington-led military confrontations at the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Uganda, state media reported Monday. North Korea claimed it has recently conducted a test of an underwater nuclear attack drone, named the Haeil-5-23, in the East Sea in response to the latest joint naval drills involving South Korea, the United States and Japan. The drills came after North Korea'

Jan. 22, 2024

North Korea ready to welcome Putin’s state visit

North Korea says it is ready to host Russian President Vladimir Putin for a state visit. The state official Korea Central News Agency on Sunday said that Putin has expressed his willingness to visit Pyongyang, reporting the results of its Foreign Minister Choe Sun-hui’s recent trip to Moscow. “The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea warmly welcomes the state visit of comrade president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, to our country. We are ready to receive the best friend of the Ko

Jan. 21, 2024

N. Korea condemns UN Security Council meeting on its hypersonic missile test

North Korea on Sunday strongly condemned a recent meeting of the UN Security Council convened to discuss Pyongyang's recent test-fire of a hypersonic missile and other issues. The council held the closed-door meeting Thursday, days after the North launched what it claims was a solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile tipped with a hypersonic warhead last Sunday. "The UN Security Council, at the brigandish demand of the US and its vassal states, convened a closed-door negotiation

Jan. 21, 2024

NK parliament's longest-serving chairman dies

Choe Thae-bok, a former chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly, North Korea's rubber-stamp legislature, has died, the North's official news agency reported Sunday. Choe was 93. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un paid a visit to Choe's funeral bier with secretaries of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party at dawn Sunday to express his deep condolences over his death, the Korean Central News Agency said. "Kim Jong-un paid silent tribute to Choe Thae Bok w

Jan. 21, 2024

US calls on N. Korea to refrain from 'provocative' actions after claimed underwater nuclear weapons system test

The United States on Friday called on North Korea to refrain from further "provocative" and "destabilizing" actions, and to return to dialogue, after Pyongyang claimed to have tested an underwater nuclear weapons system under development. The North's defense ministry said the country conducted an "important" test of the Haeil-5-23 system, denouncing this week's naval drills between South Korea, the US and Japan as "reckless confrontation hysteria,&quo

Jan. 20, 2024

US diplomat calls for world not to stay silent on N. Korean human rights

A senior US diplomat made an emphatic call Friday for the international community not to remain silent about human rights abuses in North Korea, as "Beyond Utopia," an Oscar short-listed film on North Korean defectors, was screened at the State Department in Washington. Uzra Zeya, the under secretary of state for civilian security, democracy and human rights, made the call at the film screening event intended to shine a light on the treacherous journeys North Korean defectors make in d

Jan. 20, 2024

NK leader spotted in latest Mercedes SUV despite sanctions

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was spotted getting out of an apparent luxury Mercedes-Benz sport utility vehicle in footage aired by the North's Korean Central Television on Monday, despite ongoing international sanctions on imports of luxury goods to Pyongyang, raising questions as to the effect of international deterrents against North Korea. In the documentary video, Kim is seen exiting a black SUV of which the passenger-side rear door is emblazoned with "Chairman of the State Affa

Jan. 19, 2024

N. Korea says it tested nuclear-capable underwater drones

North Korea's state media Korean Central News Agency reported on Friday it had conducted a test of its underwater nuclear weapon system in the sea off the Korean Peninsula's east coast. The test of "Haeil 5-23," a system of underwater drones capable of covert nuclear attacks on naval forces and ports, was carried out in a show of protest against a joint maritime military drill of South Korea, Japan and the United States held earlier this week, the KCNA reported. The trilatera

Jan. 19, 2024