NK still not up to par on human rights conditions: report

North Korea continues to fall short of international standards in protecting the human rights of its people, also failing to implement many of the UN recommendations it earlier agreed to live up to, Amnesty International suggested in a report released Saturday.    The report comes as North Korea is set to be reviewed for its human rights conditions under the United Nations' Universal Periodic Review (UPR). (Yonhap)    Amnesty International noted the communist state may have worked to increase it

Jan. 26, 2019

Bolton: US sanctions relief requires 'significant' step from N. Korea

   North Korea needs to take a "significant" step toward abandoning its nuclear weapons in order to get sanctions relief from the United States, US National Security Adviser John Bolton has said.    In an interview with The Washington Times published Friday, Bolton indicated that US President Donald Trump is ready to lift the sanctions on Pyongyang if the regime will signal its sincerity about giving up its nuclear arsenal. National Security Advisor John Bolton walks on the driveway of the White

Jan. 26, 2019

N. Korea adopts law on cultivation, distribution of ginseng

North Korea has adopted a new law to monitor the production and distribution of Korean ginseng, or "insam," state media said Friday, in an apparent move to industrialize the medical herb.   The law lays out legal requirements for the guidance and control of the cultivation and purchase of insam, as well as the production and sale of processed insam products, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency.Insam has long been used in Asia as a medicine and tonic, along with Korean re

Jan. 25, 2019

North Korea may suggest shutdown of Yongbyon nuclear complex, international inspections: Foreign Minister Kang

South Korea’s foreign minister said Thursday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is expected to take concrete steps toward denuclearization in order to keep his pledges concerning economic development, as the leaders of both the US and the North express optimism about their upcoming summit. Closing the Yongbyon nuclear complex and dismantling key missile facilities in the presence of foreign inspectors are measures that Pyongyang might suggest during a second summit between US President Donald

Jan. 25, 2019

Trump defends progress with N. Korea ahead of 2nd summit

US President Donald Trump said Thursday that there has been progress in talks with North Korea despite criticism and that he expects another good meeting with the North Korean leader soon.Trump said the media has been unfair by accusing him of producing few tangible results toward dismantling the North's nuclear weapons program since his first summit with Kim Jong-un.(Yonhap)"The Fake News Media loves saying 'so little happened at my first summit with Kim Jong Un.' Wrong!" the president tweeted,

Jan. 25, 2019

N. Korean art troupe arrives in Beijing

A North Korean art troupe arrived in Beijing on Thursday for the first performance in the neighboring country in three years in a demonstration of close ties between the two countries ahead of a second summit between the North and the United States. The delegation, led by Ri Su-yong, vice chairman of the ruling party's Central Committee, arrived at a Beijing train station at around 11 a.m. and was greeted by North Korean Ambassador to Beijing Ji Jae-ryong and Chinese officials.(Yonhap)The North'

Jan. 24, 2019

Will North Korea transfer ICBMs to China?

North Korea may not be ready to bring its intercontinental ballistic missiles and the idea of transferring its nuclear arsenal to China to the negotiating table as bargaining chips in talks with the US, analysts here said Thursday. “Moving ICBMs out of North Korea is what the US has been demanding but there’s no evidence that the North has accepted the proposal,” Handong University professor Park Won-gon said. Washington’s simultaneous incentives and building of mutual trust must first take plac

Jan. 24, 2019

Kim expresses 'great satisfaction' after receiving letter from Trump: KCNA

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expressed "great satisfaction" after receiving a letter from US President Donald Trump and spoke highly of Trump's "determination and will" to resolve issues between the two countries, state media reported Thursday.Kim made the remark after top aide Kim Yong-chol briefed him on the results of his visit to Washington last week that included meetings with Trump and other top officials for talks about a second summit between the two countries, according to the Korean

Jan. 24, 2019

S. Korea's chief nuclear envoy sees 'rapid progress' for future

South Korea's top nuclear envoy who recently attended working-level consultations between North Korea and the United States in Sweden said Wednesday that there will be "rapid progress" in efforts to stage more talks between Pyongyang and Washington.Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was at a meeting in a suburb of Stockholm where North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui and U.S. State Department Special R

Jan. 23, 2019

UN exempts 4 organizations from NK sanctions, opens door for humanitarian aid

The UN Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea has granted exemptions from the sanctions to four organizations, it was revealed Tuesday. According to the committee, Christian Friends of Korea, the Eugene Bell Foundation, First Steps and UNICEF were given exemptions that took effect Jan. 18. Christian Friends of Korea is a US-based organization that has been providing humanitarian aid to North Korea since 1995, and First Steps is a Canada-based Christian organization that focuses on a

Jan. 23, 2019

N. Korea's envoy replaced ahead of 2nd Trump-Kim summit: source

North Korea has replaced an envoy handling negotiations with the United States ahead of the second summit between their leaders, an informed source said Tuesday.The new representative is Kim Hyok-chol, who previously served as the first North Korean ambassador to Spain, according to the source privy to North Korea-Spain relations."It's a mystery to us," the source told Yonhap News Agency on condition of anonymity, referring to the sudden switch of interlocutors. Kim Hyok-chol (Yonhap)The US spec

Jan. 23, 2019

Pompeo eyes 'good marker' with N. Korea next month

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday that he expects to see a "good marker" on the path to achieving North Korea's denuclearization at the end of next month.The two sides are planning to hold a second summit late next month to discuss the next steps in implementing the accord reached by US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un last year. (Yonhap)At the first summit in Singapore in June, Kim committed to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula

Jan. 23, 2019

Ex-Unification Ministry official sentenced to prison for leaking N. Korean defector information

A former Unification Ministry official who leaked personal information about North Korean defectors living in South Korea was sentenced to six months in prison, two years of probation and a 15 million won fine on Tuesday.The 48-year-old, identified only by the surname Lee, was removed from office by the ministry in July 2017 for having passed on private information about North Korean defectors, such as addresses and phone numbers, to another North Korean defector surnamed Bae, 38. Bae, a broker

Jan. 22, 2019

Gangwon governor expects sanctions to be lifted for Kaesong complex, Kumgangsan tours

Gangwon Province Gov. Choi Moon-Soon said Tuesday that North Korea will get sanctions relief for the resumption of two key inter-Korean economic projects -- the Kaesong industrial complex and Kumgangsan tours -- as its nuclear talks with the US are making progress. “After the Olympics, I visited North Korea three times, and I’m quite convinced now that North Korea will become a sole and successful case of denuclearization in the world,” he told reporters during a press conference in Seoul.  Choi

Jan. 22, 2019

Koreas, US wrap up ‘constructive’ talks in Sweden

The two Koreas and the US wrapped up working level talks Monday, having reportedly dealt with issues regarding the upcoming US-North Korea summit and regional security. On Monday, US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui and South Korean negotiator Lee Do-hoon concluded their talks held on the outskirts of Stockholm.  North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui leaves the conference venue in Stockholm on Monday. YonhapDetails o

Jan. 22, 2019

S. Korea seeking sanctions waiver for road survey in N. Korea

South Korea is seeking a sanctions waiver for its plan to survey the condition of a North Korean highway along the east coast as part of efforts to connect it across the border to the South, a unification ministry official said Tuesday.A sanctions exemption is required for the envisioned joint survey with the North of the Donghae Line highway because it involves bringing into the country equipment banned under UN Security Council sanctions resolutions.  (Yonhap)Last month, similar surveys were c

Jan. 22, 2019

S. Korea needs to tackle 'procedural' issues for Tamiflu provision to N. Korea: official

South Korea needs to resolve "procedural" issues before sending its promised Tamiflu to North Korea, a unification ministry official said Tuesday amid speculation that sanctions might be behind the protracted delay.The government promised to send 200,000 doses of the antiviral drugs to North Korea via a land route over their western border, but delivery, which had initially been scheduled for Jan. 11, has been repeatedly put off for reasons that are unclear. "There are no special issues," the of

Jan. 22, 2019

Report reveals an undeclared North Korean missile base headquarters

One of 20 undeclared ballistic missile operating bases in North Korea serves as a missile headquarters, according to a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) published on Monday.“The Sino-ri missile operating base and the Nodong missiles deployed at this location fit into North Korea’s presumed nuclear military strategy by providing an operational-level nuclear or conventional first strike capability,” the report said. (Yonhap)The discovery of an undeclared missile h

Jan. 22, 2019

N. Korea, U.S. end working-level talks in Sweden

North Korea and the United States ended their working-level consultations in Sweden on Monday (local time) to break the impasse over denuclearization talks amid apparent preparations underway for another summit of their leaders.A vehicle carrying U.S. Special Representative Stephen Biegun was seen leaving the convention earlier in the day in a remote area located northwest of Stockholm, where the two sides have held three days of negotiations since Saturday.Later in the day, another vehicle appa

Jan. 21, 2019

Trump touts NK developments as ‘historic result’

US President Donald Trump identified his nuclear talks with North Korea as among his greatest achievements in the first half of his first term, amid hopes for substantial results from the second summit between Pyongyang and Washington next month. In the “historic results of President Donald Trump’s first two years in office,” issued by the White House on Sunday, the US administration said he brought the beginning of peace and denuclearization to the Korean Peninsula by holding a historic summit

Jan. 21, 2019