President Moon visits National Cemetery to start new year

President Moon Jae-in made a rare trip to the National Cemetery on Wednesday to pay his respects to the country's war veterans and heroes before starting the first working day of the new year.The president was joined by all 19 members of his Cabinet, including Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, on his visit to the Seoul National Cemetery. (Yonhap)Such visits are customary for the president and other leaders before or after major events.Moon is now in the third year of his single five-year presidency. (

Jan. 2, 2019

Trump says looks forward to 2nd meeting with NK leader

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he looks forward to a second meeting with the North Korean leader, after Kim Jong-un said he is ready to meet any time."'Kim Jong Un says North Korea will not make or test nuclear weapons, or give them to others - & he is ready to meet President Trump anytime,'" Trump tweeted, apparently citing a PBS News Hour report on Kim's New Year's address earlier in the day."I also look forward to meeting with Chairman Kim who realizes so well that

Jan. 2, 2019

US declines to comment on NK leader's speech

The United States declined to comment Tuesday after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un renewed his commitment to denuclearize but demanded reciprocal steps from the US."We decline the opportunity to comment," a State Department spokesperson told Yonhap on condition of anonymity. (Yonhap)It was Washington's first response to Kim's annual New Year's speech, which was watched closely for hints of the future of stalled denuclearization talks between the North and the USKim said in the address that he i

Jan. 2, 2019

Cheong Wa Dae hails NK leader's address

South Korea's presidential office welcomed the New Year's address by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, saying it reflects his wish for the development of inter-Korean ties and Pyongyang-Washington relations."Chairman Kim's firm commitment is expected to have a positive effect on resolving the Korean Peninsula issue smoothly in the new year," Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said. (Yonhap)In the half-hour long televised speech, the North's leader expressed his willingness to meet again with U

Jan. 1, 2019

NKorean leader says he's ready for more talks with Trump

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Tuesday he hopes to extend his high-stakes nuclear summitry with President Donald Trump into 2019, but also warns Washington not to test North Koreans’ patience with sanctions and pressure.During his televised New Year’s speech, Kim said he’s ready to meet with Trump at any time to produce an outcome “welcomed by the international community.” However, he said the North will be forced to take a different path if the United States “con

Jan. 1, 2019

Kim says he is ready to meet with Trump, calls for 'corresponding' measures from Washington

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said Tuesday he is firmly committed to denuclearization and ready to meet with US President Donald Trump at any time, but warned he could seek an alternative course if the US misjudges his patience and sticks to sanctions.Kim made the remarks during his New Year's speech broadcast by the country's state television, also urging the US to take corresponding measures in exchange for denuclearization steps the communist nation has taken so far. (Yonhap)Kim also said h

Jan. 1, 2019

N. Korea rails against Japan for clinging to sanctions and pressure

North Korea's state media blasted Japan on Monday for clinging to sanctions and pressure on Pyongyang, saying that Tokyo is ignorant of change underway on the Korean Peninsula and actions the North has taken for peace and prosperity.In a commentary, the Korean Central News Agency urged Japan to stop talking "rubbish" arguing that the time is not right for the international community to apply sanctions exemptions on North Korea.  (KCNA-Yonhap)"Shortly ago, Japanese Ambassador to the United Nation

Dec. 31, 2018

Moon says N. Korean leader's letter has 'positive' message on denuclearization, inter-Korean relations: source

President Moon Jae-in said Monday that North Korea leader Kim Jong-un's personal letter sent to him on Sunday contains a "positive" message that could give hints as to what direction North Korea could be headed in denuclearization and inter-Korean relations, a source said.Cheong Wa Dae announced on Sunday that Kim expressed in the letter an intent to work together with South Korea on the issue of denuclearization, cooperate for peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and honor his promise t

Dec. 31, 2018

Kim Jong-un expected to ring in 2019 with big policy speech

Kim Jong-un will be keeping North Korea watchers busy on New Year's Day, when he is expected to give his annual address laying out the country's top priorities for the year ahead.The speech, which is normally broadcast on North Korea's state-run television network, is often the best gauge of what the North Korean leadership is focused on and what tone it will take in its dealings with the outside world. For 2019, it will be parsed carefully for clues about Kim's thinking on denuclearization talk

Dec. 31, 2018

World's tallest empty hotel lit up with N. Korean propaganda

The 105-story Ryugyong Hotel has long been a blot on the Pyongyang skyline. The world's tallest unoccupied building has towered over North Korea's capital since 1987, a grand but empty pyramid entirely dark except for the lone aircraft warning light at its top. Outsiders saw the unfinished building as the epitome of failure, while people inside the country took care to rarely mention it at all.That is, until light designer Kim Yong Il made the building once again the talk of the town. (AP-Yonhap

Dec. 31, 2018

Kim’s letter to Moon shows willingness to break deadlock in nuclear talks

Despite a widespread feeling that the US-North Korea nuclear talks have stalled, the North Korean leader’s rare end-of-year letter to President Moon Jae-in indicates his willingness to break the deadlock by means of his New Year’s address. In his letter, Kim vowed to meet Moon “frequently” next year to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and work together to resolve the issue, the South’s presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Sunday. He also expressed a strong determination to

Dec. 31, 2018

Provision of $8M in South Korean aid to NK postponed again

A $8 million humanitarian aid package South Korea set aside for North Korea is set to be scrapped as the plan failed to materialize for the second year in a row amid international sanctions on Pyongyang.The Seoul government decided in September last year to send the assistance to the North through global agencies, but it has postponed the execution of the plan amid international sanctions on the communist nation. (Yonhap)But the budget is set to be scrapped in the new year.Under the law, the gov

Dec. 31, 2018

N. Korea calls itself 'utopia,' 'flower garden of human love'

North Korea has called itself a "utopia" and a "flower garden of human love" as it rejected US criticism of human rights violations as an attempt to topple the communist regime.A North Korean human rights association made the claim in an open series of questions to the US and the United Nations, claiming that US pressure over human rights is equivalent to "an act of political terrorism" against the country.(Yonhap)"Does the US not want to get over with the old conventions, prejudices and hostile

Dec. 31, 2018

[Breaking] N. Korean leader sends letter to Moon

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a letter to South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Sunday to call for continued efforts to build peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula next year, Seoul's presidential office said.Kim also said that the leaders of the two Koreas have taken practical measures this year helping to get over long-running confrontation across their border, Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told reporters."Chairman Kim sent a personal letter to President Moon today,"the of

Dec. 30, 2018

NK defectors expand presence on YouTube

Dressed in a Santa Claus costume, Kang Na-ra appeared no different from other YouTubers as she stood in front of a video camera for a Christmas special clip, except that she was going to talk about Christmas in her former communist homeland: North Korea. “Now there are so many defector-YouTubers that I have to find something new and interesting. Me being a defector is not enough,” she said in a recent interview with Yonhap News Agency, pointing to the red costume she had prepared. Kang is one of

Dec. 30, 2018

N. Korea's tourism agency appeals to foreigners to visit N. Korea

North Korea has unveiled tour programs allowing foreigners to visit the reclusive state and celebrate the New Year's holiday, according to the country's state-run tourism agency Sunday.The program will run in Pyongyang and other major tourist attractions from Dec. 29 to Jan. 5, DPR Korea Tour said on its website run by the North's National Tourism Administration. (Yonhap)Travelers will be able to enjoy events ranging from a celebration of the new year at Kim Il-sung Square in central Pyongyang t

Dec. 30, 2018

N. Korea holds national meeting to mark anniv. of Kim's assumption

North Korea held a national meeting last week to mark the seventh anniversary of leader Kim Jong-un taking the post of supreme commander of the country's armed forces, the state-run media reported Sunday.The meeting was held Saturday in Pyongyang, attended by high-ranking officials of the ruling Worker's Party of Korea (WPK) and the Korean People's Army (KPA) along with many others, including soldiers, students and workers, according to the Korean Central News Agency.Sunday marks the seventh ann

Dec. 30, 2018

N. Korea bashes US for 'pressure' on human rights

A North Korean state propaganda outlet slammed the United States on Saturday for its "extreme pressure" over its human rights issues throughout the year, calling for mutual respect.In an article carried by Uriminjokkiri, the North said the US has made "fusses regarding human rights issues against us throughout 2018," citing such events as the UN passage of the rights resolution and Washington's designation of the North as a violator of religious freedom. (Yonhap)Claiming that "such explicit inte

Dec. 29, 2018

S. Korea shares info on infectious diseases with N. Korea

South Korea shared information about infectious diseases on its soil with North Korea on Friday following the two sides‘ agreement on health care.　Seoul’s unification ministry said it told North Korean officials at their joint liaison office in the North‘s border town of Kaesong that a measles patient was confirmed in South Korea’s Anyang in Gyeonggi Province.  (Yonhap)　This is the first time that South Korea has shared its disease information with North Korea after their recent health talks. 　T

Dec. 28, 2018

Personal info of about 1,000 North Korean defectors leaked

The personal information of nearly 1,000 North Korean defectors in South Korea has been leaked as a computer at a state-run resettlement center was hacked, the unification ministry said Friday.   　The names, birthdates and addresses of 997 North Korean defectors were leaked last month through a personal computer infected with a malicious code, and the government learned of the leak on Dec. 17, according to the ministry.　“Recognizing a possibility of one personal computer at the Hana Center in No

Dec. 28, 2018