N. Korea slams S. Korean military chiefs' warning of retaliation

North Korea on Monday denounced South Korean military leaders' vow to overwhelmingly retaliate against Pyongyang in the event of the North's provocations, brushing it off as a show of "bravado." In a commentary carried by the Korean Central News Agency, North Korea scoffed at their call for enhancing combat readiness against Pyongyang, repeating its claim that South Korea should be blamed for the rupture of a 2018 inter-Korean military accord. "A frightened dog barks lou

Dec. 18, 2023

N. Korean leader Kim marks 12th anniversary of father's death

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has marked the 12th anniversary of the death of his father and predecessor Kim Jong-il by visiting a mausoleum where the father's body lies in state, the North's state media said Sunday. Kim paid tribute the previous day at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where the bodies of Kim Jong-il and the current leader's late grandfather and national founder Kim Il-sung lie in state, the official Korean Central News Agency reported. Senior officials accompani

Dec. 17, 2023

S. Korean official notes possibility of N. Korea launching ICBM this month

A South Korean presidential security official on Thursday raised the possibility of North Korea launching an intercontinental ballistic missile this month as he arrived in Washington for a high-profile security meeting. Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo made the remarks upon arrival here on the eve of the second meeting of the Nuclear Consultative Group, a South Korea-US security meeting designed to discuss nuclear and strategic planning issues. "I think there is a poss

Dec. 15, 2023

Russian governor in Pyongyang for talks on economic ties

North Korea hosted a Russian governor of a far-east border region on Tuesday for talks on boosting economic ties, according to Pyongyang’s official state news agency. The official Korea Central News Agency said in a report Wednesday that North Korea’s foreign economic affairs official Yun Jong-ho met with Oleg Kozhemyako, the governor of Russia’s Primorsky, to discuss “elevating economic cooperation between regions of the two countries to a higher level.” The state-

Dec. 13, 2023

NK may use provocations to impact S. Korea, US elections: report

North Korea may resort to military provocations and psychological warfare, and escalate tensions to influence crucial elections in South Korea and the United States next year, the government-funded Korea Institute for National Unification said Wednesday in an annual report. The elections will be crucial factors in shaping North Korea's foreign policy approach and strategic decisions in the coming year, experts at the KINU said during a briefing on the forecast of the security landscape on t

Dec. 13, 2023

S. Korea opens probe into filmmakers over unauthorized meetings with pro-N. Korea group

The unification ministry handling inter-Korean affairs said Tuesday it has launched a probe to verify details of unauthorized meetings between South Korean filmmakers and members of a pro-North Korea group in Japan. The move came as the ministry has been seeking to tighten the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act amid heightened inter-Korean tensions. Under the law, South Korean nationals are required to file prior notification with the government before contacting members of the General As

Dec. 12, 2023

S. Korea to hold Pyongyang accountable over unauthorized use of Kaesong complex: minister

South Korea's point man on North Korea said Tuesday the government will hold Pyongyang accountable for using South Korea-owned facilities at a now-shuttered inter-Korean joint industrial park in the North without permission. Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho made the remark in a meeting with foreign correspondents in Seoul, as North Korea appears to be illegally running some 30 facilities at the Kaesong Industrial Complex, sharply up from 10 earlier this year, in the namesake border city. &q

Dec. 12, 2023

Russian regional delegation visits N. Korea

A Russian delegation has arrived in North Korea, state media said Tuesday, in the latest sign of growing ties between the two countries. The delegation led by Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of the Russian far eastern region of Primorsky Krai that borders North Korea, arrived in Pyongyang on Monday and was welcomed by Ji Kyong-su, vice minister of external economic relations, at Pyongyang International Airport, according to the Korean Central News Agency. The KCNA did not provide details on the purpos

Dec. 12, 2023

N. Korea accuses West of abusing human rights in white paper

North Korea on Monday accused the West of violating human rights while dismissing international criticism of its dire human rights conditions as it published a white paper on the issue. Pyongyang made the accusation as it announced the publication of a white paper on human rights to mark the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations. "The dignity and rights of human being mentioned by the declaration are now ruthlessly being violated

Dec. 11, 2023

S. Korea to make efforts to ease foreign investors' concerns about tensions on peninsula: minister

South Korea's unification minister said Monday the government will make efforts to assuage foreign investors' concerns about heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, saying his country has been beefing up a readiness posture against North Korea's potential provocations. Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho made the remark during his meeting with U.S. investor Jim Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings, in Seoul amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula following North Korea�

Dec. 11, 2023

N. Korea lambasts S. Korea-US joint military drills

North Korea on Monday denounced South Korea and the United States for staging joint military drills, calling it a "futile" provocative act that will only hasten the South's destruction. Citing joint military exercises that Seoul and Washington have carried out since late October, the Rodong Sinmun, the North Korean main newspaper, reported that South Korea is recklessly running amok to stage war on the Korean Peninsula. "Having the US on its back, the puppet group is pursuing

Dec. 11, 2023

N. Korea slams U.S. over veto on UN resolution calling for cease-fire in Gaza

North Korea denounced the United States on Sunday for vetoing a U.N. Security Council Resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, state media reported. The U.N. Security Council voted on the resolution Friday, but it failed to pass due to the veto by the U.S., one of the five veto-wielding powers of the 15-member council. Kim Son-kyong, North Korea's vice foreign minister for international organizations, accused Washington of abusing its veto right, calling the c

Dec. 10, 2023

NK activity increases at Panmunjom after inter-Korean military deal scrapped: NNSC generals

North Korea has increased activities in the truce village of Panmunjom after effectively scrapping an inter-Korean military tension reduction agreement last month, Swedish and Swiss military generals overseeing the armistice said. Maj. Gen. Lena Persson Herlitz and Maj. Gen. Ivo Burgener of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission made the remark in an interview with Yonhap News Agency, expressing concern the scrapping of the Comprehensive Military Agreement could increase the risks of militar

Dec. 10, 2023

S. Korea, US, Japan reaffirm N. Korea's denuclearization obligation

The national security advisers of South Korea, the United States and Japan reaffirmed Saturday that North Korea is obliged under UN Security Council resolutions to abandon its nuclear weapons program and refrain from military cooperation, Seoul's adviser said. National Security Adviser Cho Tae-yong made the remark during a joint press briefing with his US and Japanese counterparts, Jake Sullivan and Takeo Akiba, following trilateral talks in Seoul. "We reaffirmed North Korea's obl

Dec. 9, 2023

British Embassy, BASS celebrates 'Mince Pie Morning'

The British Embassy and the British Association of Seoul (BASS) celebrated the annual Mince Pie Morning at the residence of British Ambassador Colin Crooks in Seoul on Thursday. The event featured traditional English mince pies — a sweet pastry filled with a delectable mixture of fruit, spices, and suet — marking the spirit of the holiday season in English-speaking traditions. “BASS is an important part of the vibrant expat community here in Seoul. It was, as always, a pleasure

Dec. 8, 2023

[News Focus] Why Kim Jong-un spotlights mothers

North Korea orchestrated a unique event on Tuesday, where personally curated gifts from leader Kim Jong-un were presented to participants at the national mothers' meeting, continuing the trend of promoting the pivotal role of mothers in state-controlled media. North Korea hosted the fifth National Conference of Mothers in Pyongyang on Sunday and Monday, marking the first occurrence of the event since 2012. Speaking at the event, Ri Il-hwan, the secretary of the Central Committee of the Work

Dec. 6, 2023

N. Korea doles out gifts to participants in mothers' conference

North Korea has held a meeting to hand out gifts to participants in the latest national conference of mothers, state media reported Wednesday, in an apparent move to secure their loyalty amid a declining birth rate. The central committee of the ruling Workers' Party provided the participants with significant gifts "associated with the meticulous paternal affection" of leader Kim Jong-un. Kim did not attend Tuesday's event, but the Korean Central News Agency said he made sure

Dec. 6, 2023

N. Korea's Kim calls for measures to prevent fall in birth rate

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called for measures to prevent a decrease in the country's birth rate in the first national meeting of mothers in 11 years, state media reported Monday. Kim said he has thought about North Korean mothers whenever he faced difficulties in steering state and party affairs, and stressed the role of mothers in such various fields as helping resolve "non-social" problems and promoting the unity of society. "There are also issues of preventing th

Dec. 4, 2023

North Korea threatens consequences after South Korea launches 1st spy satellite

North Korea said Sunday a clash and even war with South Korea was only a “matter of time,” about a day after Seoul’s first military reconnaissance satellite was launched into orbit. The satellite, the first of the five South Korea is planning to send into space by 2025, lifted off from the US Space Force Base in California on a SpaceX rocket at 10:19 a.m. Friday and reached orbit soon after, according to the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul. The National Defense Ministry s

Dec. 3, 2023

N. Korea to hold plenary meeting of ruling Workers' Party in late Dec.: state media

North Korea will hold a plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party later this month to discuss this year's state policies and policy goals for next year, its state media said Saturday. The ninth plenary meeting of the eighth Central Committee of the WPK will be convened late in December to "review the execution of the Party and state policies in 2023," the Korean Central News Agency said in an English-language dispatch. The decision was made during a politburo meeting on Fr

Dec. 2, 2023