US upbeat about NK denuclearization despite new weapon test

The United States expressed confidence Friday that North Korea will honor its commitment to denuclearize despite its test of an unspecified high-tech weapon.North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected the “successful” test of a “high-tech tactical weapon” at a national defense institute, state media reported earlier in the day.It marked the first such inspection by the leader following his viewing of an intercontinental ballistic missile launch in November 2017.“At the Singapore Summit, President

Nov. 17, 2018

N. Korea decides to deport US citizen detained for illegal entry

North Korea has decided to deport a US citizen detained for illegally entering the country, its state media reported on Friday.The US citizen, identified as Bruce Byron Lowrance, has been detained in North Korea since he was caught illegally entering North Korea via the border with China last month, according to the Korean Central News Agency.  (Reuters)He confessed to have entered the North under the direction of the US Central Intelligence Agency, the KCNA said. It did not specify when the US

Nov. 16, 2018

N. Korea may have tested new long-range artillery: source

North Korea's newly developed tactical weapon is thought to be a long-range artillery piece, a government source in Seoul said Friday, hours after Pyongyang's media reported on leader Kim Jong-un's supervision of its recent testing.The North's official Korean Central News Agency said the communist leader oversaw the test of the "ultramodern" weapon and called it a "decisive turn in bolstering the fighting capacity" of his military."We presume it to be a new type of long-range artillery," the sou

Nov. 16, 2018

NK weapon test doesn't signal abandonment of nuke talks: official

WASHINGTON -- North Korea's test of an unspecified high-tech weapon should not be interpreted as a sign that the regime is abandoning denuclearization talks with the United States, a senior South Korean official said Thursday.North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected the "successful" test of a "high-tech tactical weapon" at a national defense institute, state media reported early Friday (local time).It marked the first such inspection by the leader following his viewing of an intercontinental ba

Nov. 16, 2018

N. Korean officials visit lake park, residential town near Seoul

GOYANG, Gyeonggi Province -- A five-member North Korean delegation that arrived in South Korea on Wednesday to attend an international peace forum toured a residential town and a lake park on the northern outskirts of Seoul on Friday.The North's delegates, led by Ri Jong-hyok, vice chairman of the Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, looked around Ilsan New Town and Ilsan Lake Park, in Goyang, north of Seoul, aboard a bus before attending the international forum on Asia-Pacific peace and prosper

Nov. 16, 2018

N. Korean leader orders development of gateway city to China

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has instructed a sweeping development of Sinuiju, the North's main border city with China, Pyongyang's media reported Friday.Kim examined and guided the master plan for Sinuiju before setting forth the tasks and ways of successfully sprucing up the border gateway city to meet the demand of the present era, according to a report by the Korean Central News Agency. A photo released by the Rodong Sinmun on Nov. 16, 2018, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un guiding t

Nov. 16, 2018

NK leader orders distribution of S. Korean tangerines to students, workers

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has instructed the tangerines that South Korea recently sent as a gift be distributed to students and workers in Pyongyang, the country's state media said Friday.On Sunday, South Korean President Moon Jae-in sent 200 tons of tangerines of the country's southern island of Jeju to North Korea in return for the mushrooms that Kim sent as a gift in September. (Yonhap)"Kim Jong-un expressed thanks to Moon Jae-in for sending the gift associated with warm feelings of Sou

Nov. 16, 2018

NK proposes connecting int'l air routes over border with S. Korea

North Korea on Friday proposed connecting international air routes along the western and eastern coasts of the Korean Peninsula during the first-ever inter-Korean meeting on aviation cooperation, Seoul's unification ministry said.South Korea agreed to hold further discussion on the issue through meetings of aviation authorities, according to the ministry. "The South and the North also agreed to keep having discussion on the overall cooperation in the aviation sector," the ministry said in a text

Nov. 16, 2018

UN committee condemns North Korea’s human rights violations

A United Nations committee on Thursday adopted a resolution condemning North Korea’s “longstanding and ongoing systematic, widespread and gross violations of human rights” amid ongoing diplomatic efforts to achieve denuclearization of North Korea. The General Assembly’s human rights committee approved the resolution by consensus without a vote. It is expected to pass the assembly in December for the 14th consecutive year. 　The resolution is largely similar to the previous resolutions on North Ko

Nov. 16, 2018

NK leader's Seoul visit still possible this year: minister

WASHINGTON -- A top South Korean official said Thursday that he believes it is still possible for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to visit Seoul before the end of the year.Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon reminded a forum in Washington that the visit was an agreement reached between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in at their last summit in September."Not only is it possible within the year, it's necessary," said Cho, who was in the United States on a five-day visit to meet senior Am

Nov. 16, 2018

Pence: US won't require nuclear inventory before 2nd NK summit

WASHINGTON-- US Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday that the U.S. will not require North Korea to submit a list of its nuclear arsenal before a second bilateral summit, but that the two sides will have to come up with a plan to identify the weapons during the meeting.Pence made the remarks in an interview with NBC News on the sidelines of a regional summit in Singapore.(Yonhap)He said the second meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will take place ear

Nov. 16, 2018

NK leader inspects test of new high-tech weapon amid stalemated nuke talks

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has inspected a test of a newly developed high-tech weapon, the North's state media reported Friday amid stalemated denuclearization talks with the United States.The Korean Central Broadcasting Station said that Kim visited a testing site at a national defense institute and inspected the test of the unspecified new tactical weapon."The state-of-the-art weapon that has been long developed under the leadership of our party's dynamic leadership has a meaning of compl

Nov. 16, 2018

NK official’s abrupt cancellation of S. Korea trip prompts speculations

A top North Korean nuclear negotiator’s abrupt cancellation of a trip to South Korea has raised speculations regarding her whereabouts and the reasons behind her absence, amid a perceived stall in nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang. Kim Song-hye, director of the United Front Department’s tactical office, was initially among the seven-member delegation from North Korea to arrive in South Korea late Wednesday to attend a peace forum in Gyeonggi Province on Friday. But the North

Nov. 15, 2018

Moon, Pence stress cooperation on North Korea

SINGAPORE – President Moon Jae-in and US Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday stressed the need for cooperation on North Korean issues, and the US requested Moon play a bigger role in aiding communication among concerned parties, Cheong Wa Dae said.The two met on the sidelines of Association of Southeast Asian Nations-related meetings in Singapore.  President Moon Jae-in and US Vice President Mike Pence hold a meeting in Singapore on Thursday. YonhapAccording to Cheong Wa Dae, Pence requested M

Nov. 15, 2018

Rodong Sinmun slams US, Europe, Japan over UN resolution on N. Korean human rights

North Korea's official newspaper on Thursday condemned Western countries and Japan for pushing to adopt an anti-North human rights resolution at the United Nations while "covering up" their own human rights problems.The Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, said in an editorial that the United States, European countries and Japan had better make efforts to correct their own human rights lapses, instead of attacking the North's rights conditions based on fabricated data.

Nov. 15, 2018

S. Korea to push for expanding no-fly zone to NLL, Han River estuary

South Korea will seek to expand a no-fly zone along its land border with North Korea to cover their maritime boundaries and the Han River estuary, an official at Seoul's defense ministry said Thursday. Seoul and Pyongyang have set up a no-fly zone along the Military Demarcation Line under the September inter-Korean military agreement. But they have not agreed on any air buffer zone over the Northern Limit Line, a de facto sea border, and the estuary. (Yonhap)The extension to the NLL would be in

Nov. 15, 2018

N. Korean officials visit S. Korean hub of technology startups

A five-member North Korean delegation, who arrived in South Korea on Wednesday to attend an international peace forum, visited a Korean version of Silicon Valley on the southern outskirts of Seoul on Thursday.The North's delegates led by Ri Jong-hyok, vice chairman of the Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, embarked on the tour by visiting the Second Techno Valley in the Pangyo district of Gyeonggi Province's city of Seongnam. (Yonhap)Built next to the Pangyo Techno Valley, which houses more th

Nov. 15, 2018

NK rights issue may get more emphasis in Democratic-led House: ex-US diplomat

North Korea's human rights issue may get "more emphasis" in the US House of Representatives with the Democrats winning back control in last week's midterm elections, a former US diplomat said Thursday.Kathleen Stephens, who served as ambassador to South Korea from 2008-2011, made the remarks, noting that President Donald Trump has not paid much attention to the issue in the wake of his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore in June. Kathleen Stephens, former U.S. ambassador to

Nov. 15, 2018

Moon govt. asked to map out contingency plan for N. Korean denuclearization

Former South Korean Minister of Unification Jeong Se-hyun said Thursday that President Moon Jae-in should begin a contingency plan and persuade North Korea to take the first steps towards denuclearization."The Moon government should launch a contingency plan to ensure that the United States would not patch up the North Korean nuclear problem by eliminating the North's intercontinental ballistic missiles and freezing its nuclear weapons program," Jeong said in a parliamentary meeting organized by

Nov. 15, 2018

Ruling party head to meet NK official handling inter-Korean ties

The ruling Democratic Party chief plans to meet with a visiting North Korean official in charge of inter-Korean ties on Thursday, party officials said.Lee Hae-chan, the DP's chairman, plans to have dinner with Ri Jong-hyok, vice chairman of the Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, party officials said.Details about their planned meeting have yet to be revealed, but they are expected to discuss a proposed parliamentary meeting between the two Koreas and civilian exchanges. (Yonhap)Leading a five-

Nov. 15, 2018