Artists of N. Korea, China hold joint performance in Pyongyang

Artists of North Korea and China held a joint performance at the Mansudae Art Theatre in Pyongyang, according to the North's media Tuesday.The Korean Central News Agency said that the joint performance on Monday was watched by scores of officials from both countries, including Choe Hwi, vice chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea; Ri Ryong-nam, vice premier of the cabinet; and Chinese Ambassador to North Korea Li Jinjun. (Yonhap)North Korean students and teachers in the

Nov. 6, 2018

NK leader meets Cuban president at his Pyongyang office

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held talks with Cuba's president at his Pyongyang office on ways to strengthen cooperation between the two sides, the North's state news agency reported Tuesday.Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel Bermudez arrived in the North Korean capital on a state visit Sunday, along with his wife. (Yonhap)Kim invited them to the office building of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea on Monday. That venue is known as the equivalent of the Oval Room at the White House and

Nov. 6, 2018

Pompeo to meet NK official in New York Thursday

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will meet with his North Korean counterpart in New York this week to continue discussions on the denuclearization of the regime, the State Department said Monday.Pompeo will meet with Kim Yong-chol, a close aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, on Thursday to discuss ways to advance a denuclearization agreement reached by US President Donald Trump and the leader in Singapore in June, the department said in a statement. (Yonhap)"Secretary Pompeo will travel to

Nov. 6, 2018

[Newsmaker] Ordinary North Koreans join elite in acquiring taste for coffee

North Koreans have developed a new taste for coffee as its consumption saw a rapid increase over the past few years with the introduction of market forces to the state-run economy, according to a report from Radio Free Asia on Thursday. In the past, drinking coffee was considered a luxury for most of the North Korean population and only the elite in Pyongyang could afford the leisure time. But, now, some North Koreans out in the provinces also reportedly enjoy a hot cup of coffee now and then. 

Nov. 5, 2018

NK official's 'cold noodle' remark hasn't been substantiated: Cheong Wa Dae

An alleged insulting remark by a top North Korean official to chiefs of leading South Korean conglomerates has not been fully substantiated yet, the South's presidential office said Monday.Ri Son-kwon, chairman of the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country, has been under fire in the South after an opposition lawmaker alleged that he rebuked chaebol chiefs when they were having lunch together at Pyongyang's most famous cold noodle restaurant as part of September's third

Nov. 5, 2018

Koreas to hold talks over health cooperation this week

The two Koreas will hold talks over joint efforts to fight contagious diseases and other forms of health cooperation at their liaison office in North Korea's border city of Kaesong this week, Seoul's unification ministry said Monday. The meeting will take place on Wednesday, led by South Korea's Vice Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol and Park Myong-su, a senior North Korean health official, ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun told reporters. (Yonhap)"In line with the September Pyongyang declaration a

Nov. 5, 2018

N. Korean leader likely to visit Russia in November: S. Korean envoy

MOSCOW -- South Korea's top diplomat in Moscow said Monday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is likely to visit Russia in November.South Korean Ambassador Woo Yoon-keun told reporters that Russia and North Korea do not appear to have reached an agreement on Kim's visit yet but the most likely time seems to be this month in consideration of several circumstances."Russia has asked for Kim's visit within this year and expects it to happen. But North Korea seems to be weighing the time and place

Nov. 5, 2018

Pompeo to meet NK counterpart in New York at end of week

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday he will meet with his North Korean counterpart in New York "at the end of this week" to continue discussions on the denuclearization of the regime.Pompeo said in two separate interviews that his counterpart will be Kim Yong-chol, a top aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but stopped short of revealing the exact date of their meeting. (Yonhap)"I'll be in New York City at the end of this week meeting with my counterpart, Kim Yong-chol," the top US

Nov. 5, 2018

Two Koreas kick off joint survey of cross-border waterway

GANGHWADO, Incheon -- Since the end of the Korean War in 1953, access to the waterways along the western border with North Korea have been largely restricted out of concern that cross-border skirmishes could escalate into major conflicts.While the armistice agreement allows for freedom of navigation at the estuaries of South Korea’s Han River and North Korea’s Imjin River, such activities have been mostly prohibited unless for military purposes. Now, off-limits sites are about to open up themsel

Nov. 5, 2018

N. Korea blasts US human rights report

North Korea has blasted a report by a US human rights watchdog criticizing allegedly widespread sexual violence against women in the North, the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported Sunday.  (Yonhap)The response comes after Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, said, in a press conference held in Seoul last week, that sexual violence is one of the most serious human rights violations in North Korea and that it has not drawn as much attention as prison camps and o

Nov. 4, 2018

N. Korea welcomes Cuban president to Pyongyang

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel was due in Pyongyang on Sunday, North Korea's state media reported, describing the visit as a "historic event" highlighting the "invincible friendship" of the two allies.The visit comes amid stalled talks between North Korea and the United States and only days after Washington imposed fresh economic restrictions on Cuba.Washington's ties with Havana were fully restored in 2015 after more than half a century of enmity, but have deteriorated since President Donald

Nov. 4, 2018

South and North Koreans call for resumption of exchanges

Hundreds of South Korean civic leaders and North Korean officials on Sunday renewed calls for the resumption of inter-Korean exchanges as they met at a scenic mountain resort on the North's east coast for the first time in a decade.The two-day meeting at Mount Kumgang that ended on Sunday came amid rapprochement on the divided Korean Peninsula following inter-Korean summits between the leaders of the two Koreas.The meeting involved some 300 South Koreans, mostly from the Korean Council for Recon

Nov. 4, 2018

Koreas hoist yellow flags at DMZ guard posts in first step toward dismantlement

South and North Korea raised yellow flags at 11 guard posts each along their heavily fortified border on Sunday in a first step toward dismantling the posts under a military agreement reached as part of September's summit.The two sides hoisted the 4-meter by 3-meter flag at each of the 22 guard posts as a mark to indicate that the posts are to be dismantled, according to defense ministry officials.  These photos provided by the defense ministry show yellow flags at guard posts on the South and N

Nov. 4, 2018

Koreas to launch joint waterway inspection for joint use of river estuaries

South and North Korea will together launch a waterway inspection Monday as part of an agreement to jointly take advantage of the estuaries of the Han and Imjin rivers along their western border, officials said Sunday.Under a military deal signed on the sidelines of September's inter-Korean summit, the two sides agreed to make joint use of the river estuaries in the border areas and take steps to militarily guarantee safety in the region. (Yonhap)Officials said the areas can be used for aggregate

Nov. 4, 2018

US, NK scramble to gain upper hand before high-level meeting

With US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo scheduled to meet with his North Korean counterpart this week, the two sides are ratcheting up pressure to gain better negotiation position in the denuclearization talks. The Trump administration has insisted that economic sanctions remain on North Korea until it dismantles its nuclear and missile programs. North Korea, however, has demanded the US lessen its sanctions pressure before any progress on denuclearization talks. The tug-of-war is expected to esc

Nov. 4, 2018

Warmbier’s parents to attend hearing next month

Family members of an American university student who died last year after being detained in North Korea plan to attend a hearing next month, the Voice of America reported Sunday. According to Voice of America, the family of Otto Warmbier, who died days after he was returned to the US in a coma in 2017, filed documents to the US District Court in Washington for legal discovery with six witnesses. The documents were submitted upon court order and the Warmbiers’ attorney suggested hearing dates of

Nov. 4, 2018

Cuban president due in N. Korea

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel was due in North Korea on Sunday on a visit that underlines the "invincible friendship and unity and comradely friendship" between the two countries, the North's main state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun said.The newspaper carried a photo of Diaz-Canel, his biography and an editorial saying the North warmly welcomes his "coming to Pyongyang across the continent and ocean with the feelings of friendship of the fraternal Cuban people." (Reuters)The paper said his vis

Nov. 4, 2018

Senior N. Korean official taunts S. Korean ruling party lawmaker

A senior North Korean official in charge of exchanges with South Korea ridiculed a lawmaker of the South's ruling party about his pot belly during an inter-Korean event in Pyongyang last month, participants in the event said.Ri Son-kwon, chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country, made the scathing joke about Rep. Kim Tae-nyeon, chief policymaker of the ruling Democratic Party, during the Oct. 5 event marking the 2007 inter-Korean summit.(Yonhap)"Those with a pot bel

Nov. 4, 2018

Kim attends China-North Korea joint performance in Pyongyang

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attended a joint performance by artists from China and his country in Pyongyang on Saturday, according to a new report.Kim hailed the concert at the Mansudae Art Theatre for displaying a "bright future of the traditional friendship" between the two allies, the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported Sunday.  (Yonhap)The Chinese team of singers, dancers, musicians and film stars led by Luo Shugang, minister of culture and tourism, visited the North as

Nov. 4, 2018

N. Korea threatens to resume nuke development over sanctions

North Korea has warned it could revive a state policy aimed at strengthening its nuclear arsenal if the United States does not lift economic sanctions against the country.The statement released by the Foreign Ministry on Friday evening said North Korea could bring back its “pyongjin” policy of simultaneously advancing its nuclear force and economic development if the United States doesn’t change its stance. The North sopped short of threatening to abandon ongoing nuclear negotiations with Washin

Nov. 4, 2018