N. Korea discusses grain output in follow-up measure after key party meeting

North Korea held a Cabinet meeting earlier this week to discuss follow-up measures for policy goals laid out in a recent key party meeting, such as increasing agricultural production, the North's state media said Thursday. A two-day plenary meeting of the Cabinet's Party Committee wrapped up Wednesday, attended by participants, including Premier Kim Tok-hun and Vice Premier Pak Jong-gun, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. The meeting came less than two weeks after th

June 29, 2023

Seoul, Washington moving to hold inaugural meeting of Nuclear Consultative Group: ambassador

South Korea and the United States are working to hold their inaugural meeting of the new Nuclear Consultative Group, South Korea's ambassador to the US Cho Hyun-dong said Wednesday. Cho also said the allies have made "progress" toward holding the first meeting of the consultative body created under the Washington Declaration, signed by their leaders in late April. "With North Korea's threat actually materializing, the discussion for the inaugural meeting of the NCG proposed by Sou

June 29, 2023

Korean Russian sanctioned over NK weapons programs

South Korea unveiled sanctions on a Russian citizen of Korean descent and his company, as well as on a separate North Korean citizen and a joint venture run by the two individuals, the latest efforts to crack down on North Korea’s attempts to fund its weapons programs. Choi Chon-gon set up Hanne Ulaan, a company in Mongolia, to bankroll Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs. He also founded a joint venture called Epsilon with a North Korean citizen, according to the South Korean F

June 28, 2023

N. Korea slams Japan for continued demand for resolution of abducted Japanese issue

North Korea condemned Japan on Wednesday for continuing to demand Pyongyang resolve the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by the North decades ago, claiming that such a stance runs counter to Tokyo's hope for a summit with the North without preconditions. Ri Pyong-dok, a researcher at the Institute for Japan Studies of the North's foreign ministry, said the abductee issue has been "completely, finally and irreversibly" settled, accusing Japan of bringing the "unfeasib

June 28, 2023

Defector group sends propaganda leaflets to N. Korea on Korean War anniversary

A North Korean defectors' group said Monday it has sent anti-Pyongyang leaflets and medicine by balloons to the North, as they marked the 73rd anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War. Park Sang-hak, head of the Fighters for a Free North Korea, told Yonhap News Agency that the organization sent 20 balloons carrying some 200,000 leaflets, 10,000 face masks, Tylenol pills and booklets from Gimpo, west of Seoul, at 10 p.m. on Sunday. Sunday marked the 73rd anniversary of the Korean War th

June 26, 2023

Mass rallies in N. Korea against US held on Korean War anniversary

More than 120,000 people participated in mass rallies in the North Korean capital Pyongyang to denounce what they claim is a "war provocation of aggression" by the United States on the 73rd anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War, the North's state media said Monday. The Sunday rallies were attended by workers and youth, as well as secretaries of the North's ruling Workers' Party of Korea Ri Il-hwan and Pak Thae-song, according to the official Korean Central News A

June 26, 2023

N. Korea warns Korean Peninsula close to 'brink of nuclear war'

North Korea's foreign ministry on Monday accused Seoul and Washington of pushing tensions to "the brink of a nuclear war" akin to the 1950-53 Korean War, saying it will continue to bolster its self-defensive capabilities. In a research report released by the foreign ministry's Institute for American Studies, North Korea likened the current military tensions in the region to the night before the outbreak of the Korean War as it slammed the United States and South Korea for the

June 26, 2023

N. Korea voices 'strong' support for Russia over Wagner's armed rebellion

North Korea's vice foreign minister voiced his "strong" support for any decision by the Russian leadership over the recent armed rebellion by the Wagner mercenary group, according to the North's state media Sunday. Vice Foreign Minister Im Chon-il made the remarks during his meeting with Russian Ambassador to the North Alexander Matsegora earlier in the day, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Im "expressed firm belief that the recent armed rebellion in R

June 25, 2023

N. Korea claims expansion of BRICS could speed up end to US dollar's supremacy

North Korea's state media claimed Sunday that an expansion of the so-called emerging BRICS nations could challenge and eventually speed up an end of the domination of the US dollar. In an article carried by the North's Korean Central News Agency, Jong Il-hyon, an international affairs analyst of North Korea, criticized the US for using the dollar and its military might as means for "hegemonism." BRICS -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- held a meeting of its f

June 25, 2023

S. Korean rights watchdog head urges China to stop repatriation of NK defectors

South Korea's human rights watchdog chief on Friday urged China not to send North Korean defectors back to their homeland, citing reports that about 2,000 North Koreans held in China face imminent repatriation. Song Doo-hwan, chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, issued a statement saying the human rights of North Koreans can be seriously infringed upon if they are repatriated and that the Chinese government should comply with the United Nations' recommendation.

June 23, 2023

N. Korea most likely to use nuclear weapons as means of coercion: US intelligence report

North Korea will likely use its nuclear weapons to coerce political concessions from South Korea and its allies, a US intelligence report said Thursday. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence noted that Pyongyang may also employ non-nuclear, non-lethal attacks to advance its goals in the future, believing that its nuclear weapons will deter counteroffensives. "We assess that through 2030, Kim Jong-un most likely will continue to pursue a strategy of coercion, potentially includ

June 23, 2023

N. Korea calls Blinken's visit to China 'disgraceful begging trip'

North Korea on Wednesday called US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's latest visit to China a "disgraceful begging trip," claiming it demonstrated the US failure in its policy of putting pressure on Beijing. Jong Yong-hak, an analyst on international affairs, said Blinken flew to China to "beg for the relaxation" of worsened bilateral ties, as its pressure policy on China dealt a fatal blow to the US economy and a China-US confrontation could trigger an unprecedented mi

June 21, 2023

NK rebukes officials for failed satellite

North Korea called the botched attempt last month to launch a military reconnaissance satellite the “most serious failure,” vowing to try a second launch without offering exact dates at the ruling party’s key meeting held from Friday to Sunday. According to the state-run Korean Central News Agency on Monday, officials responsible for the May 31 launch were rebuked at the plenary meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, which leader Kim Jong-un

June 19, 2023

Ex-N. Korean secretary of inter-Korean affairs returns to party political bureau

Kim Yong-chol, a former top North Korean party official in charge of affairs with South Korea, has returned to the ruling party's politburo following a year of his absence from key party posts. Kim has been elected as an alternate member of the political bureau of the Workers' Party of Korea in the latest reshuffle of party officials following a three-day party plenary meeting that ended Sunday, according to state media. A photo carried by the Rodong Sinmun, the North's main newsp

June 19, 2023

N. Korea cites failed satellite launch as 'most serious' failure

North Korea called its failed attempt to launch a purported military reconnaissance satellite the "most serious" shortcoming in the first half of this year and reaffirmed its pledge to put it into orbit soon, Pyongyang's state media said Monday. The North made the assessment following a plenary meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, attended by leader Kim Jong-un, that wrapped up the previous day, referring to its botched attempt to launch

June 19, 2023

S. Korea to carry out first in-depth inquiry into forced labor in N. Korea

South Korea plans to carry out its first in-depth inquiry into forced labor practices in North Korea through interviews with defectors who have arrived in South Korea over the past five years, sources said Sunday. North Korean Human Rights Records Center will conduct the interviews through the end of the year to learn details of the forced labor practices taking place at North Korea's detention facilities, schools and various social organizations, according to the sources. The inquiry by th

June 18, 2023

N. Korea opens key party meeting to discuss diplomatic, defense strategies

North Korea has convened a key party meeting to discuss the country's diplomatic and defense strategies in response to the "changed international situation," with its leader Kim Jong-un in attendance, state media reported Saturday. Kim took part in the eighth "enlarged plenary meeting" of the 8th Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) that opened Friday, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The meeting will discuss &q

June 17, 2023

Unification minister confident of winning damages suit against N. Korea

South Korea's unification minister voiced confidence Friday in winning a damages suit the government has filed against Pyongyang over its 2020 demolition of an inter-Korean liaison office in North Korea's border city of Kaesong. The remarks by Kwon Young-se, who is in charge of Seoul's inter-Korean affairs, came two days after the government lodged a 44.7 billion-won ($35 million) damages suit against North Korea for blowing up the liaison office on June 16, 2020. It marked the fi

June 16, 2023

US imposes sanctions on two N. Korean nationals for assisting illegal weapons program

The United States imposed sanctions on two North Korean nationals based in China on Thursday for assisting North Korea's illegal weapons development programs, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. The move came hours after Pyongyang fired two short-range ballistic missiles, resuming its missile provocation after a brief pause. "Today, the United States is designating two Beijing-based Democratic People's Republic of Korea nationals connected to the DPRK's weapons of mass de

June 16, 2023

NK fires 2 ballistic missiles toward East Sea

North Korea has fired two short-range ballistic missiles towards the East Sea, the military authorities said Thursday. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that it detected two short-range ballistic missiles fired from the Sunan area of North Korea from around 7:25 p.m. to 7:37 p.m. towards the East Sea. The authorities confirmed that the missiles landed in the East Sea after flying about 780 km each, adding that the details and any additional provocations are being monitored by th

June 15, 2023