Canada reaffirms commitment with Korea to address global challenges

Canadian Embassy reaffirmed its commitment with Korea to address global challenges at an event hosted to mark the 60th anniversary of Canada-Korea diplomatic relations in Seoul on Thursday. Canada established diplomatic relations with Korea on Jan. 14, 1963. Delivering a welcoming address at the event, the Canadian Embassy's Charge d'Affaires, Tamara Mawhinney highlighted the significance of the 60 years of Canada-Korea relations. She expressed Canada's commitment to the Comprehen

Jan. 16, 2023

Eyes on NK leader at upcoming parliamentary meeting

Eyes are riveted on whether North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will convey another key message on the country’s nuclear buildup and hard-line foreign policy at a parliamentary meeting scheduled to be held this week. But experts have said the focus of the meeting is to discuss key domestic issues, including annual economic plans and the state budget, as well as preparations for nationwide events marking key anniversaries this year. North Korea’s legislative body, the Supreme People&rsquo

Jan. 15, 2023

N. Korea to hold key parliamentary meeting this week

North Korea is slated to convene a key parliamentary meeting this week amid keen attention to whether its leader Kim Jong-un will issue another message related to the country's development of nuclear and other major weapons. The Supreme People's Assembly will hold the meeting Tuesday to discuss policy tasks, state budget issues and organizational matters for 2023, the North's state media said last month. The SPA is the highest organ of state power under the North's constituti

Jan. 15, 2023

NK science commission's 2023 research to focus on agriculture, key industries

North Korea's commission in charge of science and technology has set the development of agriculture and the country's key industries as its main research goals for the new year, Pyongyang's main newspaper said Friday. In an interview carried by the Rodong Sinmun, Seng Kyong-chol, the vice chair of the State Science and Technology Commission, said the agency aims to put the priority of its research areas on the 12 major goals for the national economic development laid out at a rece

Jan. 13, 2023

N. Korea likely to continue provocations despite completely failed economy: Amb. Cho

WASHINGTON -- North Korea is widely expected to continue its provocations this year, presenting a very serious challenge for the entire international community, South Korea's ambassador to the United States Cho Tae-yong said Thursday. Cho said part of the reason for North Korea's continued provocations may be because leader Kim Jong-un is not happy with his "utter failure" in developing the North Korean economy. "I cannot see positive things coming out of North Korea in

Jan. 13, 2023

Yoon's comment on nuclear armament indication of will to defend nation: official

President Yoon Suk Yeol's recent comment on the possibility of South Korea's own nuclear armament was an expression of his firm commitment to defending the nation against North Korea's growing nuclear threat, his office said Thursday.  Yoon made the remark during a policy report by the foreign and defense ministers Wednesday, saying if North Korea's provocations intensify, "The Republic of Korea could deploy tactical nuclear weapons or possess its own nukes."  When asked

Jan. 12, 2023

N. Korea says it will never compromise over sovereignty

North Korea will never compromise or concede on the fundamental interests and sovereignty of the country despite any challenges, North Korean state media said Tuesday, legitimizing the ruling party’s intransigence and determination to stand against foreign powers. In an article, the Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, echoed the country’s principle of strength-for-strength and head-on confrontation that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reaffirmed at th

Jan. 10, 2023

N. Korea again on virus alert as cases rise in S. Korea, China

North Korea has called for strengthening quarantine measures against the COVID-19 pandemic, citing the fast spread of the virus in such neighboring countries as South Korea and China, according to its state media Monday. The state-run Korean Central Television reported Sunday that virus cases shot up in the winter season in the South, China and Japan due to the fast spread of omicron subvariants, saying, "The virus situations in those regions are the most serious in the world." It call

Jan. 9, 2023

N. Korea holds mass rally to drum up support for 2023 policy goals

North Korea held a mass rally in Pyongyang earlier this week to call for the thorough implementations of policy goals laid out during a major ruling party meeting late last year, its state media said Friday. Some 100,000 workers, students and members of the Workers' Party of Korea took part in the event at the May Day Stadium in the capital Thursday, vowing to carry out the decisions made during the WPK's plenary meeting held from Dec. 26-31, according to the official Korean Central Ne

Jan. 6, 2023

S. Korean military admits N.Korean drone entered presidential office no-fly zone

The South Korean military on Thursday belatedly confirmed an uncrewed North Korean aerial vehicle flew over no-fly zones designated around the presidential office and residence in central Seoul, walking back on earlier remarks that it did not do so. The Joint Chiefs of Staff statement was made during a closed-door briefing on the interim outcomes of its ongoing investigation on the intrusion of five uncrewed air vehicles, or UAVs, into South Korean airspace on Dec. 26 last year. They flew over t

Jan. 5, 2023

Former NK Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho likely executed last year: report

Former North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho appears to have been executed last year, a Japanese newspaper reported Wednesday. Ri seems to have been executed around between the summer and fall of last year, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported, citing unnamed multiple sources. Four or five officials from North Korea's foreign ministry appear to have been executed successively around the time of Ri's death, according to the report. It added that some unspecific issues related to the North Ko

Jan. 4, 2023

Belarusian ambassador urges Poland to resolve disputes via dialogue

Belarusian Ambassador to Korea Andrew Chernetsky urged Poland to resolve bilateral disputes over the Russia-Ukraine war and migration crisis on the Polish border through diplomacy and dialogue. Responding to Polish Ambassador to Korea Piotr Ostaszewski's comments in a previous interview with The Korea Herald, Chernetsky said his claims of Belarus' support of Russia in the war were "extremely belligerent" and that addressing such "accusations" via local media is not

Jan. 3, 2023

Ministry sorry for poor communication after public alarmed by rocket test

The South Korean military on Monday belatedly apologized for triggering public alarm last week by test-launching a solid-fuel space launch vehicle unannounced and pledged to find ways to prevent a recurrence of similar incidents. The Defense Ministry shared the details of the test flight that was conducted by the state-run Agency for Defense Development (ADD) on Friday after sunset in waters off the western coast to verify the performance of a homegrown solid-fuel space rocket. The ministry und

Jan. 2, 2023

N. Korean leader visits late father's mausoleum

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited the mausoleum of his late grandfather and father in his first reported public activity this year, according to Pyongyang's state media Monday. Kim paid tribute at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where the bodies of state founder and his grandfather, Kim Il-sung, and his father, Kim Jong-il, are enshrined, on the occasion of the start of the new year, the Korean Central News Agency said. The visit to the mausoleum came after he unveiled this year'

Jan. 2, 2023

NK nuclear attacks will lead to end of Kim's regime, Defense Ministry says

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un urged the country to exponentially increase its nuclear arsenal and mass-produce tactical nuclear weapons able to strike within South Korean territory, labeling South Korea as an “undoubted enemy” at a key party meeting, North Korean state media reported Sunday. In response to Kim’s explicit threat, the South Korean military publicly warned that any nuclear attack by North Korea would spell the end of the Kim Jong-un regime. Defense Minister Le

Jan. 1, 2023

Any NK attempt at nuclear attack will bring end to regime, Defense Ministry says

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un urged the country to exponentially increase its nuclear arsenal and mass-produce tactical nuclear weapons able to strike within South Korean territory, labeling South Korea as an “undoubted enemy” at a key party meeting, North Korean state media reported Sunday. In response to Kim’s explicit threat, the South Korean military publicly warned that any nuclear attack by North Korea would spell the end of the Kim Jong-un regime. Defense Minister Lee

Jan. 1, 2023

N. Korean leader calls for 'exponential' increase in nuclear arsenal

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un stressed the need to "exponentially" increase the number of the country's nuclear arsenal, saying South Korea has emerged as an "undoubted enemy," Pyongyang's state media reported Sunday. He delivered the message during a plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea that ended the previous day. It was held to set Pyongyang's major policy directions for the new year. In a situation where South Korea has become "

Jan. 1, 2023

N. Korea fires one SRBM into East Sea: S. Korean military

North Korea fired one short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) into the East Sea on Sunday, South Korea's military said. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected the launch from the Ryongsong area in Pyongyang at 2:50 a.m., adding the missile flew some 400 kilometers before splashing into the sea. It appears to be another response to Seoul's test launch of a homegrown solid-propellant space rocket on Friday, according to North Korea observers. On Saturday morning, the North shot three SRBMs from C

Jan. 1, 2023

North Korea fires 3 ballistic missiles toward East Sea

North Korea fired three short range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said Saturday. According to the JCS’s announcement, the S. Korean military detected the launch of the missiles from Chunghwa County in North Hwanghae Province at around 8 a.m. The JCS said the missiles flew about 350 kilometers before falling into the East Sea. “Bolstering the surveillance and vigilance, our military is maintaining readiness with the close cooperation be

Dec. 31, 2022

N. Korea working on draft resolution for year-end party plenary meeting

North Korea has discussed policy goals for 2023 to draw up a draft resolution expected to be adopted at the close of an ongoing plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, according to state media Friday. During the fourth-day session of the WPK central committee's enlarged plenary meeting Thursday, participants held sectoral discussions to map out measures to implement "important tasks" set forth by the North's leader Kim Jong-un, according to the Korean Cent

Dec. 30, 2022