N. Korea fires one short-range ballistic missile into East Sea: S. Korean military

North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile into the East Sea on Sunday, South Korea's military said, two days after a nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier arrived here for allied drills. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launch from an area in or around Taechon, North Pyongan Province, at 6:53 a.m., and that it flew some 600 kilometers at an apogee of around 60 km at a top speed of Mach 5. The intelligence authorities of the South and the United States are conductin

Sept. 25, 2022

N.Korea denies supplying arms to Russia, denounces US ‘rumors’

North Korea’s Defense Ministry said that the country has never supplied weapons to Russia and denounced the US for spreading “groundless” rumors, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported Thursday. An unnamed vice director general of the General Bureau of Equipment at North Korea’s Defense Ministry issued a pronouncement on Wednesday to refute the US’ recent public statements on Russia’s request for North Korea to provide rockets and artillery shells,

Sept. 22, 2022

[From the Scene] South Korea official killed by North Korea gets funeral after 2 years

MOKPO, South Jeolla Province -- Lee Dae-jun, the South Korea government official who was shot dead by North Korean troops at sea on Sept. 22, 2020, was finally given a funeral on Thursday. At the service held in his hometown Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, over 100 people turned up to pay their final respects to Lee. The service, which was not open to the public, was attended mostly by relatives and former colleagues at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. President Yoon Suk-yeol sent flowers,

Sept. 22, 2022

N. Korea's military says it has never exported weapons to Russia

North Korea's military said Thursday it has never exported weapons to Russia and does not plan to do so, according to its state media, rejecting accusations of arms trade between the two countries. Earlier this month, a US state department spokesperson said Russia may be in the process of purchasing "millions of rockets and artillery shells" from North Korea, which would violate multiple U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolutions on the North. In response, a top North Korean militar

Sept. 22, 2022

Satellite imagery suggests N. Korea may be preparing to launch new submarine: 38 North

WASHINGTON -- A recent satellite imagery of North Korea's main submarine shipyard showed possible preparations to launch a new submarine, a US monitor reported Wednesday. The satellite imagery, taken Sunday, showed six barges and other vessels gathered around the submarine launch quay at Sinpo South Shipyard, according to 38 North. "While barges and a dry dock have been occasionally observed around the submarine launch quay at the main construction hall, the presence of six vessels and

Sept. 22, 2022

US warns arms supplies by N.Korea, Iran to Russia will lead to further sanctions

The United States will respond to arms supplies by North Korea and Iran to Russia with further sanctions to block Russia’s efforts to evade economic sanctions to illegally replenish its depleted stocks of weapons, senior US government officials said Tuesday. At a congressional hearing, US senators and senior officials at the Treasury and Justice departments took note of Russia’s pursuit to procure military equipment for its troops in Ukraine from the cash-strapped countries subject t

Sept. 21, 2022

Arab cultural festival showcases Qatar World Cup Pavilion

Arab cultures are being showcased ahead of the upcoming Qatar World Cup through Sept. 16 -24 in the lobby of Coex in southern Seoul. The pavilion is part of an exhibition held ahead of the World Cup which kicks off on Nov. 20 in Doha, Qatar’s capital city, and offers visitors a chance to experience Arab culture through activities like trying on Arab costumes, tasting Arabic desserts, getting Arabic pattern tattoos, and taking photos in a majlis, or sitting room in Arabic. Co-hosted by the

Sept. 21, 2022

In letter to Xi, N. Korean leader highlights strong bilateral ties against 'hostile forces'

In a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un stressed that relations between the two sides will continue to grow despite "heinous isolation" from "hostile forces," according to Pyongyang's state media Wednesday. "The constant support and encouragement by the general secretary and the party, government and people of China are ... victoriously advancing socialism despite the hostile forces' heinous isolation and blockade moves and

Sept. 21, 2022

Ex-unification minister questioned in probe into 2019 repatriation of 2 N. Korean fishermen

Prosecutors on Tuesday questioned former Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul as part of an investigation into allegations involving the previous government's repatriation of two North Korean fishermen in 2019, officials said. Kim has been accused of ordering an early end to a government inquiry into the North Koreans captured near the inter-Korean sea border and sending them back to the North despite their wish to defect to South Korea, while he was unification minister. The North Koreans' repatr

Sept. 20, 2022

[From the Scene]Partnership with Korea in e-governance, digital ecosystem vital to Kazakhstan: minister

By SanjayKumar Korea Herald correspondent NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan -- A partnership with South Korea in e-governance and the digital ecosystem is vital to Kazakhstan, the country's Minister of Digital Development Bagdat Musin said Thursday. “I visited South Korea in 2006 and I saw first e-services there and I realized the need to bring such a system to Kazakhstan,” Musin told foreign journalists at the Digital Government Office in Nur-sultan, Kazakhstan. “Now, we are collaboratin

Sept. 20, 2022

Chief of N. Korea's minor political party dies: state media

Pak Yong-il, a senior member of North Korea's parliament known for his role in inter-Korean exchanges, has died, according to Pyongyang's state media Tuesday. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a wreath the previous day expressing deep condolences over his death, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. Pak was vice chairman of the standing committee of the North's rubber-stamp Supreme People's Assembly and chairman of the central committee of the Korean Soc

Sept. 20, 2022

[Newsmaker] Families of Lee Dae-jun, Otto Warmbier meet

The families of Lee Dae-jun, a South Korean government official shot dead by North Korean troops at sea in 2020, and Otto Warmbier, a US college student who died after North Korea’s detainment left him in a coma in 2017, met on Saturday. Lee Rae-jin, the older brother of the South Korean official, told The Korea Herald that Fred and Cindy Warmbier, parents of the American student, got together for the first time at the couple’s home in Cincinnati, Ohio. “I have been wanting

Sept. 18, 2022

S.Korea, US warn of ‘overwhelming, decisive response’ to N.Korean nuclear attack

South Korea and the United States warned of an “overwhelming and decisive response” to any nuclear attack by North Korea at high-level strategic talks on Friday, denouncing North Korea’s first-use nuclear doctrine as an “escalatory and destabilizing messaging.” The two countries held the meeting of the Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group between South Korean and US vice ministers of foreign affairs and defense on Friday in Washington for the first ti

Sept. 17, 2022

FULL TEXT: Grieving brother’s letter to Kim Jong-un

The older brother of Lee Dae-jun, South Korea’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official who was killed by North Korean soldiers at sea in 2020, asked North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for a chance to visit the site of the tragedy. In an open letter to Kim, which was made public on Friday, Lee urged to be granted “a chance to pay a visit” and “a moment to pray for him to rest in peace.” He said that on the second anniversary of his death, on Sept. 22, his family p

Sept. 17, 2022

N. Korea accuses Japan of 'nullifying' 2002 joint declaration

North Korea argued formally Friday that Japan should be held accountable for "nullifying" a joint declaration issued two decades earlier in a bid to improve bilateral ties, according to Pyongyang's state media Friday. Song Il-ho, ambassador of the North's foreign ministry, directed the criticism against Japan in a statement carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the DPRK-Japan Pyongyang Declaration s

Sept. 16, 2022

N. Korea holds 1st national meeting of judicial officials since 2017

North Korea convened a national conference of judicial officials earlier this week for the first time in five years to discuss ways to uphold the country's socialist laws, state media reported Friday. The two-day Seventh National Conference of Judicial Officers opened Wednesday in Pyongyang with top officials in attendance, including Choe Ryong-hae, head of the Standing Committee of the country's Supreme People's Assembly, according to the North's official Korean Central News

Sept. 16, 2022

North Korea urged to disclose whereabouts of two men repatriated in 2019

South Korean lawmakers of the International Parliamentarians’ Coalition for North Korean Refugees and Human Rights on Wednesday called on North Korea to clarify the whereabouts of two North Korean men who were forcibly repatriated in 2019 after their defection was denied by South Korea. In a joint statement, Reps. Ha Tae-keung, Ji Seong-ho, Hong Suk-joon and Hwangbo Seung-hee of the ruling People Power Party said that more than three years since the men were returned against their will,

Sept. 15, 2022

North Korea maintains hard line against “audacious initiative”

North Korean authorities have stressed the country must not yield to sanctions from the international community and continue on the road to self-reliance, lashing out at the South Korean government’s “audacious initiative” policy and rejecting its proposal for talks between authorities to solve the problem of separated families. The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the ruling Workers' Party, said in an editorial on Wednesday, "Imperialists regard sanctions as

Sept. 14, 2022

Ruling party proposes bipartisan resolution against N. Korean leader's vows to keep nukes

The ruling People Power Party (PPP) suggested Wednesday that the rival parties adopt a joint resolution against North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's pledge to keep the country's nuclear weapons. "I urge the ruling party and the main opposition to react in a bipartisan manner amid an unprecedented security crisis," Emergency Committee Chairman Chung Jin-suk told a party meeting. "It has become clear that Kim Jong-un's 2018 promise to former President Moon Jae-in to give

Sept. 14, 2022