US calls for China to support holding N.Korea accountable for missile launches

A senior US diplomat called for China to lend its support and join the US-led move to hold North Korea responsible for its ballistic missile launches amid growing concern over the UN Security Council’s continuous failure to take concerted actions. US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield held a rare face-to-face meeting with China’s Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Affairs Liu Xiaoming on Wednesday in New York. “Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield emphasized the

March 31, 2022

N. Korea calls on party officials to wipe out anti-socialist practices

North Korea reiterated calls for the ruling party's propaganda officials to help weed out anti-socialist and non-socialist practices, as it wrapped up a three-day workshop, according to state media Thursday. The workshop for officials in the information field of the ruling Workers' Party concluded the previous day with a study session on prioritizing ideological work as the "very core of the Party work," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. "The workshop called

March 31, 2022

Satellite imagery shows ‘visible’ signs of N.Korea reactivating nuclear test site

North Korea has been restoring access to a yet unused tunnel at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in a potential attempt to expedite a seventh nuclear weapons test, said Open Nuclear Network, a Vienna-based research institute. Commercial satellite images have shown “signs of increasing activities” since last December especially at the South Portal and the main administrative area within North Korea’s only known underground nuclear test site, according to the institute’s r

March 29, 2022

Database formed on human rights abuse in N. Korea's penal facilities: British group

A London-based nonprofit organization has launched a comprehensive database of human rights violations and atrocities involving the North Korean penal system, its website showed Tuesday. "A vast system of penal facilities extends across North Korea," Korea Future said. "The construction of these facilities -- capable of detaining hundreds of thousands of people suspected or accused of crimes -- has enabled extensive and egregious violations of international law with catastrophic h

March 29, 2022

NK leader urges party officials to eradicate anti-socialist practices

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called on the ruling party's propaganda officials to wage a battle in rooting out "evil spirits" of anti-socialism and bring fundamental change in their ideological work, state media reported Tuesday. In a letter sent to officials serving in the information field of the ruling Workers' Party (WPK) who were present at a workshop in Pyongyang the previous day, Kim stressed the need to "concentrate the ideological campaign on anti-socialist and non-so

March 29, 2022

Kim says N.Korea will arm forces with ‘more powerful means of attack’

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said the country will develop and deploy more powerful means of attack, while seeking to bolster up its “nuclear war deterrent more expeditiously,” according to state media Monday. In an article published in Monday’s edition of the Rodong Sinmun, Kim stressed that “genuine defense capability equates to powerful attack capability” while taking a group photograph with officials, scientists, and defense industry workers who contributed

March 28, 2022

N. Korea opens photo exhibition marking decade of leader's rule

North Korea has kicked off a photo exhibition commemorating a decade of its leader Kim Jong-un's rule, state media reported Monday, working up a festive mood ahead of major political anniversaries next month. An opening ceremony for the exhibition marking 10 years since Kim took the helm of the nation opened in Pyongyang the previous day, according to the North's main newspaper Rodong Sinmun. Kim was named "first secretary" of the ruling Workers' Party on April 11, 2012, and the first

March 28, 2022

N.Korea’s ICBM launch crystallizes conflict among US, China, Russia

The US has continued clashing with China and Russia on how to stop North Korea from developing missile and nuclear programs and jump-start dialogue, notwithstanding Pyongyang’s launch of the purported largest intercontinental ballistic missile in four years. The UN Security Council urgently held an open meeting on North Korea for the first time since 2017 on Friday afternoon at the request of the US, Albania, France, Ireland, Norway and the UK. North Korea on Friday announced that it t

March 27, 2022

N. Korea carrying out construction at Punggye-ri nuclear test site: sources

North Korea seems to be working on making a "shortcut" to a tunnel at its nuclear test site in Punggye-ri, apparently aimed at making speedy preparations for a seventh underground nuclear experiment, according to government sources in South Korea on Sunday. If carried out, it would be the secretive nation's first known nuclear test in 4 1/2 years. South Korea's military and intelligence authorities have detected signs of the country focusing on restoring Tunnel 3 in the mountainous nor

March 27, 2022

NK propaganda outlet slams Yoon's approach toward Pyongyang

A North Korean propaganda outlet on Sunday criticized South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's policy stance on the Kim Jong-un regime as a move to revive "confrontational" approaches by former conservative administrations in Seoul. The Tongil Voice claimed that Yoon is poised to follow the policy lines of two former presidents, Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye, who took tougher approaches than current liberal President Moon Jae-in. "Yoon is struggling to resurrect the anti-rep

March 27, 2022

S. Korea holds rare training involving F-35A fighters after N.K. ICBM launch

South Korea's Air Force conducted a rare training involving its F-35A radar-evading fighters in a show of airpower Friday, a day after North Korea test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Defense Minister Suh Wook oversaw the "Elephant Walk" training and ordered troops to maintain "full" readiness based on the "invisible power" of the F-35As, the defense ministry said. It did not disclose the training site for security reasons. The training marke

March 25, 2022

NK confirms test of largest ICBM, Kim vows to prepare for ‘long’ confrontation with US

North Korea confirmed Friday that it test-fired a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile the previous day under the order of leader Kim Jong-un, who vowed to boost its nuclear deterrent and prepare for a “long-standing confrontation” with the US.  Thursday’s test was the first full ICBM test by the reclusive regime since 2017, marking the end to the regime’s self-imposed moratorium on testing long-range missiles. The missile, known as Hwasong-17, flew highe

March 25, 2022

Top diplomats of S. Korea, Japan lash out at N. Korea's ICBM test

The top diplomats of South Korea and Japan on Friday condemned North Korea's firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and urged it to cease provocative acts, Seoul's foreign ministry said. Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong talked over the phone with his Japanese counterpart, Yoshimasa Hayashi, after the North confirmed it successfully test-fired a new ICBM on Thursday under the direct order of its leader Kim Jong-un. The officials pointed out the North's latest missile test is a clea

March 25, 2022

US condemns N. Korean missile launch, vows to take all necessary steps

The United States on Thursday condemned North Korea's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), vowing to take all necessary measures to ensure the security of the country and its allies.    White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki also said the path to diplomacy was still open but that the North must immediately stop its destabilizing actions.    "The United States strongly condemns the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) for its test of a long-ran

March 24, 2022

N. Korea fires ICBM, breaks self-imposed moratorium

North Korea on Thursday fired an intercontinental ballistic missile after more than a four-year hiatus, breaking its self-imposed moratorium on ICBM and nuclear tests. Pyongyang launched an ICBM-class projectile that flew more than one hour and 10 minutes toward the East Sea at 2:34 p.m. from the Sunan area of the capital city Pyongyang. The ICBM flew around 1,080 kilometers at an altitude of 6200 km or higher, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, adding that the missile is presumed to have been f

March 24, 2022

NK gears up for possible massive military parade

Satellite photos show more than 600 vehicles mobilized at a training ground in North Korea’s capital in a sign that the country is preparing for a large-scale military parade.  Citing imagery taken by Planet Labs, Radio Free Asia said Wednesday that the North on Monday mobilized around 600 to 650 vehicles at the Mirim airport in Pyongyang -– where rehearsals for previous military parades have taken place –- signaling a forthcoming gathering.  There were about 150 v

March 24, 2022

N. Korea to hold major festivals for late founding leader's birth anniversary

North Korea plans to hold various large-scale celebratory events, both online and offline, on the occasion of the 110th birth anniversary of its late founding leader next month, according to its state media Thursday. The North will hold a major spring festival in Pyongyang with magic shows and performances by art troupes around mid-April to commemorate Kim Il-sung, the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un, on April 15, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. "(The festival) w

March 24, 2022

WFP extends N. Korea aid project until 2023

The World Food Programme (WFP) has extended its aid program for North Korea by one year until the end of 2023, its website showed Thursday, with strict border restrictions against the COVID-19 pandemic in place there. Under the UN agency's revised Interim Country Strategic Plan for North Korea posted on its website, it will provide additional food aid worth $32.56 million for 803,134 North Koreans through next year. The WFP had planned to offer $182.43 million worth of aid to 3.6 million people

March 24, 2022

China says 91,900 barrels of oil, 18% of annual cap, supplied to N. Korea in 2021

China reported that it had provided around 91,900 barrels of refined petroleum to North Korea last year, tantamount to 18 percent of the UN-mandated oil import cap, while Russia claimed that it had no longer supplied oil in the same period. The UN Security Council sanctions committee on North Korea has recently updated the total amount of refined petroleum products that were exported and transferred by Beijing and Moscow to Pyongyang last and this year. Under UNSC Resolution 2397, North Korea

March 23, 2022

NK working with Russian cybercriminals: Sullivan

North Korea is cooperating with cybercriminals around the world, including those from Russia, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said, amid heightened cybersecurity concerns around the world due to Russia’s war with Ukraine. 　 “All I can say, generally, is that North Korea’s cyber capabilities have been manifest in the world and they work with all kinds of cybercriminals around the world, including Russian cybercriminals,” Sullivan told the press briefing on Tue

March 23, 2022