N.Korea fires two apparent short-range ballistic missiles toward East Sea

North Korea on Thursday fired two apparent short-range ballistic missiles at a low altitude from a seashore city in South Hamgyong Province toward its east coast. “We are aware of the ballistic missile launches and are consulting closely with our allies and partners,” the US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement, adding the launch does not pose an “immediate threat” to US personnel, territory or allies. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military ha

Jan. 27, 2022

Senior diplomats of S. Korea, Russia hold phone talks over N. Korea

Senior diplomats of South Korea and Russia talked over the phone Wednesday to discuss North Korea's recent missile launches and the security situation on the Korean Peninsula, the foreign ministry said. Noh Kyu-duk, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, spoke with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov amid rising tension after the North last week hinted at lifting its yearslong self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests. "Th

Jan. 26, 2022

N. Korea's agricultural ministry elevated to state commission amid food shortages

North Korea has decided to upgrade its agricultural ministry to a state commission, according to Pyongyang's media Wednesday, as the country has tapped agricultural development as one of its top policy priorities for the new year amid chronic food shortages. The Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, the North's rubber-stamp legislature, made the decision to better "lead the country's agricultural production in a unified manner," the North's official Korean Central Broad

Jan. 26, 2022

Pentagon calls for China to support enacting new UN sanctions on N. Korea

The US Defense Department on Monday urged China to use its leverage to support and enforce UN Security Council resolutions and enact new UN sanctions, while reiterating its call on North Korea to cease “provocations” and de-escalate tensions. The Pentagon pointed out Beijing’s stonewalling on the international community’s efforts to implement UN economic sanctions on North Korea. Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said China, the “direct neighbor of North Korea

Jan. 25, 2022

New NK sanctions face up to 6-month delay on China and Russia’s objection

The US’ push to impose UN sanctions on five North Koreans responsible for the regime’s recent missile launches could be delayed for at least six months, after China and Russia blocked the move. 　 Norway, which holds the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council in January, confirmed that China and Russia have put a hold on a US initiative to impose additional UN sanctions on the regime, according to a Voice of America report Tuesday. It added that the block period can last up

Jan. 25, 2022

No signs of work to restore nuclear test tunnels at Punggye-ri site: Seoul official

South Korea has detected no signs of North Korea trying to restore underground tunnels at its purportedly demolished Punggye-ri nuclear test site despite indications of maintenance work there, a Seoul official said Tuesday. The official's assessment came after Olli Heinonen, a former deputy director-general at the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the Voice of America (VOA) earlier this week that the North is maintaining the site as evidenced by "trails of the cars and cleaning of s

Jan. 25, 2022

US urges N. Korea to cease provocations, find ways to de-escalate tension: Pentagon

The United States continues to call on North Korea to stop its provocations and instead return to dialogue to find ways to de-escalate tension, US Department of Defense Press Secretary John Kirby said Monday. Kirby also said the US remains concerned about the North's advancing nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities. "We've been very clear about our concerns over the advancing nuclear ambitions and ballistic missile capabilities of Pyongyang," Kirby said in a press briefing. &quo

Jan. 25, 2022

S. Korea says it's closely monitoring N. Korea's nuclear, missile activities

South Korea's unification ministry said Monday it is keeping tabs on North Korea's nuclear and missile activities after Pyongyang hinted last week at lifting its self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests. On Wednesday, North Korea held a politburo meeting of its ruling Workers' Party, presided over by leader Kim Jong-un, and decided to consider restarting "all temporally-suspended" activities, citing Washington's "hostile policy" against its regime. As

Jan. 24, 2022

N. Korea criticizes Japan's move to revise security documents

North Korea's foreign ministry on Sunday criticized Japan's moves to revise a set of key security documents as "extremely dangerous" steps away from its long-held defense-oriented policy. Japan has reportedly been moving to revise its national security strategy and other key defense documents this year as it confronts an increasingly assertive China and a nuclear-ambitious North Korea. "What is extremely dangerous is that Japan is poised to include in these documents capabilitie

Jan. 23, 2022

UNSC fails to agree on imposing UN sanctions on N.Koreans

UN Security Council members have failed to agree on imposing UN sanctions on North Koreans responsible for weapons development, while the US denounced opponents for giving Pyongyang a “blank check.” The UNSC on Thursday held a closed-door meeting on a spate of ballistic missile tests by North Korea at the request of several member countries, including Albania, France, Ireland, the UK, and the US. This is the second closed consultation on the matter this year. But the Security Coun

Jan. 21, 2022

N.Korea seeks ‘powerful physical means’ to overpower US

North Korea said Thursday it would seek to immediately develop more “powerful physical means” to overpower the US in preparation for “long-term confrontation,” expressing its potential intent to abandon the self-imposed moratorium on testing nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles. Pyongyang made the decision at a Politburo meeting of the Workers’ Party of Korea on Wednesday, with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in attendance, the state-run med

Jan. 20, 2022

Number of N. Korean defectors plunges in 2021 amid pandemic

The number of North Koreans who defected to South Korea dropped to double digits last year apparently due to the North's strict border restrictions against the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an official here Thursday. A total of 63 North Koreans -- 40 men and 23 women -- settled in the South during the year, compared with 229 in 2020 and 1,047 in 2019, the unification ministry official told reporters on background. The decline seems attributable mainly to the North Korea-China border controls

Jan. 20, 2022

End-of-war declaration ‘meaningless’ if no progress on NK denuclearization: US lawmaker

US Rep. Gregory Meeks, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, expressed support for South Korea’s proposal to declare a formal end to the Korean War, but stressed that the declaration on its own is “meaningless” if Pyongyang is reluctant to talk or makes no progress toward denuclearization. 　 “I commend the Biden and Moon administrations for taking steps to engage North Korea and urge North Korea to return to the negotiating table,” Meeks said in a statemen

Jan. 20, 2022

S. Korea says it's monitoring N. Korea with 'sense of tension,' stresses need for dialogue

The South Korean government emphasized Thursday that dialogue and diplomacy are the only key to building peace on the Korean Peninsula in response to North Korea's thinly veiled threat to scrap a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests. The North held a high-profile politburo meeting of the ruling Workers' Party the previous day and decided to consider restarting "all temporally-suspended" activities to brace for a "long-term confrontation" with the U

Jan. 20, 2022

N. Korea announces amnesty for convicted people to mark late leaders' birthdays

North Korea has decided to grant convicted people amnesty, effective later this month, on the occasion of major birthday celebrations of its late leaders, according to its state media Thursday. The pardons will be granted to those who were convicted of "crimes against the country and people" to commemorate the 110th birthday of Kim Il-sung and the 80th birthday of Kim Jong-il in a decision made by the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, the Korean Central News Agency

Jan. 20, 2022

N. Korea hints at lifting moratorium on ICBM, nuclear tests over US 'hostile policy'

North Korea held a policymaking politburo meeting of the ruling Workers' Party presided over by leader Kim Jong-un and decided to consider restarting "all temporally-suspended" activities, Pyongyang's state media reported Thursday, apparently referring to its nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests. The meeting took place after the North conducted four missile tests this month alone, including two of what it claims to be a hypersonic missile, prompting the United S

Jan. 20, 2022

US envoy urges NK to cease ‘unlawful’ activities, engage in dialogue

The US envoy for North Korea urged Pyongyang to cease its “unlawful and destabilizing” activities and engage in dialogue in his talks with South Korean and Japanese counterparts on Monday after the North’s latest missile test. 　 US Special Representative for North Korea, Sung Kim, South Korea’s Noh Kyu-duk and Japan’s Takehiro Funakoshi held three-way phone talks immediately after North Korea fired two ballistic missiles –- the latest in a flurry of weapons

Jan. 18, 2022

‘Tactical guided missiles’ now under production, N. Korea says

North Korea on Monday test-fired a pair of “tactical guided missiles” for the first time in around two years, Pyongyang’s state media reported the following day, saying it did so to confirm the accuracy and efficiency of the weapon system “under production.” The report suggested that North Korea test-fired KN-24 short-range ballistic missiles, which look similar to the US MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS. The KN-24 single-stage solid-propellant mis

Jan. 18, 2022

N. Korea says it confirmed accuracy of tactical guided missiles in test-firing

North Korea said Tuesday that it conducted the test-firing of a tactical guided missile a day earlier to confirm the accuracy of the weapons system under production. On Monday, South Korea's military said the North fired two suspected short-range ballistic missiles eastward from the Sunan airfield in Pyongyang, marking its fourth show of force this month. "The test-fire was aimed to selectively evaluate tactical guided missiles being produced and deployed and to verify the accuracy of the

Jan. 18, 2022

Nuke envoys of S. Korea, US, Japan hold phone talks over N. Korea's latest projectile launches

The top nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan held a discussion Monday about North Korea's latest apparent missile test and agreed to maintain the close trilateral cooperation in the region, Seoul's foreign ministry said. Noh Kyu-duk, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, had the emergency consultations with his American and Japanese counterparts -- Sung Kim and Takehiro Funakoshi -- hours after the North lobbed two suspected short-range ba

Jan. 17, 2022