NK’s 2022 policy direction: Prioritize internal stability, wait and see on foreign policy

North Korea’s five-day party plenum was dominated by internal affairs including economic growth, agricultural development, and preventative measures for COVID-19, with Pyongyang’s recalibrated approach to South Korea and the US remaining veiled. North Korean state media on Saturday announced the outcome of the fourth Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, which was held between Dec. 27 and 31 and attended by leader Kim Jong-un. The r

Jan. 2, 2022

Unidentified person crosses inter-Korean border into N. Korea

South Korea’s military said Sunday that an unidentified person crossed the eastern inter-Korean border into North Korea. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said an individual was spotted crossing the Military Demarcation Line at around 9:20 p.m. Saturday, through surveillance equipment installed in the border region. The JCS added it confirmed the person crossed the border at 10:40 p.m., some 80 minutes after the military immediately deployed its unit to locate the person. The J

Jan. 2, 2022

Rights watchdog rejects petition over govt. decision to penalize defector group over leafleting campaign

The state human rights watchdog has rejected a petition accusing the government of a human rights violation over its decision to revoke the license of an anti-North Korea group of defectors for sending propaganda leaflets across the border, sources said Sunday. The petition was filed with the National Human Rights Commission in June last year after the unification ministry decided to revoke the license of Fighters for a Free North Korea and to file a criminal complaint against its head, Park Sa

Jan. 2, 2022

NK leader visits mausoleum of grandfather, father to mark new year

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited the mausoleum of his late grandfather and father in his first reported public activity this year, Pyongyang's state media said Sunday. 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, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The visit to the mausoleum came after he unveiled this ye

Jan. 2, 2022

N. Korea focuses on economy in 2022 policy direction, skips specific messages on S. Korea, US

North Korean officials noted the "growing instability" of the military situation on the peninsula and emphasized the importance of boosting the country's defense capabilities, as they had a major Workers' Party plenary earlier this week, according to Pyongyang's state media Saturday. The North, however, stopped short of providing the outside world with fresh clues to its key policies related to inter-Korean ties and denuclearization talks with the United States.  During the fiv

Jan. 1, 2022

N. Korea has final review on draft resolution for year-end party plenary

North Korea has discussed a draft resolution expected to be adopted at the close of an ongoing key party meeting, its state media reported Friday, amid expectations the document could include its foreign policy line for the new year. The North convened a fourth day of the 4th Plenary Meeting of the ruling Workers' Party's 8th Central Committee on Thursday, during which participants "concluded sectional workshops and consultative sessions," according to the official Korean Central News

Dec. 31, 2021

Top N. Korean officials join discussions on major policies for 2022 at party plenary

North Korea had high-profile discussions on key policy issues for 2022 during a year-end plenary session of the Workers' Party, with senior officials, including those in charge of inter-Korean relations and foreign affairs in attendance, according to its state media Thursday. The North convened a third day of the 4th Plenary Meeting of the party's 8th Central Committee on Wednesday, during which "sectional workshops" continued from the previous day to "map out plans according to

Dec. 30, 2021

Defectors’ remittances to N. Korea down 18% in 2021 amid pandemic: NGO

Remittances from North Korean defectors to their families living across the inter-Korean border fell by 18.2 percent while Pyongyang has maintained a border lockdown for two years and strengthened controls over its society, Seoul-based nongovernmental organizations said in a joint report. The Database Center for North Korean Human Rights and North Korea Social Research conducted a mixed in-person, online, and telephone survey of 407 North Korean defectors living in South Korea between November

Dec. 29, 2021

NK leader orders 'important revolutionary measures' for rural development

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has presided over the second-day session of a key party plenary to discuss rural development measures, Pyongyang's state media reported Wednesday amid its drive to tackle nagging economic woes. During the meeting held Tuesday, Kim "set forth medium- and long-term development strategies and major tasks for attaining the grand goal of rural development in line with the realistic conditions and the requirement of the times," according to the North's offici

Dec. 29, 2021

N.Korea convenes key party meeting to discuss ‘strategic, tactical’ policies

North Korea on Monday kicked off a key party meeting to discuss and decide major “strategic and tactical policies” for the next year, with the attendance of the country’s leader Kim Jong-un. The North Korean leader presided over the fourth plenary meeting of the eighth Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea upon the authorization of the politburo, North Korean media reported Tuesday. The meeting has been held in public four times this year mainly with an emp

Dec. 28, 2021

Seoul urges N. Korea to start new year by opening door for dialogue

South Korea's unification ministry on Monday urged North Korea to start the new year with a step for dialogue and cooperation, as Pyongyang is set to convene a key party meeting this week to discuss domestic and foreign policy issues. North Korea earlier announced the ruling Workers' Party will hold a plenary meeting of its central committee "in the last third of December" to "discuss and decide on work plans for the new year." "The plenary has been usually held for on

Dec. 27, 2021

N. Korea expands online education for workers: state media

North Korea is spurring online education at major universities as part of efforts to train "intellectual-type workers" with science and technology expertise, according to its state media Monday. The North's main newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, said around 100,000 workers are currently enrolled for online classes across the country, including 10,000 newly registered this year. North Korea has been highlighting its efforts to develop the remote education system as a tool to help workers

Dec. 27, 2021

End-of-war: No reason for US to back ‘end-of-rainbow’ pursuit　

The Biden administration is skeptical of Seoul’s diplomatic initiative to utilize an end-of-war declaration as a standalone measure to reboot nuclear diplomacy with North Korea. Essentially, Washington’s doubts of the Moon Jae-in administration’s proposal have grown as North Korea began to raise the costs for declaring an end to the Korean War.  The US interprets North Korea’s move as in line with its apathy toward resuming nuclear negotiations and the denucleari

Dec. 23, 2021

N. Korea's economy tanks 4.5% in 2020 on sanctions, pandemic

SEJONG -- North Korea's economy shrank 4.5 percent in 2020 from a year earlier due to international sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Thursday. The drop in the reclusive country's real gross domestic product (GDP) represents a turnaround from a 0.4 percent increase a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. The statistics agency attributed the decline to international economic sanctions for its weapons program and border lockdowns stemming from th

Dec. 23, 2021

China's top envoy to N. Korea to return home after delay due to COVID-19

Chinese Ambassador to North Korea Li Jinjun will leave Pyongyang following a seven-year stint, according to the North's state media Thursday, with his departure having been delayed apparently due to tight border control to stave off the COVID-19 pandemic. The envoy met with Choe Ryong-hae, a member of the North Korean ruling party's politburo presidium, and other ranking officials at the Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang for a farewell, the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) s

Dec. 23, 2021

End-of-war declaration: What are US conditions, sequence, timing?

Seoul has stressed time and again that its approach to North Korean issues are in sync with that of the US, but the allies appear far apart on Moon Jae-in administration’s latest play -- declaring the end of the Korean War. The Biden administration essentially prefers to discuss an end of war declaration as a part of a broad and comprehensive process toward complete denuclearization and permanent peacebuilding on the Korean Peninsula. Washington also wants to see upfront steps toward d

Dec. 22, 2021

Biden bans nonhumanitarian aid to N. Korea for human trafficking

US President Joe Biden has banned the provision of nonhumanitarian aid to North Korea for fiscal year 2022, accusing the reclusive state of human trafficking, according to the White House. It marks the 19th consecutive year for a US president to take such a measure against Pyongyang. In a presidential memorandum for the secretary of state, posted on the White House website Tuesday (Washington time), Biden said the US will not provide "nonhumanitarian, nontrade-related assistance" or

Dec. 22, 2021

Cold wave to hit N. Korea as it prepares to mark leader's 10 years in power

North Korea issued a cold wave alert Wednesday, forecasting strong winds and heavy snow over the weekend amid keen attention from the outside world about whether leader Kim Jong-un will again visit Mount Paektu on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of his ascension to power. Extreme cold weather is expected from Friday night to Sunday, with the temperature in the region of Mount Paektu, the highest peak on the Korean Peninsula, likely to drop to as low as minus 35 C to 40 C on Saturday mornin

Dec. 22, 2021

N. Korea's child mortality estimated at 17 per 1,000 in 2020: UN report

North Korea's mortality rate for children under age 5 was estimated at 17 per 1,000 births last year with a 3.2 percent annual rate of reduction over the past three decades, a recent UN report showed. The number is down from 43 in 1990 and 60 in 2000, according to the Level and Trends in Child Mortality: Report 2021. The global average of under-five mortality rate came to 37 per 1,000 in 2020, while the comparable figure for South Korea declined from 16 in 1990 to eight in 2000 and three last

Dec. 22, 2021

Ending the Korean War: Risky gambit, with little chance of payoff

Will an end-of-war declaration bring us one step closer to a peaceful and nuclear-free Korean Peninsula? In Washington, there is a divergence of opinion on the utility of an end-of-war declaration as a means to reboot nuclear diplomacy with North Korea.  But the majority sees more risk than opportunity, with adverse ramifications for the security of the Korean Peninsula, the South Korea-US alliance, American deterrence and the status of the United Nations Command. There is also concern

Dec. 21, 2021