N. Korea continues to develop nuclear, missile programs despite sanctions: report

WASHINGTON -- North Korea continues to advance its nuclear and ballistic missile programs despite worsening economic conditions exacerbated by UN Security Council (UNSC) sanctions, a UN report showed Monday. The report by a panel of experts on North Korean sanctions also said the North continues to evade sanctions by ever sophisticating means. "During the reporting period, despite the country's focus on its worsening economic travails, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea continued t

Oct. 5, 2021

Unification minister says restoration of cross-border hotlines is a 'restart'

BERLIN - Unification Minister Lee In-young said Monday that South and North Korea's restoration of cross-border hotlines marks a "restart" in efforts to improve ties. Lee spoke to Yonhap News Agency during a visit to Berlin to mark the 31st anniversary of German reunification. Earlier Monday, the two Koreas restored their communication lines 55 days after they were cut off by the North in protest of annual military exercises between South Korea and the United States. Lee had previou

Oct. 4, 2021

Inter-Korean hotlines restored after 55 days

Communication between South Korea and the North was restored Monday about two months after Pyongyang unilaterally cut off contact in August, raising cautious hopes of an inter-Korean rapprochement. 　 Liaison officials from both Koreas held two phone calls via a cross-border channel on Monday, one at 9 a.m. and one at 5 p.m., the Unification Ministry said, after previous calls from the South went unanswered. The two sides agreed to hold regular phone calls twice a day as they had in the past.&n

Oct. 4, 2021

Inter-Korean hotlines restored after 55 days

Communication channels between South Korea and the North were restored Monday about two months after the North unilaterally cut off the hotlines in August in protest over the joint military drills between Seoul and Washington.  The Unification Ministry confirmed that liaison officials from the two Koreas held a phone call via a cross-border channel at 9 a.m. on Monday -- a call that had gone unanswered previously. The two sides also had contact via a military hotline, according to the Defe

Oct. 4, 2021

N. Korea blasts UN Security Council for convening meeting on its missile launches

North Korea blasted the UN Security Council (UNSC) on Sunday for convening a meeting on its recent missile launches, calling it "a manifestation of double-dealing standard." Jo Chol-su, director of the international organization department at the North's foreign ministry, made the remark in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), stressing that the missile tests were for "self-defense" purposes. The statement came after the Security Council convened a

Oct. 3, 2021

S. Korea, US differ over NK sanctions

The US State Department said allies should continue enforcing UN sanctions over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, in response to the South Korean foreign minister’s suggestion to ease sanctions for nuclear talks amid North Korea’s latest weapons tests. “It is important for the international community to send a strong, unified message that the DPRK must halt provocations,” the State Department told Voice of America on Friday, referring to the North’s

Oct. 3, 2021

Civic group calls for lifting anti-N. Korea sanctions, resuming Kaesong complex

A civic group advocating for national reunification called Saturday for the lifting of South Korea's standalone sanctions against North Korea and the resumption of a now-shuttered joint industrial complex to pave the way for a thaw in cross-border ties. The South Korean Committee for Implementation of the June 15 Joint Declaration made the call, as Seoul is struggling to resume dialogue with Pyongyang to advance its stalled peace agenda despite the regime's recent missile tests. The committee

Oct. 2, 2021

North Korea says it tested anti-aircraft missile

North Korea test-fired a new anti-aircraft missile Thursday, its official Korean Central News Agency said amid an impasse over nuclear negotiations with the US and frayed ties with South Korea. The launch is the latest weapons test Pyongyang has conducted since test-firing a hypersonic missile Tuesday and ballistic missiles and a cruise missile earlier in September. It is considered a follow-up on Pyongyang’s plan to bolster its defense capabilities made public at its January congress. &

Oct. 1, 2021

Unification minister calls for Europe's role in peace process, humanitarian assistance to N. Korea

Unification Minister Lee In-young on Friday asked Europe to support South Korea's efforts in advancing the peace process on the peninsula, his office said Friday. Lee met with Jutta Urpilainen and Janez Lenarcic of the European Commission in Belgium on Thursday and requested Europe play a "more active role" in providing humanitarian assistance to the North and in building trust among the two Koreas and the United States. The two sides discussed "creative ways" to cooperate an

Oct. 1, 2021

N. Korea remains unresponsive to Seoul's calls after Kim's offer to restore hotlines

North Korea remained unresponsive to South Korea's regular calls via military and liaison hotlines Friday morning after leader Kim Jong-un offered to restore severed cross-border communication lines in early October. "North Korea did not answer the opening call through the inter-Korean liaison office at 9 a.m.," a unification ministry official said. The calls through military hotlines also went unanswered, another official said. Leader Kim told a session of the rubber-stamp parliament

Oct. 1, 2021

N. Korea test-fires new anti-aircraft missile: state media

North Korea said Friday it test-fired a new type of anti-aircraft missile a day earlier capable of downing air targets at longer distances with enhanced accuracy. The North's Academy of Defence Science carried out the test aimed at "confirming the practicality of operation of the launcher, radar and comprehensive battle command vehicle as well as the comprehensive combat performance of the missile," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The academy verified the "r

Oct. 1, 2021

N. Korea leader vows support for China's fight against 'hostile forces'

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un pledged support for China's fight against "hostile forces' frantic anti-China confrontational moves" in a message he sent to Chinese President Xi Jinping to celebrate the 72nd founding anniversary of the ally, Pyongyang's state media reported Friday. "The message expressed belief that the Chinese nation's dream of rejuvenation will surely come true as there are the socialist idea with the Chinese characteristics for the new times," the Korean C

Oct. 1, 2021

Pyongyang issues olive branch to Seoul, warning to Washington

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held out an olive branch to South Korea, saying he was willing to reopen the severed inter-Korean hotlines in October, while denouncing the US offer of dialogue without it changing its “hostile policy” toward the regime, the North’s state media said Thursday. 　 Speaking on the second day of a meeting of the country’s rubber-stamp parliament, the Supreme People’s Assembly, Wednesday, Kim expressed his willingness to restore from earl

Sept. 30, 2021

NK leader says inter-Korean communication lines will be restored in early Oct.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said cross-border communication lines with South Korea will be restored in early October as part of efforts to improve chilled relations but warned that it is entirely up to Seoul to determine the future trajectory of their ties, state media reported Thursday. In a speech at the second-day session of the Supreme People's Assembly on Wednesday, Kim also said the US' hostile policy toward Pyongyang has not changed at all since the Joe Biden administration took offi

Sept. 30, 2021

US to continue to pursue diplomacy with N. Korea despite missile launches: nuke envoy

North Korea's latest missile launches will not affect the US' determination to seek diplomacy with the North for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the US nuclear envoy for Pyongyang said Wednesday.  Sung Kim, US special representative for North Korea, made the remark at a press event in Jakarta, a day after the North test-fired a hypersonic missile into the East Sea. The firing came after the regime's test-firings of two short-range missiles on Sept. 15 and a new type of cruis

Sept. 29, 2021

North Korea says it tested hypersonic missile

North Korea said Wednesday that their newest weapon tested the previous day was a hypersonic missile, and that the launch matched all technical expectations. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the weapon seems to be in its early stages of development and far from deployment, adding the missile defense South Korea and the US maintain can take it down. “Flight maneuverability and stability of the missile, along with the gliding characteristics of the hypersonic warhead, were pr

Sept. 29, 2021

Seoul treads lightly around Pyongyang’s ‘ballistic’ missile

Cheong Wa Dae on Wednesday continued to exercise caution regarding North Korea’s latest missile test, while the US and Japan have condemned Pyongyang for firing what appears to be a ballistic missile, a violation of UN resolutions. “We cannot predict anything for now,” Park Soo-hyun, President Moo Jae-in’s senior secretary for public communication, told a radio interview with KBS. “Every single action North Korea takes is open to interpretation as it always cont

Sept. 29, 2021

End-of-war declaration 'very useful' step to build trust, peace between Koreas: unification minister

Declaring an end to the Korean War could be a "very useful" and "meaningful" step that builds mutual trust between the two Koreas, and would pave the way for peace and cooperation on the Korean Peninsula, Unification Minister Lee In-young said Wednesday. During a press meeting held just before embarking on an overseas trip to Germany, Belgium and Sweden, Lee urged North Korea to come out for dialogue to discuss denuclearization, inter-Korean relations and other cross-border i

Sept. 29, 2021

N. Korea says it tested newly developed hypersonic missile

North Korea said Wednesday it conducted the first test-launch of a newly developed hypersonic missile a day earlier that has "strategic significance" in bolstering its self-defense capabilities. The North's Academy of Defence Science test-fired the Hwasong-8 missile from Toyang-ri, Ryongrim County of Jagang Province, and "ascertained the stability of the engine as well as of missile fuel ampoule that has been introduced for the first time," the official Korean Central News Ag

Sept. 29, 2021

N.Korea convenes Supreme People's Assembly meeting without leader Kim, message toward S. Korea

North Korea opened a session of its rubber-stamp legislature without leader Kim Jong-un in attendance and dealt with economic and other domestic issues without issuing any message to South Korea or the United States, according to state media Wednesday. The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) meeting held Tuesday drew attention as it came just days after the sister of leader Kim Jong-un issued a conciliatory message to South Korea, including the prospect of an inter-Korean summit, if Seoul drops its

Sept. 29, 2021