North Korea said Sunday that it will expand the inter-Korean resort town on the east coast near Kumgangsan in its own way, in a move seen as trying to rally its people ahead of the January party congress. The regime is expected to unveil a new economic initiative there. In January this year, Pyongyang put off plans to tear down the South Korean-built resort facilities amid the coronavirus pandemic. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had insisted on their demolition, calling the facilities &ldqu

North Korea Dec. 20, 2020

The UN General Assembly on Wednesday strongly condemned North Korea’s “systematic, widespread and gross violations” of human rights in a resolution. The North slammed it as being politicized. In the resolution adopted by consensus, the assembly expressed concern over the “absence of due process and the rule of law, arbitrary executions and detention, torture and sexual and gender-based violence,” among other rights violations by Pyongyang. The 193-member world bod

North Korea Dec. 17, 2020

High school dropouts will no longer be exempt from mandatory active duty from next year, South Korea’s Military Manpower Administration said Wednesday. All able-bodied men here aged between 18 and 30 must serve active duty for 18 to 21 months. Currently, those who do not graduate from high school must complete alternative service. Unlike soldiers on active duty, participants in the program do not live together or take part in training at military bases. Instead they work as delegates to d

Defense Dec. 16, 2020

US congressmen expressed deep concern over South Korea’s contentious legislation that criminalizes sending propaganda leaflets, along with food and medicine, into North Korea across the inter-Korean border. Defectors have long flown the leaflets in balloons or in bottles across the sea border, but the activity essentially ground to a halt in June when Pyongyang demolished the inter-Korean liaison office in protest. Those who continue to engage in leafleting near the border will face up

North Korea Dec. 15, 2020

The National Intelligence Service will not be able to investigate activities related to North Korea or gather domestic intelligence from 2024, when a law passed Sunday takes effect. The law also makes it explicit that the NIS must avoid involvement in politics. Police will assume the power to probe cases involving North Korea after the three-year grace period. The change in responsibility marks a major turning point in the agency’s 63-year history. In his election campaign President M

Politics Dec. 14, 2020

US aerospace manufacturer Bell Textron claimed Wednesday its attack helicopter model would be a highly reliable option for South Korea’s military, which is seeking to create an aviation regiment next year. South Korea’s military is divided on whether to deploy local or foreign attack helicopters from 2026.    Bell’s Viper helicopter is the preferred overseas candidate. It performs better than the local competitor but costs more to maintain. The Marine Corp

Defense Dec. 9, 2020

The United States will seriously consider helping North Korea contain the spread of the coronavirus if it requests such assistance, Robert O’Brien, US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, said Monday. “They (North Korea) have been reticent to ask for outside help for things in the past but if they did we would certainly look at that very seriously,” O’Brien said in an interview with 19FortyFive, a website on global affairs. He said Pyongyang appears

North Korea Dec. 8, 2020

South Korea is unlikely to reclaim its wartime operational command from the US by May 2022 as President Moon Jae-in has pledged, experts told The Korea Herald. Experts said little time is left in Moon’s tenure and the transfer will be delayed even after Seoul greets a new US military chief, as announced Friday. The new chief will replace Gen. Robert Abrams, commander of the United States Forces Korea who said it would be “premature” to set a date for the handover. The two a

Defense Dec. 7, 2020

North Korean watchers are weighing in on ramifications of the regime’s extreme response to COVID-19, as it has suspended all travel by land, sea and air and shut down public facilities. Leader Kim Jong-un issued the highest alert for the pandemic on Dec. 2 for the second time since February, when the new coronavirus began spreading globally. Such extreme measures, however, would be a double blow to North Korea, which suffered reduced food production this year due to shrinking outside sup

North Korea Dec. 6, 2020

North Korea experts on Thursday criticized a move by the South Korean parliament to criminalize sending propaganda leaflets, along with food and medicine, into the North across the inter-Korean border. Defectors here have long sent leaflets and other materials across the border, but the activity essentially ground to a halt in June when Pyongyang blew up the inter-Korean liaison office in protest. Roberta Cohen, who served as a US deputy assistant secretary of state for human rights, expresse

North Korea Dec. 4, 2020

With two former presidents in jail, facing de facto life imprisonment, South Korea is revisiting its tradition of granting special pardons to convicted former leaders. While the majority of the public is against it, there are minority voices calling for leniency for former Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye -- who, without presidential pardons, could spend the rest of their lives in prison, considering their advanced ages. President Moon Jae-in was elected in 2017 on a pledge to root

Politics Nov. 29, 2020

North Korea said Sunday it was reinforcing border lockdown to prevent the coronavirus pandemic from spreading into its territory. The regime still claims zero COVID-19 cases. “Every effort is made to keep strong border closures and to ensure everyone stick to antivirus measures and report anything out of ordinary,” the official Korean Central News Agency, said adding it was enforcing tighter controls over the inter-Korean border. Earlier this month, a North Korean man, now in Seoul

North Korea Nov. 29, 2020

A North Korean refugee was able to jump over the 3-meter fence along the inter-Korean border to the South without triggering the alarm because screws were loose on the fence’s sensors, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Thursday. The military revealed the initial finding of its internal investigation into the event early this month, in which a former gymnast in his 20s crossed the border on foot. Sensors on the border fences along the general outposts, south of the demarcati

Defense Nov. 26, 2020

South Korea’s military said Thursday it has banned all off-base travel for soldiers until Dec. 7. Officers are instructed to cancel or delay all non-duty meetings and outside activities. Vacations are suspended from Friday. The military’s antivirus rules, announced Tuesday for soldiers in the Greater Seoul area, were expanded to cover the rest of the nation after a cluster infection involving 70 service members -- mostly conscripts -- at a boot camp in northern Gyeonggi Province al

Defense Nov. 26, 2020

President Moon Jae-in will receive visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Xi at Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday afternoon, the presidential office said Wednesday. Wang arrived here late Wednesday after stopping over in Japan. On Thursday, he is to have a luncheon with Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and dinner with Lee Hae-chan, a key figure in Moon’s inner circle who served as special envoy to China and later headed the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. Wang is scheduled to leave Friday, aft

Foreign Affairs Nov. 25, 2020