North Korea’s release of key notifications around midnight -- including a notification on its participation in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics -- is calculated to ensure the US receives its messages, South Korean experts say. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (Yonhap)As of Tuesday, North Korea had sent three messages within that timeframe, with the latest on late Sunday night announcing the North’s ceremonial head of state Kim Yong-nam’s visit to the Winter Games. The notifications last month were

North Korea Feb. 6, 2018

The North Korean ferry Mangyongbong-92 carrying the 140-member Samjiyon art troupe crossed a de facto maritime border in the East Sea around 9:50 a.m., sailing at its maximum speed of 13 knots or about 24 kilometers per hour as it headed to Mukho port on the east coast, according to the Unification Ministry. North Korea`s Mangyongbong-92 (Yonhap)Although South Korea’s unilateral sanctions ban North Korean vessels from entering its waters, Seoul made an exemption for Mangyongbong-92 as part of an

North Korea Feb. 6, 2018

North Korea notified South Korea that it plans to send its 140-member art troupe by ferry, Seoul officials said Monday, in apparent disregard for Seoul’s unilateral sanctions.  Twenty-three members of the advance team for North Korea‘s art performances in the South board a bus in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on Monday after crossing the border. (Joint Press Corps - Yonhap)The announcement came a day ahead of the Samjiyon art troupe’s scheduled arrival here Tuesday for performances ahead of the Pyeon

North Korea Feb. 5, 2018

North Korea raked in nearly $200 million last year by exporting items banned by United Nations sanctions, media reports said, citing a UN panel of experts. A new report, authored by a panel of experts, has been delivered to a UN committee on North Korea as the US-led pressure campaign against the rogue nation has been ramping up. A coal truck crosses the North Korea-China border. (Yonhap)North Korea “continued to export almost all the commodities prohibited in the resolutions, generating nearly

North Korea Feb. 4, 2018

Thirty-two North Koreans, including 10 athletes, landed in South Korea at around 6:09 p.m., Thursday, Seoul’s Unification Ministry confirmed, to compete in the upcoming PyeongChang Winter Olympics. The North Koreans took off from Kalma Airport in Kangwon Province, North Korea along with the South Korean ski team that had traveled to the North on Wednesday aboard a chartered Asiana Airlines plane for a joint ski training session. The same aircraft was used to transport the group back to South Kor

North Korea Feb. 1, 2018

A South Korean chartered flight which took off from Kalma Airport in North Korea landed at Yangyang Airport in Gangwon Province, at around 6:09 p.m., Thursday, carrying 32 North Koreans, including 10 Olympic athletes, along with the South Korean ski team that had traveled to the North on Wednesday aboard a chartered Asiana Airlines plane for a joint ski training session there.The inter-Korean air route was last used in October 2015 for a soccer friendly in Pyongyang. At the time, South Koreans b

North Korea Feb. 1, 2018

Thirty-two North Koreans, including 10 athletes, will come to South Korea via air on Thursday to prepare for and compete in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, the Ministry of Unification announced Wednesday. North Korean figure skating duo Ryom Tae-Ok and Kim Ju-Sik took bronze at the 2018 Four Continents championships in Taipei, Taiwan on Jan. 26. (AP-Yonhap)The announcement came as the two Koreas’ joint ski training kicked off, amid brewing controversy over a possible violation of sanctions on N

North Korea Jan. 31, 2018

The two Koreas’ joint ski training kicked off Wednesday, amid brewing controversy over a possible violation of sanctions on North Korea.  South Korean skiers wave on a plane bound for North Korea on Wednesday. They are to participate in a joint ski training at the North’s Masikryong Ski Resort. (Joint Press Corps.-Yonhap)A 45-member South Korean delegation embarked on a two-day trip to North Korea at 10:43 a.m. via a chartered flight from Yangyang International Airport, Gangwon Province, accordi

North Korea Jan. 31, 2018

The joint ski training agreed upon between the two Koreas is likely to be held, Seoul said Tuesday, despite North Korea’s decision Monday to cancel a cross-border cultural event at Kumgangsan in the North, ahead of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.According to Seoul, North Korea sent a telegram at 10:10 p.m. Monday, conveying the message that the communist state was canceling the event scheduled for Feb. 4.A 12-member South Korean advance team visits North Korea’s Masikryong Ski Resort to inspect

North Korea Jan. 30, 2018

North Korea on Monday canceled a joint cultural event planned to be held at Kumgangsan in the North ahead of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, taking issue with South Korean news reports. According to Seoul, North Korea sent a telegram at 10:10 p.m. Monday, conveying the message that the communist state was canceling the event scheduled to be held on Feb. 4. Kumgangsan (Yonhap)North Korea cited as the reason South Korean media reports’ “spread of insulting news regarding its sincere approach towa

North Korea Jan. 30, 2018

As North Korea’s participation in the PyeongChang Olympics next month takes shape, skepticism over the rogue nation’s overture persists with an upcoming North Korean military parade -- and Seoul’s response, or lack thereof, toward the event.  A submarine ballistic missile is paraded across Kim Il Sung Square during a military parade in Pyongyang, North Korea, on April 15, 2017. (AP)North Korea is expected to follow through with its plan to hold a military parade one day before the opening of the

North Korea Jan. 29, 2018

Key North Korean venues suggested for joint skiing training and culture events ahead of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics next month have been deemed apt for use, Seoul’s Ministry of Unification said Friday.  North Koreans enjoy skiing at Masikryong Ski Resort. The two Koreas agreed to hold joint skiing practices on its slopes. (Yonhap)The announcement follows a three-day visit to North Korea by a 12-member delegation led by Lee Joo-tae, director-general for inter-Korean exchange and cooperation a

North Korea Jan. 26, 2018

North Korean hockey players and an advance team of sports officials crossed the border to South Korea early Thursday to prepare for their country’s participation in next month’s PyeongChang Winter Olympics.  Sarah Murray, head coach of the joint Korean women’s hockey team for the Winter Olympics, stands alongside her North Korean counterpart Pak Chol-ho at Jincheon National Training Center in North Chungcheong Province on Thursday. The two Koreas agreed to form a unified women’s ice hockey team

North Korea Jan. 25, 2018

North Korean women’s ice hockey players and an advance team of sports officials crossed the border to South Korea early Thursday to prepare for their country’s participation in the next month’s PyeongChang Winter Olympics.   South Korea`s national head coach for the women`s ice hockey team Sarah Murray meets North Korean counterpart Park Chul-ho at Jincheon National Training Center on Jan. 25, 2018. (Yonhap)A total of 23 North Koreans arrived in the South via Gyeongui Line, or western land route

North Korea Jan. 25, 2018

The two Koreas are discussing details of their joint cultural event, which they agreed to hold at North Korea’s Kumkangsan ahead of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said Wednesday.  South Korean K-pop singer Lee Hyori (left) and North Korean celebrity Cho Myung-ae (right) star alongside in a Samsung cellphone commercial filmed in 2015. Lee was a member of the now-disbanded girl group Fin K.L that performed in Pyongyang in 2000. (Yonhap)The news comes amid a South Kor

North Korea Jan. 24, 2018