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

KN-24 missile could potentially carry miniaturized nuclear warheads

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

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

Cargo trains between North Korea and China have resumed operation for the first time in nearly two years since the border closure due to the pandemic, in a sign that the two countries may be readying to fully resume land trade soon. 　 The first train, which arrived in the Chinese border city of Dandong on Sunday, returned home to the North’s Sinuiju at around 7 a.m., according to Yonhap News Agency. 　 The first train was empty when it arrived in China, but its return trip was likely loa

The presidential National Security Council (NSC) expressed strong regret Monday after North Korea fired two suspected short-range ballistic missiles eastward that marked the North's fourth show of force this month. The council held an emergency meeting after South Korea's military announced that the North fired two suspected ballistic missiles into the East Sea. "The standing members of the NSC had an in-depth discussion as the strongly regretful situation continues, with North Korea firi

A spate of missile tests serves ‘domestic political and foreign policy purposes,’ analysts say

N. Korea views negotiation as a sideshow, while US is unwilling to expend more political capital

North Korea said Saturday its railway-based missile regiment conducted a firing drill a day earlier, with two tactical guided missiles hitting a set target in the East Sea. The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that the drill was aimed at "checking and judging the proficiency in the action procedures" of the unit. It marks the North's second known launches using a railway platform since the last one in September. On Friday, the South Korean military announc

North Korea test-fired what appeared to be two ballistic missiles from an inland area toward the East Sea on Friday in its third weapons launch this month, just hours after it warned of “stronger and certain reaction” toward Washington for imposing new sanctions against the regime’s recent back-to-back missile tests. 　 The Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea fired two projectiles, believed to be short-range ballistic missiles, from a site in North Pyongan Province toward i

North Korea fired an unidentified projectile eastward Friday, South Korea's military said, hours after it warned of a "stronger and certain" response following the United States' imposition of new sanctions. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced the launch, the third in a little over a week, without elaborating further. Earlier in the day, Pyongyang issued the warning after Washington slapped the sanctions on six North Koreans involved in the regime's weapons of mass destruction

South Korea's unification ministry on Friday vowed to continue efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to North Korea after the United States imposed new sanctions over the reclusive regime's recent missile launches. On Wednesday, the Biden administration slapped sanctions on six North Koreans, a Russian national and a Russian company involved in Pyongyang's weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs. Asked to comment on the move, Cha Duck-chul, deputy spokesman for the unif

The United States on Thursday urged North Korea to refrain from further provocations and instead engage in dialogue. A spokesperson for the Department of State also renewed the US condemnation of North Korea's recent missile tests. "We condemn the DPRK's ballistic missile launches. These launches are in violation of multiple UN Security Council Resolutions and pose a threat to the DPRK's neighbors and the international community," the spokesperson told Yonhap News Agency in an email,

North Korea warned Friday it will have to take a "stronger and certain reaction" after the United States implemented new sanctions over the North's recent missile launches. In a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, a spokesperson for the North's foreign ministry said the recent launch of what it claims to be a hypersonic missile was an "exercise of right to self-defense." "If the US adopts such a confrontational stance, the DPRK will be forced

Sanctions imposition could indicate Washington’s policy adjustment, analysts say