Six North Korean military officials have been promoted to the rank of four-star general at the order of leader Kim Jong-un on the occasion of the 110th birth anniversary of late national founder Kim Il-sung, state media reported Thursday. The announcement came on the eve of the anniversary, one of the country's biggest celebrations, apparently aimed at rallying unity within the military amid hei...

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol on Wednesday nominated Rep. Kwon Young-se, a prosecutor-turned-lawmaker with four National Assembly terms and former ambassador to China, as Unification Minister. Kwon is a close and trusted confidant of Yoon and was named vice-chairman of the presidential transition committee after he took the helm of Yoon’s campaign team as the leader. They also studied law togeth...

A South Korean government researcher on Wednesday floated the idea of using drones, cyberattacks and high-power microwave (HPM) weapons to counter North Korea's nuclear and missile threats. Speaking at a security forum, Cho Nam-hoon of the state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses stressed the need to devise various contingency measures, including building "left-of-launch" capabilities to d...

WASHINGTON -- North Korea uses its space program as a disguise to test and advance its ballistic missile capabilities, a US military intelligence report said Tuesday. The report also noted the North may be trying to acquire space and weapons technologies by hacking into aerospace companies. "North Korea has placed two satellites in orbit and has articulated further space ambitions. Its space pr...

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attended a ceremony to celebrate the completion of a major housing project in the country's capital, state media reported Tuesday. The event was to mark the completion of 10,000 apartments and an 80-floor skyscraper in the Songsin and Songhwa areas of Pyongyang, and a major street with "public catering facilities," according to the official Korean Central News Age...

North Korea said Tuesday a forest fire broke out on Mount Kumgang in the eastern Kangwon Province over the weekend, damaging hundreds of hectares of forests and facilities. The fire started at about 3:20 p.m. Saturday on a hill near Kuryong Pool of Mount Kumgang and the Kosong Port Golf Course in the border county of Kosong, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). A...

North Korea opened a new exhibition hall at a major museum in Pyongyang to mark the 10th anniversary of its leader Kim Jong-un's rise to power, state media reported Monday, amid efforts to tout his leadership. At the Korean Revolution Museum, the North displayed photos and videos of Kim's major "achievements of immortal leadership" since his pledge to build a responsible nuclear weapons state at...

China’s top nuclear envoy meets high-ranking US diplomats during rare visit to Washington D.C.

North Korea appears to be continuing restoration work at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, including the construction of a tunnel entrance, a new report said, amid concerns that the secretive state may be pushing for another nuclear experiment. Commercial satellite imagery taken between March 24 and April 6 indicates continued activity at the site's Tunnel 3, such as new spoil piles and a newly ...

US investor Jim Rogers is in the city of Paju, Gyeonggi Province, which includes a portion of the Demilitarized Zone that divides North and South Korea, where he was previously tapped to become an inter-Korean project cooperation adviser. Rogers arrived in South Korea on Tuesday and was scheduled to sign the related agreement the following day. In an email interview Wednesday, Rogers expressed ...

Seoul sees accidental conflict with North Korea as prone to happen in foreseeable future

Kim Yo-jong‘s statement simultaneously targets internal and external audiences at a critical jucture

North Korea has a large number of "theater-class" missiles with a desire to develop a "credible" missile threat, a US commander has said, casting the recalcitrant regime as a strategic security challenge. Adm. Charles Richard, head of the US Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), made the assessment in a written statement to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense prior to a closed-door hearin...

The United States has more room to maneuver in waters around the Korean Peninsula to help deter further provocations by North Korea and will continue to cultivate such options, the commander of the US Pacific Fleet said Monday. Adm. Samuel Paparo also said North Korea's recent missiles launches are "deeply, deeply concerning." "We are cultivating some options for a demonstration of our bilatera...

The South Korean government called Monday on North Korea to refrain from escalating tensions in the region, responding to the latest statement, directed at Seoul, by Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of North Korea's leader. "The Ministry of Unification clearly points out that North Korea should not cause additional tension on the Korean Peninsula in any case," the ministry's spokesperson Lee ...