Washington’s point man on North Korea, Sung Kim, said Monday that he will visit Seoul later this week to discuss ways to bring Pyongyang back to the dialogue, and that declaring an official end to the Korean War will be part of the agenda.  Kim, the US special representative on North Korea, revealed his plans after talks with South Korea’s chief nuclear envoy, Noh Kyu-duk, in Washington on Monday, ahead of a three-way meeting Tuesday with their Japanese counterpart, Takehiro F

North Korea Oct. 19, 2021

Unification Minister Lee In-young on Monday stressed the need for talks with North Korea on the regime’s demand that the South drop its “double standards” as a condition of progress on inter-Korean relations.  During a parliamentary audit session, Lee responded to a question on whether Seoul could accept Pyongyang’s call for an end to what it called “double standards” -- meaning the way the South characterizes the firing of ballistic missiles by the Nor

North Korea Oct. 18, 2021

  North Korea may resume long-range ballistic missile tests next year, the US Defense Intelligence Agency said, warning that the regime is unlikely to renounce its weapons of mass destruction as it believes they are critical to the country’s survival. 　 The DIA, which provides intelligence to the Defense Department, released a report Friday examining Pyongyang’s military program, strategy and intentions, stressing that the North will continue to pose a “critical security

North Korea Oct. 18, 2021

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday expressed “deep regret” over Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s sending of a ritual offering to the Yasukuni war shrine, which is seen by its Asian neighbors as a symbol of Japan’s wartime aggression.  Kishida sent a “masakaki” tree offering under his name as prime minister to celebrate the shrine’s two-day fall festival that runs through Monday, according to Japan’s Kyodo News.  It

Foreign Affairs Oct. 17, 2021

South Korea and the US are almost ready in their preparation to provide humanitarian assistance to North Korea, Seoul’s top nuclear envoy said Saturday, amid the allies’ efforts to revive stalled diplomacy with the recalcitrant regime. 　 Noh Kyu-duk, the special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, made the remark upon arriving in Washington for talks with his US and Japanese counterparts on ways to bring the reclusive Pyongyang back to the table for the

North Korea Oct. 17, 2021

A rare exhibition is taking place in the country’s eastern coastal city of Gangneung, Gangwon Province.  More than 120 exquisite celadon ceramics from the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392), known locally as cheongja, are on display at “Celadon, the Microscopic World of Goryeo.”  Renowned for its subtle and elegant beauty, various shapes and sizes of celadon ceramics, which get their name from their mystic blue-green glaze, trace the untold story of the kingdom that flourish

Arts & Design Oct. 16, 2021

Former Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha’s bid for the post of director general of the International Labor Organization is being met with criticism from labor groups, while the government backs the bid that could see the first woman and first Asian leader in the organization’s 103-year history.  The election is slated for March. If Kang gets the job, her term would start next October, when current Director General Guy Ryder of the UK leaves the office. 　 The South Korean govern

Foreign Affairs Oct. 14, 2021

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has vowed to build a powerful military to strengthen war deterrence, but insisted that the country’s main enemy is “war itself,” and not South Korea or the US. 　 Kim made the remarks Monday as he gave a rare speech at a defense development exhibition to mark the previous day’s 76th founding anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party, the North’s official Korea Central News Agency said Tuesday. 　 It was the first time the North

North Korea Oct. 12, 2021

Japan’s new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday that his government would strongly urge South Korea to take appropriate action to resolve the strained bilateral relations between the two countries, signaling that he will likely maintain the same hard-line stance toward Seoul as his predecessor Yoshihide Suga.  In his first policy speech since taking office Monday, Kishida briefly mentioned South Korea, saying Tokyo would maintain its “coherent stance” toward Seoul,

Foreign Affairs Oct. 8, 2021

The COVID-19 medical supplies sent by the World Health Organization and other UN agencies have reached the North Korean port of Nampo, an apparent signal that the reclusive regime is easing its strict border lockdown and welcoming outside help.  A few months ago, the WHO and other UN agencies were informed by North Korea’s Public Health Ministry that it would allow items stranded in China since the onset of the pandemic to be transported to the North through the seaport Dalian, acco

North Korea Oct. 8, 2021

North Korea has been advancing its nuclear and missile capabilities over the past decades, and time is running out to prevent the country from becoming a full-fledged nuclear state, experts said Thursday.  Pointing out that past South Korean and US administrations had failed to dismantle the regime’s nuclear program, experts attending a Korea Institute for National Unification seminar called for “creative solutions.”  “One of the reasons why North Korea&rsquo

North Korea Oct. 7, 2021

South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong stressed the need to declare an official end to the Korean War in his talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, amid recent signs of potential discrepancies between Seoul and Washington in their approaches to Pyongyang. 　 The two envoys held a pull-aside meeting Tuesday on the margins of a meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris. 　 Chung told Blinken that President Moon Jae-in’s recent proposal to

North Korea Oct. 6, 2021

North Korea has continued its nuclear and ballistic missile programs this year, despite international sanctions and a dire economic situation exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a UN report on Tuesday. 　 A panel of experts monitoring sanctions on Pyongyang, in a report sent to the UN Security Council, said the North “continued to seek material and technology for these programs overseas.” 　 “Despite the country’s focus on its worsening economic travails, t

North Korea Oct. 5, 2021

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

North Korea Oct. 4, 2021

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

North Korea Oct. 4, 2021