The Yoon Suk Yeol administration on Wednesday released its first top security guidelines, the National Security Strategy, identifying North Korea's advancing nuclear development as the most pressing threat. The newly revised guidelines, under the theme of a global pivotal state for freedom, peace and prosperity, marks the first update in five years since the previous Moon Jae-in administration published its guidelines envisioning a peaceful and prosperous Korean Peninsula in 2018. The new g

Without substantive investment and market activation, Kim's agriculture reforms won't result in any improvement, experts say

North Korea's Premier Kim Tok-hun has sent a message of condolence to India's prime minister over last week's deadly train crash in the country, state media reported Wednesday. Three trains collided in the eastern state of Odisha on Friday, killing at least 288 people, according to foreign media reports. In the message sent to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, Kim expressed "deep sympathy and condolences" to the bereaved families and victims, according to t

A major North Korean youth organization has donated multiple rocket launchers to the country's military on the occasion of the 77th anniversary of its founding, state media reported Wednesday. The Korean Children's Union made the donations at a ceremony Tuesday in Pyongyang after taking part in a labor movement designed to help secure the weapons, according to the Korean Central News Agency. The labor movement is known to be staged to raise funds for the North Korean military by utiliz

The International Maritime Organization has hinted at adopting another resolution if North Korea launches a second spy satellite without notice. Natasha Brown, IMO Press Information Service Officer, said “IMO can adopt a resolution, issue a circular, issue a decision of an IMO body as it has done in the past,” in response to Voice of America’s written query in regard to North Korea’s statement that it would not notify the IMO in advance of any satellite launches. Offici

More publicly reported military activities could be due to Kim Jong-un's attempt to distance himself from struggling N. Korean economy, experts say

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Sunday lambasted last week's meeting of the US Security Council on the country's recent failed space rocket launch as "the most unfair and biased act of interfering in internal affairs." In a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, Kim Yo-jong expressed displeasure over Friday's open UNSC briefing, stressing the North will continue to exercise "all the lawful rights" as a sovereign state,

The South Korean military continued its operation Saturday to search and salvage the wreckage of a North Korean rocket that crashed into the Yellow Sea. Deep-sea divers from the Sea Salvage and Rescue Unit were deployed to the remote sea, 200 kilometers west of the western island of Eocheong, military officials said. The North launched what it claimed to be a satellite-carrying rocket Wednesday. But it crashed into the sea due to the abnormal starting of the second-stage engine, the North'

South Korea and the US issued a warning about a state-backed North Korean hacking group in a joint statement Friday, with Seoul slapping a ban on the group -- the first time for any single country to do so. The group Kimsuky is known for collecting intelligence on national security and foreign policy issues involving the Korean Peninsula from individuals and institutions, and has been providing such intelligence to the North while helping the isolated country to develop what it claims are &ldquo

2nd launch likely to take by June 11 as NK indicated: defense minister

The International Maritime Organization adopted a resolution strongly condemning North Korea's missile tests for the first time earlier this week, in a clear message to the reclusive country against its escalating provocations. The resolution, adopted at the 107th session of the IMO's Maritime Safety Committee in London on Wednesday, denounced the launches as a serious threat to the safety of international navigation and urged compliance with due regulations, including giving prior not

WASHINGTON -- North Korea's failed launch of a spy satellite has violated United Nations Security Council resolutions and the country will face corresponding consequences, South Korea's ambassador to the United States said Wednesday. Amb. Cho Hyun-dong also insisted that the North's provocative actions will only lead to further isolation. "North Korea has said it will conduct a second launch, but any such launch will carry a due price," Cho said while meeting with report

The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has vowed that Pyongyang will "correctly" place a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit soon, state media reported Thursday, a day after the North's attempt to launch a spy satellite failed. Kim Yo-jong made the remarks as she slammed the United States for its denouncement of the North's botched launch the previous day of what it claimed to be a "space launch vehicle," according to a statement carried by the Nor

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is estimated to be experiencing significant sleep disorders and to weigh around 140 kilograms, lawmakers quoted South Korea's state intelligence agency as saying Wednesday. Director Kim Kyou-hyun of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) delivered the report during a briefing to the parliamentary intelligence committee, according to key ruling and opposition members of the committee. "Based on the fact that North Korean authorities have been actively co

Air raid sirens and text message warnings sent by South Korean authorities Wednesday morning after North Korea launched what it claimed was a satellite seem not to have disrupted the daily lives of foreign national residents as much as those of South Korean nationals, according to several foreign embassies in Seoul on Wednesday. Residents in the country’s capital received Korean-language warnings from the city government telling people to prepare for evacuation without further details at 6