The US State Department said North Korea’s border shutdowns to combat the pandemic are preventing the country from receiving outside help from humanitarian aid groups. “These severe measures have significantly hindered the efforts of humanitarian organizations, UN agencies, and other countries to deliver aid to those most in need after they received swift exemptions from the 1718 Committee,” the State Department told Voice of America on Sunday The statement came in response t

The US State Department assessed that North Korea's stringent measures against COVID-19 have significantly impeded efforts of outside organizations to deliver humanitarian aid to the impoverished nation, according to a news report Sunday. Radio Free Asia quoted a State Department spokesperson as saying that Pyongyang's "extremely stringent COVID-19 response" has "significantly hindered the efforts of humanitarian organizations, UN agencies and other countries to deliver aid to th

North Korea has staged worker pep rallies en masse across the country to boost morale in achieving a new five-year state economic development put forward by leader Kim Jong-un last month, the country's state media said Sunday. The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that workers' rallies aimed at encouraging the fulfillment of the year-one goals of the five-year economic plan were held in multiple industrial fields and units. The rallies were held as answers to an earli

Human rights activist Park Ji-hyun is first North Korean defector to run for office outside Korean Peninsula

Unification Minister Lee In-young called Friday for efforts to ensure that international sanctions on Pyongyang do not result in unintended negativec effects on the lives of ordinary North Korean people. "We need to assess how effective sanctions have been on the desired goal of denuclearization five years since they were imposed," Lee said in an interview with the Financial Times, according to a Korean-language release from his ministry. "If the lives of North Koreans have wors

A US federal court ordered North Korea to pay over $2.3 billion in damages to the crew and their families of the naval spy ship USS Pueblo, for torturing them for 11 months upon capturing the vessel in 1968 in the East Sea. It is the most in damages a US court has ordered North Korea to pay, raising the chances of further US actions to seize North Korea-related assets overseas in a bid to collect damages from the destitute country. The Washington court said in its decision handed down on Feb.

North Korea convened an extended plenary session of its Cabinet to discuss ways to give businesses greater independence as part of efforts to achieve the economic goals set forth at last month's rare party congress, state media said Friday. The Cabinet meeting took place Thursday via a "teleconference system" to discuss a series of important tasks set forth at the party congress and the following parliamentary session, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. At Thurs

A North Korean firm filed a lawsuit against a South Korean company in 2019 to claim payment related to a business deal, sources here said Thursday, a rare legal battle between businesses from the two Koreas. The company affiliated with Pyongyang's national economic cooperation federation filed the suit with the Seoul Central District Court seeking 5.3 billion won ($4.7 million) for its alleged unpaid supply, according to the sources. Their names have not been made available. The North Korean

South Korea should put off or suspend its combined springtime military exercise with the United States as part of efforts to improve inter-Korean relations, a researcher at a state-run think tank said Thursday. Kim Sang-ki, a researcher at the state-run Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU), made the point in a report amid concern that the joint exercise, expected to take place next month, could provide North Korea with a pretext for provocations. "It is necessary to postpone th

Leading experts on North Korea underscored the need Thursday to address Pyongyang's human rights issues should Washington engage in talks on the normalization of relations between the two countries. Speaking at a virtual forum on peace efforts on the Korean Peninsula, Robert Gallucci, former US nuclear negotiator, and Victor Cha, Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, made the point, as the administration of US President Joe Biden is intent on reasserting America's r

Unification Minister Lee In-young said Thursday the government will push to resume long-suspended tours to North Korea on an individual basis as soon as the pandemic eases, saying it is "the best way to break the boundaries" between South and North Koreans. "There are still many South Koreans who wish to visit Mount Kumgang though it has been over 10 years since its suspension," he said, pointing out that such exchanges can help restore "national homogeneity." &qu

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presided over a Central Military Commission meeting to urge disciple among military officials and stricter control over younger officers, state media reported Thursday. At the expanded military commission meeting of the ruling Workers' Party on Wednesday, Kim stressed the importance of establishing "revolutionary moral discipline" particularly among the younger generation in the army, according to the Korean Central News Agency. "To establish the

The United States will unlikely ease or remove its sanctions on North Korea unless Pyongyang first makes a move to show its good faith, a US lawmaker said Wednesday. Rep. Thomas Suozzi (D-NY) argued North Korean leader Kim Jong-un cannot be trusted and therefore the new Biden administration must become "more strategic" in dealing with the North. "I don't think that there's going to be sanction relief in the short term. I think there will have to be some sort of action by the Nor

North Korea failed to meet its previous five-year economic goals due to its dependence on heavy industries amid crippling sanctions, a researcher at a state-run think tank said Wednesday. Kim Seok-jin, a researcher at the state-run Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU), cited the North's investment strategies in rebuilding the heavy industries and the following chronic power shortage as the main reasons for its failure in achieving the five-year economic goal. In 2016, North Korea pu

Former trade minister named to key post amid Kim Jong-un’s growth push