South Korea's police said Sunday that they have taken into custody a North Korean defector for attempting to cross into his homeland through a military unit in an eastern border town. The man in his 30s was caught entering a military unit in Chorwon, Gangwon Province, at around 9 a.m. on Thursday in an attempt to cross into the North. He was found to have four mobile phones and a cutting machine when he was caught. Police said that the man defected to the South in 2018 and has stayed in Seo

North Korea's Premier Kim Tok-hun visited major industrial sites, including steelmaking factories, calling for expanded production to help with recovery efforts in areas hit by recent typhoons, state media reported Sunday. Kim inspected the Chollima Steel Complex in South Pyongyang Province on the North's west coast and encouraged its workers "to provide the people in the typhoon-hit areas with happy life as early as possible," according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). &qu

North Korea's official newspaper called Sunday for efforts to realize self-reliance in the economy and national defense undeterred by multiple challenges from its ongoing antivirus campaign, devastation caused by recent typhoons and the fallout from global sanctions. "Without economic independence, it is impossible to realize autonomous politics or the huge task of building a wealthy country with a strong military," the Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the North's ruling party, said in a

A western border hiking trail along the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas will reopen to the public next week, about 11 months after its closure due to the outbreak of African swine fever, authorities said Saturday. The municipality of Paju of Gyeonggi Province, about 30 kilometers northwest of Seoul, said it will reopen its DMZ hiking trail to tourists next Tuesday. In consideration of the ongoing outbreak of the coronavirus, however, the municipal government said it will limit the

President Moon Jae-in said Saturday that his Pyongyang summit accord with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un should be implemented despite restraints at home and abroad, marking the second anniversary of its signing. He stressed that Seoul's commitment to peace remains firm, while the agreement has not been fulfilled speedily due to "internal and external restraints." In a message posted on Facebook, the president recalled his historic speech in front of 150,000 Pyongyang citizens at M

The unification ministry on Friday reiterated calls for North Korea to implement agreements the leaders of the two Koreas reached during their summit in 2018. The appeal came on the eve of the second anniversary of a summit agreement signed between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang on Sept. 19, 2018, to reduce tensions and bolster cooperation. On the sidelines of the summit, the two sides also signed a military tension deal. "The two Ko

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump on Thursday acknowledged that he had considered sending former Chicago Bulls basketball player Dennis Rodman to North Korea to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. "He really does like Dennis Rodman, I will tell you. It's sort of great. I always said Dennis would be better than some of these staffs that they used to send over to get to know him (Kim)," Trump said in an interview with Fox Sports Radio. The sudden revelation came after the

WASHINGTON -- North Korea has a "small number" of nuclear weapons, the vice chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said Thursday, although that number was not defined. Air Force Gen. John Hyten told a virtual forum that the specific numbers were "classified" and in many ways hard to understand. "But a small number is a confident characterization of nuclear capabilities that can threaten their neighbors or the United States," he said in a symposium hosted by the

North Korea will likely celebrate its founding anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party on Oct. 10 with “something big” potentially showcasing missiles at a military parade amid the stalled nuclear talks with the US, Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Wednesday. “The North Koreans are going to come out potentially with scores of solid propellants, medium range missiles, maybe Pukguksong-2s,” he told a teleconferenc

South Korea is ready to hold reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War at anytime if there is an agreement with North Korea, a unification ministry official said Thursday. On Wednesday, Unification Minister Lee In-young told reporters during his trip to Panmunjom that he hopes to hold a "small-scale" reunion of war-torn families at the truce village as soon as concerns over the coronavirus pandemic ease. "We are fully prepared to hold a reunion of separated famil

A former chief of staff to US President Donald Trump said Thursday that there will be a "deal of some sort" with North Korea that includes its "incremental concession" should Trump win reelection in November. Reince Priebus, who served in the White House post in 2017, made the remarks during a local forum, in response to an expert's view that Trump will seek to reach a deal with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un should he get another term. "I don't know what it will be,

Unification Minister Lee In-young said Thursday that South and North Korea should build a joint monitoring system in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to better cope with flooding, forest fires and other natural disasters. In a speech at the DMZ Forum 2020 broadcast online, Lee also expressed hope that the world's most fortified border between the two Koreas could be turned into an "international peace zone" by bolstering cross-border exchanges and cooperation. "If the South and the

North Korean state media on Thursday highlighted party officials' efforts to help with recovery efforts in eastern regions hit by recent back-to-back typhoons. The Korean Central News Agency said that members of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party and their families "sincerely" aided the people in the typhoon-hit areas in the North and South Hamgyong provinces. Trains and buses loaded with necessities, food and reconstruction materials arrived in the regions, and they were

A North Korean propaganda outlet on Wednesday blasted South Korea over a plan to increase its national defense budget for next year, saying "those enjoying fire would end up being killed by the fire." South Korea's defense ministry recently asked for 52.9 trillion won ($62.2 billion) in its budget plan for 2021, a 5.5 percent hike from its spending for this year. "(The South Korean government) is pouring more taxpayers' money in building up its armed forces and playing fire of

Unification Minister Lee In-young urged North Korea to fulfill inter-Korean agreements from 2018 during his visit to the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom on Wednesday. 　 Lee’s visit -- his first since taking office in July -- occurred a few days ahead of the second anniversary of the Pyongyang Joint Declaration reached by South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the North’s capital on Sept. 19, 2018, which aimed to reduce military tensions an