N. Korea slams S. Korea-US-Japan summit as 'Asian version of NATO'

North Korea on Thursday denounced the trilateral agreement among South Korea, the United States, and Japan as "the Asian version of NATO," and the US scheme to encircle Russia and China. Pyongyang's defense minister, Kang Sun-nam, issued a statement after the leaders of Seoul, Washington and Tokyo held a trilateral summit at Camp David last week, and agreed to beef up cooperation to deal with North Korea's nuclear and missile threats. "The recent confab brought to light

Aug. 24, 2023

N. Korea says Japan should immediately retract discharge of treated radioactive water

North Korea said Thursday that Japan should immediately halt the release of treated radioactive water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea. In a statement carried by the North's official Korea Central News Agency, a spokesperson for its foreign ministry said the act devastates the earth's environment, and seriously threatens the security and survival of mankind. Earlier in the day, Japan began to discharge its first batch of treated radioactive water into the se

Aug. 24, 2023

S. Korea, US, Japan seek sanctions after NK launch

Foreign Minister Park Jin and his US and Japanese counterparts agreed to look into individual sanctions on North Korea, following its failed second attempt Thursday to put a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit, during a phone call that took place hours after the launch. The call is a “meaningful follow-up” to last week’s Camp David summit agreement for joint action on North Korea, an isolated country that defies United Nations sanctions prompted by its nuclear and weap

Aug. 24, 2023

US says N. Korean satellite launch violates UNSC resolutions, calls on Pyongyang to engage in dialogue

The United States called on North Korea to refrain from launching additional satellites Wednesday, stressing that North Korean space launch vehicles violate multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions. A State Department spokesperson urged Pyongyang to engage in serious diplomacy instead. "Any DPRK launch that uses ballistic missile technology, which would include SLVs used to launch a satellite into space, violates multiple UN Security Council resolutions," the spokesperson t

Aug. 24, 2023

NK's 2nd satellite launch attempt fails, plans another in Oct.

North Korea admitted an attempt to launch a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit ended in failure Thursday, but pledged to conduct another launch in October. North Korea’s National Aerospace Development Administration launched a Malligyong-1 spy satellite using a Chollima-1 space launch vehicle at Sohae Satellite Launching Station in the Tongchang-ri area of North Pyongan Province, according to North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency. The first- and second-stage fl

Aug. 24, 2023

Food security prioritized in NK amid heavy rain: Unification Ministry

North Korea has been placing a high priority on stabilizing food security amid unfavorable weather conditions, while its trade with China has not fully recovered to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, South Korea's Unification Ministry said Wednesday. "North Korea has fully mobilized resources and manpower for grain production which has been designated as the No. 1 task among 12 major economic priorities for this year," reads a report submitted by the ministry to the National Assembly.

Aug. 23, 2023

North Korea's Kim lambasts premier over flooding, possible bid to shift blame for bad economy

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un severely rebuked his premier and other senior officials over their “irresponsible” response to recent flooding that inundated farmlands, state media reported Tuesday. Summer floods in North Korea often cause serious damage to its agricultural sector due to poor drainage and deforestation. Observers say Kim’s lambasting of top officials likely aims to shift blame for the country’s worsened economic hardships

Aug. 22, 2023

N.Korea plans satellite launch amid S. Korea-US military drills

North Korea has notified Japan of its plans to launch a satellite between Thursday and Aug. 31, sparking immediate condemnation from Seoul and Tokyo who called it a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions. The launch window also aligns with the ongoing 11-day joint, interagency Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercise between South Korea and the US, which is scheduled to continue until the end of August and is accompanied by more than 30 field training exercises. North Korea has identif

Aug. 22, 2023

Air Koryo runs Pyongyang-Beijing flights for first time in 3 years

An Air Koryo passenger flight from Pyongyang landed at Beijing Capital International Airport on Tuesday morning for the first time since January 2020 when the pandemic began. Flight JS151 arrived at 9:14 a.m. there, 30 minutes ahead of its scheduled time of arrival. The electronic display board at Beijing Capital International Airport also showed another flight, JS152, was leaving for Pyongyang from Beijing at 1:05 p.m. Although it is unclear whether passengers were aboard flight JS151, a vehicl

Aug. 22, 2023

Yoon says NK provocations will only strengthen trilateral partnership

North Korea's provocations will only strengthen South Korea's trilateral cooperation with the United States and Japan, President Yoon Suk Yeol said Monday, urging full-fledged preparations against any military threats from the North. Speaking at the Cabinet meeting on the first day of 11-day joint exercises with the US, Yoon touted the three-way partnership on security and economy as a "solid structure" that would lower the risk of North Korea's provocations and transform the growing g

Aug. 21, 2023

N. Korean taekwondo athletes stage demonstration performances in Kazakhstan

North Korean taekwondo athletes have staged demonstration performances in Kazakhstan, after the North's team made a rare border crossing into China from North Korea last week to attend a taekwondo event following a yearslong COVID-19 border closure. The North's demonstration team conducted performances Saturday (Kazakhstan time) for about an hour at the opening ceremony of the ITF Taekwon-Do World Championships held in Astana, Kazakhstan. The ITF stands for the North Korean-led Interna

Aug. 20, 2023

NK hacking group targets Korea-US combined exercise

In a coordinated effort, the South Korean police and the US military investigative agency have uncovered a malicious cyber attack by the North Korean hacking group "Kimsuky," aimed at the Korea-US combined military exercise battle simulation center, according to the police on Sunday. According to the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency, the North Korean hacking group has carried out continuous malicious email attacks targeting a domestic battle simulation company for military eng

Aug. 20, 2023

North Korea slams UN human rights meeting as a US 'scheme'

North Korea slammed a recent United Nations meeting about its human rights record, asserting the United States used the international organisation for a "scheme" against Pyongyang, state media KCNA reported on Saturday. The UN Security Council discussed human rights abuses in North Korea on Thursday, with the U.S. ambassador criticising leader Kim Jong Un for using "repression and cruelty" to develop nuclear weapons and missiles. US President Joe Biden and the leaders of Sout

Aug. 19, 2023

North Korea scrambled jets after US spy aircraft approached: KCNA

North Korea's military said it had scrambled jets after a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft intruded into its economic zone off its east coast, state news agency KCNA reported on Friday. The incident, which occurred on Thursday, was a "a dangerous military provocation" and North Korea was considering measures to deter future incursions, an unnamed spokesperson of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army said in the report. (Reuters)

Aug. 18, 2023

North Korea appears to be cracking opening its sealed border with dispatch of sports delegation

North Korea appears to have cracked open its borders in the first significant way since they were shut at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, with the impoverished nation sending a large group of taekwondo athletes and officials through Beijing to an international competition. The group of around 80 men and women wearing white track suits with the North Korean flag on the front were in the departure hall of Beijing’s international airport. They reportedly arrived Wednesday or

Aug. 18, 2023

Latest North Korean missile sparks new debate over possible Russian role

North Korea's latest Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile - its first ICBM to use solid rocket fuel - has ignited new debate over a possible Russian role in the nuclear-armed state's dramatic missile development. In a report published on Thursday by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, Theodore Postol, professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, argued that the Hwasong-18 ICBM is likely the result of technical cooperation so

Aug. 18, 2023

After 6-year hiatus, UN Security Council holds public discussion on NK human rights

The UN Security Council on Thursday convened a public discussion on the human rights situation in North Korea, the first such discussion since 2017. The open briefing occurred following a request made earlier in the month by the United States, Albania, South Korea, and Japan. The primary purpose of this briefing was to illuminate the relationship between North Korea's human rights violations and abuses, and their impact on international peace and security. The outcome of the discussion was the r

Aug. 18, 2023

N. Korean leader calls for efforts to minimize typhoon damage to crops

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called for efforts to minimize damage to crops by the recent Typhoon Khanun, while mobilizing choppers and aircraft for recovery work in flood-hit regions, state media reported Friday. Kim visited farms in Anbyon County in the eastern Kangwon Province, where farmlands were flooded due to heavy rains brought by the typhoon that swept through the Korean Peninsula last week, according to the Korean Central News Agency. The KCNA reported Monday that Kim had carrie

Aug. 18, 2023

Demand for private education, English tutoring grows in NK

Despite an official ban on private education, North Korea's tutoring market is expanding, with a particular focus on learning English, according to a survey conducted by South Korea's Unification Ministry. Among individuals who escaped North Korea before the year 2000, only 3.2 percent had taken private classes, while the percentage of defectors who received private education surged among those who came to South Korea after 2011. Of those who defected from North Korea between 2011 and

Aug. 17, 2023

US designates 3 entities for brokering weapons deal between N. Korea, Russia

The US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Controls on Wednesday imposed sanctions on three entities involved in illicit arms deals between North Korea and Russia, amid speculation that the countries may be seeking to bolster their illegal arms trade. OFAC imposed sanctions on Verus LLC, Defense Engineering LLP and Versor SRO, all of which are owned or led by Slovakian national Ashot Mkrtychev. Mkrtychev was designated on March 30 for "attempting to facilitate arms de

Aug. 17, 2023