North Korea’s recent warning that a joint US-South Korea military exercise will hamper denuclearization talks could be an attempt to buy time to prepare for negotiations with the US, a state-run think tank said Thursday.During a press conference, the Institute for National Security Strategy said Pyongyang is likely to take an uncompromising approach in the upcoming negotiations. Talks between the two countries have hit a deadlock after the summit between US President Donald Trump and North

North Korea July 18, 2019

South Korea’s military has come under fire after a series of incidents involving false testimonies and security failures, showing laxity in discipline.Opposition parties have submitted a motion calling for the dismissal of Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo, holding him responsible for the incidents. In recent weeks, Jeong has tendered public apologies twice over the military’s failure to detect a North Korean boat that reached a South Korean sea port on the east coast.Only a day

Defense July 17, 2019

An object that looks like a periscope of a submarine was spotted in the waters around Haengdam Island Service Area on the Seohaean Expressway, in South Chungcheong Province, Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday. Police on patrol found the object “moving towards the north” and reported it to the military. The military said it is running an investigation, though it views it unlikely that a submarine would have passed through the area due to the shallow depth of the water

Defense July 17, 2019

Two Japanese defense attaches in South Korea have returned back to their home country after they were found to have obtained classified military information, a local daily reported Tuesday. According to Dong-A Ilbo, the Japanese defense attaches obtained 54 classified military documents on information related to North Korea from a former official of the Korea Defense Intelligence Command and 20 documents from a North Korean defector.  Following the prosecution’s indictment of the info

Defense July 16, 2019

North Korea will resume its Kumgangsan tour program in late July, the country’s propaganda media outlet said Monday, in an apparent attempt to overcome the economic burden of the international sanctions.According to DPRK Today, the four-day tour program, which will run through the end of November, includes activities such as hiking, fishing and spa treatments. The treks will enable travelers to see natural wonders such as Manmulsang, a unique formation of cliffs and strangely shaped rocks;

North Korea July 15, 2019

The US government is waiting for a response from North Korea after proposing to resume working-level negotiations on denuclearization this week, diplomatic sources said Sunday. North Korea has yet to give an answer to the offer made through a diplomatic channel last week. After their surprise meeting June 30 at the inter-Korean border, US President Donald Trump said he and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had agreed to resume working-level negotiations “within two to three weeks.&rdquo

North Korea July 14, 2019

Since the two Koreas separated in 1953, about 33,000 North Koreans have taken the life-risking, circuitous journey to the other side of the border, seeking to escape hunger and oppression in their homeland.In order to reduce unfamiliarity and help the North Korean defectors stand on their own in the capitalist South, the government here established the Settlement Support Center for North Korean Refugees, commonly known as Hanawon. Almost all North Korean defectors undertake a 12-week course at H

North Korea July 7, 2019

Korean sitcom “Haiphong Families,” which deals with the realities of multicultural families here, will soon be shown in Vietnam.Aired from May to October last year, the 20-episode sitcom by broadcaster KCTV Jeju was sold to Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group, a state-operated company that is the second-largest entity in the country.  This marks the first time a program by a regional cable broadcaster in Korea is being exported to Vietnam, according to KCTV Jeju. The one-

Television July 4, 2019

The government on Wednesday admitted to security failure, but rejected the accusation that it attempted to downplay the incident in which a North Korean boat arrived at a South Korea seaport undetected. Announcing the result of a joint government investigation, the government said it reprimanded top military chiefs and dismissed an Army commander who was in charge of the surveillance operation in the coastal area where the incident occurred.A small wooden boat carrying four North Koreans was fou

Defense July 3, 2019

Experts and government officials from South Korea, Japan and China will gather in Seoul next week to discuss ways to improve the environment for the crested ibis, an endangered species, an international organization said Monday. The crested ibis, a species that had mainly nested in Northeast Asia and parts of Russia, is at the brink of extinction. It is listed as Korea’s National Monument No. 198, but was last seen in the wild in 1979.  In an effort to save the species, a trilateral c

Diplomatic Circuit July 2, 2019

The historic trilateral meeting of leaders of the two Koreas and the United States on Sunday was realized with the US point man on North Korea and North Korean officials working behind the scenes well into the night on Saturday.US Special Representative for North Korea Biegun met Saturday with North Korean officials at Tongilgak, or Unification Pavilion, on the northern side of the Joint Security Area to coordinate the surprise meeting. With Alison Hooker, a US National Security Council official

North Korea June 30, 2019

US President Donald Trump made history when he met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the Joint Security Area in the Demilitarized Zone on Sunday, becoming the first sitting US president to meet a North Korean leader at the DMZ and to cross into the North. Trump was the fifth US president to visit the border area separating the two Koreas, some seven years after Barack Obama’s visit in 2012. Every US president since Ronald Reagan has visited the border area, except for George H.W. Bush, wh

North Korea June 30, 2019

North Korea should take bold actions to resume the stalled denuclearization negotiations with the United States, a security adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Thursday.Moon Chung-in, a special presidential adviser for unification, foreign and security affairs, suggested that the North should take bold actions, such as allowing open inspections of Punggye-ri nuclear test site and dismantlement of the Dongchang-ri missile launch site, if it wants the US to take its offer.  &ld

North Korea June 27, 2019

The idea of a “fatherland” is not much thought or talked about, as it seems so obvious. But for many ethnic Korean residents of Japan, the yearning for the “fatherland” remains, as they strive to maintain their identity as Koreans.A documentary depicting ethnic Koreans in Japan who say their hometowns are in South Korea, but believe their fatherland is North Korea, was screened in Seoul as part of a three-day event starting Friday. Park Yeong-i, director of “The Sky

North Korea June 26, 2019

Kaesong industrial park should be reopened regardless of sanctions, as tens of thousands of North Korean workers suffer from jobs lost, which also cuts access to adequate health care and food, a UN envoy for human rights said Friday.Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN special rapporteur for human rights in North Korea also urged China to not repatriate North Korean escapees, as they face severe punishment when they return home. “Kaesong industrial park should be allowed to reopen because, what is

North Korea June 21, 2019