China's No.3 official to visit N. Korea

China's top legislator and No. 3 official, Zhao Leji, is set to visit North Korea from Thursday to Saturday as the two countries mark the 75th anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties this year, China's Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday. The delegation of the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government, led by Zhao, will "make an official goodwill visit" to North Korea, the Chinese Foreign Ministry's spokesperson Mao Ning said. Mao explained that the invitatio

April 9, 2024

N. Korea revs up festive mood ahead of late founder's birthday

North Korea has held a photo exhibition and a youth art festival to celebrate the upcoming 112th birthday of late founder Kim Il-sung, state media reported Tuesday. Kim died of heart failure in 1994 at age 82, opening the way for his son, Kim Jong-il, to take over in communism's first hereditary succession of power. Despite the senior Kim's death, his birthday, April 15, is revered as the Day of Sun and is celebrated as one of the communist country's most important national holida

April 9, 2024

N. Korea's Kim sends message to Putin over flooding in Russia

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has sent a message consoling Russian President Vladimir Putin over heavy floods that hit Russia's southern region, state media said Monday. Kim's message came in response to media reports that Russia declared a federal emergency after heavy floods in the country's Orenburg region forced thousands of people to evacuate. "Kim Jong-un, on behalf of the DPRK government and people and on his own behalf, extended deep consolation to the Russian presi

April 8, 2024

Regular inter-Korean liaison contact remains severed for 1 year amid frosty ties

Regular communication between the two Koreas through cross-border hotlines has remained severed for one year as the North continues to be unresponsive to calls from the South amid increasingly frosty ties. The two Koreas used to hold routine calls twice a day -- once in the morning and the other in the afternoon -- via liaison and military hotlines, but the North has stopped answering calls from the South since April 7, 2023. The move came a day after Seoul called on Pyongyang to stop its unauth

April 7, 2024

Biden, Kishida to discuss N. Korean threats, trilateral cooperation with S. Korea: White House

President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will discuss an array of issues, including North Korean threats and the two countries' trilateral cooperation with South Korea, during their summit next week, a White House official said Wednesday. The two leaders are set to hold the summit on April 10 as Washington and Tokyo are stepping up defense cooperation amid growing security uncertainties stemming from North Korea's evolving military threats, China's growing assertiveness and

April 4, 2024

N. Korea claims successful launch of new IRBM tipped with hypersonic warhead

North Korea said Wednesday it has successfully test-fired a new intermediate-range ballistic missile tipped with a hypersonic warhead, saying that all missiles the country has developed are now solid-fuel and nuclear capable with warhead control capability. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un guided the testing of the Hwasong-16 missile Tuesday, according to the Korean Central News Agency. The South Korean military said Tuesday it detected the firing of an IRBM from the Pyongyang region and the miss

April 3, 2024

N. Korea reaffirms plan to launch multiple spy satellites this year

North Korea vowed Monday to push for space development and reaffirmed its plan to launch multiple reconnaissance satellites this year after putting its first spy satellite into orbit in November. Following the launch of the Malligyong-1 last year after two failed attempts in May and August, respectively, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced during a year-end meeting the country plans to place three more spy satellites into orbit this year. "The successful launch of the reconnaissance s

April 1, 2024

N. Korea's Kim inspects construction site of ruling party's training school

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected a construction site of the North's ruling party training school, the North's state media reported Sunday. "The training school with a total floor space of over 133,000 square meters will be equipped with advanced educational systems and have the high level of educational conditions and environment," the North's Korean Central News Agency reported. The construction of the school for cadets of the North's ruling Workers'

March 31, 2024

N. Korea's FM reaffirms unwillingness to talk with Japan over abduction issue

The North Korean foreign minister on Friday reaffirmed Pyongyang's stance that it does not have any intention to hold talks with Japan on the abduction issue, a day after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida voiced willingness to push for a summit with the North. Choe Son-hui made the remarks in a statement released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, saying the issue "cannot be settled and has nothing to be solved." "The DPRK has nothing to solve as reg

March 29, 2024

UNSC fails to extend mandate of expert panel monitoring NK sanctions enforcement

A divided UN Security Council failed Thursday to extend the mandate of the expert panel charged with monitoring the enforcement of sanctions against North Korea, in an unprecedented move likely to undermine global efforts to curb Pyongyang's nuclear and missile threats. The council failed to adopt a new resolution meant to extend the mandate of the Panel of Experts by another year as Russia vetoed it amid its call for an annual extension of UNSC sanctions against Pyongyang. The panel's mandate i

March 29, 2024

Russia's foreign intelligence chief visits N. Korea this week

Russia's foreign intelligence chief visited North Korea earlier this week to discuss ways to bolster cooperation in responding to spying and plotting activities by hostile forces, Pyongyang's state media reported Thursday. Sergei E. Naryshkin, director of the External Intelligence Bureau, visited Pyongyang between Monday and Wednesday, according to the Korean Central News Agency. Naryshkin met with Ri Chang-dae, the North's state security minister, and working-level talks were als

March 28, 2024

US slaps new sanctions against 6 N. Koreans, 2 entities for financing NK WMD programs

The United States on Wednesday imposed new sanctions on six North Korean nationals and two third-country entities for their role to help finance Pyongyang's weapons of mass destruction programs, the Treasury Department said. In coordination with South Korea, the department announced sanctions targeting agents of designated North Korean banks as well as companies that employ North Korean IT workers abroad, as it accused them of helping generate revenue for the recalcitrant regime in Pyongyan

March 28, 2024

Unification Ministry nurtures hope for detainees in N. Korea

South Korea's Ministry of Unification has intensified efforts to raise awareness, both domestically and internationally, regarding South Koreans who have been abducted, detained forcibly and held as prisoners of war in North Korea. At the heart of the campaign is the distribution of symbolic badges adorned with three forget-me-not flowers, both at home and abroad. This emblem symbolizes the "right to not be forgotten" for abductees, detainees and POWs, reflecting the government�

March 27, 2024

N. Korea refuses all contact, including summit, with Japan

North Korea will refuse all contact with Japan, after Tokyo took issue with the problem of Japanese abductees and the North's nuclear program, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said Tuesday. Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of the ruling Workers' Party's Central Committee, made the remark in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency, a day after she said Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had expressed a willingness to hold a summit with her brother

March 26, 2024

NK leader visits tank unit credited for being first to enter Seoul during Korean War

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited a tank unit bearing "Seoul" in its name for being the first to enter the South Korean capital during the Korean War, praising the unit as a "model for the entire army," state media said Monday. Kim visited the Seoul Ryu Kyong Su Guards 105th Tank Division and the affiliated First Tank Armored Infantry Regiment on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency said. "The division ... was the first to charge into Seoul and fly the flag o

March 25, 2024

Govt. agencies probed for alleged neglect in NK guard post verification

The South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection has initiated an inquiry into allegations that the Defense Ministry and other government agencies neglected to verify the demolition of front-line guard posts, which North Korea was supposed to undertake according to the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement. According to both the BAI and the Defense Ministry on Friday, an inspection began Monday, following an earlier audit request from the nonprofit organization Korean Retired Generals and Admirals

March 22, 2024

N. Korea's ruling party delegation embarks on trip to China, Vietnam, Laos

North Korea's ruling party delegation has arrived in Beijing on a three-nation tour, state media reported Friday, in a move seen aimed at strengthening ties with countries sharing the socialist ideology. The delegation, led by Kim Song-nam, director of the international department at the Workers' Party, was greeted by the assistant to the head of the International Liaison Department of the Chinese Communist Party at an airport Thursday, the Korean Central News Agency said, without prov

March 22, 2024

N. Korea conducts ground engine test for new hypersonic missile

North Korea said Wednesday it has successfully conducted a ground jet test of a solid-fuel engine for a new type of intermediate hypersonic missile amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Hypersonic missiles are on the list of sophisticated weapons North Korean leader Kim Jong-un vowed to develop during a key party congress in 2021, along with nuclear-powered submarines, spy satellites and solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles. Hypersonic missiles travel at a speed of at least

March 20, 2024

Russian cultural delegation visits N. Korea amid deepening ties

A Russian delegation led by Moscow's vice culture minister has arrived in Pyongyang, state media said Tuesday, as the two nations have been strengthening their ties following a rare summit of their leaders in September. The delegation led by Russia's Vice Culture Minister Andrei Maluishev arrived in the North the previous day on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of a bilateral agreement on economic and cultural cooperation, the North's Korean Central News Agency said. The deleg

March 19, 2024

NK leader guides firing drills involving super-large multiple rocket launchers

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has guided firing drills involving super-large multiple rocket launchers and called for perfecting readiness to collapse the capital of the enemy with the "core striking means," state media said Tuesday. On the previous day, Kim oversaw the "salvo" drills of artillery units in the country's western region using the 600mm multiple launch rocket system, according to the Korean Central News Agency. The South Korean military said Monday it det

March 19, 2024