North Korea’s Defense Ministry said that the country has never supplied weapons to Russia and denounced the US for spreading “groundless” rumors, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported Thursday. An unnamed vice director general of the General Bureau of Equipment at North Korea’s Defense Ministry issued a pronouncement on Wednesday to refute the US’ recent public statements on Russia’s request for North Korea to provide rockets and artillery shells,

Opposition blasts summit with Japan as humiliating

Digital chat rooms that share or sell deepfake pornography content remain prevalent despite a new provision to punish related crimes implemented two years ago. Deepfake content refers to digitally manipulated videos and images that are hard to distinguish from genuine content. Most pornographic deepfake content grafts a person’s face -- usually an acquaintance or celebrity -- onto sexually explicit videos. According to ReSET, a digital sex crime victim support group, one of the Telegram ch

MOKPO, South Jeolla Province -- Lee Dae-jun, the South Korea government official who was shot dead by North Korean troops at sea on Sept. 22, 2020, was finally given a funeral on Thursday. At the service held in his hometown Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, over 100 people turned up to pay their final respects to Lee. The service, which was not open to the public, was attended mostly by relatives and former colleagues at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. President Yoon Suk-yeol sent flowers,

The Ministry of Justice is set to push to expand the "medical treatment and custody" of child sex offenders, Thursday. Medical treatment and custody refers to detaining offenders with high risk of recidivism, such as pedophiles or drug addicts, at state facilities and providing them with psychiatric treatment. According to the current law, sex offenders with psychological disorders including pedophilia can be subject to the measure for up to 15 years if the prosecution requests. The pe

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell to the lowest number in nearly three months for a Thursday count, as the virus wave is slowing down at a steady pace. The country reported 33,009 new COVID-19 infections, including 255 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 24,535,940, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The latest tally is down by more than 8,200 from the previous day and the lowest for a Thursday figure since 18,494 recorded on July 7. The virus wave,

NEW YORK -- President Yoon Suk-yeol asked US President Joe Biden to resolve South Korea's concerns over the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and Biden responded he was well aware of the concerns, Yoon's office said Wednesday. Biden also said the two sides should continue serious discussions about the matter, the office said in a press release summarizing the presidents' three encounters over the last four days. "President Yoon explained our businesses' concerns about the

North Korea's military said Thursday it has never exported weapons to Russia and does not plan to do so, according to its state media, rejecting accusations of arms trade between the two countries. Earlier this month, a US state department spokesperson said Russia may be in the process of purchasing "millions of rockets and artillery shells" from North Korea, which would violate multiple U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolutions on the North. In response, a top North Korean militar

NEW YORK -- South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz held a summit in New York on Wednesday and agreed to work to deepen their countries' bilateral relationship at every level, the presidential office said. The two held their first summit on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and assessed how the countries have developed their friendly and cooperative relations across diverse sectors as key partners sharing universal values such as freedom, human rights a

WASHINGTON -- A recent satellite imagery of North Korea's main submarine shipyard showed possible preparations to launch a new submarine, a US monitor reported Wednesday. The satellite imagery, taken Sunday, showed six barges and other vessels gathered around the submarine launch quay at Sinpo South Shipyard, according to 38 North. "While barges and a dry dock have been occasionally observed around the submarine launch quay at the main construction hall, the presence of six vessels and

WASHINGTON -- US President Joe Biden on Wednesday named North Korea as one of a few major reasons why the United Nations and its members must work to strengthen the nuclear nonproliferation regime. The US leader also said the US is prepared to pursue "critical arms controls measures" no matter what is happening in the world. "A nuclear war cannot be won, and must never be fought. The five permanent members of the (UN) Security Council just reaffirmed that commitment in January,&qu

President Yoon Suk-yeol held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for the first time in New York on Wednesday, where the two agreed on the need to improve relations by resolving pending issues between the two countries. The presidential office said in the afternoon, "President Yoon had a brief meeting with Prime Minister Kishida at a conference building near the United Nations General Assembly for 30 minutes from 12:23 p.m." It is the first meeting between the leaders of So

Seoul court sides with plaintiff's claim for compensation for side effects from COVID-19 vaccine

Russia’s arms procurement from countries subject to UN sanctions defies UNSC resolutions

The prosecutors' office is to launch a task force on the Sindang Station murder, with the suspect now in prosecution custody. The suspect, 31-year old former Seoul Metro employee Jeon Joo-hwan, was transferred to the prosecution Wednesday, accused of murdering a Seoul Metro employee on Sept. 14. Meeting the press at Seoul Namdaemun Police Station, Jeon repeated he was sorry for his actions. Jeon said “I did something truly crazy” when asked by reporters whether he has anything else