The defense chiefs of South Korea and the United States held talks on the margins of a security forum in Singapore on Saturday to discuss joint deterrence against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, Seoul's defense ministry said. Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup and his U.S. counterpart, Lloyd Austin, met on the margins of the annual Shangri-La Dialogue amid concerns about the possibility of Pyongyang conducting what would be its seventh nuclear test. "Basically, we discussed variou

  North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for stronger "self-defense" measures to tackle "very serious" security challenges as he presided over a key ruling party session earlier this week, Pyongyang's state media reported Saturday. But there was no specific message issued from the fifth enlarged plenary meeting of the party's eighth Central Committee with regard to the possibility of the secretive regime carrying out another nuclear test. The North stopped short of

North Korea’s state-run media outlets on Friday kept silent to withhold reporting on the second day of a key Workers‘ Party meeting, which authorities here assessed as “very unusual.” Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency had revealed its leader Kim Jong-un presided over the fifth enlarged plenary meeting of the party’s eighth Central Committee, which kicked off on Wednesday. But while the session is likely to have run into its second day on Thursday, state

North Korea opened a key Workers’ Party meeting with its leader Kim Jong-un in attendance to discuss a “series of important issues,” its state-run media said Thursday, amid rampant speculation the country may conduct a nuclear test soon. According to the Korean Central News Agency, Kim presided over the fifth enlarged plenary meeting of the party’s eighth Central Committee, which kicked off Wednesday. “It began the agenda discussion amid high political enthusias

North Korea held a key Worker's Party meeting earlier this week with leader Kim Jong-un in attendance to discuss state policies, state media said Thursday. On Wednesday, Kim presided over the 5th enlarged plenary meeting of the party's 8th Central Committee, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). It was not immediately known what the agenda was, though the KCNA reported earlier that the meeting will be held to make an interim review of state policies for 2022 and

North Korea's new fever cases stayed below 60,000 for the second consecutive day, its state media reported Thursday, nearly a month after the reclusive nation announced a COVID-19 outbreak. Over 50,860 more people showed symptoms of fever over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters. The total number of fever cases since late April came to over 4.3 million as of

North Korea held a ruling Workers' Party politburo meeting and decided on the agenda to be discussed at a key party meeting set for early this month, state media said Wednesday. Jo Yong-won, secretary for organizational affairs of the ruling Workers' Party's Central Committee, presided over the political bureau meeting on Tuesday, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). North Korean leader Kim Jong-un did not attend the meeting. The politburo meeting comes ahe

A North Korean defector group said Tuesday it sent balloons carrying masks and COVID-19 medicines across the border earlier this week to help people there, while the Seoul government asked activists to refrain from such a campaign that may have a negative impact on regional stability. 　 　Twenty big balloons filled with 20,000 pieces of masks, 15,000 Tylenol pills and 30,000 vitamin C pills were floated between 10 and 11 p.m. Sunday from Pocheon, north of Seoul, Fighters for a Free North Korea

North Korea reported more than 61,000 new fever cases Tuesday, with the daily count remaining under 70,000 for the second consecutive day. Over 61,730 more people showed symptoms of fever over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters. It provided no further information regarding additional deaths. The total number of fever cases since late April came to over 4.19 mill

Latest missile threat could be a prelude to nuclear missile test, some claim

North Korea's official news agency and other state media outlets remained silent Monday about a barrage of missile tests that the country carried out a day earlier in its third show of force since South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol took office last month. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Pyongyang's official mouthpiece, usually begins its morning news cycle with reports on major events that happened the previous day, such as leader Kim Jong-un's activities or major weapons

North Korea reported 66,680 more suspected COVID-19 cases Monday. More than 66,680 people showed symptoms of fever over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters. The total number of fever cases in the country with a population of 25 million since late April came to more than 4.13 million as of 6 p.m. Sunday, of which more than 4.01 million have recovered and 127,620 a

North Korea reported 73,780 more suspected COVID-19 cases Sunday, bringing the total number of fever cases to over 4 million. More than 73,780 people showed symptoms of a fever over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day, the official Korean Central News Agency said, citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters. It marked the sixth consecutive day that the daily count stayed below 100,000. The KCNA gave no information on whether additional deaths have been con

President Yoon Suk-yeol instructed officials Sunday to strengthen the extended deterrence and combined defense posture of South Korea and the United States in response to North Korea's latest demonstration of its firepower. Yoon gave the order as members of the National Security Council briefed him on the results of a meeting they held shortly after North Korea fired eight short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea, according to his office. "President Yoon Suk-yeol ordered the re

North Korea fired eight short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Sunday, a day after South Korea and the United States wrapped up their joint drills near the peninsula involving a US aircraft carrier, according to the South's military. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the launches were detected between 9:08 a.m. and 9:43 a.m. from areas around Sunan in Pyongyang; Kaechon, north of the capital city; the northwestern region of Tongchang-ri; and the eastern city of Hamhung. The missil