North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected Navy units in the western sea, Pyongyang said Saturday, as the communist country continued to ratchet up threats against South Korea.Kim accompanied several military commanders on a tour of a defense unit on Cho Islet, some 70 kilometers west of the North's

Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik on Friday used strong rhetoric to criticize the North Korean regime over the issue of North Korean defectors.“The situation in which North Korean residents cross the border and flee their country should be resolved as soon as possible,” Yu said at a forum in Seoul.Yu had vowed to take “flexible” North Korean policies when taking office in September, but has started to ramp up Pyongyang-bashing rhetoric since President Lee Myung-bak convened a foreign affairs and se

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed “deep concern” Thursday over the fate of North Korean defectors in China, which has emerged as a key diplomatic issue between Seoul and Beijing, according to his office.In a meeting with visiting South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan, Ban “shared the deep concern with the Foreign Minister about the dislocated people from the DPRK, and encouraged the concerned parties to do their utmost to find a mutually agreeable solution,” the U.N. l

The United States said Thursday it is “cautiously optimistic” that food aid will be delivered to North Korea as technical matters still had to be ironed out.State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said U.S. envoy Robert King had a “pretty good round” of talks with North Korean officials in Beijing. “He made clear that he needs to come home (to Washington) and report and there are a number of technical things that have to go forward,” Nuland told reporters.“We are cautiously optimistic that

Nuclear envoys of the rival Koreas both addressed a closed-door conference on security in Northeast Asia on Thursday but there was no word on whether they spoke to each other.The two-day, academic forum in New York is an opportunity to break the ice between communist North Korea and U.S.-allied Sout

Number of defectors here drops in JanuarySouth Korea’s Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik on Thursday urged China to show an “improved position” on the issue of North Korean defectors.He also stressed close bilateral consultation to diplomatically resolve the issue of the defectors who could face harsh punishment such as torture and execution should they be sent back to their impoverished, repressive state.“(I) hope this issue would not undermine the enhancement of the South Korea-China relations,”

A opposition lawmaker revealed Thursday that a group of 50 North Korean orphans defected from their impoverished homeland late last month, while it is not known whether they have been caught by Chinese authorities.Rep. Park Sun-young of the conservative minor Liberty Forward Party said 50 children fled from an orphanage in the northern Yanggang Province in late February, adding she has been holding the information acquired from sources in China due to their safety.“Fortunately, I haven’t heard t

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Yonhap News) ― The United States government confirmed Wednesday that it “talked about” the plight of North Korean defectors with China, which has emerged as a source of diplomatic tensions between Seoul and Beijing. “We do, as part of our regular dialogue with Beijing, talk about refugee difficulties,” State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said at a press briefing.The issue of North Koreans fleeing their hunger-stricken communist nation and holing up in China is not

North Korea’s main nuclear negotiator on Wednesday held talks with U.S. academics in New York as part of a private visit amid new hopes of disarmament progress after the isolated state agreed to freeze its weapons program.Ri Yong-ho, a vice foreign minister and chief envoy to international nuclear talks, held talks with the academics at a New York hotel.The talks were part of a forum organized by Syracuse University which South Korea’s nuclear envoy Lim Sung-Nam was also to attend. No details on

BEIJING (AP) ― U.S. envoys said there was progress in talks Wednesday on arrangements for the first U.S. government food aid shipment to impoverished North Korea in three years, part of an agreement aimed at ending Pyongyang’s nuclear programs.Special envoy Robert King said negotiations with their North Korean counterparts in Beijing went on until Wednesday evening and that officials would meet again Thursday.``We’ve discussed a number of the issues and we’re making progress,” he said, declining

WASHINGTON D.C. (AFP) ― North Korea has made progress in recent months on a home-built reactor that experts fear could be used to bolster the communist state’s nuclear weapons program, satellite images showed.The images, released this week by a private Washington-based think-tank, were taken on Feb. 3, nearly a month before February’s surprise nuclear deal between North Korea and the United States.The images of the Yongbyon nuclear site showed that the new light-water reactor’s outside building

The South Korean government is seeking measures to prevent North Korea from trying to interfere in the South’s upcoming general and presidential elections, government sources said.In recent weeks, Pyongyang has been increasing anti-Seoul rhetoric through diverse media outlets, attacking President Lee Myung-bak’s administration and the ruling conservative party.The moves seem to be intended to foster ideological division between conservatives and progressives here and influence the vote in the ge

North Korea has increased its number of long-range anti-aircraft missiles aimed at targeting high-altitude threats over the capital Pyongyang over the past decade, a South Korean military source said Wednesday. The number of SA-5 surface-to-air missiles with a range of 260-300 kilometers deployed near Pyongyang has risen from two in 2000 to 40 in 2010, the source said on condition of anonymity. The Soviet-designed SA-5 missiles are believed to be the North’s most capable air defense against enem

NEW YORK (Yonhap News) ― North Korea’s chief nuclear envoy arrived in the United States Tuesday, expressing optimism for the long-stalled six-party talks on the communist regime’s nuclear program.“The six-party talks will fare well,” the North’s vice foreign minister, Ri Yong-ho, told reporters at New York’s JFK airport.Ri plans to attend a three-day academic forum here to start on Wednesday.He said there is no plan to meet separately with his South Korean counterpart, Lim Sung-nam, who is also