North Korea invited representatives of an association of South Korean charity groups to Pyongyang, an association official said Tuesday, the first such invitation since the two Koreas exchanged fire near their tense sea border last year. North Korea sent the invitation to the Korea NGO Council for Cooperation, a collaboration of some 50 non-governmental aid groups, suggesting a meeting in its capital city to discuss aid from Wednesday through Saturday, Park Hyun-seok, secretary general of the as

The World Health Organization has asked its officials not to use North Korean airliners in the latest such move by an international organization prompted by safety concerns, a U.S.-funded radio station reported Tuesday. The WHO Southeast Asia office recently gave Pyongyang’s Air Koryo a “C” rating for safety in May, which means officials are banned from using the airliners unless special approval is given by the body’s travel officer, according to Voice of America. Air Koryo was rated the lowest

GENEVA/WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 (Yonhap) -- North Korea and the United States on Monday opened another round of direct talks in a "businesslike and useful" manner, U.S. officials said, but they remained guarded about whether there will be progress this time."I would say that they have been ongoing in a b

GENEVA (Yonhap News) -- North Korea and the United States on Monday started a second round of bilateral talks in less than three months to see whether the North is indeed prepared to take concrete steps toward denuclearization before the stalled six-nation negotiations can resume. While South Korea and the U.S. consider the discussions “exploratory,” they remained cautious, with the North showing no signs of accepting terms set by Seoul and Washington for a resumption of the six-party talks. Nor

The number of ethnic Koreans in Japan acquiring South Korean citizenship is declining after a surge in the 2000s, a government report said over the weekend. Currently, there are about 700,000 Koreans living in Japan, a legacy of Japan’s colonial occupation of the Korean Peninsula from 1910-45. Of th

BEIJING (AP) -- China's trade with its close ally North Korea nearly doubled in the first seven months of the year compared with the same period in 2010, state media reported Sunday.The 87 percent increase to $3.1 billion was announced at the start of a visit to the North by Chinese Vice Premier Li

GENEVA, Oct. 23 (Yonhap) -- North Korea’s top negotiator has arrived in Geneva for a second round of bilateral meeting with his U.S. counterpart as part of diplomatic efforts to resume long-stalled negotiations on ending Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programs.The talks, scheduled for Monday and Tuesda

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) _ Wealthier countries need to put aside politics to help millions of North Koreans going hungry from food shortages, the U.N.'s top relief official said, renewing an appeal for assistance that has largely gone unmet.Speaking at the end of a five-day visit to North Korea,

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) -- Up to 200,000 political prisoners are languishing in North Korean prison camps, a sharp increase from 10 years ago, a United Nations envoy said Wednesday.Compared to 2001, the latest satellite pictures of the country indicate a “significant increase in the scale of the camps,

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The UN investigator for human rights in North Korea said Wednesday he’s concerned about the growing number of asylum seekers leaving the country, with nearly 870 arriving in Thailand in the first quarter of this year.Marzuki Darusman, the United Nations rights rapporteur for t

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 19, 2011 (AFP) - Up to 200,000 political prisoners are languishing in North Korean prison camps, a sharp increase from 10 years ago, a United Nations envoy said Wednesday.Compared to 2001, the latest satellite pictures of the country indicate a "significant increase in the scale

SEOUL, Oct. 19 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has pressed for the quick resumption of long-stalled talks on ending Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programs without preconditions, Pyongyang's state media said Wednesday.Kim also repeated the North's longstanding stance that the denuclearizati

  (Yonhap News) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has pressed for the quick resumption of long-stalled talks on ending Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programs without preconditions, Pyongyang's state media said Wednesday.   Kim also repeated the North's longstanding stance that the

The six-nation talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs is the “golden key” to opening the door for regional powers to achieve peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia, former Chinese state councilor Tang Jiaxuan said Wednesday. The comments come amid a flurry of renewed diplomatic efforts on h