North Korea on Friday accused South Korea of intentionally avoiding inter-Korean dialogue, also claiming Seoul was blocking its allies from talking or providing assistance to the impoverished North.An unidentified spokesman for Disarmament and Peace Institute, which operates under the North Korean Foreign Ministry, claimed this was because the South was still seeking to unify the two Koreas by "ab

Despite its reputation as one of the most closed nations in the world, North Korea is, at least partly, opening up to market economy conventions, evident in its effort to cultivate its specially designated economic zone.North Korea designated Raseon the country’s first free trade zone, as a “special city” in January 2010. The city, which borders both China and Russia, was dubbed a free trade zone

North Korea’s cyber warfare unit was back in the spotlight on Tuesday after South Korean prosecutors blamed the North for launching an online attack that crippled computer operations at one of Seoul’s biggest banks last month. Prosecutors pinpointed the North’s top intelligence agency, the Reconnaissance General Bureau, as the perpetrator of the attack that paralyzed the computer system of the Nat

Despite prosecutors’ announcement pinpointing North Korea as the culprit for the April 12 cyber attack, security experts say that it is difficult to identify its instigator given the complicated nature of the hacking process.On Tuesday, investigators at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said the Reconnaissance General Bureau, the North’s premier intelligence body, orchestrated the “un

N. Korea rated worst in press freedomNorth Korea was rated the worst country in terms of press freedom, according to a report by Freedom House, a U.S.-based non-governmental human rights body, on Monday.Among the 196 countries studied last year, North Korea’s ranking was the lowest. South Korea’s was 70th, a slight fall from last year’s 67th, according to the report.The organization also lowered i

 North Korea proposed joint inter-Korean cooperation in dealing with the naming dispute over the East Sea in which a South Korean organization responded positively, an official said Friday.   The North sent a notification on Wednesday that historians of the two Koreas join hands in coping with the naming dispute of the East Sea, a government official said.   Upon the request, the South's Northeast

China’s chief nuclear envoy said Friday he plans to visit North Korea to coordinate efforts to revive six-party talks on the North, wrapping up a South Korean visit that coincided with a trip to Pyongyang by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.Speaking to Yonhap News Agency before departing for China, Wu Dawei, however, said he did not yet have a specific timetable for his visit to North Korea, the

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― North Korea has made progress in building a light water reactor in its nuclear complex, a U.S. think tank said Wednesday, amid concerns that that might serve as another way of making nuclear weapons for the reclusive communist state.Citing commercial satellite imagery taken March 8, the Institute for Science and International Security said on its website that North Korea

WASHINGTON, (Yonhap)- Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter Sunday embarked on a tour of China and the two Koreas in a "new initiative" to help reduce tensions in the Korean Peninsula amid stalled international dialogue for North Korea's nuclear dismantlement.    "At a time when official dialogue with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea appears to be at a standstill, we aim to see how we may be

A long convoy of lorries believed to be carrying gifts for North Korea’s elite was seen entering the communist state on the eve of a major holiday, according to a South Korean Internet newspaper.The Daily NK, staffed by anti-Pyongyang activists, said Tuesday it had received video footage of more than 200 trucks crossing the Yalu River nose-to-tail from China on April 14.The North celebrates the an

North Korea detained three Japanese men on apparent drug smuggling charges in its special economic zone last month, but it later released one man, a news report said Wednesday.The three Japanese employees of a machine maintenance firm in Tokyo visited the city of Rason, near North Korea’s border with Russia, in March to check machines at a food manufacturing factory, Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspape

SEOUL, (AFP) - A long convoy of lorries believed to be carrying gifts for North Korea's elite was seen entering the communist state on the eve of a major holiday, according to a South Korean Internet newspaper.The Daily NK, staffed by anti-Pyongyang activists, said Tuesday it had received video footage of more than 200 trucks crossing the Yalu River nose-to-tail from China on April 14.The North ce