North Korea said Friday it test-fired a new type of anti-aircraft missile a day earlier capable of downing air targets at longer distances with enhanced accuracy. The North's Academy of Defence Science carried out the test aimed at "confirming the practicality of operation of the launcher, radar and comprehensive battle command vehicle as well as the comprehensive combat performance of the missile," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The academy verified the "r

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un pledged support for China's fight against "hostile forces' frantic anti-China confrontational moves" in a message he sent to Chinese President Xi Jinping to celebrate the 72nd founding anniversary of the ally, Pyongyang's state media reported Friday. "The message expressed belief that the Chinese nation's dream of rejuvenation will surely come true as there are the socialist idea with the Chinese characteristics for the new times," the Korean C

Kim Jong-un expresses willingness to restore inter-Korean hotlines next month

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said cross-border communication lines with South Korea will be restored in early October as part of efforts to improve chilled relations but warned that it is entirely up to Seoul to determine the future trajectory of their ties, state media reported Thursday. In a speech at the second-day session of the Supreme People's Assembly on Wednesday, Kim also said the US' hostile policy toward Pyongyang has not changed at all since the Joe Biden administration took offi

North Korea's latest missile launches will not affect the US' determination to seek diplomacy with the North for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the US nuclear envoy for Pyongyang said Wednesday.  Sung Kim, US special representative for North Korea, made the remark at a press event in Jakarta, a day after the North test-fired a hypersonic missile into the East Sea. The firing came after the regime's test-firings of two short-range missiles on Sept. 15 and a new type of cruis

South Korean military says missile in early stages of development

Cheong Wa Dae on Wednesday continued to exercise caution regarding North Korea’s latest missile test, while the US and Japan have condemned Pyongyang for firing what appears to be a ballistic missile, a violation of UN resolutions. “We cannot predict anything for now,” Park Soo-hyun, President Moo Jae-in’s senior secretary for public communication, told a radio interview with KBS. “Every single action North Korea takes is open to interpretation as it always cont

Declaring an end to the Korean War could be a "very useful" and "meaningful" step that builds mutual trust between the two Koreas, and would pave the way for peace and cooperation on the Korean Peninsula, Unification Minister Lee In-young said Wednesday. During a press meeting held just before embarking on an overseas trip to Germany, Belgium and Sweden, Lee urged North Korea to come out for dialogue to discuss denuclearization, inter-Korean relations and other cross-border i

North Korea said Wednesday it conducted the first test-launch of a newly developed hypersonic missile a day earlier that has "strategic significance" in bolstering its self-defense capabilities. The North's Academy of Defence Science test-fired the Hwasong-8 missile from Toyang-ri, Ryongrim County of Jagang Province, and "ascertained the stability of the engine as well as of missile fuel ampoule that has been introduced for the first time," the official Korean Central News Ag

North Korea opened a session of its rubber-stamp legislature without leader Kim Jong-un in attendance and dealt with economic and other domestic issues without issuing any message to South Korea or the United States, according to state media Wednesday. The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) meeting held Tuesday drew attention as it came just days after the sister of leader Kim Jong-un issued a conciliatory message to South Korea, including the prospect of an inter-Korean summit, if Seoul drops its

North Korea fired a short-range missile into the East Sea on Tuesday, the South’s military said, just as Pyongyang’s UN envoy defended the country’s right to test weapons and called on the US to drop its “hostile policy” toward the reclusive regime. 　   　 South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North fired one “unidentified projectile” at around 6:40 a.m. into the sea off its east coast from the country’s northern Jagang Province n

South Korea appears to be leaving room for diplomacy but experts are mixed on the effectiveness

North Korea appears to have convened a session of its rubber-stamp legislature Tuesday after firing a short-range missile earlier in the day, drawing attention to whether any message to South Korea would come out of the meeting. The meeting also comes just days after Kim Yo-jong, the sister of leader Kim Jong-un, expressed a willingness to improve inter-Korean relations and even discuss the possibility of a summit with South Korea on the condition that Seoul drops hostility. State media earlie

North Korea fired what appeared to be a short-range missile into the East Sea on Tuesday, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The launch took place just minutes before North Korea’s ambassador to the UN urged the US to drop its “hostile policy” at the UN. The JCS offered no details, saying South Korean and US intelligence are looking into the launch, while Japan’s Defense Ministry said the projectile appeared to be a ballistic missile, without

WASHINGTON -- The United States must permanently stop its joint military exercises with South Korea and the deployment of its strategic weapons to the South if it wishes to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula, North Korea's UN ambassador said Monday. Kim Song, the chief of North Korea's mission to the United Nations, also said a good relationship may be formed between the North and the US if and when Washington gives up its hostility toward his country. "If the US wants to see the Korea