Pyongyang still remains unresponsive to Seoul’s hotline calls

North Korea dismissed the US as the “most heinous human rights abuser” for using its human rights agenda to put pressure on other countries and interfere in their internal affairs, its state media said Monday. 　 The Korea Central News Agency published an article written by Kim Jin-hui, a researcher with the Institute of International Studies of the DPRK, accusing the US of interfering in the sovereignty of countries such as Cuba, Venezuela and Syria, crippling their economic develo

North Korea remained unresponsive to South Korea's calls via liaison and military hotlines Monday despite cautious optimism created after the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said the two Koreas could discuss improvements in long-strained relations. "North Korea did not answer our opening call through the South-North joint liaison office at 9 a.m.," a unification ministry official said. A military official also said a call via the military hotline went unanswered. Kim Yo-jong,

North Korea's recent missile launches show the "seriousness of threat" posed to the United States and South Korea, a Pentagon official said Monday, amid a conciliatory gesture from Pyongyang after a series of weapons tests. Siddharth Mohandas, US deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, made the remark at the start of the biannual 20th Korea-US Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) in Seoul to discuss regional security situations and pending alliance issues. "North Korea'

North Korea is set to convene a session of its rubber-stamp legislature this week, drawing attention to whether any message to South Korea would come out of the meeting after the sister of leader Kim Jong-un expressed a willingness to improve inter-Korean relations. State media earlier reported a session of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) will be held Tuesday to discuss adopting laws on youth education and modifications to the national economic plan, as well as adopting the law on developing

North Korea’s offer to reopen inter-Korean dialogue could be a test to see South Korea’s response and make it accountable for whatever actions Seoul takes in its dealings with Pyongyang later, experts said Sunday amid growing speculation for a thaw in ties. On Saturday, Kim Yo-jong, who handles propaganda affairs as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s sister, said the regime would be open to talks on conditions, in response to President Moon Jae-in’s call at the UN la

The unification ministry on Sunday described the weekend remarks by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister about the possibility of holding "constructive" discussions on inter-Korean issues as "meaningful." On Saturday, Kim Yo-jong said the North could declare a formal end to the Korean War as suggested by the South and even discuss holding an inter-Korean summit if the South treats the North with "impartiality" and mutual respect. The statement, carried by the Ko

North Korean Embassies and diplomatic personnel are engaging in illicit financing activities to fund the country's nuclear and other destructive weapons activities, a British government report has said. The British finance ministry's National Risk Assessment of Proliferation Financing (PF) report said its hosting of the North Korean Embassy in London "may pose an inherent" risk, as not all banks in the country may be attuned to UN Security Council (UNSC) sanctions that restrict such

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said his country's strong relations with China will further grow against "vicious challenges and obstruction by the hostile forces" in a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping, Pyongyang's state media reported Saturday. Kim made the remark in a reply to Xi's earlier letter that offered congratulations on the North's 73rd founding anniversary, where the Chinese leader said he intends to "develop these ties of friendship and cooperation on a lon

Days after outgoing South Korean President Moon Jae-in made possibly his last ambitious push to diplomatically resolve the standoff over North Korea's nuclear program, the North on Friday rejected his call for a declaration ending the Korean War, making it clear it has no interest in political statements unless they bring badly needed relief from crippling economic sanctions. Nuclear diplomacy between the US and North Korea has stalled over disagreements over a relaxation of the US-led sanction

South Korea on Friday decided to provide up to 10 billion won ($8.51 million) to civilian organizations that are carrying out aid projects for North Korea, as the government seeks to engage the North through humanitarian assistance.  Under the decision approved during a civilian-government committee on inter-Korean exchanges, the Unification Ministry set aside up to 10 billion won to support civilian group-led projects that tackle nutrition and health conditions for vulnerable groups in No

President says North Korea still maintains its self-moratorium on nuclear testing and ICBM launch, leaving door open for dialogue

The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said Friday that President Moon Jae-in's proposal to declare a formal end to the Korean War is an "admirable idea" and Pyongyang is willing to discuss improving inter-Korean relations if Seoul ceases to be hostile toward it. Kim Yo-jong stressed, however, that the right conditions should be created first before an end-of-war declaration is adopted, such as the removal of what she called "inveterate hostile policy and unequal double st

North Korea on Friday accused Japan's outgoing Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of pursuing a "hostile policy" toward the North, warning the country's next leader against following in his footsteps. In a post written by an individual researcher on Japan on its website, the North's foreign ministry said that Suga, along with his predecessor Shinzo Abe, should be entirely blamed for causing the relations between Pyongyang and Tokyo to fall to the "worst status ever." "Suga

North Korea on Friday rejected President Moon Jae-in's proposal to declare a formal end to the 1950-53 war as "something premature," arguing that such a declaration would be meaningless as long as the US "hostile policy" remains unchanged. Vice Foreign Minister Ri Thae-song made the rejection in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency, saying that an end-of-war declaration has "no legal binding force" and will "become a mere scrap of paper in a m