North Korean leader Kim Jong-un stressed that "kindred ties" with China will carry on generation after generation as he visited a monument symbolizing friendly relations between the two countries, state media said Thursday. On Wednesday, Kim visited the Friendship Tower in Pyongyang, which was erected to commemorate China's participation in the 1950-53 Korean War, and sent a wreath to mark the 68th anniversary of the armistice that ended the war, the Korean Central News Agency said.

Cheong Wa Dae hints at building video conference system for talks with North Korea

South and North Korea held their daily liaison phone call on Wednesday, the unification ministry said, a day after Pyongyang restored inter-Korean communication lines after a 13-month suspension. Four hotlines were restored Tuesday after the North cut them off in June last year in protest of anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets coming in from the South. At the time, the North also blew up a joint liaison office in anger as well. On Wednesday, the two sides held phone calls via liaison and milita

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said the country's armed forces are fully ready to deal with any outside threats as he addressed a conference of war veterans but unlike last year, made no mention of "nuclear deterrence," according to state media Wednesday. The annual conference, held Tuesday to mark the anniversary of the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War, coincided with the surprise announcement that the North restored cross-border hotlines with South Korea that it had cut

Following Cheong Wa Dae’s surprise announcement on the hotline restoration between South and North Korea earlier in the day, questions poured in on its official KakaoTalk chat room for registered reporters only. Due to the heightened social distancing rules, its Chunchugwan press center is currently shut down, with all official communications being done online. After answering to the first batch of questions in the morning, the presidential office received another batch of questions late

South and North Korea restored their severed hotlines on Tuesday after a 13-months hiatus, raising hope that resumed cross-border communications could give way to a thaw in strained inter-Korean ties.  The announcement coincided with a symbolic day, the 68th anniversary of the signing of the armistice in 1953.  The reestablishment comes more than a year since Pyongyang cut off all communication channels with Seoul in June 2020 as relations remained chilled following the collapse of

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un paid his respects to fallen soldiers from the 1950-53 Korean War as Pyongyang marked the anniversary of the armistice that ended the war, a state broadcaster reported Tuesday.  The Korean War ended in an armistice signed on July 27, 1953, and was never replaced with a formal peace treaty, leaving the two Koreas technically at war. The North officially refers to the war as the Fatherland Liberation War and claims victory.  Kim visited the Fatherland L

Restoration comes after multiple exchanges between Moon and Kim; No discussions on immediate summit talks

North Korea said Tuesday that the restoration of communication lines with South Korea will play a positive role in improving relations between the two sides after the severed lines returned to operation after a 13-month suspension. "Now, the whole Korean nation desires to see the North-South relations recovered from setback and stagnation as early as possible," the official Korean Central News Agency said, confirming that all inter-Korean communication liaison lines were restored as o

The following is a chronology of major events leading to the restoration of communication lines between South and North Korea on Tuesday, 13 months after the North unilaterally severed them in protest of anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent across the border by activists. 2020 June 4 -- North Korea threatens to scrap a military tension reduction deal with South Korea and shut down major exchange projects in anger over Seoul's supposed failure to stop activists from sending anti-Pyongyang propaganda le

Inter-Korean military hotlines are back to normal operation after a 13-month suspension, the defense ministry confirmed Tuesday, saying the two Koreas will resume regular daily calls via the communication lines. Earlier in the day, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae and the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) announced that the two sides agreed to reopen all direct communication lines at 10 a.m. as part of efforts to improve inter-Korean relations. "South and North Korean militar

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited a cemetery to pay respects to the soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War to commemorate the armistice that ended the fighting in the war, a state broadcaster reported Tuesday. The Korean War ended in the armistice signed July 27, 1953, leaving South and North Korea technically in a state of war. The North called the war the Fatherland Liberation War and designated the armistice signing date as Victory Day. Kim visited the Fatherland Liberation War

North Korea is set to hold a national conference of war veterans to mark the 68th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, state media reported on Monday, piquing interest in what messages Kim Jong-un may deliver at the event.  The Korean War ended in an armistice on July 27, 1953, and was never replaced with a formal peace treaty, leaving the two Koreas technically at war. The North officially refers to the war as the Fatherland Liberation War and claims victory. 　 The Korea Central New

A North Korean propaganda outlet slammed Japan on Monday for labeling cheer banners that South Korea's Olympic delegation hung at the athletes' village as anti-Japanese and forcing them to be taken down. Uriminzokkiri, a North Korean propaganda website, said in a commentary that Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's "gang" has accused South Korea of hanging anti-Japanese banners and went so far as to have "far-right gangsters" display the Japanese imperialist flag in front of the

North Korea plans to hold a national conference of war veterans to celebrate the 68th anniversary of the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, state media said Monday, despite the global coronavirus pandemic. "The 7th National Conference of War Veterans is to be held in Pyongyang with splendor on the occasion of the 68th anniversary of the victory in the great Fatherland Liberation War," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The Korean War ended in an armistice signed on July