North Korean leader Kim Jong-un urged support for women in a message to the country's major organization consisting of housewives, state media said Tuesday. The Socialist Women's Union of Korea (SWUK) held its seventh congress meeting from Sunday to Monday and read out Kim's letter praising the union as the "great pride" of the ruling Workers' Party, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. Kim called on the party to show support and love for women, saying that respecting

Unification Minister Lee In-young on Tuesday called for "active" and "agile" cooperation between South Korea and the United States to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table as he met with the new US special envoy for Pyongyang. Ambassador Sung Kim, the US special representative, responded that the two countries "are very closely aligned on all important aspects" of their North Korea policy and expressed support for "meaningful inter-Korean dialogue, c

The US is willing to meet North Korea for dialogue “anywhere, anytime, without preconditions,” President Joe Biden’s point man on North Korea said, expressing hope for a positive response from the reclusive regime. 　 Sung Kim, US special representative for North Korea, made the remarks in Seoul during trilateral talks with his counterparts from South Korea and Japan, Noh Kyu-duk and Takehiro Funakoshi, saying the Biden administration’s policy called for a “calibra

South Korea hopes that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's recent mention of dialogue will lead to resumption of talks between the two Koreas, as well as between the United States and the North, the unification ministry said Monday. During a key Workers' Party meeting last week, Kim said the country should be ready for both dialogue and, more importantly, confrontation with Washington and called for efforts to stably control the political situation. "The government takes note of Chairman Ki

China's top envoy to North Korea stressed the importance of cooperation between the two allies on regional peace, stability and prosperity on the occasion of the second anniversary of President Xi Jinping's visit to Pyongyang, the North's state media showed Monday. In an op-ed piece to the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North's ruling Workers' Party, Chinese Ambassador Li Jinjun also said that China and North Korea should expand their communication as their relations are faced wit

South Korea's top Olympic official is holding on to hope that North Korea will change its mind and participate in the Tokyo Summer Games after all -- however slim those chances may be. Lee Kee-heung, head of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said in a recent interview that North Korea's status for Tokyo 2020 will remain up in the air until July 5. That's the deadline for countries to submit their Olympic entries. "My

North Korea has replaced the president of Kim Il-sung University, who doubles as minister of higher education, a state broadcaster reported Sunday. An official named Kim Sung-chan was appointed to the post last week during a plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party, according to Korean Central Television. The move represents the dismissal and appointment of senior officials of the state organ, it added. Just five months earlier, North Korea picked Ri Guk-chol as the pres

As South Korean archbishop Lazzaro You Heung-sik has been named the new prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy of the Holy See, his possible role in arranging Pope Francis' visit to North Korea is drawing attention from the Catholic community at home and abroad. On June 11, the Vatican announced the nomination of You as prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, who is responsible for overseeing matters regarding priests and deacons. The 69-year-old Catholic priest became the first South

An opposition lawmaker claimed on Friday that a hacking unit of the North Korean intelligence agency attacked the internal network of a South Korean state-funded atomic energy think tank which holds critical information on nuclear power plants and nuclear materials. Rep. Ha Tae-keung of the People Power Party, who sits on the parliamentary intelligence committee, held a press conference Friday morning and disclosed information about the alleged cyberattacks on the Korea Atomic Energy Research I

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said the country should be ready for both dialogue and, more importantly, confrontation with the United States, while calling for efforts to stably control the situation on the Korean Peninsula, state media reported Friday. During a key Workers' Party meeting, Kim "made detailed analysis of the policy tendency of the newly emerged US administration toward our Republic and clarified appropriate strategic and tactical counteraction and the direction of activit

North Korea held a key Workers' Party meeting for the second day with a focus on economic issues, according to state media Thursday, amid speculation that foreign policy could also have been discussed. Photos released by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) showed leader Kim Jong-un presiding over a panel discussion during the second-day plenary meeting of the party's Central Committee on Wednesday. Foreign Minister Ri Son-gwon was seen taking down notes in one of the photos. Ri's at

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un convened an important ruling party meeting on Tuesday to discuss ways to tackle the country’s food shortage and deal with the “current international situation,” state media said Wednesday. 　 The multiday plenary meeting of the Workers’ Party’s central committee opened Tuesday, the Korea Central News Agency said, with a mandate to review major state policies and measures to solve pending issues urgent for the economy and people&rsquo

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un opened a key Workers' Party meeting to discuss ways to deal with the "current international situation," food shortages, anti-pandemic efforts and other economic issues, state media said Wednesday. The multiday plenary meeting of the party's Central Committee was convened for "taking measures to solve the pending issues urgent for improving the economic work and the people's living and for the discussion of and decision on issues for powerfully and

Unification Minister Lee In-young’s planned trip to the US has been put off, his office said Tuesday, as Pyongyang remains largely unresponsive to overtures from Seoul and Washington. 　 Lee had sought to visit Washington this month to meet with officials, think tank leaders and experts to discuss a coordinated approach toward North Korea in hopes of a breakthrough in stalled inter-Korean ties. The US recently completed a policy review on the recalcitrant regime and is now pursuing an app

The unification ministry urged North Korea on Tuesday to restore inter-Korean communication lines immediately as this week marks one year since the cross-border communication lines were suspended. On June 16 last year, the North vowed to cut off all communication lines with the South and even blew up an inter-Korean liaison office in its border city of Kaesong in anger over anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets coming in from the South. "The inter-Korean communication channel must be immedia