North Korea has conducted coronavirus tests on around 26,000 people so far but found no infections, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday. According to the WHO's weekly report on COVID-19, 751 North Koreans underwent virus tests from April 23-29, bringing the total number of tested citizens to 25,986 so far, but none were found to have been infected. Of the 751 newly tested citizens, 139 people showed flu-like symptoms but all of them turned out to be those of acute respiratory illn

WASHINGTON -- North Korea is said to have acknowledged a recent US offer to explain the outcome of its policy review on Pyongyang after earlier overtures from the administration of Joe Biden went unanswered. In response to the US offer last week, the North has reportedly said the proposal has been "well received," a different reaction from when the first dialogue offer was made. Last month, the US said it had sought to engage with the North in mid-February, but the regime remained &qu

A vocal North Korean defector and activist known for flying anti-Pyongyang leaflets into the North by balloon was questioned by police on Monday over his recent claim to have sent leaflets, in the first violation of South Korea's anti-leaflet law that took effect in March. Park Sang-hak, the head of Fighters for a Free North Korea, a North Korean defectors' group, arrived at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency around 2 p.m. to be grilled as a suspect about his April 30 claim that his organizat

North Korea has tightened antivirus efforts in an eastern inter-Korean border region, the country's main newspaper said Friday, a day after the paper issued a warning about coronavirus infections through anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent from South Korea. The Rodong Sinmun said the North is stepping up efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the border county of Kosong in Kangwon Province, especially in the sea and forest areas. "We are putting all-out efforts to educate the public to str

Unification Minister Lee In-young said Friday that North Korea is not likely to carry out major provocations ahead of summit talks between the United States and South Korea slated for later this month. "We cannot rule out all possibilities of North Korea raising tensions but many experts say that the chances of the North heightening military tensions ahead of the South Korea-US summit remain relatively low," Lee told a local radio show. "I think it is because North Korea must al

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held a photo session with families of the army, a day after attending their art performance, state media reported Friday. Earlier on Wednesday, Kim and his wife, Ri Sol-ju, attended the performance of the art groups of servicemen's families from large combined units of the Korean People's Army (KPA), according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Kim highly appreciated the performers' devoted efforts for being "reliable assistants to their husbands&quo

　The number of North Korean defectors coming into South Korea dropped 77 percent to 31 in the first quarter this year as the North’s anti-coronavirus border closures remained in place, a Unification Ministry official said. 　During the same period last year, 135 North Korean defectors entered the South. 　The ministry official cited the North’s border closure as one of the reasons for the sharp decline. (Yonhap)

North Korea will receive COVID-19 vaccines as early as July with a shipment delay over global supply shortages, the Gavi alliance, which co-leads the COVAX vaccine sharing program with the World Health Organization, said Wednesday. “Depending on the supply situation, a COVID-19 vaccine introduction could be envisaged in the second half of 2021,” a Gavi spokesperson told Radio Free Asia, refraining from fixing concrete dates. The North was expected to receive nearly 2 million doses o

Police on Thursday raided the office of a vocal North Korean defector who claimed to have sent anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets into the North in defiance of a ban.    Police launched an investigation after Park Sang-hak, head of Fighters for a Free North Korea, a North Korean defectors group, claimed Friday that his organization sent 10 balloons carrying around 500,000 leaflets between April 25-29.    The raid on his office took place until afternoon with investigators

North Korea's official newspaper on Thursday urged people to stay alert against coronavirus infections through "strange objects" floating in the air, days after the regime issued a harshly worded statement against propaganda leaflets sent from South Korea. Last week, an activist group consisting of North Korean defectors in South Korea said that it released around 500,000 leaflets into the North via large balloons despite a recently enacted ban on such cross-border leafleting. The s

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife, Ri Sol-ju, attended an art performance by the families of the army, state media reported Thursday. The performance of the art groups of servicemen's families from large combined units of the Korean People's Army (KPA) took place Wednesday at the Mansudae Art Theatre in Pyongyang, the official Korean Central News Agency said. Kim lauded the KPA after watching the show, saying it "always sets an example in implementing the party's policy on mass

WASHINGTON -- North Korea continues to build up its chemical and biological weapons, in addition to its other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) such as nuclear weapons that pose a serious threat to US forces and South Korean allies, a ranking US official said Tuesday. Jennifer Walsh, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and global security, also said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may actually use such weapons in case of a conflict on the Korean Peninsula. &quo

Memoirs of North’s founder, Kim Il-sung, reignite controversy over South’s out-of-date National Security Act

South Korea will wait for North Korea's final decision on whether to play a World Cup qualifier set to take place in the South next month, an official said Tuesday, after Asia's soccer governing body asked Pyongyang to reconsider its decision not to play the game. Earlier, the South's Korea Football Association (KFA) said its North Korean counterpart, known as the DPR Korea Football Association, sent an official document to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) last Friday to declare its inten

North Korean propaganda outlets on Tuesday denounced a South Korean court's decision to dismiss a lawsuit by wartime sexual slavery victims against the Japanese government as "a disregard for conscience and justice" and an act of subservience to Japan. Last month, the Seoul Central District Court dismissed the case brought by 20 plaintiffs, including surviving victims forced to work in front-line brothels for Japanese soldiers during World War II, citing sovereign immunity, a legal do