More than 40 percent of South Koreans think that persuading the United States to ease sanctions against North Korea is a "top priority" to implement inter-Korean agreements aimed at expanding cross-border exchanges and cooperation, a poll showed Friday. According to the poll of 1,000 adults conducted by the presidential National Unification Advisory Council, 43.6 percent said that the persuasion process is necessary more than anything else to implement the 2018 summit agreements "

North Korea said Friday it will cut off diplomatic relations with Malaysia for extraditing one of its nationals to the United States to face money laundering charges and pinned Washington as the "backstage manipulator." Mun Chol-myong, a North Korean businessmen living in Malaysia, was accused of supplying prohibited luxury items from Singapore to Pyongyang and laundering funds through shell companies in violation of UN sanctions. Last week, Malaysia's top court ruled that he can be e

After giving the Biden administration the silent treatment for two months, North Korea this week marshalled two powerful women to warn Washington over combined military exercises with South Korea and the diplomatic consequences of its “hostile” policies toward Pyongyang. The frustration and belligerence, however, may actually be an overture. North Korea’s first comments toward the new US government, while filled with angry rhetoric, can be seen as the start of a diplomatic

North Korea accused the new US administration of adopting "lunatic theory" Thursday, ruling out any engagement with Washington unless it changed course, as President Joe Biden's top envoys held talks in Seoul. The comments from Pyongyang's first vice foreign minister Choe Son Hui came with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin in South Korea on the second leg of an Asian tour to bolster a united front against the nuclear-armed North and an increasingly a

North Korea said Thursday that it will continue to ignore any contact from the United States unless Washington withdraws its hostile policies toward Pyongyang. North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui also confirmed in a statement that the US reached out to Pyongyang even the day before its combined exercises with South Korea from a "third country." The statement came as the top US diplomat and the defense chief are in Seoul for talks with their South Korean counterparts

WASHINGTON -- The United States will discuss ways to mitigate possible military threats from North Korea when its top foreign and national security officials meet their Chinese counterparts this week, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Wednesday. She stressed the importance of all countries working together when it came to reducing threats from the North. "I will say that part of our strategy, as it relates to the denuclearization of North Korea, is of course to lead with diplomacy an

A North Korean media outlet on Wednesday unveiled a propaganda poster depicting a club hammer smashing the alliance between South Korea and the United States, as the top US diplomat and the defense chief visited here for discussions on the North and other alliance issues. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin were set to hold one-on-one meetings later in the day with their South Korean counterparts. North Korea is expected to top the agenda during their meet

A pro-North Korea newspaper on Wednesday stressed the importance of the Cabinet's role as a control tower for economic policy as Pyongyang is pushing to implement various development goals put forth during January's party congress. At the eighth congress of the ruling Workers' Party in January, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un admitted to a failure in its previous five-year economic plans and disclosed a new development scheme focusing on "self-reliance." "The power of socialist

North Korea has achieved alarming success in its pursuit of nuclear and long-range missile capabilities and continues to expand its arsenal, which includes three ballistic missiles that can reach the US homeland, a US commander said Tuesday. Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander of US Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, also noted the North may resume its long-range missile testing to check the capability of a newly unveiled intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). "T

Serious discussions on the nuclearization of South Korea and Japan may put pressure on China to finally step in and help denuclearize North Korea, a Republican member of the US House of Representatives said Tuesday. Rep. Steve Chabot from Ohio argued the only way to denuclearize the North is to have China put more pressure on Pyongyang. "The thing that scares the PRC, that keeps them awake at night, is a nuclear Japan or a nuclear South Korea," said the ranking member of the House Su

Kim Yo-jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s powerful younger sister, slammed South Korea and the US for conducting joint military exercises and threatened to scrap an inter-Korean military pact Tuesday, a day before high-level US officials are to arrive in Seoul. 　 Kim, who has taken center stage in attacking Seoul and Washington in the past, also sent a direct message to the US for the first time since President Joe Biden took office in January. She warned the US against “causi

The defense ministry urged North Korea on Tuesday to have a "flexible" stance and implement an inter-Korean military agreement after Pyongyang threatened to scrap the pact in anger over Seoul's combined exercise with the United States. Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, made the threat, accusing the South of hostility for pushing ahead with springtime military exercises with the United States that kicked off on March 8 and continue through Thursday. "As

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un threatened Tuesday to scrap a military peace agreement with South Korea and break up a Workers' Party organ tasked with inter-Korean dialogue as she lambasted the South for conducting military exercises with the United States. Kim Yo-jong also warned the new US administration of President Joe Biden not to engage in such hostile acts, saying it better not do things that would "keep it from getting a good night's sleep" if it wants

The United States consulted with South Korea in advance before attempting to reach out to North Korea recently, the unification ministry said Monday. Citing a senior official in the Biden administration, Reuters earlier reported that the new US administration has made several behind-the-scenes attempts to reach out to the North, although unsuccessfully so far. "South Korea and the United States have maintained close consultations and cooperation throughout the overall process of the US po

South Korea on Monday expressed hope for North Korea to take part in an inter-Korean World Cup qualifier scheduled for June as it is preparing to host the soccer match amid the global coronavirus pandemic. The second round of the 2022 Qatar World Cup qualifying tournament began in September 2019 and was supposed to resume in March 2020, but the schedule has been postponed multiple times due to the coronavirus pandemic. The two Koreas belong to the same Group H, and they played to a scoreless d