South Korean and US intelligence have spotted North Korea moving an intercontinental ballistic missile, along with four mobile launchers, at an auto plant on the outskirts of Pyongyang, a Seoul official told a local media outlet on Saturday. “The missile is larger than the one they fired in 2017 and we believe they will showcase that at a military parade on Oct. 10,” the official said. North Korea fired its first ICBM, Hwasong-15, in 2017 and appears set to stage a show of force on

As the US presidential election approaches, North Korean watchers are looking out for an “October surprise,” a dramatic turn of events in Washington‘s relations with Pyongyang that will grab global headlines and swing the presidential race in favor of the incumbent President Donald Trump. 　 Some have suggested Trump could opt for another summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in a bid to salvage stalled nuclear talks with the North, which could give him a much-needed fore

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a message to US President Donald Trump on Saturday, wishing him and first lady Melania Trump a quick recovery from COVID-19, state media reported. The message came a day after Trump tweeted that he and his wife tested positive for the virus. In the message, Kim said he "heard the sudden news" that Trump and his wife tested positive for the virus, the official Korean Central News Agency said. "He offered his sympathy to the president and the

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited a flood-hit border village to check recovery efforts, state media said Friday, along with his sister, Kim Yo-jong, who made her first public appearance in two months. Kim inspected the reconstruction site in the central border county of Kimhwa and learned in detail about damage to dwellings, farms, transportation, the power grid and telecommunications, and heard about progress in the recovery efforts, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

US President Donald Trump has instructed his government to withhold any nonhumanitarian assistance to North Korea and eight other countries until the countries meet minimum standards on human trafficking, the White House said Thursday. In a memorandum to his top diplomat Mike Pompeo, Trump said he has determined the US "will not provide nonhumanitarian, nontrade-related assistance" to the countries "until such governments comply with the Act's minimum standards or make significan

Bilateral trade between North Korea and China nosedived nearly 70 percent in the first eight months of this year from a year ago, possibly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, government data showed Friday. The volume of trade between the two allies came to $510 million during the January-August period, sharply down from $1.71 billion recorded in the same period in 2019, according to the data from the Ministry of Unification. North Korea exported $41.9 million worth of goods to China while importing

North Korea's imports of refined petroleum from China in August plummeted to about one-tenth of the amount in July, a United Nations report showed Thursday. According to the latest updates on the UN Security Council webpage on its sanctions committee on North Korea, the communist country imported about 142 tons of refined petroleum from China in August. The volume marks only 10 percent of the 1,498 tons the country imported from the neighboring country in July, the report showed. The August v

Govt. says no shooting-related remarks in initial intelligence South Korea's defense ministry said Wednesday there were no such words as "shoot to kill or fire" in the military's initial intelligence on North Korea's killing of a South Korean fisheries official in the West Sea.  The ministry also expressed regret over some reports that said the South's military took no action despite hearing the North's order to kill the official.  "What happened during the incident in

North Korea reaffirmed its resolve to maintain its military capabilities Tuesday, insisting peace can only be safeguarded when one possesses "absolute strength" to prevent war. "It is an undeniable reality of today that cutting edge military hardware, including stealth fighters, continue to be introduced into the Korean Peninsula and nuclear strike means of all kinds of directly aimed at the DPRK," Kim Song, the head of North Korea's mission to the United Nations, said in a

North Korea continued illicit maritime exports of coal and imports of petroleum products despite having stopped most trade due to the spread of COVID-19, according to international experts affiliated with the United Nations Security Council. North Korea only temporarily suspended coal exports between late January and early March, the panel of experts on the UNSC’s North Korea sanctions committee said in a midterm report published Sept. 28. “Satellite imagery provided by a member

US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun on Monday (US time) said “creative ideas” were discussed regarding ways to resume stalled nuclear diplomacy with North Korea during his talks with South Korea’s top nuclear envoy, and called for the communist regime’s engagement. 　 “I very much appreciate the encouragement and creative ideas that we discussed today,” Biegun told reporters after his meeting with Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsu

The Korea Coast Guard said Friday the South Korean fisheries official shot to death by the North Korean military at sea last week was trying to defect to the North. The Coast Guard reached the conclusion based on the intelligence retrieved from the military, the analysis of the tidal current on the day of the incident and other circumstantial evidence. "The official was wearing a life jacket and hanging onto a floating object when he was spotted by the North," said Yoon Seong-hyun,

The defense ministry has confirmed with the help of its special intelligence that North Korea ordered the burning of the body of a South Korean fisheries official after he was shot dead by its soldiers last week, the main opposition floor leader said Tuesday. "The Ministry of National Defense has verified through special intelligence that (North Korea) told (its officials) to apply fuel oil and burn (the body)," People Power Party (PPP) floor leader Joo Ho-young said in an interview w

A North Korean defector who collected information for North Korean authorities after being blackmailed has been given a suspended sentence. The defector, identified by the surname Han, was sentenced to an eight-month prison term suspended for two years for violating the National Security Act. The Seoul Central District Court ruled that Han’s actions represented a clear danger of damaging South Korea’s democratic order and national security, as the information Han provided is lik

President Moon Jae-in expressed his condolences Monday and offered a public apology over the death of a South Korean civil servant in a shooting by North Korean troops, calling it a "regrettable and unfortunate" incident. "Regardless of how the victim went to the North Korean waters, I offer words of deep condolences and consolation to the bereaved family members over their grief," he said. The tragedy should have not occurred despite the peninsula being divided, he added.