WASHINGTON -- The US on Thursday expressed its support for South Korea in condemning North Korea for the killing of a South Korean government official and demanding an explanation from the communist state. "We fully support our ROK ally's condemnation of this act and the ROK's call for a full explanation from the DPRK," a spokesperson from the US State Department told Yonhap News Agency, referring to South and North Korea by their official names -- the Republic of Korea and the Democr

Rival political parties on Thursday expressed strong regrets over the North Korean military's fatal shooting of a South Korean official, denouncing it as "unpardonable brutality."  "The North Korean military's action of intentionally shooting an unarmed civilian who was drifting on the sea and then burning the body constitutes an act of brutality that is unpardonable under any circumstance," Rep. Lee Nak-yon, leader of the ruling Democratic Party, was quoted as saying

South Korea demanded Thursday that North Korea explain the killing of a South Korean fisheries official in the North’s waters, strongly condemning the act as “inhumane.”  　 North Korean soldiers shot dead a 47-year-old official affiliated with Seoul’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, who appeared to have been trying to defect to the North via sea, the military confirmed in Seoul. North Korean soldiers then burned his dead body, it added. 　 Pyongyang had neither a

President Moon Jae-in called for help to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War in his UN address, but the US appeared wary, with the State Department highlighting “unified response” to North Korea, and a former US security official describing the overture as “out of sync” with the US stance. “We are committed to close coordination on our unified response to North Korea,” the State Department told Voice of America on Wednesday, without elaborating if Washin

North Korea shot a missing South Korean official to death and burned his body earlier this week, the defense ministry confirmed Thursday, condemning its "brutality" and calling for explanations and punishment for those responsible. The 47-year-old official affiliated with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries disappeared from the 499-ton boat before noon Monday while on duty aboard an inspection boat in waters off the western border island of Yeonpyeong. "North Korea found the ma

North Korea's official newspaper on Thursday lauded elite party members dispatched for reconstruction work in typhoon-hit areas for speedy recovery work, claiming party members in the capital city used to assemble a house in just 14 minutes in the wake of the Korean War. The Rodong Sinmun newspaper said the elite members of the ruling Workers' Party have been speedily rebuilding typhoon-devastated areas in line with the spirit of "creating everything according to the Pyongyang Time."

Moon proposes infectious disease initiative including North Korea

US President Donald Trump made no mention of North Korea in his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday (US time), for the first time in any of his four UN speeches since taking office.  In a prerecorded address from the White House, Trump focused his seven-minute speech on attacking China for “unleashing” COVID-19 onto the world and touched on various foreign policy issues, but did not say a word about Pyongyang.  It was the first time Trump has not me

Over 23,000 videos of South Koreans hoping to reconnect with their kin in North Korea have yet to be sent across the border, according to government data released by a lawmaker on Wednesday. Ever since the South’s Unification Ministry delivered 25 “video letters” produced by South Koreans for their families in the North in 2008 as a pilot project, and put up 1,568 such clips as part of a digital museum for families separated since the 1950-1953 Korean War, not a single video

US President Donald Trump said countries should continue to work to denuclearize North Korea, in written greetings delivered to the 2020 International Atomic Energy Agency’s general conference on Monday. For the IAEA event, which opened Monday and runs through Friday in Vienna, the US leader also discussed Iran, saying it was important to make sure it commits to its nonproliferation promises and seeks no nuclear weapons.  The US was moving to sanction individuals and groups tied to

A former Nouth Korean diplomat who was in charge of protocols during the inter-Korean summits in 2000 and 2007 has died, the North’s official Korea Central News Agency said Tuesday.   　 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a wreath to “express deep condolences” over the death of Jon Hui-jong, the KCNA said, without stating the exact date of his passing. Jon was born in 1930.   　 The honoree of the country’s highest decoration Order of Kim Il-sung and the Orde

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump called for international efforts to fully and verifiably denuclearize North Korea on Monday amid stalled nuclear talks with the communist nation. "We must ensure that Iran adheres to the commitments ... to prevent it from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon, and continue to work toward the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea," Trump said in a message to an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) conference in Vienna, Austria. T

North Korea and Iran have resumed long-range missile cooperation, which includes the transfer of critical parts, Reuters reported Monday, citing a senior US official who did not provide detailed evidence. The official, who was speaking of a broader US plan to sanction people and entities linked to Iran’s weapons programs, did not elaborate on when Pyongyang and Tehran first started working together, or when they stopped and began again, according to the report. North Korea and Iran have

Unification Minister Lee In-young on Monday asked Russia to play a "constructive" role in moving stalled inter-Korean relations forward and building a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula. Lee made the request during his first meeting with Russian Ambassador to Seoul Andrey B. Kulik sine his inauguration in July, also stressing the need for Moscow's cooperation in pursuing three-way projects involving the two Koreas and Russia that he said would contribute to peace and prosperity in

North Korea has used American banks to launder massive amounts of money for years to dodge international sanctions, leaked documents have revealed, according to NBC News on Sunday (US time). 　 The bank documents revealed Pyongyang has illegally transferred at least $174 million across the border using shell companies and help from Chinese companies, through major US banks such as JPMorgan Chase and Bank of New York Mellon from 2008 to 2017, during which time the US tightened sanctions against