The United Nations will discuss human rights conditions in North Korea at the coming General Assembly scheduled to open Sept. 15, the Secretariat said. It added that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will report on the latest developments while Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the North, will make recommendations at the UN Third Committee dealing with human rights. The committee has usually looked at human rights abuses in the North in Oct

North Korea’s No. 3 leader and the country’s new premier visited a construction site related to a coal gasification project, state media reported Tuesday, a rare “joint field guidance” trip seen as a case of the top economic technocrats sharing expertise. Pak Pong-ju, vice chairman of the State Affairs Commission, and Premier Kim Tok-hun “inspected the construction site of the project for establishing the C1 chemical industry,” according to the Korean Centra

A barter exchange where South Korea trades sugar for North Korea’s liquor and food products as part of efforts to improve ties could not take place, despite Seoul’s strong push to do so, as the project involves a UN-sanctioned North Korean trading firm, lawmakers said Monday. Earlier in the day, the parliamentary intelligence was briefed on the latest finding by the Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs. Vice Unification Minister Suh Ho held the briefing himself.

North Korea said Monday that it will move to correct its “deficiencies” at a congress scheduled for January, referring to a ruling Workers’ Party plenary meeting a week earlier where leader Kim Jong-un vowed to set a five-year economic plan because “unforeseen hurdles” had hampered economic growth. The state newspaper said in a commentary that the ruling party aims to use the congress to meet challenges here and abroad and to advance the country’s “revo

North Korea on Monday urged Japan to apologize and compensate for killing at least 524 Koreans returning home in 1945 by allegedly blowing up the ship they were on. A spokesman for the North Korean association of families of the deceased victims who were sent abroad against their will by the Japanese colonial government to work for its military during World War II said in a statement that Japan must “close the books” for its past crimes, and we will make them pay (for the crimes),

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s reported decision to delegate part of his authority to his younger sister Kim Yo-jong and other key aides should be seen as a show of confidence, affirming the leader’s grip on the country, rather than a sign that he has health problems or has chosen his sister as his successor, experts here said Friday. The National Intelligence Service on Thursday told lawmakers in a closed-door meeting that Kim Jong-un appears to have transferred some of his res

Senior officials of the North Korean Workers’ Party blamed themselves on Friday for the country’s failure to meet economic growth targets after a general meeting Wednesday. It was a rare occasion for a party that seldom admits failure. In commentaries published on the front page of the Rodong Sinmun, the party’s official newspaper that most North Koreans see, the officials said it was their fault the North Korean economy did not grow. Jang Kil-ryong, the minister in charge

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is in a coma, and his decision to delegate some of his power to his aides is proof, a former aide to the late President Kim Dae-jung claimed Friday.  Jang Sung-min, who served Kim Dae-jung as a political affairs secretary and as head of the state affairs monitoring office, insisted that Kim Jong-un is comatose but his sister Kim Yo-jong is not his successor despite the power restructuring. On Friday, Seoul’s spy agency briefed lawmakers in a cl

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has transferred some of his powers to others, entrusting oversight of different aspects of state affairs to his closest aides, according to Seoul’s National Intelligence Service. Among them, his sister Kim Yo-jong is said to have been recognized as second in command within the North’s power structure. Although the North has traditionally recognized no authority other than the supreme ruler, currently Kim Jong-un, Kim Yo-jong’s rising status h

Spy chief says Kim has delegated South Korea, US affairs due to stress

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said the ruling Workers’ Party will convene a congress next year to unveil a new five-year economic plan, admitting, “unexpected challenges” this year have hampered economic growth, the Korean Central News Agency said Thursday. “To learn lessons from failed policies (from the last congress) and set a fresh strategy to power through hurdles ahead,” Kim said at the party’s plenary meeting on Wednesday, explaining its purpose

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un acknowledged that his five-year economic development plan failed to achieve intended goals and pledged to unveil a new scheme at a Workers' Party congress to be held in January, according to state media Thursday. The timing of the rare party congress also suggests that Kim could use the session to announce a new policy line on the United States after watching who wins November's presidential election between President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Joe Bi

Unification Minister Lee In-young called Wednesday for China to play a “constructive” role in the resumption of inter-Korean dialogue and to help bring permanent peace and stability to the Korean Peninsula. Lee made the remark during his first meeting with Chinese Ambassador to Seoul Xing Haiming after his inauguration last month, underlining the need for the two countries to cooperate with North Korea in tackling the coronavirus pandemic. 　 “Now, inter-Korean relations have b

A group of civic and religious organizations here urged the Seoul government to send 14 aged North Korean spies and prisoners of war back to the North this year. 2020 marks the 20th anniversary of the first and last such large-scale repatriation. 　 The 14 North Koreans have been held in South Korean prisons for decades for refusing to abjure communism. Most are now in their 80s, and the majority of North Koreans held for similar reasons were released in the early 2000s. 　 Local organizations i

Seoul’s Unification Ministry said Wednesday that it will justify its decision to revoke the operating permit of a defector-led group that sent anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border, in response to a recent court ruling suspending the government action. 　 “We respect the judiciary’s decision, which approved suspension of the ministry’s action,” Yoh Sang-key, the ministry’s spokesperson, said during a regular briefing Wednesday. “During the main laws