Over 1,100 North Koreans were tested for COVID-19 by early July, and all of them turned out negative, an official of the World Health Organization said Monday. A total of 1,117 people got tested for the novel coronavirus as of July 9, Edwin Salvador, WHO representative to North Korea, said in an interview with Radio Free Asia. As of now, 610 North Korean nationals are in quarantine, and all of them are laborers working at the seaport in Nampo or along the land border between the North’s

South Korea has rejected a request from the United Nations Command to hold an annual ceremony on the inter-Korean border due to concerns over the new coronavirus and inter-Korean tensions, a unification ministry official said. The remarks came after a local newspaper reported the ministry rejected a UNC request to hold an annual ceremony in the Freedom House located in the border village of Panmunjom to mark the 67th anniversary of the signing of the 1950-53 Korean War armistice agreement. &

Unification Minister nominee Lee In-young condemned the demolition of the joint liaison office by North Korea last month as “irrational,” but said it would be difficult to seek compensation from Pyongyang, a document showed Monday. 　 “The North’s demolition of the joint liaison office is against the Panmunjom Declaration and the agreement for the operation of the liaison office,” he said in a written answer submitted to the Assembly ahead of his confirmation heari

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un strongly criticized officials for carrying out the construction of a large-scale general hospital "in a careless manner" and ordered the replacement of all of those responsible, state media said Monday. Kim made the remarks during a "field guidance" trip to the construction site for Pyongyang General Hospital, one of his top-priority projects he has vowed to complete by Oct. 10, the 75th founding anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party. He a

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has presided over a Central Military Commission meeting of the ruling Workers' Party and discussed "the key issues of further bolstering a war deterrent of the country," state media reported Sunday. The meeting held on Saturday also examined the "strategic mission" of major military units for coping with the "military situation around the Korean Peninsula" and approved "major key munitions production plan indices," accordi

North Korea is developing a vaccine for the novel coronavirus on its own, Pyongyang's science research council said Saturday. According to a report posted on Mirae, the website run by the North's State Commission of Science and Technology, its scientists are currently conducting clinical trials to develop a vaccine for COVID-19. The report said the vaccine development is led by a medical biology institute under the North's Academy of Medical Science using angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (AC

The unification ministry revoked the operation permits of two North Korean defector groups Friday, saying their campaigns to send propaganda leaflets into the communist nation "gravely hindered" efforts toward unification. The move came a month after North Korea blew up an inter-Korean liaison office in its border city of Kaesong in anger over leaflets criticizing leader Kim Jong-un, saying such leafleting violates a series of peace agreements between the two sides. The decision to

Multiple senior White House aides said Washington is now considering new proposals that they hope will be a “breakthrough” in stalled denuclearization talks with North Korea, a US magazine reported Thursday. If a deal can be struck, the hope is that the agreement will be signed at a potential third summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this fall, according to an article by Harry Kazianis, a senior director of Korean studies at the Center for t

Efforts to improve the human rights of North Koreans, including guaranteeing their right to know, should be made in a way that does not escalate tensions, the unification ministry said Friday, renewing its pledge to crack down on launches of leaflets into the communist nation. The remark comes after a local newspaper reported Friday that Park Sang-hak, the defector activist heading Fighters for a Free North Korea, and an international organization are preparing to file a petition to the United

WASHINGTON -- US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday that he hopes to see another US-North Korea summit this year, but remains skeptical it will happen. In an interview with Fox News, Pompeo said he has yet to see evidence that the two sides could make progress by bringing the two countries' leaders together for what would be their fourth meeting. "We're not going to have a summit, we're not going to bring Chairman Kim and President Trump together unless there's something they c

The South Korean government’s crackdown on nonprofit groups led by North Korean defectors for sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border has met with a severe backlash from human rights advocates. 　 Thor Halvorssen, president of the Human Rights Foundation, a New York-based organization that promotes human rights and freedom, said Seoul’s decision to revoke operation license and seek prosecution of the defector groups is a violation of freedom of speech and expression, in a

South Korean prosecutors have begun an investigation into North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister and the North's military chief on charges of blowing up an inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong last month, officials said Thursday. The unprecedented and symbolic probe into Kim Yo-jong, the sister now serving as the first vice department director of the ruling Workers' Party's Central Committee, and Army Gen. Pak Jong-chon, chief of the General Staff of the North Korean army, came after a Sou

The unification ministry will inspect dozens of government-registered activist group later this month to look into whether they have been involved in sending anti-North Korea leaflets, a ministry official said Thursday. The move comes as the ministry has been pushing to revoke the operation permits of two North Korean defector groups for sending leaflets to the communist state in defiance of the government's calls against such activity. "It is part of efforts to strengthen supervision o

A former South Korean unification minister called on the new minister nominee, Lee In-young, to dissolve a joint "working group" forum set up to coordinate North Korea policy with the United States, saying it hinders inter-Korean cooperation. Jeong Se-hyun, former unification minister and current executive vice chairperson of the presidential National Unification Advisory Council, made the remarks Thursday during an interview with TongTong TV, Yonhap News Agency's entertainment news

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump would hold another summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un only if the two sides are likely to make progress on the agreement they reached during their first summit in Singapore, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday. Pompeo dismissed the notion that the leaders could meet again before the US presidential election in November, suggesting there isn't enough time before then. But he said there is more discussion taking place between Washington