The military on Thursday resumed a war remains excavation project in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas after a brief suspension following the North's threat to take military action against the South. The excavation project on Arrowhead Ridge was halted the previous day, one day after North Korea blew up an inter-Korean liaison office in the western border town of Kaesong on Tuesday. The military appears to have concluded that the work can resume despite the heightened ten

North Korea appears to have dispatched soldiers to some empty guard posts inside the Demilitarized Zone, sources said Thursday, following its warnings that it would beef up its military presence in border areas. On Wednesday, the General Staff of the (North) Korean People's Army vowed to set up "civil police posts," which had been withdrawn from the DMZ under an inter-Korean military agreement, as part of next steps against South Korea after the demolition of the inter-Korean liaison

North Korea's official newspaper said Thursday that this week's demolition of an inter-Korean liaison office was just the beginning, warning there could be additional retaliatory steps against South Korea that could go "far beyond imagination." North Korea has been lashing out at South Korea almost daily in recent weeks over anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets flown from the South. It has vowed to deal with Seoul as an enemy, cut off cross-border communication lines and even blew up

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump on Wednesday extended existing US sanctions on North Korea for another year, citing the continued "unusual and extraordinary" threat posed by the regime. In a routine notice sent to Congress, Trump wrote that he is continuing the "national emergency with respect to North Korea" that was first declared on June 26, 2008, by Executive Order 13466. The executive order, which was further expanded under Trump and previous administrations,

WASHINGTON -- A former US Forces Korea commander said Wednesday he would respond to North Korea's recent provocations with increased pressure, such as bringing strategic assets into the Korean Peninsula and conducting joint military exercises as planned. Ret. Gen. Vincent Brooks, who headed the 28,500-strong USFK from 2016 to 2018, said the North Koreans need to feel "agitated" about the consequences of their actions against South Korea, which in recent days have included the destruc

A South Korean group representing the country's six major religions issued a statement Wednesday, calling on all sides to maintain calm amid heightened tensions following North Korea's demolition of a joint liaison office. The Korean Conference of Religions and Peace (KCRP) said the destruction of the joint office in the North Korean border city of Kaesong on Tuesday, threats by Pyongyang to redeploy troops in key areas along the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two sides and demands for

An aircraft used by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un flew from Pyongyang to the eastern part of the country on Wednesday, an aviation tracker said, sparking speculation that the leader may reemerge into public view for possible military action amid heightened inter-Korean tensions. The An-148 twin-engine jet was spotted flying northeastwards at around 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, Aircraft Spot said. It said the plane's signals disappeared near North Hamkyong Province. North Korea watchers have said

Unification minister offers to resign

Relations between the two Koreas have abruptly hit their worst point in more than 20 years, as the North blew up a joint liaison office on Tuesday. There have been ups and downs in inter-Korean relations since the two adopted the June 15 Joint Declaration at their first historic summit in 2000, but this is the first time everything the two countries built together is on the verge of destruction. The North’s demolition of the joint liaison office, an outcome of the Panmunjom summit betwe

Coming to the fore of the youngest member of the North’s ruling Kim family has implications, experts say

Kaesong tenant companies in despair as bets on peninsular detente turn into massive losses

North Korea's recent detonation of an inter-Korean liaison office may aim to consolidate its economically struggling citizens under the emerging leadership of Kim Yo-jong as the country's No. 2 leader, a former North Korean diplomat-turned-South Korean lawmaker said Wednesday. "So far, there hasn't been a third person between the North Korean military and (North Korean leader) Kim Jong-un, but there's Kim Yo-jong now," Rep. Tae Young-ho of the main opposition United Future Party sai

North Korea could forward deploy artillery and armored units equipped with self-propelled guns and multiple rocket launchers if it sends troops to the inter-Korean industrial complex in the western border town of Kaesong and the Mount Kumgang tourism zone on the east coast, experts said Wednesday. Earlier in the day, the North's General Staff of the Korean People's Army (KPA) issued a statement, saying that it will deploy regiment-level units and other necessary firepower sub-units with defens

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been out of the public view for more than a week as his younger sister has been leading Pyongyang's hard-line handling of relations with South Korea, including the blowing up of a joint liaison office. Kim was last seen presiding over a politburo session of the North's ruling Workers' Party on June 7, as was reported by its state media the following day. During the meeting, Kim called for an improvement of the country's chemical sector for fertilizer product

  The military temporarily suspended a war remains excavation project in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas on Wednesday, the defense ministry said, following the North's threats to take military action against the South in anger over anti-Pyongyang leaflet campaigns. Under a bilateral military accord signed on Sept. 19, 2018, South and North Korea agreed to launch a joint excavation project on Arrowhead Ridge inside the DMZ, but the South has carried out the project a