WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said Monday that he would be disappointed if something was "in the works" in North Korea and that the United States is watching the regime closely.Tensions between the two nations have escalated ahead of a year-end deadline set by the North, after which the regime has hinted at resuming nuclear or long-range missile tests.Trump's comments come after North Korea on Friday carried out a second presumed engine test in less than a week at its Sohae s

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -- China and Russia on Monday proposed the UN Security Council lift a ban on North Korea exporting statues, seafood and textiles, according to a draft resolution seen by Reuters, in a move Russia said is aimed at encouraging talks between Washington and Pyongyang.The draft also called for a ban to be lifted on North Koreans working abroad and the termination of a 2017 requirementfor all such workers to be repatriated by next week. The draftwould also exempt inter-Ko

North Korea's crop production for this year is estimated to have slightly increased from a year earlier on the back of relatively improved weather conditions, data showed Monday.The combined crop output of the communist nation is estimated to reach 4.64 million tons this year, compared to 4.55 million tons a year earlier, according to the Rural Development Administration. The production of rice, a key staple food for Koreans, is estimated to have risen 1.8 percent over the period to reach 2.24 m

US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun on Monday proposed a meeting with North Korean officials during his visit to Seoul, saying Washington is willing to discuss all issues of interest to Pyongyang if they resume denuclearization talks. He said it was “not too late” for North Korea to choose a “better way,” following the regime’s second “crucial” test at its long-range rocket launch site Friday. The test may have been an attempt to adv

North Korea's main newspaper on Monday published a series of articles lauding late leader Kim Jong-il on the eve of the eighth anniversary of his death.Kim died on Dec. 17, 2011, after ruling the communist nation for 17 years after the death of his father and national founder, Kim Il-sung, in 1994. Current leader Kim Jong-un, the third son of the late leader, took over the North in another hereditary succession of power.In a front-page editorial, the Rodong Sinmun said the late leader achieved u

Pyongyang says it conducted “another crucial test” at Sohae site

Minor activity has resumed at a submersible test stand barge at Nampo Naval Shipyard in North Korea, and there is the possibility that Pyongyang might test a submarine-launched ballistic missile before its year-end deadline, a US-based think tank said Sunday.Satellite imagery collected in the last several months indicate that minor activity has resumed as of Dec. 2, after a two-month hiatus since September, said Joseph Bermudez and Victor Cha of Beyond Parallel, a team that specializes in North

North Korea's cabinet has rapped officials for "flaws" in leadership and strategies that undermine its national push for economic development, urging them to work hard to achieve goals set in a five-year economic development scheme.The North made the call during an extended cabinet meeting it recently convened to review the work that has been done over the past four years and to discuss what measures should be taken for next year, the cabinet newspaper Minju Choson reported Saturday. &

US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun was set to arrive in Seoul on Sunday, just weeks ahead of Pyongyang's year-end deadline for Washington to show flexibility to advance their stalemated nuclear talks.His three-day visit comes amid rising tensions in the wake of Pyongyang's apparent rocket engine test earlier this month and Washington's subsequent warnings against additional "hostile" acts.Escalating tensions further, the North on Saturday said it carried out "

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) -- A North Korean man is likely to face money-laundering charges in the United States after a Malaysian court approved his extradition Friday, in a case his lawyers claim is politically motivated. Mun Chol -myong has denied FBI claims that he led a criminal group that violated sanctions by supplying luxury goods to his isolated homeland and laundered funds through front companies. The 54-year-old, who has lived in Malaysia with his family for a decade, was arrested in May foll

North Korea could announce an end to denuclearization talks with the United States when it convenes a meeting of the ruling Workers' Party later this month, a state-run think tank said Friday.The North said last week it will convene a plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the WPK later this month to address "crucial issues in line with the needs of the development of the Korean revolution and the changed situation at home and abroad."The announcement came as Pyongyang has ramped

The South Korean government plans to help control the African swine fever outbreak in North Korea by providing support through international nongovernmental organizations.The Unification Ministry is taking steps to donate money from the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund to international NGOs seeking to control and prevent the disease in North Korea, government sources said Friday.The Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Promotion Council under the ministry is expected to deliberate and vote on the

WASHINGTON -- The United States hopes North Korea will refrain from nuclear and long-range missile tests, but remains ready to respond to the threat, the Pentagon said Thursday.Joint Staff Vice Director Navy Rear Adm. William Byrne Jr. made the remark in response to North Korean statements hinting at a resumption of nuclear and long-range missile tests in the coming weeks."I'm not going to share any classified information," he said during a press briefing at the Pentagon when asked if

WASHINGTON -- A top US diplomat warned North Korea on Thursday against taking any "ill-advised" action in light of its veiled threats to resume nuclear and long-range missile tests.David Stilwell, US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, made the remark as North Korea has threatened to take a "new way" unless the US offers concessions in their stalled denuclearization negotiations before the end of the year. Washington has urged Pyongyang to stick t

North Korea slammed the United States on Thursday for convening a UN Security Council meeting, saying the "provocative act" has helped it decide which path to take in the deadlocked nuclear talks.A spokesperson of the North's foreign ministry made the remarks after the UNSC held a session on Wednesday at the request of the US At the meeting, the US envoy called on the council to "act accordingly" against Pyongyang's tension-heightening behavior. "We will never toler