North Korea on Wednesday blasted Japan for its crimes against Koreans during the 1910-45 colonial rule period, calling it a "shameless country" that continues to refuse to apologize for its past wrongdoings."There is such a shameless country as Japan which swims against the trend. Japan still refuses to admit, apologize for and make reparation for the monstrous crimes against the Korean people, other peoples of Asian countries and mankind," the North's Korean Central News Age

Kim Jong-un rides up Paektusan again, highlights self-reliance and revolutionary spirit

South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo called Wednesday for maintaining a staunch defense posture, his office said, as North Korea and the United States traded thinly veiled threats against each other amid stalled nuclear negotiations.Jeong made the call during a biannual meeting of top commanders held at the ministry compound in Seoul. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Park Han-ki and around 150 high-level military officers and government officials from related agencies attended the m

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump hinted Tuesday that the United States may use military force against North Korea if necessary, after Pyongyang warned that an end-of-year deadline for the two countries' denuclearization negotiations is drawing near.Trump alluded to the use of force to reporters in London, where he is attending a meeting of North Atlantic Treaty Organization leaders, according to news reports.However, Trump also said he continues to have a good personal relationship with N

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry once again pressed the US for a decision on their denuclearization talks on Tuesday, ahead of the year-end deadline given by the regime. In a statement issued by Ri Thae-song, North Korea’s vice minister of foreign affairs in charge of US affairs, Pyongyang criticized the US for using their denuclearization negotiations to influence domestic politics.“The US is keen on earning time needed for it, talking about the ‘sustained and substantial

South Korea has offered to repair some worn-out facilities at North Korea's Mount Kumgang resort, but Pyongyang is insisting on its demand for the removal of all facilities built by the South, a unification ministry official said Tuesday.The North has demanded the South tear down all facilities it had built at the mountain resort as part of a joint tourism project, saying the country will build a new international tourist destination of its own. It has also threatened to destruct them unilateral

North Korea said Tuesday that a year-end deadline is drawing near for the United States to come up with a new proposal in their nuclear negotiations, warning it is entirely up to Washington what "Christmas gift" it wants to get.In a statement, Ri Thae-song, vice minister in charge of US affairs, also accused Washington of talking about dialogue aimed only at earning time without taking any corresponding measures to Pyongyang's denuclearization steps."The DPRK has done everything t

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un celebrated the completion of a newly-built urban township near the birthplace of his late father, state media reported Tuesday, in a visit that could suggest a major policy announcement is forthcoming.Kim attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Township of Samjiyon County on Monday, the official Korean Central News Agency reported. KCNA photos showed Kim and top aides cutting a red ribbon to open the "the ideal town for the people" near the birthplace

Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul on Monday urged the US and North Korea to hold a working-level meeting before the end of the month, as such a meeting could have far-reaching influence on Pyongyang’s strategic direction for next year. How North Korea will spend this month will be reflected in regime leader Kim Jong-un’s 2020 New Year’s address, a key indicator of the North’s policies. Once a new strategic direction is set by the ruler, it cannot be altered by lower

Seoul’s Foreign Ministry has come under fire for its handling of a case involving North Korean defectors who were caught while attempting to flee to South Korea via Vietnam and who possibly face deportation to North Korea. A human rights group has accused the Foreign Ministry of lack of action, but the ministry said it has been working on the case since it was reported.On Friday, about 10 North Korean defectors were caught for the second time by Vietnamese guards in Lang Son at the border

Some legal experts contend that deportees were denied due process under local, international laws

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s exiled uncle has been recalled to his home country after having spent decades as an envoy in Europe, according to reports Sunday. Lawmakers of South Korea’s parliamentary intelligence committee and National Intelligence Service chief Suh Hoon reportedly confirmed that Kim Pyong-il, North Korea’s top envoy to the Czech Republic, has returned to Pyongyang. The NIS had said early last month that Pyong-il would be replaced and return to North Korea

North Korea's trade reliance on its traditional ally, China, has jumped more than fivefold since 2001, data showed Sunday, highlighting Beijing's status as a key patron for the cash-strapped regime under biting international sanctions.China's proportion of the North's overall external trade rose to 91.8 percent last year, compared with 17.3 percent in 2001, according to the data from an analysis report of the Korea International Trade Association. South Korea, once the North's second-largest tra

A recent change in North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's fashion style is raising questions over whether it reflects his desire to craft a unique image of his own, eight years after he took the throne in a third-generation hereditary power succession.In a shift from his characteristic style reminiscent of those of his late grandfather and father, Kim was seen wearing a black leather trench coat while overseeing a test-firing of a super-large multiple rocket launcher Thursday.The relatively young lea

NEW YORK -- Federal prosecutors have charged a cryptocurrency expert with violating economic sanctions against North Korea by presenting at a conference there this year after the US government denied his request to travel to Pyongyang.Virgil Griffith, 36, was awaiting a federal court appearance Friday in Los Angeles, a day after he was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport.Griffith is an American citizen but lives in Singapore. Messages were sent to Griffith‘s defense attorney seek