South Korea on Monday denounced Pyongyang’s artillery drill conducted on an islet near the de facto maritime border, saying it violated an inter-Korean military agreement. North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency reported earlier in the day that its leader Kim Jong-un had ordered a firing drill involving coastal artilleries on Changrin Islets, just north of the Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea.Kim conducted field guidance for a military unit there, to highlight the importance of

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has inspected a front-line military unit on an island just north of the western sea border with South Korea, Pyongyang's official news agency said Monday, in his third trip to military installations this month. Kim "inspected the Changrin Islet defense detachment on the western front," according to the Korean Central News Agency in English. The islet lies just north of the Northern Limit Line, a de facto maritime border with South Korea, which was the si

MOSCOW -- A senior North Korean diplomat has returned home following her six-day trip to Russia, which included the two countries' first "strategic dialogue."North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui told Korean reporters, "I had excellent talks with the Russian side this time," at Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport on Saturday evening as she awaited her Aeroflot flight to Beijing.Arriving first at Vladivostok on Nov. 18, Choe, considered a key nuclear st

North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, considered a key nuclear strategist of leader Kim Jong-un, has met with a senior Russian diplomat and discussed the need for "strategic communications and cooperation" between the two countries, the North's state media said Saturday.Choe met with Russian Vice Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov in Moscow on Friday and exchanged views on the situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the region, according to the Korean Central News Agency.

MOSCOW -- A senior North Korean official said Friday that the US should take responsibility if the chance of diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula disappears due to a lack of action by Washington.First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui made the remarks after meeting with Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov in Moscow. She was in Moscow for their strategic cooperation on regional and international matters."If the United States does not take corresponding steps so that the chance of di

The parents of American student Otto Warmbier, who died soon after his release from 17 months of captivity in North Korea, called on South Korea's government Friday to pressure North Korea on its human rights abuses. Fred and Cindy Warmbier made the appeal during a press conference in Seoul organized by the Korean War Abductees' Family Union to drum up international support for legal responses by victims of North Korea's abductions and detention, and their families.  Warmbier was held capti

Unification Minister Kim expects more NK-US talks before year-end

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will not attend a special summit that South Korea will host for Southeast Asian leaders next week, turning down President Moon Jae-in's invitation to the event, Pyongyang's state media said Thursday. Moon sent a personal letter on Nov. 5 to invite Kim to the South Korea-ASEAN special summit slated for next Monday and Tuesday in the southeastern port city of Busan, but North Korea could not find any reason for its leader to travel for the event, according to the Ko

SEOUL/MOSCOW -- A senior North Korean diplomat on Wednesday renewed calls for Washington to drop its "hostile policy" against Pyongyang, saying denuclearization could be discussed again in future talks only after such a policy is abolished.First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui made the remarks after meeting senior Russian officials, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in Moscow. She arrived in the Russian capital for the two countries' inaugural strategic dialogue on bilateral

WASHINGTON -- US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun said Wednesday that he has not seen concrete evidence that North Korea plans to dismantle its nuclear weapons program but believes Pyongyang can still make that choice.Biegun made the remark before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee during a confirmation hearing on his nomination as deputy secretary of state.He said the belief is shared by US President Donald Trump, who "remains of the view" that North Korean

North Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator said Tuesday dialogue with the United States will be “impossible” unless it abandons its hostile policy against the communist regime. Kim Myong-gil, the roving ambassador at the North Korea’s Foreign Ministry, also emphasized again that the US should not try to involve a third party in their relationship, according to an interview with Korean Central News Agency.  “As we have already reiterated several times, the DPRK-US d

North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator said Tuesday that dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington is "impossible" unless the United States makes a "bold decision to drop the hostile policy" against the communist nation.Kim Myong-gil made the remarks in an interview with the Korean Central News Agency, unveiling that the US recently offered through Sweden to hold a new round of talks in December after October's working-level negotiations in Stockholm."As we have already

WASHINGTON -- The United States appears to be reviewing various options for the success of denuclearization negotiations with North Korea, Seoul's unification minister said Monday.Kim Yeon-chul made the remark to reporters after meeting with US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun in Washington. He declined to elaborate.Denuclearization negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang have stalled since February's second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean lea

North Korea said Tuesday it has no interest in denuclearization negotiations with the United States unless Washington drops its "hostile" policy.Kim Yong-chol, who formerly led the negotiations as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's counterpart, issued the statement in response to Sunday's decision by South Korea and the US to postpone military exercises in support of diplomatic efforts to denuclearize the North."What we are demanding from the US is that it withdraw from combined

North Korea is no longer interested in holding another "fruitless" summit with the United States, a former chief nuclear envoy of the communist nation said Monday, urging Washington to drop its "hostile policy" against Pyongyang.Kim Kye-gwan, currently an adviser to the North Korean foreign ministry, made the remarks in a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, saying that he understood US. President Donald Trump's recent tweet on leader Kim Jong