North Korea's top governing body demanded Wednesday the United States cancel planned joint military drills with South Korea, warning otherwise it would face a "greater threat." The State Affairs Commission, chaired by leader Kim Jong-un, also repeated that Pyongyang would seek a "new way" unless Washington changes its stance and comes up with new solutions in their nuclear talks by the end of this year. South Korea and the US conducted regular joint drills in March and August

The US Treasury Department issued another advisory against financial dealings with North Korea on Tuesday.In its latest advisory, the department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network reminded financial institutions not to do business with North Korea, which the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force recently targeted in a call for countermeasures because the North lacks adequate systems to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism.On Oct. 18 the FATF, an intergovernmental bo

US and North Korean officials had a meeting during last week's international nonproliferation conference in Moscow, a former American diplomat was quoted as saying.Thomas M. Countryman, former assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation, made the remarks after attending the Moscow Nonproliferation Conference involving 250 participants from more than 40 countries, including the North, according to the Voice of America."I was told that there was such a meeting

　Over 800 North Koreans have defected to South Korea so far in 2019, government data showed, indicating their annual figure will be similar to that recorded a year earlier.　A total of 828 North Koreans defected to the South during the January-October period, according to data provided by the Unification Ministry handling inter-Korean affairs.　At the current rate, the annual number of North Koreans settling here is expected to be similar to 1,137 registered last year. (Yonhap)

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party on Tuesday said the parliament could open an investigation into what really happened when Seoul deported two North Korean fishermen on Thursday a week ago. “The committees -- intelligence, defense and foreign affairs -- will convene to find out what happened that day,” said Na Kyung-won, floor leader of the Liberty Korea Party. “If that’s not enough, we could open a parliamentary investigation.” Last Thursday, South Kor

South Korea can allow individual trips to Kumgangsan in North Korea only if Pyongyang guarantees the safety of the visitors, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said.Seoul is considering the possibility of allowing individual visits to the mountain resort, after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered the removal of South Korea-funded facilities from the resort late last month. “Like non-Koreans traveling to North Korea, individual tours do not violate international sanctions against Pyongy

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- North Korea on Monday accused the United States of "political and military provocations" and South Korea of "double-dealing behavior."North Korea's UN Ambassador Kim Song made the accusations in a speech to a General Assembly meeting on the International Atomic Energy Agency, which he accused of "ignorance of the prevailing reality of the Korean peninsula."Kim said relations between the US and North Korea "have made little progress"

The Unification Ministry on Monday denied that two North Koreans were returned to the North unlawfully, saying they were not entitled to protection due to the serious nature of their crimes. “The two North Koreans are not subjected to protection under the North Korean Refugees Protection and Settlement Support Act, as they are ‘nonpolitical’ serious criminals and their acceptance as refugees could pose a danger to the lives and safety of citizens here,” Lee Sang-min, the

Renowned investor sees NK leader Kim Jong-un’s order to remove SK facilities at Kumgangsan as ‘negotiation ploy’

MOSCOW -- A nuclear nonproliferation conference in Moscow has wrapped up without a separate meeting between a US special envoy for North Korea and a North Korean foreign ministry official handling American affairs who attended the event.US Special Envoy for North Korea Mark Lambert and Jo Chol-su, director-general of the North American department at the North's foreign ministry, had gathered in the Russian capital for the 2019 Moscow Nonproliferation Conference, raising speculation over possible

South Korea's top nuclear envoy met with the US special envoy for North Korea in Moscow on Saturday, South Korea's foreign ministry said, as Pyongyang warned of a closing window of opportunity on a nuclear deal.Lee Do-hoon held a breakfast meeting with Mark Lambert and the two discussed how to deal with North Korea following last month's collapse of working-level talks between North Korea and the US, the foreign ministry said without elaborating.The talks in Stockholm -- the first since the coll

A North Korean foreign ministry official has urged the United States to make a "forward-looking" decision within this year, saying the "window for opportunity is closing every day."The remarks by Jo Chol-su, director-general of the North American department at the North's foreign ministry, at the 2019 Moscow Nonproliferation Conference on Friday are the latest in a series of attempts by Pyongyang to pressure Washington to come up with new proposals in their denuclearization t

US President Donald Trump said Friday he has been invited to attend World War II anniversary celebrations in Russia in May, prompting speculation of a possible meeting there with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.Trump said in response to a reporter's question that he was invited to attend the May celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of Russia's victory in the war. Russian government officials said earlier that Kim had also been invited, but that he had not sent a response yet."I wa

South Korea handed over a fishing boat to North Korea on Friday, a day after it deported two North Koreans accused of killing 16 fellow crew members of the vessel to the communist state, the unification ministry said.On Thursday, the two in their 20s were sent back to the North through the truce village of Panmunjom, five days after they were captured near the eastern sea border on Saturday.The two later confessed that they and another crew member killed the captain of the fishing boat out of an

The US special envoy for North Korea and a North Korean foreign ministry official handling American affairs spoke briefly to each other during a reception for participants in a nuclear nonprolifereation conference in Moscow, a participant said.Special Envoy Mark Lambert had a five-minute talk with Jo Chol-su, director-general of the North American department at the North's foreign ministry, in the reception Thursday for the 2019 Moscow Nonproliferation Conference, according to the participant. L