Regulations should be revised on the United Nations Command’s authority to give entry permission into the Demilitarized Zone, Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul said Monday. During a parliamentary inspection session, Kim said the system should be revised to allow South Korea’s entry into the DMZ for nonmilitary purposes, while maintaining the area safely, as Rep. Chun Jung-bae pointed out there have been several cases where the UNC rejected entry requests into the area for “unc

The Ministry of Unification and state-run Korea Institute for National Unification are jointly hosting an international forum Tuesday on ways to draw up a road map for the era of a peace-driven economy. The International Forum on Korean Peninsula Peace Economy 2019 is designed to raise domestic and international understanding of the peace economy and the new economic map initiative of the Moon Jae-in administration to foster the formation of an inter-Korean economic community. Officials fro

A group of North Korean defectors said Monday it has sent anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the inter-Korean border, condemning the communist nation over a recent World Cup qualifier held between the two Koreas behind closed doors. Fighters for a Free North Korea released balloons carrying 500,000 leaflets from Gimpo, west of Seoul, to the North on Sunday, criticizing the North over the inter-Korean match held in Pyongyang last week with no fans, journalists or live broadcasting allowed. The group

North Korea's official newspaper accused the United States on Monday of using sanctions in order to bring disobedient countries to their knees, stressing the country should stand up to such attempts without giving in to pressure. North Korea has intensified its criticism of the US since the breakdown of their Stockholm working-level denuclearization talks earlier this month. It has increased calls for strengthening "self-reliance" in the face of US-led sanctions."Western powers, i

The UN Food and Agricultural Organization forecast North Korea's food situation will worsen in the fourth quarter due to Typhoon Lingling and African swine fever, a US broadcaster reported Saturday.Citing the FAO's Early Warning Early Action report on food security and agriculture released Thursday, the Voice of America said North Korea is among nine high-risk countries that face further food shortages in the October-December period. The FAO picked drought, natural disasters, such as typhoo

South Korea's national football federation said Friday it has asked the sport's continental governing body to consider penalizing North Korea for hosting a recent World Cup qualifier behind closed doors.The Korea Football Association said it sent a letter to the Asian Football Confederation on Thursday, expressing its regrets over North Korea's lack of cooperation in staging the inter-Korean World Cup qualifier in Pyongyang on Tuesday.North Korea shunned South Korea's repeated inquiries regardin

North Korea leader Kim Jong-un visited a greenhouse farm, stressing the need to actively introduce advanced cultivation technique to improve food supply, according to the North’s state media Korean Central News Agency. It said Kim gave field guidance to the Jungphyong Vegetable Greenhouse Farm and Tree Nursery under construction in Kyongsong County.“It is essential to meticulously operate and manage the farm so as to show our success in the production the vitality of a highly intensi

Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul said Thursday that North Korea may be seeking an epoch-making approach from the US for a breakthrough in their deadlocked nuclear talks. Nuclear negotiators from Washington and Pyongyang resumed stalled working-level talks in Stockholm, Sweden, Oct. 5, seven months after a disappointing summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. But the two countries failed to make tangible progress in their recent meeting. “The US and N

A senior North Korean military official arrived in Beijing on Thursday, apparently to attend a regional security forum to be held next week.Kim Hyong-ryong, the North's vice defense minister, was seen arriving earlier in the day at the Beijing international airport on an Air Koryo flight from Pyongyang.The trip appears aimed at Kim attending Xiangshan Forum, a regional security forum, to be held in Beijing from Sunday through Tuesday. China has held the forum every year since 2014 to counter the

The United States will address North Korea's security interests if the regime gives up its nuclear weapons program, a senior US official said Wednesday, beckoning Pyongyang to return to denuclearization talks.David Stilwell, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, testified at a Senate hearing after working-level talks between Washington and Pyongyang broke down in Sweden on Oct. 5."They've come out to talk. We need to encourage them to continue doing that," St

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un rode up Paektusan on a horse, the North’s state media reported Wednesday, highlighting it as a historical event.Visiting upper Samjiyon County -- the birthplace of his father and predecessor Kim Jong-il, according to North Korea -- Kim said the pain the US is causing his people has turned to rage. He also stressed self-reliance.Releasing photographs of Kim on the back of a white horse on a snow-covered mountainside, the state-run Korean Central News Agency p

TOKYO (Reuters) -- Crew of a suspected North Korean ship fell overboard in the East Sea near Noto Peninsula, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported on Wednesday, citing government sources.It was not clear if the broadcaster was referring to a member of the crew, more than one member of the crew or the vessel's entire crew. No further details were available in the NHK report. Japan's Coast Guard could not immediately confirm the report when contacted by Reuters.This month, Japan rescued about 6

WASHINGTON -- The United States' sanctions campaign against North Korea is intended to bring the regime to the negotiating table with a mindset to be productive and reach solutions, a senior US defense official said Tuesday.Randall Schriver, assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, made the comment at a forum discussing US relations with China, including its role in denuclearizing North Korea.Negotiators from the US and North Korea met in Sweden Oct. 5 to resume working-

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has flown to Pyongyang to watch a match between South and North Korea for the World Cup qualifier on Tuesday, a government official here said. “The president flew to Pyongyang via his chartered plane to watch the South-North soccer game,” an official at the Unification Ministry told reporters. On Monday, 55 people from South Korea, including 25 players, arrived in Pyongyang for the Group H match in the second round of the Asian qualification for t

Taiwan has frozen millions of dollars worth of assets as it carried out sanctions on North Korea aimed at preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction, a recent report said.The implementation of targeted financial sanctions for North Korea has resulted in 81 freezing actions worth over $3.96 million, according to the Mutual Evaluation Report on Chinese Taipei released by the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering on Monday.   "Chinese Taipei authorities have highlighted an