The 105-story Ryugyong Hotel has long been a blot on the Pyongyang skyline. The world's tallest unoccupied building has towered over North Korea's capital since 1987, a grand but empty pyramid entirely dark except for the lone aircraft warning light at its top. Outsiders saw the unfinished building as the epitome of failure, while people inside the country took care to rarely mention it at all.That is, until light designer Kim Yong Il made the building once again the talk of the town. (AP-Yonhap

Despite a widespread feeling that the US-North Korea nuclear talks have stalled, the North Korean leader’s rare end-of-year letter to President Moon Jae-in indicates his willingness to break the deadlock by means of his New Year’s address. In his letter, Kim vowed to meet Moon “frequently” next year to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and work together to resolve the issue, the South’s presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Sunday. He also expressed a strong determination to

A $8 million humanitarian aid package South Korea set aside for North Korea is set to be scrapped as the plan failed to materialize for the second year in a row amid international sanctions on Pyongyang.The Seoul government decided in September last year to send the assistance to the North through global agencies, but it has postponed the execution of the plan amid international sanctions on the communist nation. (Yonhap)But the budget is set to be scrapped in the new year.Under the law, the gov

North Korea has called itself a "utopia" and a "flower garden of human love" as it rejected US criticism of human rights violations as an attempt to topple the communist regime.A North Korean human rights association made the claim in an open series of questions to the US and the United Nations, claiming that US pressure over human rights is equivalent to "an act of political terrorism" against the country.(Yonhap)"Does the US not want to get over with the old conventions, prejudices and hostile

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a letter to South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Sunday to call for continued efforts to build peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula next year, Seoul's presidential office said.Kim also said that the leaders of the two Koreas have taken practical measures this year helping to get over long-running confrontation across their border, Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told reporters."Chairman Kim sent a personal letter to President Moon today,"the of

Dressed in a Santa Claus costume, Kang Na-ra appeared no different from other YouTubers as she stood in front of a video camera for a Christmas special clip, except that she was going to talk about Christmas in her former communist homeland: North Korea. “Now there are so many defector-YouTubers that I have to find something new and interesting. Me being a defector is not enough,” she said in a recent interview with Yonhap News Agency, pointing to the red costume she had prepared. Kang is one of

North Korea has unveiled tour programs allowing foreigners to visit the reclusive state and celebrate the New Year's holiday, according to the country's state-run tourism agency Sunday.The program will run in Pyongyang and other major tourist attractions from Dec. 29 to Jan. 5, DPR Korea Tour said on its website run by the North's National Tourism Administration. (Yonhap)Travelers will be able to enjoy events ranging from a celebration of the new year at Kim Il-sung Square in central Pyongyang t

North Korea held a national meeting last week to mark the seventh anniversary of leader Kim Jong-un taking the post of supreme commander of the country's armed forces, the state-run media reported Sunday.The meeting was held Saturday in Pyongyang, attended by high-ranking officials of the ruling Worker's Party of Korea (WPK) and the Korean People's Army (KPA) along with many others, including soldiers, students and workers, according to the Korean Central News Agency.Sunday marks the seventh ann

A North Korean state propaganda outlet slammed the United States on Saturday for its "extreme pressure" over its human rights issues throughout the year, calling for mutual respect.In an article carried by Uriminjokkiri, the North said the US has made "fusses regarding human rights issues against us throughout 2018," citing such events as the UN passage of the rights resolution and Washington's designation of the North as a violator of religious freedom. (Yonhap)Claiming that "such explicit inte

South Korea shared information about infectious diseases on its soil with North Korea on Friday following the two sides‘ agreement on health care.　Seoul’s unification ministry said it told North Korean officials at their joint liaison office in the North‘s border town of Kaesong that a measles patient was confirmed in South Korea’s Anyang in Gyeonggi Province.  (Yonhap)　This is the first time that South Korea has shared its disease information with North Korea after their recent health talks. 　T

The personal information of nearly 1,000 North Korean defectors in South Korea has been leaked as a computer at a state-run resettlement center was hacked, the unification ministry said Friday.   　The names, birthdates and addresses of 997 North Korean defectors were leaked last month through a personal computer infected with a malicious code, and the government learned of the leak on Dec. 17, according to the ministry.　“Recognizing a possibility of one personal computer at the Hana Center in No

The South and North Korean co-chiefs of a joint liaison office agreed Friday to continue to work closely together in the new year to further move inter-Korean relations forward, the unification ministry said.Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung met with Jon Chong-su, vice chairman of the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country, at the liaison office in the North's border town of Kaesong.(Yonhap)"Both sides assessed that there has been much progress in inter-Korean rela

Archbishop of Gwangju Kim Hee-joong said Friday that a visit by Pope Francis to North Korea was still a possibility when and if the North's leader Kim Jong-un sends the Pope a formal invitation. In a press conference held in the southwestern city of Gwangju earlier in the day, the president of the Korean Catholic Bishops' Conference sounded positive on the prospect of the Pope's travel to the reclusive nation. Archbishop of Gwangju Kim Hee-joong talks during a press conference held in Gwangju, S

The personal information of nearly 1,000 North Korean defectors in South Korea has been leaked as a computer at a state-run resettlement center was hacked, the unification ministry said Friday.The names, birth dates and addresses of 997 North Korean defectors were confirmed to have been leaked through a personal computer infected with a malicious code, according to the ministry. (Yonhap)"Recognizing a possibility of one personal computer at the Hana Center in North Gyeongsang Province having bee

South Korea on Thursday decided to extend the period in which North Korean defectors can apply for settlement here from the current one year to three years to provide them with more support, the unification ministry said.Under the current law, defectors from the communist country can face restrictions in receiving state support in case they fail to express their intent to settle in South Korea within one year of arrival.But the National Assembly passed the revision earlier in the day to extend t