Just ahead of the United Nations' vote on a resolution against its human rights conditions, North Korea on Monday took note of Washington's failed attempt to discuss the issue at the international agency earlier this month.In a belated report, the communist nation's state news agency, KCNA, pointed out that the United States has sought to bring the issue to the UN Security Council (UNSC) every year since 2014. (KCNA-Reuters)"But its attempt went amiss this year," it said. "The US proposal for co

The railroads along North Korea’s east coast are not in good condition, an official said Monday after returning home from a 10-day survey aimed at eventually reconnecting cross-border railways. The 28-member team of South Korean officials and railway experts crossed into South Korea on Monday afternoon by bus after conducting a joint inspection of the 800-kilometer rail links from Kumgangsan near the inter-Korean border to the Tumen River bordering Russia in the east, the Unification Ministry sa

The United Nations is expected to adopt a resolution condemning human rights violations in North Korea and urging the country to immediately take action to address the matter.The UN General Assembly will hold a plenary session Monday morning in New York (early Tuesday, Seoul time), during which member nations are likely to reach a consensus on a resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly Third Committee, which deals with social, humanitarian and cultural issues.The UN has adopted resolutions

South Korea's military on Monday confirmed the demolition and disablement of some North Korean border guard posts through its onsite verification last week and days of subsequent analysis.The Joint Chiefs of Staff announced the results of its Dec. 12 work to verify the demolition of 10 North Korean GPs in the Demilitarized Zone and the disarmament of another. The North's military also carried out the verification work on the same day.As part of a boarder accord to reduce military tensions and bu

SEOUL/GOSEONG, Gangwon Province -- A group of South Korean officials and railway experts returned home Monday after completing a 10-day inspection of the rail along North Korea's east coast, the unification ministry said.The 28-member team crossed the Military Demarcation Line in the eastern region of the peninsula at around 1:40 p.m. by bus, according to the ministry.They came back after conducting an inspection of the rail line from Mount Kumgang near the North's border with South Korea all th

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited the mausoleum of his late father in Pyongyang to commemorate the 7th anniversary of his death, the country's state media said Monday.Kim paid his respects at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun "on the occasion of the greatest national memorial day," according to the Korean Central News Agency."He paid highest tribute to Kim Jong-il who devoted his all to the prosperity of the country and the happiness of the people until the last moments of his revolutiona

SEOUL -- North Korea on Sunday condemned the US administration for stepping up sanctions and pressure on the nuclear-armed country, warning of a return to “exchanges of fire” and that disarming Pyongyang could be blocked forever. The North’s stinging response came after the United States said on Monday it had introduced sanctions on three North Korean officials, including a top aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, for alleged human rights abuses.  North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (left) and U

With the groundbreaking ceremony for modernization and reconnection of inter-Korean railways and roads slated for Dec. 26, similar events held more than a decade ago are being remembered. But analysts say that with a shift in circumstances surrounding the Korean Peninsula since, the focus has now moved to “modernizing” North Korea’s railway system rather than “reconnecting” sections of cross-border tracks. “In the early 2000s, it was more about ‘reconnecting’ the railways, but North Korea has sh

The US special representative on North Korea policy, Stephen Biegun, will visit Seoul this week to find ways to salvage dormant denuclearization negotiations with North Korea, officials said Sunday.Biegun will arrive in Seoul late this week to meet his South Korean counterpart, Special Representative Lee Do-hoon, for a second face-to-face meeting of the joint working group on North Korea. (AP)Seoul and Washington launched the working group in an inaugural meeting on Nov. 20 for "regular, systemi

Controversy persists over the decision by the main opposition party’s interim leadership to reduce the clout of lawmakers who were close to former President Park Geun-hye, as well as that of other conservative powerbrokers. 　The Liberty Korea Party’s emergency committee said Saturday that 21 incumbent lawmakers will be ineligible to lead the party’s powerful district committees. The purpose of the measure, the interim leadership said, is to overhaul the conservative party following the ouster of

North Korea's main newspaper on Sunday published a series of articles lauding late leader Kim Jong-il on the eve of the seventh anniversary of his death, focusing on how much he cared about his people.Kim Jong-il died on Dec. 17, 2011, after ruling the communist nation following the death of his father and national founder, Kim Il-sung, in 1994. Current leader Kim Jong-un, the third son of the late leader, took over the North in another hereditary succession of power. (Yonhap)On Sunday, the Nort

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made far more public appearances in relation to the country's economic and diplomatic affairs this year than ones related to the military, an analysis of North Korean news reports showed Sunday.According Yonhap News Agency's analysis of North Korean news reports about Kim, the leader made 123 public outings such as on-site inspections and summit talks during the year dating from Jan. 1 to Friday.This photo issued by the North Korean Central News Agency on Nov. 1,

South Korea and North Korea announced Friday they will meet with the International Olympic Committee early next year to discuss their joint Olympic bid.The two sides reached that agreement during the latest round of their sports talks at the joint liaison office in the North Korean border city of Kaesong. South Korean Vice Sports Minister Roh Tae-kang and North Korean Vice Sports Minister Won Kil-u led the delegations. North Korean Vice Sports Minister Won Kil-u (L) and his South Korean counterp

South and North Korea discussed cooperation in combating forest diseases and modernizing tree nurseries in the North when a group of South Korean officials visited Pyongyang earlier this week, the unification ministry said Friday.The meeting was held between Lim Sang-seop, a senior official of the Korea Forestry Service, and his North Korean counterpart, Jang Yong-chol, according to the ministry. Lim headed a 10-member South Korean delegation to the North for a three-day trip from Tuesday. (Yonh

South Korea is in close consultations with the United States and the United Nations to get sanctions exemptions ahead of a planned groundbreaking ceremony in North Korea for a joint project on connecting roads and railways over their border, the unification ministry said Friday.On Thursday, the two Koreas agreed to hold an event in Panmun Station, just north of the inter-Korean border on Dec. 26 to break ground for the railway and road connecting work. (Yonhap)It is a major project that their le