SEOUL/GOSEONG (Yonhap) -- The head of Hyundai Group on Monday expressed reservations about any quick resumption of a stalled tour program to North Korea‘s scenic mountain resort.　“At this point, the situation is difficult for the tour program to be resumed within this year, but I think it will be done in the near future,” Hyundai Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun told reporters after returning from Mount Kumgang on the North’s east coast.　She made a two-day visit to Mount Kumgang to celebrate the 20th a

It is still possible that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could visit the South this year despite a delay in denuclearization talks between Washington and Pyongyang, the unification ministry said Monday."We will make preparations to make the agreements that the South and the North agreed upon, including Kim's trip to the South, take place without a hitch within this year," Baik Tae-hyun, a ministry spokesman, told a regular press briefing.In a September summit in Pyongyang, Kim promised to visit

North Korea's main newspaper on Monday reported a record harvest of potatoes in its northeastern province of Yanggang this year.The Rodong Sinmun said that workers of Daehongdan County in Yanggang Province produced an average of 51.5 tons of potatoes and a maximum of over 70 tons per jongbo, the equivalent of about 10,000 square meters, creating an innovation that surpasses the previous peak harvest year. A file photo released by the Korean Central News Agency on Oct. 30, 2018, shows North Korea

A North Korean propaganda outlet blasted the United States Monday for sticking to "maximum pressure" in pushing for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, calling it a "medieval-era" tactic that would never work on the North. "The US has forgotten the objectives agreed upon during the Singapore summit, while moving a train off the basic theme and basic track of improving relations between North Korea and the US and peace and now forcing it on a local line of denuclearization through maximum p

　In light of rumors about the death of a South Korean solider in a heavily fortified cross-border region last week, the military suggested that the death was an apparent suicide unrelated to the North Korean military.  　In light of rumors about the death of a South Korean solider in the heavily fortified inter-Korean border region last week, the military has suggested the death was an apparent suicide unrelated to the North Korean military.  　According to the Army, a 21-year-old private first cl

Expectations are mounting over how China will use its clout to push North Korea back to dialogue with the US, after the leaders of China and South Korea agreed to cooperate to bring about a possible second US-North Korea summit. But experts are skeptical that China will play an active role, considering its ongoing trade war with the US. On the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Papua New Guinea on Saturday, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his Chinese counterpart,

South Korea and the United States are expected to launch a new consultative body to coordinate their efforts on denuclearization of North Korea this week, diplomatic sources here said Sunday.They said Seoul and Washington have agreed in principle to hold the first meeting of the bilateral "working group" during an upcoming visit to the US capital by Lee Do-hoon, Seoul's top nuclear envoy. Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs (left), and US special r

The two Koreas held an event Sunday to mark the 20th anniversary of the long-suspended joint tourism program at the North's scenic Mount Kumgang.About 100 South Koreans and 80 North Koreans were in attendance at the first celebratory two-day event for four years at the east coast resort. It is being jointly organized by Hyundai Group, which operated the tour project, and the North's Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee. Kumkang Mountain (Yonhap)Among the South Korean participants are Hyundai Chai

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un stressed the importance of modernized production during his visit to a glass factory in the country's western region, Pyongyang's state media reported Sunday.The Korean Central News Agency said Kim gave field guidance at the Taegwan Glass Factory in North Pyongan Province, where he praised "flawless" glassware and other optical apparatuses. (Yonhap)"Pointing out that the world is rapidly changing and developing, he called for directing steady efforts to putting th

North Korea said Sunday its titular head of state, Kim Yong-nam, will visit Cuba in the latest efforts to enhance ties with the socialist country.  Kim, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, will lead a delegation to Cuba, Venezuela and Mexico, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said.   (Yonhap)North Korea and Cuba have strengthened their diplomatic engagement this year. Choe Ryong-hae and Ri Su-yong, vice chairmen of the ruling party's Central Committee, visi

A senior US Central Intelligence Agency official in charge of Korean affairs paid a secret visit to South Korea this week and held talks with North Korean counterparts in the border truce village of Panmunjom, sources familiar with the matter said Saturday. Andrew Kim, head of the CIA's Korea Mission Center, was in Seoul for a four-day visit that started Wednesday and has returned to the US after holding talks with officials from both sides, according to the sources. (Yonhap)Kim's secret visit i

The United States and Britain held a workshop Friday to discuss ways to stop North Korea’s evasion of sanctions related to its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, the US State Department said.The meeting in London involved officials from the two governments, maritime insurance companies, commodity traders as well as the United Nations Panel of Experts on North Korea, the department said in a statement.The UN Security Council has adopted wide-ranging sanctions designed to cut off trad

The United States expressed confidence Friday that North Korea will honor its commitment to denuclearize despite its test of an unspecified high-tech weapon.North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected the “successful” test of a “high-tech tactical weapon” at a national defense institute, state media reported earlier in the day.It marked the first such inspection by the leader following his viewing of an intercontinental ballistic missile launch in November 2017.“At the Singapore Summit, President

North Korea has decided to deport a US citizen detained for illegally entering the country, its state media reported on Friday.The US citizen, identified as Bruce Byron Lowrance, has been detained in North Korea since he was caught illegally entering North Korea via the border with China last month, according to the Korean Central News Agency.  (Reuters)He confessed to have entered the North under the direction of the US Central Intelligence Agency, the KCNA said. It did not specify when the US

North Korea's newly developed tactical weapon is thought to be a long-range artillery piece, a government source in Seoul said Friday, hours after Pyongyang's media reported on leader Kim Jong-un's supervision of its recent testing.The North's official Korean Central News Agency said the communist leader oversaw the test of the "ultramodern" weapon and called it a "decisive turn in bolstering the fighting capacity" of his military."We presume it to be a new type of long-range artillery," the sou