South Korea’s unification minister is mulling a meeting with a North Korean defector group, a ministry official said Wednesday. The move is being seen as an effort to quell criticism over the minister’s decision to block a journalist who defected from the North from covering a high-level inter-Korean meeting held Monday.  South Korea's Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon(Yonhap)“A review (for the meeting) is under way among relevant offices,” ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun told a regular pres

WASHINGTON -- The US envoy for North Korea met with his Russian counterparts Tuesday to ensure full coordination on efforts to dismantle the North's nuclear weapons program, the State Department said.Stephen Biegun, US special representative for North Korea, held talks in Moscow with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov and Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov. US special representative for North Korea, Stephen Biegun (Yonhap)The three men discussed efforts to achieve the "final, full

North Korea on Tuesday repatriated a 60-year-old South Korean man who was detained last month after Pyongyang claimed he entered the country illegally, Seoul’s unification ministry said.The man, identified only by his surname, Pyo, was sent to the South via the truce village of Panmunjom inside the Demilitarized Zone at around 4 p.m., the ministry said. (Reuters)“Related agencies are currently investigating him to discern how he entered the North,” the ministry said. “The government positively e

Kim Jong-gap, the CEO of the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (Yonhap)Kim Jong-gap, the CEO of the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), said Tuesday that earnest discussions on investment in North Korea can come after progress in talks between the United States and North Korea.Kim made the remarks during a parliamentary audit, apparently referring to ongoing negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang over the latter‘s denuclearization in return for a security guarantee from the f

The Eugene Bell Foundation, a US-based group that has long provided medical humanitarian assistance to North Korea, especially for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, said that its officials will visit the North for three weeks beginning Tuesday.The private foundation said in a press release that its delegation has begun a regular autumn visit to North Korea. (Yonhap)"The Eugene Bell Foundation's delegation will visit all North Korean multidrug-resistant tuberculosis centers supported by the found

WASHINGTON -- The United States on Monday called for the full enforcement of United Nations sanctions on North Korea as the two Koreas moved to establish rail and road links across their border.The two Koreas will hold a ground-breaking ceremony in late November or early December to start the modernization and connection of railways and roads along the eastern and western regions, the sides announced after high-level talks earlier in the day.The agreement is a follow-up to last month's third sum

The two Koreas have agreed to break ground for the modernization of cross-border railways and roads in late November or early December, said a statement released by South Korea’s Unification Ministry on Monday. The statement came as a result of high-level talks held Monday to discuss the implementation of the agreement reached at last month’s inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang. South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon met with Ri Son-gwon, chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunif

North Korea's official newspaper on Monday urged its people not to have illusions about imperialism in order to safeguard socialism.The Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the ruling Workers' Party, said in an editorial that capitalism and a bourgeois life fundamentally go against socialism and are "like a cancer.""Imperialists are desperately touting peace campaign and appeasement policy after their invasion policy against socialist countries failed. These are their cunning plot to accomplish their inv

North Korea has recently launched a new website dedicated to external trade and investment in what appears to be a move to induce more foreign investment to aid its economic growth.The "Foreign Trade of DPRK" website -- DPRK stands for Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's full name -- seen on Monday, has multiple subcategories, including trade policy, trade law, a list of North Korean trading firms, investment targets, economic development zones and trade goods.(Yonhap)The new we

South Korea's ruling party chief said Monday that he heard Pope Francis is hoping to visit North Korea next spring as its leader Kim Jong-un has invited him to Pyongyang.Lee Hae-chan, the chairman of the Democratic Party, made the remark without revealing the source of the information."I heard that there is talk that Pope Francis wants to visit North Korea next spring," Lee said at a meeting with senior party officials.It would be quite meaningful if President Moon Jae-in delivers Kim's invitati

PARIS -- The international community needs to prove that North Korea has made the right decision to give up its nuclear ambition, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Sunday, apparently stressing the need to start easing international sanctions against the communist state."As North Korea stands before the world after voluntarily coming out of its isolation, now it is the international community's turn to answer North Korea's tough decision and efforts," Moon said in a written interview with F

SEOUL/PANMUNJOM -- South and North Korea are holding high-level talks Monday to discuss the implementation of the summit agreement their leaders reached last month.South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon is leading a five-member delegation to the talks that began around 10 a.m. at the truce village of Panmunjom. His North Korean counterpart is Ri Son-gwon, chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country."(We) should work hard to produce results that people would

The divided Koreas will hold high-level talks on Monday to discuss the implementation of the summit agreement their leaders reached last month in Pyongyang, South Korea’s Ministry of Unification said Sunday. South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon will lead a five-member delegation assembled for the talks scheduled to take place on the southern side of the truce village of Panmunjom, according to the ministry. Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung, Vice Land and Transport Minister Ki

South and North Korea will hold high-level talks this week to discuss the implementation of the summit agreement their leaders reached last month, the unification ministry here said Sunday.South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon will led a five-member delegation to the talks scheduled for Monday at the southern side of the truce village of Panmunjom, according to the ministry. Other South Korean delegates include Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung, Vice Land and Transport Minister

 BALI, Indonesia -- South Korea's finance minister asked the International Monetary Fund on Saturday to play an active role in efforts to help North Korea carry out reforms and open up to the outside world, ministry officials said.Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon made the request when he met with IMF chief Christine Lagarde on the sidelines of an International Monetary and Financial Committee meeting held on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, officials said. (Yonhap)Kim explained to Lagarde tha