South Korea, the US and Japan held joint missile defense drills off the Korean Peninsula on Tuesday to counter North Korea’s aggression, as the North vowed to expand its capability to use nuclear weapons at sea. The exercises in international waters off Jeju Island focused on tracking projectiles and sharing information about such potential launches by North Korea. Destroyers equipped with the Aegis system to shoot down missiles were used, South Korea’s Navy said. The aim is to &ldq

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for bolstering naval forces as he visited the country's navy command, while denouncing South Korea, the United States and Japan for stepping up their trilateral military cooperation, according to the North's state media Tuesday. Kim's visit, which took place on Navy Day in North Korea, came days after he visited a navy unit where he inspected a cruise missile test aboard a warship. "To achieve the successes in rapidly developing the nava

SHENYANG, China -- More than 300 North Korean workers returned home Monday from a Chinese border city, multiple sources said, a day after Pyongyang reopened its borders for its citizens abroad for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. Around 300 to 400 North Koreans left Dandong in northeastern China earlier in the day for the North's border city of Sinuiju by bus, according to the sources. It marked the first time for North Koreans to return home by road transportation since the two

North Korea apparently has decided to reopen its border after more than three years of its tight virus curbs due largely to economic challenges from its border closure, South Korea's unification ministry said Monday. North Korea said Sunday it has allowed its citizens abroad to return home amid eased concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic and will put them under quarantine for a week. The decision marked the secretive regime making official the reopening of its border. "Due to its border

North Korea criticized a recent decision by the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway for providing F-16 fighters to Ukraine in its fight against Russia as an "anti-peace act," the North's state media said Monday. The commentary by the North's Institute of International Studies came as Pyongyang has expressed support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine and amid speculation of an arms deal between Pyongyang and Moscow. "Their decision to supply even fighters is an anti-peace

North Korea is gradually opening its tightly closed borders to neighbors like China and Russia amid concerns of an economic crisis in one of the world's most isolated nations. On Sunday, North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency said the North’s State Emergency Epidemic Prevention Headquarters on Saturday authorized North Korean citizens stranded abroad to return. The move comes more than three years after strict border restrictions were implemented to prevent the spread

BEIJING -- Another flight operated by Air Koryo, North Korea's national carrier, arrived in Beijing on Saturday, marking the resumption of regular passenger flights connecting the two countries after they were halted for more than three years due to the pandemic. China recently announced its approval of Koryo Air's schedule between the two countries' capitals, offering three flights per week, in a sign the border has reopened after international flights from and to the North were

WASHINGTON -- The United States' envoy to the United Nations called on the UN Security Council to condemn North Korea's recent failed satellite launch on Friday, while insisting that China and Russia's refusal to hold North Korea accountable for its actions is encouraging the recalcitrant country to continue making provocations. The US envoy. Thomas Linda-Greenfield, said China and Russia's refusal to condemn North Korean provocations is "troubling." "I urge ev

VLADIVOSTOK -- A flight operated by Air Koryo, North Korea's national carrier, arrived in Russia's far eastern city of Vladivostok on Friday, a Russian news agency reported, marking the resumption of a commercial flight connecting the two countries after more than three years of COVID-19 restrictions. The flight, which departed from Pyongyang, arrived at Vladivostok International Airport at 11:14 a.m., Russian news agency RIA Novosti said. According to sources, the plane did not carr

North Korea's state media, which is primarily meant for internal audiences, has not yet reported on its second failed attempt Thursday to launch a purported spy satellite into orbit. The action shows a stark contrast with North Korea’s prompt external acknowledgment of the launch failure, detailed explanations of the primary cause, and the announcement of its intention to conduct a third satellite launch in October via the Korean Central News Agency. The KCNA, which predominantly targ

North Korea's failed attempt to launch a military satellite is a provocative action that destabilizes the region, a Pentagon spokesperson reiterated Thursday, after the White House condemned the launch as a direct violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions. The Pentagon spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, said the United States will continue working closely with its South Korean and Japanese allies to ensure stability in the region. "What we see here is another failed spa

The recently held three-way summit between the leaders of South Korea, Japan and the United States has built an unprecedentedly strong foundation for trilateral cooperation that will help develop their ties under any circumstances, South Korea's ambassador to the US Cho Hyun-dong said Thursday. Cho also insisted that the trilateral summit has created a small multilateral forum that he said is stronger or more powerful than other regional gatherings, including the Quad, a grouping of the US,

North Korea on Thursday denounced the trilateral agreement among South Korea, the United States, and Japan as "the Asian version of NATO," and the US scheme to encircle Russia and China. Pyongyang's defense minister, Kang Sun-nam, issued a statement after the leaders of Seoul, Washington and Tokyo held a trilateral summit at Camp David last week, and agreed to beef up cooperation to deal with North Korea's nuclear and missile threats. "The recent confab brought to light

North Korea said Thursday that Japan should immediately halt the release of treated radioactive water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea. In a statement carried by the North's official Korea Central News Agency, a spokesperson for its foreign ministry said the act devastates the earth's environment, and seriously threatens the security and survival of mankind. Earlier in the day, Japan began to discharge its first batch of treated radioactive water into the se

Foreign Minister Park Jin and his US and Japanese counterparts agreed to look into individual sanctions on North Korea, following its failed second attempt Thursday to put a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit, during a phone call that took place hours after the launch. The call is a “meaningful follow-up” to last week’s Camp David summit agreement for joint action on North Korea, an isolated country that defies United Nations sanctions prompted by its nuclear and weap