The top nuclear envoys of South Korea and the United States will meet in Washington this week to discuss ways to cooperate on countering North Korea's planned launch of a military spy satellite and other pending issues. Seoul's chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Gunn, is scheduled to meet his US counterpart, Sung Kim, on Monday to discuss Pyongyang's evolving nuclear and military threats. "After its botched attempt to launch the satellite, North Korea has been threatening to launc

Over 16,000 elderly South Koreans who had applied for a reunion with their separated families in North Korea have passed away in the absence of reunion events since August 2018. The annual number of South Korean applicants for reunions who have died has ranged from 3,300 to 3,700 since 2018, according to data provided by South Korea's Unification Ministry to Rep. Yang Kyung-sook of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea on Sunday. The most recent state-organized in-person reunion eve

The office of President Yoon Suk Yeol said Sunday it is not letting its guard down even though the window for North Korea's satellite launch has expired, as the country can go ahead with a launch at any time. North Korea had set a period between the start of May 31 and the start of June 11 as the window for a satellite-carrying space rocket launch. The country fired the rocket on the first day of the window, but the launch ended in failure with the rocket crashing in the Yellow Sea. At the time,

The International Committee of the Red Cross remains ready to provide humanitarian assistance to North Korea and resume projects suspended during the coronavirus pandemic whenever the reclusive country reaches out for aid, an official at the organization has said. In an interview with Yonhap News Agency, Olivier Ray, the ICRC's director for mobilization, movement and partnerships, also said that the group maintains contact with the Red Cross Society of the Democratic People's Republic

North Korea claimed Friday the latest collapse of a dam in Ukraine was the result of a scheme cooked up by Washington and Kyiv in "cahoots" to shift responsibility for the humanitarian disaster to Russia amid Moscow's war with Ukraine. The North said the US, Ukraine and other western countries are "basely" passing on all responsibility for the destruction of the Kakhovka dam to Russia at a time when the world is concerned about humanitarian and material damage by the inc

North Korea has not sent its athletes to an international weightlifting competition being held in Cuba despite its earlier registration of entries to the event, according to the weightlifting governing body Friday. North Korea had registered a team of 14 athletes for the International Weightlifting Federation Grand Prix I to be held from June 8-18 in Havana, sparking speculation over the North's return to the international sports arena following years of COVID-19-related border shutdown. Bu

North Korea said Thursday it "rejects and never recognizes" the latest resolution adopted by an international maritime safety agency denouncing the North's missile launches following its attempt to launch a spy satellite. A spokesperson at the North's Maritime Administration denounced the resolution by the International Maritime Organization as "unfair and illegal" and demanded the agency reflect the North's stance in its official document, according to the off

The Yoon Suk Yeol administration on Wednesday released its first top security guidelines, the National Security Strategy, identifying North Korea's advancing nuclear development as the most pressing threat. The newly revised guidelines, under the theme of a global pivotal state for freedom, peace and prosperity, marks the first update in five years since the previous Moon Jae-in administration published its guidelines envisioning a peaceful and prosperous Korean Peninsula in 2018. The new g

Without substantive investment and market activation, Kim's agriculture reforms won't result in any improvement, experts say

North Korea's Premier Kim Tok-hun has sent a message of condolence to India's prime minister over last week's deadly train crash in the country, state media reported Wednesday. Three trains collided in the eastern state of Odisha on Friday, killing at least 288 people, according to foreign media reports. In the message sent to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, Kim expressed "deep sympathy and condolences" to the bereaved families and victims, according to t

A major North Korean youth organization has donated multiple rocket launchers to the country's military on the occasion of the 77th anniversary of its founding, state media reported Wednesday. The Korean Children's Union made the donations at a ceremony Tuesday in Pyongyang after taking part in a labor movement designed to help secure the weapons, according to the Korean Central News Agency. The labor movement is known to be staged to raise funds for the North Korean military by utiliz

The International Maritime Organization has hinted at adopting another resolution if North Korea launches a second spy satellite without notice. Natasha Brown, IMO Press Information Service Officer, said “IMO can adopt a resolution, issue a circular, issue a decision of an IMO body as it has done in the past,” in response to Voice of America’s written query in regard to North Korea’s statement that it would not notify the IMO in advance of any satellite launches. Offici

More publicly reported military activities could be due to Kim Jong-un's attempt to distance himself from struggling N. Korean economy, experts say

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Sunday lambasted last week's meeting of the US Security Council on the country's recent failed space rocket launch as "the most unfair and biased act of interfering in internal affairs." In a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, Kim Yo-jong expressed displeasure over Friday's open UNSC briefing, stressing the North will continue to exercise "all the lawful rights" as a sovereign state,

The South Korean military continued its operation Saturday to search and salvage the wreckage of a North Korean rocket that crashed into the Yellow Sea. Deep-sea divers from the Sea Salvage and Rescue Unit were deployed to the remote sea, 200 kilometers west of the western island of Eocheong, military officials said. The North launched what it claimed to be a satellite-carrying rocket Wednesday. But it crashed into the sea due to the abnormal starting of the second-stage engine, the North'