WASHINGTON -- North Korea continued to execute, torture and physically abuse its own people for their religious activities in 2022, the US State Department said in an annual report on international religious freedom, citing an earlier report by a nongovernmental organization that said the country's denial of religious freedom remains "absolute." The report also noted the country especially persecuted Christians and followers of shamanism. "The government reportedly continued to ex

Seven in 10 South Koreans support the Yoon Suk Yeol government’s efforts to shed light on North Korea’s dire human rights situation, a poll showed. In a survey on 1,000 adults conducted by the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council from March 24-26, 70.5 percent of the respondents said they support the government’s policy initiative to raise awareness on North Korean human rights. The PUAC, a presidential consultative body set up to draw up policies on democratic and peaceful un

In May 2021, the server of Seoul National University Hospital in Seoul was hacked. It was suspected that North Korea was behind the attack. After a two-year investigation, Seoul police concluded Wednesday that the hacking was carried out by the North Korean hacking group known as "Kim Su-ki" and that it stole the personal information of over 830,000 people, including the medical records of 810,000 patients. It is suspected that the hackers, using malware, looked into the medical record

North Korea condemned this week's summit between President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida through its propaganda outlet Wednesday, saying it has paved the way for a "military collusion" between the two countries. Yoon and Kishida met in Seoul on Sunday in what marked a full resumption of "shuttle diplomacy," or regular two-way visits between the neighbors' leaders, after years of frayed relations over rows stemming from Japan's 1910-45

WASHINGTON -- Any joint military exercises of South Korea and the United States are defensive in nature, a Pentagon spokesperson said Tuesday, insisting that there is no reason for North Korea to have any objections to such exercises. Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder reiterated that the joint exercises are aimed at promoting peace and stability in the region. "The United States and the Republic of Korea do conduct exercises on a regular basis," the spokesperson told a daily press briefing, refer

North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui has met with China's new ambassador to Pyongyang and vowed a "firm" willingness to further develop friendly ties between their nations, state media said Tuesday. Choe met Ambassador Wang Yajun, who paid a courtesy call on her, Monday, and the meeting was held in an amicable atmosphere, according to the Korean Central News Agency. "They expressed a firm stance to further develop the traditional and friendly relations between the North

　The number of North Korean defectors coming to South Korea reached 34 in the first quarter, government data showed. 　After escaping the North, five men and 29 women reached the South in the January-March period, bringing the total number of the North’s defectors to 33,916, according to the data from Seoul’s Unification Ministry. 　The data compared with 11 people in the first quarter of last year and 25 tallied in the fourth quarter. 　The number of North Korean defectors coming t

North Korea has refused to take regular phone calls from South Korea for a month, while stepping up criticism of the Yoon Suk Yeol government’s policy of strengthening coordination with the United States in countering and deterring escalating North Korean threats. Pyongyang has violated the inter-Korean commitment to hold calls through the liaison and military hotlines twice a day, in the morning and afternoon. But the Kim Jong-un regime has not provided any clear explanation for why it un

Recent commercial satellite imagery indicates new construction is taking place at North Korea's major rocket launching site in a move likely aimed at modernizing the facility, according to a recent report from a U.S. think tank. A coastal area previously used for agricultural purposes near the Sohae Satellite Launching Station in the country's northwestern province of North Pyongan appears to be undergoing construction based on the satellite imagery taken Sunday, according to the 38 No

North Korea's state media on Friday intensified Pyongyang's criticism of a recent summit agreement between South Korea and the United States on strengthening US extended deterrence. Citing articles carried by Chinese news outlets, the North's Korean Central News Agency reported that the summit agreement would create a new Cold War structure in Northeast Asia and increase risks of confrontation in the region. The KCNA also hinted that North Korea may carry out more provocations if

North Korean workers and members of social groups have joined the North's criticism of a recent summit agreement between South Korea and the United States on strengthening US extended deterrence, according to state media Thursday. The working class and trade union members held a protest in the border city of Kaesong the previous day, saying that the whole country was "enraged with the will to destruct the enemies," according to the Korean Central News Agency. The KCNA said partici

Former US deputy secretary of state calls for China to stop linking North Korean issues to its relationship with US

North Korean youth and students held a rally to denounce a recent agreement reached by the leaders of South Korea and the United States on strengthening US extended deterrence, Pyongyang's state media said Wednesday. The official Korean Central News Agency reported that the protest was held in South Hwanghae province the previous day to "sternly punish" the US and South Korea, or what it called a "gangster" and "puppet" state, respectively. The KCNA said the pa

South Korea's unification ministry said Tuesday it plans to publish a report on economic and social situations in North Korea for the first time in November to help better understand people's lives in the secretive regime. The report will include statistical analysis on social and demographic features in North Korea, and show changes in the North's economic and social situations, based on testimonies from the North's defectors, according to the ministry. Since 2010, the gover

About 60 percent of South Koreans in their 20s and 30s said unification with North Korea is not necessary, a survey showed, amid the ongoing impasse in inter-Korean relations and denuclearization talks. The survey, commissioned by a civic media group called Barun Media Citizen Action, found that 61 percent of people in their 20s and 30s say Korean reunification is “not absolutely necessary.” In comparison, 24 percent of them say unification with North Korea is “absolutely neces