The US authorities announced on Thursday that Russia is pursuing a plan to secure additional ammunition in exchange for food to North Korea, targeting a Slovak national arms dealer with sanctions for allegedly facilitating the exchange of goods between Russia and North Korea. In a briefing with reporters, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said, “We remain concerned that North Korea will provide further support and Russia’s military operations against Ukraine and we ha

Based on testimonies from over 500 defectors, report documents shocking human rights abuses in NK

WASHINGTON-- The United States will continue to build its defense capabilities against North Korea's evolving nuclear threats, a US National Security Council spokesperson said Tuesday, noting the North continues to ignore US overtures for dialogue. John Kirby, NSC coordinator for strategic communications, also highlighted the importance of joint South Korea-US military exercises. "We are well aware that Kim Jong-un continues to fire off missiles and he continues to try to improve the

For the first time, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un revealed his country’s nuclear warhead in person alongside a system meant to manage such operations, saying the regime needs an “exponentially bigger” nuclear arsenal amid potential preparations for a nuclear test. The North’s official Korea Central News Agency said Tuesday that on the previous day, Kim inspected new tactical nuclear weapons as well as technologies needed to make compatible all weaponry, including nuclea

President Yoon Suk Yeol said Tuesday that his administration will "fully expose" North Korea's human rights violations to the international community in its first human rights report on the reclusive regime to be released soon. Presiding over a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning, Yoon said, “The reality of North Korean people's gruesome human rights violations must be fully exposed to the international community.” He did not elaborate on when the report will be pu

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Monday, Seoul's military said. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected the launches from the Chunghwa County area in North Hwanghae Province starting from around 7:47 a.m. The missiles flew some 370 kilometers before splashing into the sea, it added. Pyongyang's latest provocation came as South Korea and the United States kicked off the Ssangyong (double dragon) amphibious landing exercise last week. It is s

North Korean propaganda outlets continued their criticism of an ongoing South Korea-US amphibious landing exercise Sunday, blaming the allies for heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Seoul and Washington kicked off their first large-scale Ssangyong exercise in five years last Monday to sharpen deterrence against growing North Korean threats. It runs through April 3. Uriminjokkiri, a propaganda website, rejected the allies' argument that their combined drills were defensive in nature

North Korea has held a general meeting of its Olympic Committee to discuss plans for this year, vowing to win more medals in international competitions, its state media said Saturday, after the country was reinstated for the Olympic Games. The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said high-ranking officials attended the meeting on Friday to discuss ways to win more medals in global-scale competitions and to tackle anti-doping issues. With the turn of the year, the North has become free fro

North Korea tested a new underwater drone capable of nuclear attacks on South Korea and its biggest ally, the United States, in its latest drills in response to the two allies’ resumption of their annual military exercises this month after a five-year hiatus failed to bring the North back to nuclear talks. The North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency said Friday that leader Kim Jong-un oversaw the three-day drills that began Tuesday, which Kim said should make Seoul and Washingto

Kim Ju-ae, the daughter of North Korea leader Kim Jong-un, was recently seen wearing what appears to be a product of a luxury brand Christian Dior, marking a stark contrast to the living conditions of ordinary people in one of the poorest countries in the world. The girl, one of Kim’s three known children and believed to be 10 years old, appeared on a video released on March 17 by the North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency, accompanying her father in observing the previous

6th missile launch in two weeks came before US amphibious warship docked in Busan

S. Korean ban aimed at North’s plan to test missiles amid higher inter-Korean tension

Websites of some major North Korean organs, including the country's state media outlets and the foreign ministry, were knocked offline for an unknown reason Tuesday morning. As of 9 a.m., there were failures in connecting to North Korean domain names ending in ."kp," such as the official Korean Central News Agency and the main newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun. The exact cause for the problem was not immediately confirmed. In January 2022, the North's major websites reportedly suf

The South Korean unification minister will visit Japan at the official invitation of the Japanese government to discuss ways to enhance coordination on North Korean issues, including North Korean abductions of South Korean and Japanese people. Unification Minister Kwon Young-se is scheduled to meet Japanese government officials and lawmakers during his four-day trip to Japan that begins Wednesday, South Korea’s Unification Ministry announced Monday. The trip essentially aims to upgrade bil

North Korea said it conducted a live-fire drill simulating attacks on South Korea by exploding a tactical nuclear weapon mounted on a missile in the air, ramping up its nuclear saber-rattling amid the ongoing defense-oriented Freedom Shied military exercise being conducted between South Korea and the United States. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un guided the two-day “joint tactical drills simulating a nuclear counterattack by units operating tactical nuclear weapons” on Saturday and S