North Korea remains unresponsive to requests from a UN working group for information on more than 300 enforced disappearance cases involving the reclusive country, a UN report showed Saturday. The Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances has made the requests related to the 362 cases to the North between 1980 and May this year, but there has been no response from Pyongyang, according to its annual report recently submitted to the UN Human Rights Council. Enforced disappearance ref

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un publicly expressed his determination not to give up the country's nuclear weapons, accusing the United States of seeking the collapse of his regime, not just denuclearization. He made clear that Pyongyang has no intention of resuming negotiations for denuclearization, as the North's rubber-stamp parliament approved a new nuclear force policy during a key session earlier this week, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Friday. "The a

Unification Minister openly makes surprise proposal as N.Korea ratchets up bellicose rhetoric against S.Korea

North Korea has convened a key parliamentary session to discuss and adopt laws on rural development and landscaping, state media reported Thursday. The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) meeting was held in Pyongyang the previous day, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The country's leader Kim Jong-un did not attend the gathering. "The session adopted with unanimous approval the ordinance of the SPA of the DPRK 'On Adopting Law of the DPRK

North Korea bristled Wednesday at the United States having taken issue with its human rights situation, calling the move a "grave provocation." In July, a US State Department spokesperson expressed concerns over the North's rights situation following Seoul's appointment of a new envoy for the reclusive state's human rights. A researcher at the North's Korea Association for Human Rights Studies dismissed the remarks and accused Washington of using the issue to streng

South Korea has approved a civic group's plan to send nutritional aid to North Korea, a unification ministry official said Wednesday, the first such decision under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration launched in May. "Last month, we approved a civilian group's application for assistance related to nutritional materials," the official said, without providing details, such as the name of the group. The ministry has already approved seven similar requests from aid organizations thi

WASHINGTON -- Russia has reached out to North Korea and Iran, a US defense department spokesperson said Tuesday, in its apparently desperate search for ammunition. Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder insisted Moscow's request for ammunition from North Korea demonstrates the difficulties Russia now faces due to its ongoing war against Ukraine. "We do have indications that Russia has approached North Korea to request ammunition," the department press secretary said in a press briefing. "I

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un chaired a meeting to review his country's disaster prevention and response system, Pyongyang's state media said Tuesday, as the powerful Typhoon Hinnamnor hit the southern swathes of the peninsula. Kim and other attendees checked the North's preparedness and discussed measures for strengthening its crisis response capabilities during the session held on Sunday and Monday in Pyongyang, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Kim

INCHEON -- A North Korean defectors' group said Monday it has sent big balloons carrying COVID-19 pain relievers and face masks to North Korea. Fighters for a Free North Korea said 20 plastic balloons were released from Ganghwa Island in Incheon, around 30 kilometers west of Seoul, to North Korea on Sunday, with 50,000 painkiller pills, 30,000 vitamin C tablets and 20,000 masks in them. In photos released by the civic group, the balloons were also carrying banners showing the images of Nort

“By joining voices, I hope to make a bigger impact together,” says Lee

North Korea is taking precautionary measures as it braces for a "super strong" typhoon churning toward the Korean Peninsula, according to its state media Monday. North Korean officials have inspected buildings at risk of flooding or collapsing while fishing boats out in the sea were recalled to port as Typhoon Hinnamnor is expected to bring heavy rains, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. Pyongyang has taken measures to prevent damage in areas frequently hit by mudslides an

Elizabeth Salmon, the newly appointed United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights situation in North Korea, said during her first press conference on Friday in Seoul that she would use her mandate to better protect the rights of women and girls in North Korea. “I am particularly determined to bring more attention to the experiences of women and girls, to improve understanding of their specific needs, and to better appreciate the adversities they face in the DPRK,” said Sa

Unification Minister Kwon Young-se met Friday with the new U.N. special rapporteur for North Korea's human rights to discuss humanitarian issues in Pyongyang. During his meeting with Elizabeth Salmon, Kwon promised proactive efforts to address the human rights issue of North Korea and expressed regret that the matter had been "neglected" under the previous liberal Moon Jae-in administration. "The administration of President Yoon Suk-yeol will strive to improve the human right

North Korea accused the newly appointed U.N. special rapporteur on its human rights situation Friday of serving merely as a "puppet" of the United States. In response to a question by the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), a spokesperson for Pyongyang's foreign ministry launched the verbal attack on the US and Elizabeth Salmon, who assumed the post in early August. She arrived in Seoul earlier this week for meetings with South Korean officials, North Korean d

HONOLULU -- South Korea, Japan and the United States agreed to stern measures against a new nuclear test by North Korea, South Korea's top security adviser said Thursday, adding the countries' reaction will be different from those of the past. Kim Sung-han made the remarks after a trilateral meeting with his US and Japanese counterparts -- Jake Sullivan and Takeo Akiba -- in Honolulu. "(We) agreed that there must not be naive thinking or reaction that North Korea has conducted six