North Korea held a politically charged event to mark its “Victory Day” in the Korean War, though its celebrations were notably absent of saber rattling and bellicose rhetoric from the country’s leader. But the United States said concerns still remain over a seventh nuclear test, warning that it would incur “tremendous costs” to North Korea. North Korea held an eighth national conference of war veterans in the capital city of Pyongyang on Tuesday on the occasion

North Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases dropped below 20, according to its state media Wednesday. More than 18 people showed symptoms of fever over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day, the official Korean Central News Agency said, citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters. It did not provide information on whether additional deaths have been reported. As of July 5, the death toll had stood at 74, with the fatality rate at 0.002 percent. The total nu

North Korea held a national conference of war veterans earlier this week to celebrate the 69th anniversary of what it claims to be victory in the three-year conflict against South Korea and the US-led UN troops, according to state media Wednesday. The 8th National Conference of War Veterans took place in Pyongyang the previous day, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. It made no mention of the country's leader Kim Jong-un, suggesting he has skipped this year's confe

South Korea's unification minister did not rule out the possibility of North Korea carrying out a nuclear test on the occasion of what it calls "Victory Day" this week, speaking publicly Tuesday. "I think there is such a possibility," Kwon Young-se said, when asked about the issue during a radio interview here. The North is marking the 69th anniversary on Wednesday of the 1953 armistice, which effectively ended the Korean War. Pyongyang calls the national holiday the Day

North Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases dropped below 50, according to its state media Tuesday. More than 30 people showed symptoms of fever over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day, the official Korean Central News Agency said, citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters. It did not provide information on whether additional deaths have been reported. As of July 5, the death toll had stood at 74, with the fatality rate at 0.002 percent. The total numb

North Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases dropped below 100, according to its state media Monday. More than 50 people showed symptoms of fever over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day, the official Korean Central News Agency said, citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters. It did not provide information on whether additional deaths have been reported. The total number of fever cases since late April came to over 4.77 million as of 6 p.m. Sunday, of wh

North Korea will hold a nationwide politically charged event for its “War Victory Day” to mark the anniversary of the 1953 armistice agreement that ended the Korean War. High-ranking US and South Korean officials will have in-person meetings in Seoul and Washington this week to discuss mounting threats from North Korea.　 The eighth national conference of war veterans will be held in the capital city of Pyongyang to mark the “great war victory day, which is the great pride and

North Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases remained below 200 for the fourth consecutive day, according to its state media Sunday. More than 120 people showed symptoms of fever over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day, the official Korean Central News Agency said, citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters. It did not provide information on whether additional deaths have been reported. The total number of fever cases since late April came to over 4.77 m

Unification Ministry seeks to allow S. Koreans to freely access N. Korean state media reports

North Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases remained below 200 for the second consecutive day, according to its state media Friday. More than 140 people showed symptoms of fever over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters. It did not provide information on whether additional deaths have been reported. As of July 5, the death toll stood at 74, with the fatality r

North Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases dropped below 200, according to its state media Thursday. More than 170 people showed symptoms of fever over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters. It did not provide information on whether additional deaths have been reported. As of July 5, the death toll had stood at 74, with the fatality rate at 0.002 percent. The

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea has launched an investigation into the controversial repatriation of two North Korean fishermen in 2019. The Commission assigned the case to its human rights violation investigator on Tuesday, according to a screen capture of the petition processing page provided by Lee Jong-bae, a Seoul city councilmember. Lee, who filed the petition Monday, called for the public human rights watchdog “to determine whether human rights violations occurred,

North Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases remained below 300 for the second consecutive day, according to its state media Wednesday. More than 250 people showed symptoms of fever over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day, the official Korean Central News Agency said, citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters. It did not provide information on whether additional deaths have been reported. As of July 5, the death toll had stood at 74, with the fatality r

The government named Lee Shin-wha, an international relations professor at Korea University, as ambassador-at-large on North Korean human rights issues on Tuesday, filling in the post that has been vacant for the past five years. The Foreign Ministry said it is appointing Lee as the ambassador to support the government’s diplomatic efforts to promote North Korean human rights, on bilateral and multilateral levels. Lee, of the university’s department of political science and inte

North Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases dropped below 300, according to its state media Tuesday. More than 250 people showed symptoms of fever over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters. It did not provide information on whether additional deaths have been reported. As of July 5, the death toll had stood at 74, with the fatality rate at 0.002 percent. The t