N. Korea's Kim vows not to forget Chinese war dead on armistice anniversaryNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited the Friendship Tower in Pyongyang on the anniversary of the signing of an armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War, pledging not to forget the contributions of fallen Chinese soldiers, state media reported Sunday. Kim laid a wreath before the tower the previous day, saying that North Korea "would never forget the militant feats and merits of the fallen fighters of the Chinese People's Volunteers," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The armistice was signed on July 27, 1953, bringing the Korean War to a halt. Since 1996, North Korea has marked the date as Victory Day, claiming it won the Liberation War against U.S.-led aggression. Erected in 1959 in Pyongyang, the Friendship Tower commemorates the contributions of Chinese soldiers who fought in the war and has since served as a symbol of North Korea-China friendship. Kim has frequently paid tribute at the tower on past armistice anniversaries, using the occasion to highlight North Korea's relations with China. This year's report, however, made no mention of bilateral ties, a possibleJul 27, 2025By Yonhap
Seoul extends olive branch to North Korea — will Pyongyang respond?Less than two months in office, President Lee Jae Myung is moving swiftly to improve frayed relations with North Korea, rolling back years of hardline policies imposed by his conservative predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol. Lee has suspended military propaganda loudspeakers along the inter-Korean border and authorized several non-governmental organizations to resume humanitarian outreach to the North. His administration has also called on civic groups to stop launching anti-North Korean leaflets that have long angered the Kim Jong-un regime. But the most notable and controversial step taken by Lee’s government is the quiet shutdown of decades-old radio and television broadcasts run by the country’s spy agency. Earlier this month, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) halted its decades-long propaganda broadcasts targeting North Korea, signaling a significant scale-down of South Korea’s psychological warfare efforts. The transmissions, which had aired since the late 1980s, were intended to expose North Korean listeners to outside news and South Korean films and dramas, and to weaken the reJul 27, 2025By Lee Hyo-jin
N. Korea set to celebrate 72nd anniversary of armistice signingNorth Korea is set to hold a series of events Saturday to celebrate the 72nd anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War, the North's media reported. North Korea will hold celebrations for the anniversary to mark the country's victory in the Fatherland Liberation War in Pyongyang, and participants invited to the event arrived in the capital Thursday, according to the Korean Central Television. The media said nighttime fireworks, a parade and a variety of performances would be held in the capital. The Korean War, which started with an invasion of South Korea by North Korea, ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, on July 27, 1953. Since 1996, the North has celebrated the armistice signing date as Victory Day, claiming that it won the Liberation War against U.S.-led aggression. North Korea has used the anniversary to honor war veterans and reinforce internal unity. For this year's celebrations, authorities have invited war veterans and people with wartime merits, as well as officials, the media said. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has also sent gifts to war veJul 26, 2025By Yonhap
Trump remains open to dialogue with Kim to achieve 'fully denuclearized' N. Korea: White HouseWASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump remains open to engagement with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to achieve a "fully denuclearized" North Korea, a White House official said Friday, a day after his administration announced a raft of actions to disrupt Pyongyang's illicit revenue generation schemes. The Trump administration unveiled a package of actions against North Korea on Thursday, including offering rewards for information about seven North Korean nationals involved in a scheme believed to raise funds for the reclusive regime's nuclear and missile programs. "President Trump in his first term held three historic summits with North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un that stabilized the Korean Peninsula and achieved the first ever leader-level agreement on denuclearization," the official told Yonhap News Agency via email. "The president retains those objectives and remains open to engaging with Leader Kim to achieve a fully de-nuclearized North Korea," the official added. The official was responding to a question about whether Thursday's actions against the North signaled that the TrumpJul 26, 2025By Yonhap
N. Korean, Chinese hackers grow bolder, target crypto, nuclear sitesHackers backed by North Korea and China are escalating global cyberattacks, infiltrating hundreds of organizations across government, education and critical infrastructure — including leading cryptocurrency platforms and the U.S. agency responsible for nuclear weapons, cybersecurity experts reported. Dutch cybersecurity firm Eye Security reported that more than 400 institutions worldwide have been breached in recent days. Most of the victims are based in the United States, with additional incidents reported in Mauritius, Jordan, South Africa, the Netherlands and other parts of Europe, Asia, the Middle East and South America. This expansive and unconstrained campaign signals a worrying new phase in the North's state-sponsored cyber warfare, demonstrating both a heightened capability and a broader intent to destabilize critical sectors far beyond traditional intelligence gathering. The global reach of these incursions underscores the severe and interconnected vulnerabilities facing both public and private entities worldwide. The attacks are still unfolding, with hackers actively scanninJul 25, 2025By Kim Hyun-bin
New unification minister visits truce village ahead of inaugurationNew Unification Minister Chung Dong-young visited the truce village of Panmunjom near the inter-Korean border ahead of his inauguration Friday, the ministry said, in efforts to mend strained ties with North Korea. Chung made the visit after President Lee Jae Myung approved his appointment as the country's top point man on North Korea earlier in the day, according to the ministry. During the visit, Chung inspected the South's facilities at Panmunjom, a historic venue where some 370 rounds of inter-Korean talks have taken place since 1971. Chung stressed that restoring now-suspended inter-Korean communication channels is an "urgent priority" in order to swiftly resume dialogue between the two Koreas. "Under cooperation with relevant agencies, such as the U.N. Command, I will do my best to make Panmunjom into a space for connection and cooperation rather than one of separation and tension," he said. Chung, a journalist-turned-lawmaker, previously served as unification minister in 2004-05 under former liberal President Roh Moo-hyun.Jul 25, 2025By Yonhap
N. Korea opens new beach resort hoping to remake eastern coast into tourism hubNorth Korea unveiled a new beach in Tongchon County, roughly 50 kilometers south of the recently launched Wonsan-Kalma coastal resort, state media reported Thursday — a move analysts view as part of Pyongyang’s broader campaign to reinvent the country’s eastern seaboard as a tourism hub. Years of stringent international sanctions, aimed at curtailing its weapons programs, have left North Korea severely short of hard currency. This has crippled legitimate trade, forcing Pyongyang to increasingly rely on illicit revenue streams, including cyber theft. Curiously, tourism remains one of the few sectors not explicitly banned by United Nations sanctions, a loophole the isolated nation has actively tried to exploit by developing resorts and seeking foreign visitors to generate much-needed funds. Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the ruling Workers’ Party, reported that an opening ceremony was held Wednesday for the new beach in Tongchon. The article framed the facility as a product of the “motherly party’s loving care,” underscoring the regime’s continued efforts to proJul 25, 2025By Kim Hyun-bin
US takes flurry of steps to disrupt N. Korea's illicit revenue generationThe United States announced a package of actions Thursday to disrupt North Korea's illicit schemes to generate revenue for its nuclear and missile programs, including offering rewards for North Koreans involved in the schemes, and sanctioning a North Korean firm and associated people. The move came although U.S. President Donald Trump has signaled his openness to reengaging with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, raising speculation that he could seek to resume his personal diplomacy, which led to three in-person meetings between him and Kim during his first term. The Trump administration described the move as a "whole-of-government" effort that involved an array of organizations, including the Department of State, Justice and the Treasury. The State Department said its Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program is offering rewards totaling up to $15 million for information leading to arrests or convictions of seven North Koreans — Sim Hyon-sop and six co-conspirators. Sim and the others were charged for their role in illicit activities to buy and sell tobacco from North Korea to gainJul 25, 2025By Yonhap
S. Korea not to resume anti-NK propaganda broadcasts unless Pyongyang does first: officialSouth Korea will not resume its propaganda radio and television broadcasts targeting North Korea unless Pyongyang resumes such broadcasts toward the Seoul first, a senior government official has said. The comments came after the National Intelligence Service, South Korea's spy agency, suspended all of its decades-old propaganda broadcasts targeting the North Korean regime earlier this month, including channels such as Voice of the People and Echo of Hope. Those channels, which had operated for decades, transmitted propaganda messages to North Koreans, promoting the values of South Korea's free society, criticizing the North Korean regime and serving as a rare source of outside information for the highly restricted country. The government official said the suspensions were a response to North Korea's halt of its own propaganda broadcasts toward Seoul early last year, adding the government won't resume such operations unless North Korea does so first. "If the North side resumes (its broadcasts), we will respond, but we won't be the first to do so," the official said in a meeting with reporJul 24, 2025By Yonhap
N. Korean leader calls for bolstering combat capability during artillery drillsNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called on the military to strengthen combat capability through intensive training, stressing the capability "of immediately coping with a war anytime and destroying the enemy in every battle," state media reported Thursday. Kim made the remarks as he observed a firing contest of artillery subunits of the Korean People's Army (KPA) the previous day, accompanied by senior party and defense officials, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). During the training aimed at sharpening artillery firing capabilities, participating units were ordered to hit a maritime target that was designated at a spot in a limited time, the KCNA said. Kim expressed satisfaction after observing the contest and called for further developing the military's artillery tactics "in keeping with the harsh and acute environment of the daily-changing modern battlefield," the KCNA said. He was also quoted as saying the military should further beef up intensive training for a "real war" and stressed that the most powerful war deterrent is the "clearest outlook on the arch enemJul 24, 2025By Yonhap
