Trump says US will 'get conflict solved' with N. Korea if there is oneWASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that the United States will "get the conflict solved" with North Korea if there is one, reiterating that he has had a "good" relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Trump made the remarks during a press availability, apparently reiterating his openness to reengaging with the recalcitrant regime, as his administration has stated its commitment to the "complete denuclearization" of North Korea. "If there is a conflict ... I get along with him very, very well, and we'll get the conflict solved with North Korea," Trump said, when asked to confirm an NK News report that he had sent a letter to Kim, which North Korean diplomats in New York refused to accept. "I've had a good relationship with Kim Jong-un, and I've gotten along with him really great. So we'll see what happens," he added. It remain unclear what he meant by the "conflict with North Korea," but he was apparently referring to military tensions that have persisted on the Korean Peninsula as Pyongyang has been doubling down on its nuclear and missile programs. His commeJun 28, 2025By Yonhap
Military restores dismantled guard posts inside DMZThe military has restored all of the 11 guard posts inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas that had been dismantled under a 2018 inter-Korean military tension reduction pact, an opposition lawmaker said Friday. The 19.6 billion-won ($14.4 million) project to restore the guard posts concluded last month, according to a report submitted to Rep. Kang Dae-sik by the Army. As part of the 2018 military deal, the two Koreas dismantled 10 guard posts and disarmed one guard post, without physically dismantling it, inside the DMZ each, but they have both taken steps to restore and rebuild them after Pyongyang unilaterally scrapped the agreement in 2023. Following the move, the number of South Korea's guard posts had been reduced to around 70, less than half of the North's 150. But a declassified report showed last year that South Korean officials dispatched to verify the North Korean guard posts had difficulties accessing their underground facilities, barring them from properly checking them. Troops were reportedly conducting surveillance operations at the restored front-lineJun 27, 2025By Yonhap
N. Korea unveils grand beach resort as it seeks to exploit sanctions loopholeNorth Korea has officially opened its long-delayed Wonsan-Kalma coastal tourist zone, signaling a renewed push to generate foreign currency through tourism — one of the few sectors not explicitly banned under United Nations sanctions. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presided over the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Tuesday, joined by his wife, Ri Sol-ju, and daughter, Kim Ju-ae. The event marked the culmination of more than a decade of planning for what Pyongyang has billed as a “world-class coastal resort” aimed at attracting both domestic and foreign tourists. The complex, located on the east coast near the military port city of Wonsan, includes high-rise hotels, beaches, swimming pools, shopping centers and recreational facilities designed to accommodate up to 20,000 visitors. According to the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency, the site will open to North Korean citizens on Tuesday, with foreign tourist access to be phased in later. The move to open the Wonsan-Kalma resort comes as North Korea’s economy remains under severe strain from international sanctions targetingJun 27, 2025By Kim Hyun-bin
Will Pyongyang respond to Seoul’s urgent call for dam discharge warning?All eyes are on whether North Korea will respond to South Korea’s annual request for advance notice before releasing water from a dam near the inter-Korean border during the summer monsoon season. The Ministry of Unification issued the appeal Friday — an annual request Pyongyang has routinely ignored since 2013. This year’s developments could provide an early indication of North Korea’s readiness to reengage, as the Lee Jae Myung administration signals a new emphasis on dialogue after years of stalemate. "The Lee Jae Myung administration recognizes that protecting the lives and safety of our people is the state’s most fundamental responsibility. Advance notification from North Korea about dam water discharges is directly related to the safety of South Korean residents living near the border," the unification ministry's deputy spokesperson Chang Yoon-jeong said during a televised briefing. Noting that joint responses to natural disasters are humanitarian in nature, Chang urged the North to cooperate during the upcoming monsoon season and to provide advance notice before dischargJun 27, 2025By Lee Hyo-jin
6 Americans nabbed for trying to send plastic bottles with rice, dollar bills to N. KoreaPolice on Friday apprehended six American citizens who attempted to release plastic bottles containing rice, one dollar bills and the Bible into the sea near a restricted border area in an effort to send them to North Korea, officials said. The U.S. nationals in their 20s to 50s allegedly attempted to release some 1,300 plastic bottles containing the goods from the restricted area on Ganghwa Island, about 50 kilometers west of Seoul, in early morning hours. They were taken into custody after a coastal military unit guarding the area reported them to the police and face charges of violating the management of disasters and safety framework act. The area in question has been restricted to the public after being designated as a danger zone in November. An administrative order banning launches of anti-Pyongyang leaflets is in effect in the area. A police official said they plan to question the U.S. nationals through an interpreter. North Korean defector groups in South Korea have released such bottles into waters near the border in what they have described as efforts to send humanitarian assisJun 27, 2025By Yonhap
NK to open biggest tour site next week, though largely blocks foreignersNorth Korea next week will open a signature coastal tourist site that it says will usher in a new era in its tourism industry, though there is no word on when the country will fully reopen to foreign visitors. The Wonsan-Kalma coastal tourist zone has hotels and other accommodations for nearly 20,000 guests who can swim in the sea, engage in sports and recreation activities and eat at restaurants and cafeterias on site, state media said. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un toured the site and cut the inaugural tape at a lavish ceremony Tuesday, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Thursday. Kim said its construction would be recorded as “one of the greatest successes this year” and called the site “the proud first step” toward realizing the government’s policy of developing tourism, according to KCNA. The Wonsan-Kalma beach resort is North Korea's biggest tourist site. KCNA said North Korea will begin service for domestic tourists next Tuesday. It didn't say when North Korea will start receiving foreign tourists, but Russian officials said later Thursday that theJun 26, 2025By AP
N. Korea likely to deploy additional troops to Russia in July or August: spy agencyNorth Korea is likely to send additional troops to support Russia's war against Ukraine in July or August, South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers Thursday. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) made the assessment in a closed-door briefing to the parliamentary intelligence committee, as Russia's media reported that Pyongyang will send 5,000 military construction workers and 1,000 sappers to Russia's Kursk region, in another possible sign of their deepening military alignment. Rep. Park Sun-won of the ruling Democratic Party and Rep. Lee Seong-kweun of the main opposition People Power Party, who were briefed by the NIS, told reporters that North Korea appeared to have already begun a recruitment process for the additional deployment to Russia. After Russia's Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu visited Pyongyang and met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un early last week, Russian media reported that Pyongyang plans to send thousands of military construction workers to Russia's Kursk front line. The NIS also noted that North Korea has supported Russia by providing over 10 million aJun 26, 2025By Yonhap
North Korea may send more troops to Russia in July or August for Ukraine war, Seoul saysNorth Korea may deploy additional troops to Russia to fight in the war against Ukraine in July or August and Pyongyang is continuing supplying arms to Russia, South Korea's lawmakers said on Thursday, citing a briefing by the intelligence agency.Jun 26, 2025By Reuters
NK leader's wife makes 1st public appearance in 1.5 years, with Gucci handbagNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un's wife, Ri Sol-ju, was seen in photos Thursday accompanying him to a recent completion ceremony for the eastern coastal Kalma beach resort, marking her first public appearance in about 1 1/2 years. Photos published by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) showed Ri standing or sitting next to Kim and their daughter, known as Ju-ae, during Tuesday's ceremony, wearing a white shirt, baggy black slacks and carrying what appears to be a Gucci handbag. Since her last media appearance at a New Year's arts performance on Jan. 1, 2024, Ri had remained absent from North Korean state media, with Ju-ae having since taken her place next to Kim during key public events. Since Kim took power in late 2011, Ri had frequently been seen in North Korean media accompanying him to various events, a notable contrast to the wives of the two previous North Korean leaders, who mostly remained behind the scenes. Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, suggested that Ri may have limited her public appearances to shift the spotlight to Ju-ae, a likJun 26, 2025By Yonhap
Pyongyang-Moscow direct train route reopens after 5-year COVID-19 suspensionA passenger train that departed Pyongyang has arrived in Moscow, marking the reopening of the direct rail route between the capitals of North Korea and Russia after a five-year suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a Russian news agency has reported. The train left Pyongyang on June 17, taking eight days to arrive at Moscow's Yaroslavsky Station on Wednesday -- the first train to travel the Pyongyang-Moscow rail route since rail service was suspended due to the pandemic, Tass reported. The train route between the two capitals had been suspended since February 2020. Ahead of its reopening, North Korea and Russia resumed rail service across the Tumen River in December last year, linking North Korea's Tumen River Station in the northeastern border city of Rason with Russia's Khasan Station. Tass quoted a North Korean railway representative, who arrived in the train, as saying that "there are no passengers in this carriage yet, only the conductors arrived." "The conductors are thrilled. They've worked in this role before and are glad to resume service on this route," he noted. The representJun 26, 2025By Yonhap
