UN aviation agency voices grave concerns over N. Korea's GPS signal jammingThe U.N. aviation agency has voiced grave concerns over North Korea's recent jamming of GPS navigation signals and called for measures to prevent a recurrence, the South Korean foreign ministry said Monday. During its latest council session held in Montreal, Canada, from March 10 to April 4, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) adopted a decision against North Korea's GPS signal jamming, the ministry said in a press release. The agency also decided to send a letter, under the council president's name, to inform North Korea of the decision's adoption. The decision was made in response to a proposal by the South Korean government to the ICAO council, following North Korea's latest GPS jamming activities from October last year to mid-February, which affected thousands of flights across more than 20 countries and regions, according to the ministry. In the decision, the ICAO expressed grave concerns over GPS signal jamming by North Korea, urged the country to comply with relevant international law and demanded that it guarantee the prevention of a recurrence. In June last year,Apr 21, 2025By Yonhap
Youth groups of N. Korea, Russia reaffirm friendship at meeting in PyongyangYouth groups of North Korea and Russia have held a friendly meeting in Pyongyang, the North's state media reported Monday, as both countries have been bolstering cooperation in various fields. The meeting was held Sunday, attended by the United Russia Youth Guards and North Korea's Socialist Patriotic Youth League, according to the Korean Central News Agency. A delegation of the United Russia Youth Guards, led by Anton Zemidov, chairman of its coordination council, arrived in Pyongyang last Monday. Mun Chol, chief of the central committee of the North's youth group, said that "people and youths of the two nations will firmly unite and achieve invincibly victory forever as a genuine comrade," citing the close friendship between the leaders of North Korea and Russia. North Korea and Russia have expanded the scope of cooperation in the military, economy and other areas since Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held summits in June last year in Pyongyang. North Korea has sent thousands of its troops to Russia to support Moscow's war with Ukraine following theApr 21, 2025By Yonhap
N. Korea criticizes Trump's easing of US weapons exportsNorth Korea on Sunday denounced United States President Donald Trump's recent easing of domestic weapons export regulations, calling it a move aimed at "expanding war." The state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) issued the criticism, citing Trump's April 9 executive order that mandates a review of rules governing U.S. military equipment exports, aimed at facilitating easier overseas sales of defense products. The KCNA claimed that weapons sales serve as a key tool in advancing the U.S. foreign policy of establishing hegemony, accusing Washington of supplying war equipment to its followers following the outbreaks of war in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip. It argued that U.S. arms sales have surged in recent years, with most exported military equipment flowing into the hands of "warmongers" in Europe and the Middle East. The KCNA accused the U.S. of "encouraging the expansion of war," while pretending to broker talks and negotiations, adding that the consequences are evident when U.S. lethal means are transferred to "proxy" war forces.Apr 20, 2025By Yonhap
ICAO dismisses N. Korea's request to investigate alleged drone infiltration into PyongyangThe U.N. civilian aviation agency has dismissed North Korea's request to investigate its claim of South Korean drones infiltrating Pyongyang's airspace last year, a Seoul official said Thursday. Earlier this year, North Korea submitted the request to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for a probe into the alleged drone infiltrations in October. "At the ICAO Council meeting on April 1, North Korea's claim was not accepted and the council decided by consensus that no measures were necessary regarding the case," the foreign ministry official said. Under ICAO regulations, the agency's council must discuss all issues brought up by a member state. The case was dismissed through a closed-door meeting of the council — comprised of 36 members, including South Korea. South Korea has expressed opposition to what it called North Korea's "politicization" of the ICAO after the investigation request was made. In October, North Korea accused South Korea of sending drones over Pyongyang to scatter propaganda leaflets, a claim which Seoul has neither confirmed nor denied. South and NorthApr 17, 2025By Yonhap
Ukrainian official claims Russia plans to use NK troops on Ukrainian territoryRussia is planning to deploy North Korean soldiers on Ukrainian territory in the ongoing war between the two countries, dressing them in Russian uniforms, a Ukrainian security official has claimed. Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council's Center for Countering Disinformation, posted the claim on his Telegram account the previous day. Once North Korean troops are deployed on Ukrainian territory, Russia would claim that they are fighting on Russian territory as defined by the Russian constitution, Kovalenko said, citing Ukrainian lands written into the Russian constitution. In the first year of the war in 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed laws incorporating the Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine — Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson — into the Russian Federation, although the international community does not recognize the annexation. Since signing a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty with North Korea in June last year, thousands of North Korean troops have been deployed to support Russia in its war against Ukraine, with tApr 17, 2025By Yonhap
N. Korea accuses Israel of seeking to absorb Gaza territoryNorth Korea on Thursday criticized Israel's renewed strikes on the Gaza Strip, accusing it of explicitly seeking to seize Palestinian territories. The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) issued the criticism in a commentary after Israel resumed its offensive in Gaza in mid-March, following the failure to extend a ceasefire with Hamas, which leads militant groups in the Gaza Strip. Israel's defense minister has said its troops will remain in the "security zones" established by seizing swathes of territory in Gaza, even after the war ends. The KCNA denounced Israel for harboring "ambitions to steal territory," claiming the country is no longer hiding its intention to dominate Palestine. The news agency also accused the United States of effectively ordering Israel's complete occupation of Gaza, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump's remarks that Gaza would be turned over to the U.S. at the conclusion of the war. The KCNA said the "reckless" military actions by U.S.-backed Israel clearly demonstrate who is responsible for the destruction of global peace and security.Apr 17, 2025By Yonhap
N. Korea criticizes S. Korea-US air drillsNorth Korea's defense ministry has accused South Korea and the United States of raising tensions on the Korean Peninsula with their joint military drills, warning the North would deter any aggressive attempt by the allies. The North's defense ministry issued the warning in a statement dated Wednesday, a day after South Korea and the U.S. conducted joint air drills involving U.S. B-1B bombers over the peninsula in a show of force against North Korean military threats. The North's ministry called the deployment a "reckless and unnecessary abuse of strength" and "a grave provocation" that raises regional military tension to "an extreme dangerous level." The ministry accused the U.S. of "openly deploying nuclear submarine, strategic bomber, aircraft carrier and other strategic assets" to the peninsula at a new record level, saying such deployments have "been fixed as a routine military practice." The ministry warned that the U.S.' "bluffing" military action would "inevitably bring serious negative consequences" to its own security situation. "The DPRK will exercise the overwhelming deterrenceApr 17, 2025By Yonhap
N. Korea's Kim skips family mausoleum visit on founder's birthday for 3rd year in rowNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un appears to have skipped a visit to the family mausoleum on the birth anniversary of his grandfather and national founder Kim Il-sung as North Korean media on Wednesday reported only on a visit by other key officials. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that Premier Park Thae-song; Choe Ryong-hae, chairman of the North's parliamentary standing committee; and other high-ranking cadres visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun the previous day, when the country marked the founder's 113th birth anniversary. The report did not include Kim Jong-un among those who visited the palace. The Kumsusan Palace is a mausoleum in Pyongyang that houses the preserved bodies of Kim ll-sung and his son, late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, who is also the father of the current leader. Kim Jong-un had made annual visits to the mausoleum on the founder's birthday since 2012 after taking power following his father's death the previous year but suspended the tradition in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He resumed visits to mark his grandfather's birth in 2021 and 2022Apr 16, 2025By Yonhap
N. Korea's Kim marks completion of new apartments in Pyongyang's new town on founder's birthdayNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un attended a ceremony marking the completion of 10,000 new housing units in a newly developed town in Pyongyang on the birth anniversary of his grandfather and national founder Kim Il-sung, the North's state media reported Wednesday. Kim attended the completion ceremony for the third-stage housing section of the newly developed Hwasong area in the capital Tuesday, the day the country celebrated the 113th birth anniversary of its founder, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Pyongyang's northeastern district of Hwasong, along with Songhwa, has been newly developed under a five-year plan unveiled by Kim in 2021 to build 10,000 housing units in the capital every year. The first batch of 10,000 apartments was completed in Songhwa the following year, followed by 20,000 more units built in the first- and second-stage sections of Hwasong in 2023-2024. The latest completion of the third-stage section brings the total number of new apartments to 40,000 so far, with Kim claiming the completion of the final fourth-stage section will successfully resolveApr 16, 2025By Yonhap
N. Korea sent over 126,000 phishing emails to S. Koreans: policeNorth Korea was behind a massive distribution of phishing emails to South Koreans between late last year and early this year, the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) said Tuesday. The agency said a North Korean hacking group sent 126,266 fake emails to 17,744 people in South Korea from last November to January to steal their personal information. The scam emails are classified into about 30 types, falsely promising to provide information on North Korean politics, concert tickets for famous singers, tax refunds, daily fortunes and health, the KNPA said. Notably, one type of email falsely promised to reveal the Defense Counterintelligence Command's documents on former President Yoon Suk Yeol's Dec. 3 martial law declaration and was sent to 54 online users in the South, the agency noted. The scam emails, if clicked, would direct the users to phishing sites that ask for their portal site account ID and password. The KNPA said that the same servers used in previous cyberattacks originating from North Korea were used again this time and IP addresses used were located in areas between North KorApr 15, 2025By Yonhap
