N. Korea holds commemorative event marking observance for people with disabilitiesNorth Korea has held a commemorative event to mark an annual observance dedicated to people with disabilities, state media reported Thursday. North Korea held its annual Day of Persons with Disabilities observance event at the Sci-Tech Complex in Pyongyang on Wednesday, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Attended by public welfare officials and families of disabled people, various support programs were introduced at the event, with awards handed down to those who have participated in various sponsorship programs. The country has annually held such events since adopting a law on the protection of persons with disabilities in 2003, with June 18 designated as the day of observance. In a separate article, the KCNA said public awareness of issues involving disabled people has increased while highlighting policies aimed at supporting their education, medical care and employment. The report also noted the activities of organizations for disabled artists and athletes in the North, including the Korean Art Association of the Disabled and the Korean Sports Association for the DisabJun 18, 2026By Yonhap
Jeju Forum seeks to invite North Korean UNESCO official to participate remotelyThe organizers of the Jeju Forum, an annual event held in Jeju Island on themes of peace, are seeking to invite a North Korean UNESCO official to participate remotely in this year's edition, which is set to take place next week. If realized, the official will become the first North Korean to take part in the South Korean-hosted forum since its launch in 2001. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Unification, the forum organizers are working to invite Chang Gwang-chol, chief of the Education Policy Section at UNESCO’s Division for Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems, as a speaker for a session titled “UNESCO and the Future of Education: Challenges and Prospects” on June 26. The unification ministry said forum organizers had filed a notification in advance to communicate with Chang. Under South Korean law, contact with North Korean nationals requires prior approval from the unification ministry, even if the communication is related to participation in an academic or international event. “The organizers submitted the contact report in advance, and we aJun 16, 2026By Bahk Eun-ji
N. Korea touts economic achievements ahead of key party meetingNorth Korea's state media outlets on Tuesday highlighted economic achievements ahead of a key party plenary meeting later this month, in an apparent bid to rally workers behind the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Tuesday that industrial output has climbed 105 percent since the WPK's ninth congress in February, attributing the achievement to the drive and determination of workers and factory managers across the country. The KCNA cited the Sangwon Cement Complex in North Hwanghae Province as a model for what the party expects from workers nationwide. The complex, a facility with an annual production capacity of 2 million tons, reportedly hit 107 percent of its daily production target throughout March and met its quotas in the two months that followed. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited the plant March 1, marking his first inspection of an economic site since the congress. A local coal mine also drew praise, with the KCNA report claiming it exceeded its production target by more than 1,000 tons. Similar gains were cited in chemicals aJun 16, 2026By Yonhap
Jeju’s ‘Vitamin C diplomacy’ revives dormant model of North Korea engagementFor years, North Korea has rejected all dialogue with Seoul, denouncing reunification and spurning offers of aid. But Jeju Island’s announcement this week that it sent medical equipment, citrus saplings and other supplies to North Korea suggests that another channel for engagement may still be open: South Korea’s local governments. While North Korea has not confirmed the transfer, local governments have long served as alternate pathways to exchanges with Pyongyang, from Jeju’s “Vitamin C diplomacy” to tourism projects pursued by border provinces. Jeju’s latest success could provide a template for renewed cooperation. However, experts caution that it is still too early to gauge Pyongyang’s openness to engage with South Korean local governments based solely on this initiative, despite the glimmer of hope it offers after years of stalled inter-Korean ties. The Jeju deal The Jeju government said Monday it had provided North Korea with roughly $100,000 worth of medical equipment, hallabong citrus saplings and other goods, after engaging in discussions with a North Korean organizaJun 16, 2026By NK News
N. Korea's Kim congratulates Xi's 73rd birthday with message, flowersNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un has sent a congratulatory message and flower basket to Chinese President Xi Jinping on his 73rd birthday, Pyongyang's state media said Tuesday. Kim wished Xi "good health and greater success in leading the cause of socialist construction in China" in the message delivered the previous day through North Korea's ambassador to China, the Korean Central News Agency reported. A ribbon on the flower basket read, "I warmly congratulate Comrade General Secretary Xi Jinping on your birthday," according to the report. The gesture follows Xi's two-day state visit to Pyongyang last week, his first trip to North Korea in nearly seven years. During the visit, the two agreed to deepen cooperation across politics, economy and culture, pledging to strengthen high-level communication and open a new chapter in bilateral relations.Jun 16, 2026By Yonhap
Trump's captionless Kim Jong-un photo sparks talk of renewed North Korea diplomacyHours after declaring an end to the war with Iran, U.S. President Donald Trump posted a captionless photo of himself with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un — a move experts say signals openness to renewed summit talks with Pyongyang, even if North Korea is unlikely to become an immediate priority for the administration. Trump uploaded the image to Truth Social on Sunday (local time), showing him walking with Kim through a garden in Singapore on June 12, 2018, during the summit at which the two leaders agreed to pursue denuclearization and improved bilateral ties. The post came roughly an hour after Trump announced the U.S. would sign a deal with Iran Monday, an agreement he said would bar Iran from possessing nuclear weapons and lead to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. “Barack Hussein Obama’s Deal with Iran, the JCPOA, was an easy, beautiful, smooth road to a Nuclear Weapon, which Iran would have had six years ago, and would have used long before now. My Agreement with Iran is the exact opposite, A WALL TO NO NUCLEAR WEAPON! In fact, they no longer want a Nuclear Weapon, norJun 15, 2026By Park Ji-won
Unification ministry vows to press on with peace drive despite Pyongyang's rebuffsThe unification ministry said Monday it remains committed to respecting the North Korean regime and will not engage in hostile acts, after North Korea slammed South Korea's peaceful coexistence policy as a disguise of peace. "The unification ministry will unwaveringly proceed with measures to rebuild inter-Korean trust in support of President Lee Jae Myung's commitment to peace," Yoon Min-ho, the ministry's spokesman, said at a regular press briefing. He cited a string of goodwill gestures as evidence of Seoul's sincerity, including halting loudspeaker broadcasts along the border and moving quickly to express regret over drone flights into the North. "These reflect Seoul's resolve for peaceful coexistence," he said. The remarks came after a weekend of sharp accusations from Pyongyang. North Korea on Saturday lashed out at Seoul over its denuclearization goal, declaring South Korea is "an invariable enemy state obsessed with hostility and confrontation." The outburst came after South Korea and the European Union jointly condemned Pyongyang's military cooperation with Russia and its nuclearJun 15, 2026By Yonhap
N. Korea, Vietnam hold talks over cooperation on public security, law enforcementThe security ministers from North Korea and Vietnam held talks in Pyongyang over the weekend to discuss ways to expand cooperation on public security and law enforcement, Pyongyang's state media reported Monday. The North's Public Security Minister Pang Tu-sop met with his Vietnamese counterpart, Luong Tam Quang, on Sunday, and they exchanged "the successes and experience gained by the public security organizations … in the field of law enforcement," according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). They also "discussed the issues of expanding and developing bilateral exchange and cooperation," the report said. The Vietnamese delegation arrived in Pyongyang on Saturday, the latest in a string of Hanoi officials to make the trip to North Korea. Last month, Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung visited Pyongyang, meeting Jo Yong-won, chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly's standing committee, and North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui. That visit followed a summit in October between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Vietnamese President To Lam — the first visit by a top VietnameseJun 15, 2026By Yonhap
Presidential office reaffirms NK's denuclearization as int'l community's 'consistent goal'The presidential office said Sunday that North Korea's denuclearization remains a "consistent goal of the international community" after Pyongyang criticized Seoul and Washington for reaffirming their shared goal during recent high-level talks. A senior presidential official reiterated the government's position in response to remarks by North Korea's foreign ministry, which described denuclearization as an "irreversibly finalized" matter after South Korea and the United States reaffirmed their shared goal during the bilateral Nuclear Consultative Group meeting in Seoul on Thursday. "Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is a consistent goal of the international community, as reaffirmed through multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions," the official said. The official said cooperation between the allies on extended deterrence is part of the government's responsibility to protect its citizens and is fully consistent with the international nonproliferation regime and norms, including the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Extended deterrence refers to a U.S. pledge toJun 14, 2026By Yonhap
N. Korea calls denuclearization 'irreversibly finalized' matterNorth Korea on Sunday called denuclearization an "irreversibly finalized" matter as it denounced recent talks between South Korea and the United States that reaffirmed the goal of the North's denuclearization. An unnamed spokesperson of the North's foreign ministry issued the criticism, after South Korea and the United States reaffirmed the shared goal at the bilateral Nuclear Consultative Group meeting on Thursday. "It is an unreasonable talk and fantastic daydream to mention about disarming the other belligerent party's nuclear weapons," the spokesperson said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). "The U.S. and its vassal forces' meaningless rhetoric against the DPRK and cooperation in posing a nuclear threat to it can never affect the irreversible position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state," the spokesperson said. "The 'denuclearization' is an irreversibly finalized matter." DPRK stands for the North's official name — the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The spokesperson also took issue with the bilateral Extended Deterrence Dialogue between the UJun 14, 2026By Yonhap
