How North Korea laundered money through Vietnamese crypto companyOn Sept. 22, 2025, a post seeking a verified U.S. Payoneer account appeared on a Telegram channel run by Quangvietdnbg International Services Co. Ltd., a Vietnamese online financial company. At first glance, it appeared to be a routine post seeking to buy a borrowed-name account on Payoneer, the electronic payments platform. Quangvietdnbg, however, was later found to have been involved in laundering money for North Korea. Last month, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control added Amnokgang Technology Development Co., based in Pyongyang, and Quangvietdnbg to its sanctions list targeting individuals and entities linked to North Korea. According to the Treasury, Amnokgang arranged for North Korean information technology workers to obtain overseas jobs under false identities, while Quangvietdnbg laundered the wages they earned and sent the money back to North Korea. Quangvietdnbg and its CEO, Nguyen Quang Viet, “converted approximately $2.5 million into cryptocurrency for North Koreans” by orchestrating IT worker schemes that “systematically defraud U.S. businApr 16, 2026By Hankookilbo
N. Korea's Kim oversees artillery firing contest on state founder's birthdayNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un has overseen an artillery firing contest on the birth anniversary of state founder Kim Il-sung, grandfather of the current leader Kim, the North's state media reported Thursday. "Comrade Kim Jong-un ... oversaw an artillery firing contest of artillery subunits under the large combined units of the Korean People's Army (KPA) in the western area organized on April 15, the Day of the Sun," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. It marks the first time the leader has been reported to attend a military-related event on the founder's birth anniversary, observed as one of the country's most important national holidays known as the Day of the Sun. Participating subunits demonstrated "militant marksmanship" and a "full war posture," with the top spot going to the Capital City Defence Corps' artillery subunit followed by the KPA's 4th Corps, the KCNA said. Kim expressed satisfaction with the firing contest held on the "greatest auspicious" national holiday, calling it "an important occasion" to boost artillery training enthusiasm and strengthen combat capabilitApr 16, 2026By Yonhap
Unification minister says appointing special envoy to facilitate US-NK talks still under reviewUnification Minister Chung Dong-young said Wednesday the appointment of a special envoy to facilitate dialogue between the United States and North Korea was still known to be under review by President Lee Jae Myung. Chung's remarks came after he had earlier proposed sending an envoy for "peace on the Korean Peninsula" to neighboring countries to help reopen U.S.-North Korea talks and stalled inter-Korean dialogue. The move comes as South Korea has deemed the period leading up to U.S. President Donald Trump's planned trip to China next month for summit talks as critical to establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula. On the agenda for the summit talks between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Chung said Washington was moving "under the table," without elaborating.Apr 15, 2026By Yonhap
N. Korea's economy entering recovery phase amid closer ties with Russia, China: SeoulNorth Korea's economy has entered a recovery phase thanks to closer relations with Russia and China, overcoming a period of recession, the unification ministry in Seoul said Wednesday. The ministry made the assessment in its five-year plan for inter-Korean relations, covering 2026 to 2030, submitted to the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee. The ministry said North Korea has "formed and is maintaining cooperative ties" similar to an alliance with Russia, including in high-tech weapons and technology transfers while seeking a practical recovery in relations with China, a trend that is putting the national economy on a recovery path. North Korea, in particular, is seeking to boost its "strategic autonomy" and "negotiating power" by leveraging the growing Sino-U.S. rivalry while boosting diplomacy with countries in traditional friendship with the regime, the ministry said. The blueprint for inter-Korean relations is drafted every five years, but the latest fifth edition was drawn up after the previous five-year plan, adopted under ousted former President Yoon SukApr 15, 2026By Yonhap
N. Korea, Russia's largest labor unions sign cooperation agreementThe largest umbrella labor unions of North Korea and Russia held talks in Pyongyang and signed an agreement to boost cooperation, the North's state media said Wednesday. Ri Won-jong, head of the General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea, and Sergei Chernogayev, head of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia, signed a memorandum of understanding on friendship and cooperation during talks in Pyongyang the previous day, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. "The talks discussed ways to expand and strengthen exchanges and cooperation between the two countries' trade unions in line with the North Korea-Russia friendship which has entered a new stage," the KCNA said. A delegation from the Russian trade union, which has a reported membership of 19 million workers, has been visiting North Korea since Monday. The move came as the two countries have aligned closely in various sectors following the North's deployment of troops to support Russia in its war against Ukraine, which has also led to Russia providing vital military technology and resources to Pyongyang.Apr 15, 2026By Yonhap
N. Korea calls for loyalty to leader Kim on founder's birth anniversaryNorth Korea called on party members and citizens for increased loyalty to leader Kim Jong-un on Wednesday, the birth anniversary of state founder Kim Il-sung, highlighting the two leaders' shared people-centered policies. The ruling Workers' Party of Korea's newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, made the call in an article as the country marks the 114th birth anniversary of founder Kim Il-sung, the current leader's grandfather. The newspaper said the founder's policy of serving the people as "the sky" lives on under the current leader's leadership, calling the people-centered approach a "perpetual political philosophy" of the ruling party and the state. "With unwavering loyalty, (we) should uphold the ideology and leadership of respected general secretary (Kim Jong-un), who carries forward the sacred history of supreme leader (Kim Il-sung)'s" people-centered policy, the newspaper said. The newspaper also called for greater resolve and a march toward the day when the ruling party's top priority of improving people's welfare is fully realized. North Korea observes the founder's birthday, known as the "Apr 15, 2026By Yonhap
N. Korean leader's 1st public reference to 'one-China' principle points to closer bilateral ties: SeoulNorth Korean state media have recently reported on leader Kim Jong-un's reference to the "one-China" principle for the first time in a sign that Pyongyang and Beijing are closely aligning, South Korea's unification ministry said Tuesday. In a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday, the North's leader said his country would "fully support" China's policies aimed at realizing its territorial integrity on the basis of the "one-China principle," the Korean Central News Agency said Saturday. Kim appears to be referring to China's territorial claim to Taiwan. "North Korea and China appear to be drawing far closer to each other. Kim's mentioning of the 'one-China' (principle) is a case in point," an official at the unification ministry said in regard to his assessment of Wang's visit to Pyongyang from April 9-10. The official said North Korea treated Wang with special courtesy, indicating that the two nations have been strengthening cooperation and communication. Since Kim and Chinese President Xi Jinping held summit talks in Beijing last September, the two nations appear to beApr 14, 2026By Yonhap
N. Korea's Kim sends educational aid to pro-Pyongyang ethnic Koreans in JapanNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un has sent an educational aid fund and stipends to an association of pro-Pyongyang residents in Japan to mark this week's 114th birthday of late state founder Kim Il-sung, the North's state media reported Tuesday. Kim sent 316.4 million yen ($1.98 million) in such funds to the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan for "democratic national education of Korean children in Japan" to mark the founder's birthday that falls on April 15, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Since taking office in late 2011, Kim has sent educational aid funds and scholarships every year to the association around his late grandfather's birthday. Kim Il-sung; Kim Jong-il, late father of the incumbent leader; and Kim Jong-un have sent a total of 50.3 billion yen on 172 occasions to children of pro-Pyongyang ethnic Koreans in Japan, the KCNA said. Experts said Kim Jong-un appears to have an intent to use the education aid to elicit loyalty from young ethnic Koreans in Japan. His late mother Ko Yong-hui was a Korean resident in Japan, which North Korea views asApr 14, 2026By Yonhap
N. Korea's Kim observes test-firing of cruise, anti-warship missiles from key destroyerNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un has overseen a test-firing of strategic cruise and anti-warship missiles from the destroyer Choe Hyon, stressing the country's top priority is to bolster a nuclear war deterrent "without limit," state media reported Tuesday. North Korea conducted the launches of two strategic cruise missiles and three anti-warship missiles from the naval destroyer Sunday in its "operational efficiency test," according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). In March, North Korea conducted similar strategic cruise missile tests from the 5,000-ton warship on two occasions ahead of its commissioning, also observed by Kim. Pyongyang's reference to "strategic" weapons suggests that they could have nuclear capabilities. During the latest test, Kim said, "The preparedness of our army's strategic action has been strengthened in a qualitative way with various achievements recently made in the field of defense science," according to the KCNA. He also called for "bolstering up the powerful and reliable nuclear war deterrent steadily and without limit" as the nation's "most importanApr 14, 2026By Yonhap
Switzerland to reopen cooperation office in North Korea after 6 yearsSwitzerland plans to reopen its international cooperation office in North Korea this year, after a six-year absence due to the pandemic. The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) confirmed to NK News on Thursday that it plans to resume operations at the Pyongyang office of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). “The FDFA is reactivating the office in 2026 by reestablishing a permanent Swiss presence,” a department spokesperson said. The FDFA visited Pyongyang in Nov. 2024 to assess the feasibility of reactivating the Swiss cooperation office, but did not follow through on it at the time. Switzerland does not operate a formal mission in Pyongyang and maintains diplomatic relations through its embassy in Beijing. Instead, the SDC resident office — which primarily operates under the FDFA — effectively represents Bern in North Korea. “The Swiss Office in Pyongyang serves to facilitate bilateral dialogue between Switzerland and North Korea as well as coordinate possible Swiss humanitarian programs in North Korea,” the FDFA stated. “Switzerland remains commiApr 13, 2026By NK News
