Ex-N. Korean secretary of inter-Korean affairs returns to party political bureau This Jan. 24, 2019 file photo, provided by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency, shows Kim Yong-chol, third from left, briefing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on the results of his visit to Washington. YonhapKim Yong-chol, a former top North Korean party official in charge of affairs with South Korea, has returned to the ruling party's politburo following a year of his absence from key party posts.Kim has been elected as an alternate member of the political bureau of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in the latest reshuffle of party officials following a three-day party plenary meeting that ended Sunday, according to state media.A photo carried by the Rodong Sinmun, the North's main newspaper, described Kim as an "advisor" of the United Front Department (UFD), which handles inter-Korean affairs at the WPK. Kim, 77, was the former head of the UFD.The latest report raises speculation that Kim, who was known for his hard-line stance on the South, may once again oversee the North's inter-Korean affairs as the North has continued to dial up tensions.Kim, 77, served as the North's topJun 19, 2023
N. Korea cites botched satellite launch as 'most serious' failure This photo, provided by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency, shows a plenary meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea taking place, with leader Kim Jong-un in attendance, June 19. YonhapNorth Korea on Monday called its failed attempt to launch a purported military reconnaissance satellite the "most serious" shortcoming in the first half of this year, following a rare key party meeting that concluded without its leader's speech.The North made the assessment following a plenary meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), attended by leader Kim Jong-un, that wrapped up the previous day, referring to its recent botched attempt to launch a rocket carrying a military spy satellite."The most serious one was the failure of the military reconnaissance satellite launch, the important strategic work in the field of space development, on May 31," the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in an English-language dispatch, citing the failure as among the "shortcomings that cannot be overlooked."The KCNA said that Jun 19, 2023
S. Korea to carry out 1st in-depth inquiry into forced labor in NK Unification Minister Kwon Young-se gives a press briefing at the government complex in Seoul, Sept. 8, 2022. YonhapSouth Korea plans to carry out its first in-depth inquiry into forced labor practices in North Korea through interviews with defectors who have arrived in South Korea over the past five years, sources said Sunday.North Korean Human Rights Records Center will conduct the interviews through the end of the year to learn details of the forced labor practices taking place at North Korea's detention facilities, schools and various social organizations, according to the sources.The inquiry by the center affiliated with the unification ministry will look into changes in forced labor practices before and after the launch of the Kim Jong-un regime and the relevant laws and systems of forced labor. Kim took over North Korea in 2011 after the sudden death of his father and longtime leader Kim Jong-il.The results will not be disclosed to the public and will only be used by the government to draw up policies on North Korean human rights.Last year, the unification ministry conducted anJun 18, 2023
N. Korea opens key party meeting to discuss diplomatic, defense strategies North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks during the last session of the seventh plenary meeting of the eighth Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang to discuss rural issues, in this file photo released by the North's Korean Central News Agency the following day, March 1. YonhapNorth Korea has convened a key party meeting to discuss the country's diplomatic and defense strategies in response to the "changed international situation," with its leader Kim Jong-un in attendance, state media reported Saturday.Kim took part in the enlarged plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) that opened Friday, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).The meeting will discuss "the issue of the state diplomatic and defense strategy to cope with the changed international situation," and review economic projects in the first half of this year, KCNA said in an English-language report.It said participants unanimously approved agenda items, and that the meeting entered discussions, indicating that it will likely be held for mJun 17, 2023
S. Korea to cremate body of presumed N. Korean man as Pyongyang remains unresponsive Lee Hyo-jung, deputy spokesperson of the unification ministry handling inter-Korean affairs, speaks during a press conference at the government complex in Seoul, Jan. 16. YonhapSouth Korea's unification ministry said Friday it will cremate the body of a presumed North Korean man found near a western island last month, as Pyongyang has not responded to its offer for a return.Last week, the Ministry of Unification offered to send the body and his belongings back via the truce village of Panmunjom on humanitarian grounds and urged the North to clarify its stance through the now-suspended inter-Korean liaison communication channel."As North Korea has not expressed any intent to acquire the body, we plan to handle it as a death without known kin through cooperation with the local government," Lee Hyo-jung, the ministry's deputy spokesperson, told reporters. The body was discovered in waters off Ganghwa Island in the Yellow Sea on May 19 and the man, believed to be in his 20s or 30s, appeared to be a North Korean, given his belongings that included a North Korean train ticket.The ministry Jun 16, 2023
NK fires 2 short-range ballistic missiles toward East Sea: JCS In this Aug. 16, 2019, file photo carried by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency, a short-range missile is launched from Tongchon County in Gangwon Province, North Korea. YonhapNorth Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Thursday, Seoul's military said, in apparent protest over a recent series of massive South Korea-U.S. live-fire drills that ended this week.Shortly before the launch, a spokesperson for the North's defense ministry issued a statement denouncing what it called the "provocative and irresponsible" drills.Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launches from the Sunan area in Pyongyang between 7:25 p.m. and 7:37 p.m., and the missiles flew some 780 kilometers each before splashing into the water. "The intelligence authorities of South Korea and the United States are conducting a comprehensive assessment regarding (the missiles') specifics and the possibility of additional provocations," the JCS said in a text message to reporters.The JCS urged the North to immediately stop such missile launches, calling them "acts of Jun 15, 2023
NK appears to continue unauthorized use of joint industrial complex This image, consisting of two photos taken from South Korea's border town of Paju, 37 kilometers northwest of Seoul, shows what appears to be propaganda banners on display, left, at the Kaesong Industrial Complex, May 30, compared with a photo without banners taken in February, right, May 30. YonhapNorth Korea still appears to be operating facilities at a now-shuttered joint industrial complex in the North's border city of Kaesong despite Seoul's repeated warnings against the unauthorized move, Seoul's unification ministry said Thursday.The ministry has "continuously" detected signs of the North illegally running facilities in the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the namesake border city, a ministry official told reporters on condition of anonymity. Such signs include buses entering the factory zone and lights turned on at the site at night.On whether the government plans to take legal measures against such a move, the official said the ministry is reviewing "various measures," without elaboration. The remarks came a day after Seoul lodged a symbolic damages suit against the North over Jun 15, 2023
N. Korea's Kim touts leadership of China's Xi in birthday greetings In this June 19, 2019 file photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, poses with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for a photo during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. AP-YonhapNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un has sent a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping on his 70th birthday, saying that Beijing's national power has "remarkably" strengthened under his leadership, Pyongyang's state media reported Thursday.In the message, Kim said that Beijing has "built a comprehensively well-off society" and that its "national power and international position remarkably strengthened" under Xi's "energetic" leadership, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). "The message expressed belief that the struggle for the prosperity of China will surely emerge victorious as there are the leadership of Xi Jinping and the Chinese party and people rallied around the Party Central Committee with him as its core," the KCNA said in an English-language dispatch.Kim also said he is pleased to see Xi's achievements and wished hiJun 15, 2023
North Korea suspected of providing more weapons to Russia The captured image shows a photo released by the U.S. National Security Council on Jan. 20, showing a set of Russian railcars traveling between Russia and North Korea on Nov. 18-Nov. 19, 2022 for the suspected delivery of North Korean military equipment to Russia's private military company, known as the Wagner Group. YonhapBy Nam Hyun-wooConcerns are growing that North Korea may provide more weapons to Russia as there are signs of the two countries forging closer ties involving weapons trade.Reuters reported Tuesday that the United States had confirmed a North Korean arms delivery, including infantry rockets and missiles to the Kremlin-backed Wagner mercenary group in November last year, despite Pyongyang's denial that it had sold weapons to Russia, which is now engaged in a war with Ukraine.“We are concerned that the DPRK is planning to deliver more military equipment to Russia,” a U.S. State Department spokesperson told Reuters. The DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.The U.S. has been criticizing the purported North KoJun 14, 2023By Nam Hyun-woo
Spy agency warns of NK-made Naver phishing site This combined image shows the legitimate news page of web portal Naver (news.naver.com), left, and that of the North Korean phishing website Naverportal (news.naverportal.com). The two sites provide almost identical information making it very difficult to tell them apart. Courtesy of National Intelligence ServiceBy Nam Hyun-wooNorth Korea is trying to steal South Koreans' personal data by operating a phishing website that replicates South Korea's largest portal Naver in real time, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) said Wednesday, urging the public to be cautious about wrong web addresses.The spy agency said in a press release that the North has been attempting to steal user data through a number of fake Naver websites. “If the domain address is not the legitimate Naver access domain ― www.naver.com ― such as www.naverportal.com, please immediately stop accessing it,” the NIS said in the release.According to the NIS, the North has been replicating the sign-in page of Naver to induce South Korean users to input their login details, thereby stealing usernames and passwJun 14, 2023By Nam Hyun-woo
