UN chief voices support for complete denuclearization of N. Korea South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, left, holds talks with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, right, over lunch at the presidential office in Seoul, Aug. 12. YonhapU.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met with President Yoon Suk-yeol on Friday and expressed support for the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of North Korea, officials said.Guterres, who is on a two-day visit to Seoul, met with Yoon over lunch at the presidential office in Seoul.Yoon welcomed the secretary-general, saying he looked forward to hearing his thoughts on how to solve the many challenges facing the world.Guterres said through a translator that he thanks South Korea for being a model nation in the work of the U.N. and especially in peacekeeping efforts around the world.He also praised South Korea's respect for human rights and contribution to the international community in the areas of socioeconomic development and climate change.Guterres went further to express the U.N.'s full support for the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of North Korea, saying it was anAug 12, 2022
US concerned by NK's 'strengthened rhetoric' around its nuclear program: State Dept. A THAAD launcher is seen in this photo captured from the Facebook account of the 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) on April 24, 2019. YonhapThe United States is preparing for all contingencies amid signs of a potential North Korean nuclear test but is concerned by Pyongyang's "strengthened rhetoric" around its nuclear program, a state department spokesperson said Thursday.Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the department, said Pyongyang is continuing to prepare for what will be its seventh nuclear test."The U.S. assesses the DPRK is preparing its Punggye-ri (nuclear) test site for what would be its seventh nuclear test. This assessment is consistent with the DPRK's own public statements," the spokesperson said in a telephonic press briefing, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea."We are preparing for all contingencies in close coordination with our Japanese and ROK allies," Patel added. "Furthermore, we are prepared to make both short and longer term adjustments to our military posture as appAug 12, 2022
ASEAN-hosted security meeting backs complete denuclearization of Korean Peninsula Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, left, and South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin arrive for a group photo at the ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Aug. 4. Reuters-YonhapThe foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other major powers reaffirmed their commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and support for diplomacy toward the goal during a regional security forum, a statement showed Thursday.The chair's statement was released five days after the annual ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) held in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, with the attendance of top diplomats from the ASEAN member states, the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan.During the ARF session, the attendees expressed concerns over rising tension on the Korean Peninsula over the North's surge in ballistic missile launches, and called on it to refrain from further nuclear and missile tests."The Meeting also urged for utmost restraint and refraining from all actions that would hinder the resumption of a meaningful dialoguAug 11, 2022
Unification ministry expresses regret over 'groundless claims' on origin of its COVID-19 outbreak A spokesperson of the unification ministry speaks during a press briefing at the government complex in Seoul, Thursday. YonhapSouth Korea's unification ministry on Thursday voiced strong regret over North Korea's claim that its COVID-19 outbreak had originated from the South and its threats of an unspecified retaliatory step.Earlier in the day, Pyongyang's state media reported that leader Kim Jong-un held a national meeting the previous day and declared victory in the campaign against COVID-19.During the session, his younger sister Kim Yo-jong, who serves as vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, reiterated Pyongyang's assertion that "alien things" from the South carried the virus into the North and raised the need to take "deadly retaliatory" countermeasures.The government "expresses strong regret over North Korea's insolent and threatening remarks based on repeated groundless claims regarding the inflow of the coronavirus at the national meeting on reviewing anti-epidemic measures," an official at the ministry told reporters on the customaAug 11, 2022
NK leader declares victory in fight against COVID-19: state media This photo, released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, Aug. 11, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un making a speech to declare victory in the country's fight against COVID-19 during a national meeting on anti-epidemic measures in Pyongyang held the previous day. YonhapNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un has declared victory in his country's emergency campaign against COVID-19, state media reported Thursday.Kim made the announcement during a national meeting on anti-epidemic measures he presided over the previous day, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).He "solemnly declared the victory in the maximum emergency anti-epidemic campaign for exterminating the novel coronavirus that had made inroads into our territory and protecting the lives and health of the people," it said in an English-language article.Touting the success of three months of the impoverished nation's antivirus measures, Kim proclaimed a decision to lower its "maximum" emergency epidemic prevention system to a normal level.Kim, however, stressed the need for continued vigilance anAug 11, 2022
North Korea sends letter to China slamming Pelosi's Taiwan trip North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, attends a meeting of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in Pyongyang, North Korea, May 17. EPA-YonhapNorth Korea's ruling Workers' Party (WPK) sent a formal message to the Communist Party of China denouncing Nancy Pelosi's recent visit to Taiwan as a "shameless provocation," Pyongyang's state media reported Wednesday.In the "solidarity letter" sent to the party's central committee the previous day, the WPK also called the U.S. House of Representatives' trip a "serious infringement" of Beijing's sovereignty, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). "The WPK Central Committee said in the letter that the public junket to Taiwan, made by an incumbent U.S. high-ranking official despite China's strong protest and solemn warning and the universal opposition of the international community, was a serious infringement on China's sovereignty and territorial integrity and an unpardonable political provocation aimed to defame the authority of the CPC and disturb the succesAug 10, 2022
North Korea releases water from border dam after downpours Water gushes through the gates of Gunnam Dam on the Imjin River, which runs across the inter-Korean border, in the South Korean border town of Yeoncheon, Tuesday. YonhapBy Jung Min-hoNorth Korea released water from a dam near South Korea without providing prior notice despite an inter-Korean agreement and Seoul's repeated requests, an official said Tuesday.“It appears that North Korea has repeatedly opened floodgates on Hwanggang Dam without notifying us,” an official told The Korea Times. “So far, there have been no reports of damage by the recent water release … North Korea seems to be adjusting the water level in the dam after heavy rainfall there.”The dam, which was constructed on the Imjin River in 2007, is situated 42 kilometers north of the Korean Demilitarized Zone. North Korea agreed in October 2009 to give prior notice to the South after six South Koreans were killed in Yeoncheon one month earlier as a result of its massive release of water from the dam without notification.The official said the South received such notices six times since the Aug 9, 2022By Jung Min-ho
N. Korea issues heavy rain alert for southern regions A riverside pathway in Pyongyang by the Taedong River that runs through the capital is submerged on Aug. 8, in this captured footage from the North's Korean Central Television. YonhapNorth Korea issued a heavy rain alert across its southern regions, state media reported Tuesday, as downpours pounded Pyongyang and other areas earlier this week.The advisory was issued for regions in the southwestern provinces of North and South Hwanghae, some southern parts of the eastern Gangwon Province and the border city of Kaesong, according to the Korean Central Broadcasting Station.It said 50 to 80 millimeters of rain is forecast in those regions.On Monday, state media footage showed the Taedong River that runs through Pyongyang flooding riverside pathways in the capital.The Rodong Sinmun, the North's main newspaper, described the latest downpours as "disastrous" weather and called for thorough preventative measures against damages.It said authorities are adjusting the floodgates of the West Sea Barrage near the western port city of Nampho to prevent the Taedong River from flooding and damaging Aug 9, 2022
N. Korea appears to release border dam water without prior notice: official Water is discharged from Gunnam Dam in the northern county of Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province, Monday. YonhapNorth Korea appears to be releasing water from a dam near the inter-Korean border without giving prior notice to the South, a South Korean government official said Monday, as the North is drenched by heavy downpours."As rain has fallen heavily in North Korea, the North is repeatedly opening and closing the floodgates of Hwanggang Dam," the unification ministry official said. "It seems (the North) is adjusting the Hwanggang Dam's water level based on the rainfall situation."The official said there was no prior notification from the North on the move.Under an inter-Korean agreement signed in October 2009, the North is supposed to notify the South in advance of its plans to release dam water.On June 28, the unification ministry made a public request to the North to notify the South in advance if it discharges dam water, citing possible damage it could cause in the South.The request, however, has gone unanswered, with the North apparently releasing water from Hwanggang Dam in late JuAug 8, 2022
North Korea to hold Supreme People's Assembly meeting on Sept. 7: KCNA Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) meeting is held in Pyongyang, Aug. 7. Yonhap North Korea will convene a key parliamentary meeting in Pyongyang next month to discuss organizational and other pending issues, its state media said Monday.The standing committee of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA), the North's rubber-stamp parliament, held a plenary meeting the previous day and decided to open the 7th Session of the 14th SPA on Sept. 7, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).The upcoming session is to discuss the issue of "adopting the law on the socialist rural development and the law on landscaping and the organizational matter," it added.The SPA is the highest organ of power under the North's constitution, but it rubber-stamps decisions by the ruling party. It usually holds a plenary session in March or April to deal mainly with the budget and cabinet reshuffles.Last year, the North held SPA sessions in January and September.Sunday's plenary sesAug 8, 2022
