Minister confirms establishment of North Korean human rights foundation Unification Minister Kwon Young-se speaks during a press conference at the Office of the Inter-Korean Dialogue in Seoul, Tuesday. NewsisBy Jung Min-hoEstablishing a foundation for human rights in North Korea will be one of the three key projects in 2022 after six years of delay, Unification Minister Kwon Young-se confirmed Tuesday.The statement comes as the Yoon Suk-yeol administration is moving away from the stance of the previous Moon Jae-in government, which was extremely cautious about touching on issues that could anger the North.“I will personally ask lawmakers from both the right and the left for the foundation launch,” Kwon said during a press conference at the Office of the Inter-Korean Dialogue in Seoul. “As soon as it opens, under the North Korean Human Rights Act, our ministry will step up efforts to improve the lives of ordinary North Koreans through research and new policies.”The law was enacted in March 2016, but has since remained in name only, after then President Park Geun-hye was impeached and ousted from office in 2017 following a major scaJun 21, 2022By Jung Min-ho
North Korea seems to be using virus crisis to strengthen party control: experts A health official of the Pyongyang Sports Goods Factory disinfects the floor there, June 14. AP-YonhapNorth Korea appears to be using its ongoing battle against COVID-19 to tighten Kim Jong-un's grip on power based on the ruling Workers' Party, experts said during a forum Tuesday."I think North Korea seems to be using the COVID outbreak to strengthen party control across the board," Rachel Minyoung Lee, a senior analyst for the Vienna-based Open Nuclear Network, said at the online seminar co-hosted by the Korea Institute for National Unification and the George Washington University's Institute for Korean Studies. "During the many meetings Kim Jong-un presided over in the wake of the COVID outbreak, he repeatedly emphasized unconditionally obeying the party."Following its admission of a COVID-19 outbreak last month, the North has convened a series of key party meetings that have stressed strengthening discipline within the party.Ken Gause, the research program director of the U.S.-based Center for Naval Analyses, noted that the secretive North has made public its own daily count of suJun 21, 2022
North Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases stay below 20,000 for 2nd day: state media North Korean workers conduct disinfection work at Ryugyong Golden Mall in Pyongyang, June 15. YonhapNorth Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases remained below 20,000 for the second consecutive day, according to its state media, Monday.More than 18,820 people showed symptoms of “fever” over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters.It did not provide information on whether additional deaths have been reported. As of last Wednesday, the death toll stood at 73 for a fatality rate of 0.002 percent.The total number of cases since late April came to over 4.63 million as of 6 p.m. Sunday, of which more than 4.6 million have recovered, and at least 31,540 are being treated, it added.The country's daily fever tally has been on a downward trend after peaking at over 392,920, May 15.The North has reaffirmed "degrees of quarantine and lockdown" to fight the pandemic, the KCNA reported without elaborating.Pyongyang continued to urge its people to stay vigilanJun 20, 2022
NK leader's sister sends medicine to patients with new infectious disease: KCNA Key aides to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, including his sister, Kim Yo-jong (bottom left), deliver medicine to help people stricken with a new infectious disease in the country's southwestern region, in this combination of photos released by the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), June 17. Yonhap Key aides to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, including his sister, have donated medicine to help people stricken with a new infectious disease in the country's southwestern region, according to Pyongyang's state media Friday.Kim Yo-jong, the leader's younger sister who serves as vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), and other leading officials asked the "primary Party committees of their departments to send medicines prepared by their families with sincerity to households in Haeju City and Kangryong County of South Hwanghae Province where an acute enteric epidemic occurred," the official Korean Central News AgencJun 17, 2022
US conveyed concerns over N. Korean nuclear weapon test to China U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan holds a news briefing about the situation in Afghanistan at the White House in Washington, U.S., Aug. 17, 2021. Reuters-YonhapThe United States has discussed with China the growing concerns over a possible North Korean nuclear weapon test, U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan said Thursday.He also reiterated U.S. concerns over what will be North Korea's seventh nuclear test."On North Korea, we have expressed our concern that North Korea is preparing to conduct another nuclear test. We have said that publicly. We have communicated that to China," Sullivan said in an online discussion session hosted by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a Washington-based think tank.The remarks come after Sullivan met with Yang Jiechi, head of the Chinese Community Party's Foreign Affairs Bureau, in Europe."The proof will be in the pudding. Let's see how things play out, but both of these subjects featured in our discussions on Monday in Europe, the discussion I had with my counterpart, Yang," he said when asked if there existed any conseJun 17, 2022
Satellite imagery of N. Korean nuclear test site suggests work to enable multiple tests: Beyond Parallel The Punggye-ri nuclear test site in North Korea is seen in this May 14, 2018, satellite photo. Korea Times fileRecent satellite imagery of North Korea's nuclear test site has shown activities that may suggest additional tests following what will be the country's seventh nuclear weapon test, a U.S. monitor said Wednesday.The satellite imagery, acquired Tuesday, showed new "construction activity" near Tunnel No. 4 at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, according to Beyond Parallel, a project of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank."The most recent image shows new indications of activity below the entrance to Tunnel No. 4," it said in a report published on its website, adding the activity strongly suggested "an effort to re-enable it for potential future testing."The report noted activities at Tunnel No. 3, which began about four months ago, are "apparently now complete and ready for an oft-speculated seventh nuclear test."The report comes after South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin said the North appears to have finished all preparations for Jun 16, 2022
North Korea slams US-led security pacts, upcoming RIMPAC exercise as tools for hegemony Vessels from the U.S. Navy, Chilean navy (Armada de Chile), Peruvian navy, French navy (Marine Nationale) and Royal Canadian Navy participates in an exercise in the Pacific Ocean, June 24, 2018. North Korea on Wednesday accused the United States of campaigning to maintain its hegemony in the Indo-Pacific region. AFP-YonhapNorth Korea on Wednesday accused the United States of campaigning to maintain its hegemony in the Indo-Pacific region and putting it in jeopardy of conflicts via its regional security initiatives and upcoming multinational maritime training.In a post on the foreign ministry's website, Ri Myong-hak, a researcher at the ministry-affiliated Institute for Disarmament and Peace, took aim particularly at the U.S.-led Quad forum involving India, Australia and Japan, as well as AUKUS, a trilateral security partnership of Australia, Britain and the U.S."Due to the aggressive and hegemonic Indo-Pacific strategy of the U.S., the region is being exposed to the constant danger of military conflicts," he said. "This, in turn, is of negative influence to the Korean Peninsula."He aJun 15, 2022
South Korea seeks to establish North Korean human rights foundation In this Sept. 7, 2018 file photo, kids sing at a kindergarten for employees' children at a silk factory during a government-organized visit for foreign reporters ahead of the 70th anniversary of North Korea's foundation in Pyongyang, North Korea. Reuters-YonhapMove signals Seoul's policy shift on North Korean human rights issuesBy Jung Min-hoSouth Korea is pushing to establish a North Korean human rights foundation in an apparent bid to implement the North Korean Human Rights Act, a law that has remained in name only over the past six years.The move signals the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's intention to press North Korea to improve its human rights situation, in contrast with the previous Moon Jae-in administration, which opted not to challenge the North.“Setting up the foundation is one of the key projects we are working on this year,” an official at the Ministry of Unification told The Korea Times Tuesday.The confirmation comes a day after a ministry official, who works at a division dedicated to human rights issues in North Korea, said he had been seeking the cooperatJun 14, 2022By Jung Min-ho
North Korea ready to conduct nuclear weapon test at any time: ministry North Korean leader Kim Jong-un / YonhapNorth Korea is ready to carry out a nuclear weapon test any time at leader Kim Jong-un's discretion, Seoul's unification ministry said Tuesday.There has been widespread speculation that a nuclear test by the secretive North might be imminent amid reports it has completed the relevant preparations at its northeastern testing site in Punggye-ri."North Korea is currently prepared to conduct a nuclear test at any time if Chairman Kim Jong-un decides to do so," a ministry official told reporters on the customary condition of anonymity when asked about the issue.The official added that Seoul and Washington are discussing various countermeasures, including those through the U.N. Security Council.The North conducted its sixth and last nuclear test in September 2017. (Yonhap)Jun 14, 2022
'North Korea's reshuffle signals preparation for dialogue' North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presides over a meeting of the secretariat of the central committee of the North's Workers' Party in Pyongyang, Sunday, in this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency, Monday. Yonhap By Kang Seung-wooNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un's reshuffle of his foreign minister and the post in charge of inter-Korean relations means that he has laid the groundwork for dialogue with South Korea and the United States in the future, according to experts, even though he is highly anticipated to conduct a nuclear test soon.According to North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, who used to play a key role in denuclearization talks, has been promoted to the post of foreign minister. In addition, Foreign Minister Ri Son-gwon has been tapped to lead the ruling Workers' Party's United Front Department tasked with handling ties with South Korea.The announcement triggered rampant speculation here that Pyongyang will also adopt a confrontational stance against the new South Korean government and the U.S. administraJun 13, 2022By Kang Seung-woo
