North Korea stays silent on much-anticipated legislature meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang, Dec. 1, in this photo provided by the North Korean government. AP-Yonhap North Korea stayed mum on a much-anticipated meeting of the country's rubber-stamp legislature Monday, a day after it was supposed to take place, spawning speculation the event might have been delayed.The 6th session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) was to be held Sunday to discuss issues that included the state budget and tasks for this year, according to Pyongyang's state media, but they had yet to report on the opening of the event as of Monday morning.The North's official media outlets, such as the Korean Central News Agency and the Rodong Sinmun newspaper, usually report on the outcome of such a major political event the next morning.The legislative session has been a focus of attention as a potential opportunity for the outside world toFeb 7, 2022
North Korea expands nuclear, missiles programs, profits from cyberattacks: UN report The North Korean military conducts a missile test from a railway car, Jan. 14, in this photo provided the following day by the North Korean government. AP-Yonhap North Korea has continued to develop its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs during the past year, and cyberattacks on cryptocurrency exchanges were an important revenue source for Pyongyang, according to an excerpt of a confidential United Nations report seen Saturday by Reuters.The annual report by independent sanctions monitors was submitted Friday evening to the U.N. Security Council North Korea Sanctions Committee."Although no nuclear tests or launches of ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles) were reported, the DPRK continued to develop its capability for the production of fissile nuclear materials," the experts wrote.North Korea is formally known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). It has long-been banned from conducting nuclear weapons tests and ballistic missile lauFeb 6, 2022
US, 8 other countries urge UNSC to condemn North Korean missile test People watch a TV at Seoul Railway Station showing images of North Korea's missile launch during a news program, Jan. 31. AP-Yonhap The United States and eight other countries called on the U.N. Security Council (UNSC), Friday, to condemn North Korea's recent missile tests after the council's closed meeting apparently failed to take any concrete action against Pyongyang.Friday's meeting marked the second attempt by the U.S. and other like-minded countries in just about two weeks to hold North Korea to account for its recent series of missile launches.North Korea staged its seventh and last round of missile launches of the year last Sunday (KST)."The DPRK's January 30 (local time) launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) is a significant escalation in the DPRK's recent violations of multiple Security Council resolutions and seeks to further destabilize the region. We condemn this unlawful action in the strongest terms," U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. LinFeb 5, 2022
North Korea to hold major legislature session this weekend after missile tests North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang, Dec. 1, in this photo provided by the North Korean government. AP-Yonhap North Korea is set to convene a key meeting of its rubber-stamp legislature this weekend following a barrage of missile tests, a potential opportunity for the outside world to get a clue to the reclusive Kim Jong-un regime's intentions. The North has often used such an event to deliver messages, either direct or veiled, to South Korea and the United States.The 6th session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) will be held in Pyongyang, Sunday, to discuss issues such as national tasks and the state budget for this year, according to the North's state media.The SPA is the highest organ of power under the North's Constitution, though it rubber-stamps decisions by the ruling party. It usually holds a plenary session in March or April to deal mainly wiFeb 4, 2022
North Korean Olympics message may signal halt to missile tests: analysts Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sit during a meeting in Pyongyang, in this June 2019 file photo. North Korea sent "warm congratulations" Friday to ally China ahead of the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics, a message analysts said likely signals it will stop test-firing missiles during the event. Yonhap North Korea sent "warm congratulations" Friday to ally China ahead of the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics, a message analysts said likely signals it will stop test-firing missiles during the event.Pyongyang conducted an unprecedented seven weapons tests in January, including launching its most powerful missile since 2017 as it hinted it could restart long-range and nuclear weapons testing.The saber-rattling raised tensions on the Korean peninsula and forced Beijing ― Pyongyang's main diplomatic ally and economic benefactor ― to block a U.S. push for new U.N. sanctions over the barrage.North Korea is barred from competing atFeb 4, 2022
Moon's peace initiative becomes elusive as Beijing Games begins A man wears a protective mask while walking inside of the Zhangjiakou National Ski Jumping Centre before the start of competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Zhangjiakou, China, Wednesday. AP-YonhapBy Nam Hyun-wooThe Beijing Winter Olympics starts Friday, but President Moon Jae-in's ambitious plan to facilitate talks to declare a formal end to the 1950-1953 Korean War on the sidelines of the sporting event remains little more than wishful thinking.The Moon administration has sought the end-of-war declaration as a gateway to advance dialogue for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, but the North is responding by escalating tensions. With Moon's tenure nearing its end, there seems to be no option left for the President to reverse the current deadlock. The South Korean government will send a diplomatic delegation led by Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hwang Hee to the Games, which will run for 16 days until Feb. 20. Hwang said in a recent media interview that he is looking forward to seeing “an occasion of inter-Korean exchange” if North Korean officialsFeb 3, 2022By Nam Hyun-woo
North Korea renews call for U.S. to end 'hostile policy' People visit the statues of former North Korean leaders Kim Il-sung, left, and Kim Jong-il on Mansu Hill in Pyongyang, North Korea, on the occasion of Lunar New Year holidays on Feb. 1. AP-YonhapNorth Korea on Wednesday renewed calls for Washington to drop its "hostile policy" against Pyongyang, amid the reclusive regime's series of saber-rattling since the start of the year."It is a universal knowledge that the failure of the situation on the Korean Peninsula to easily be out of the whirlwind of aggravated tension just lies in the U.S. hostile policy towards the DPRK," the North's foreign ministry said in an English statement.DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.Pyongyang also condemned the United States for carrying out "joint war drills, claiming that the move has posed "a grave threat to the security" of the North."The U.S. would be well-advised to halt its military threat to our country and withdraw, before anything else, its hostile policy towards the DPRK rather than publicizing the so-called 'diplomatic solution' and 'dialogue,'Feb 2, 2022
Blinken condemns N. Korean missile launch in call with Japanese counterpart U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at the State Department during a ceremony in Washington, Feb. 1, to name the State Department cafeteria after Ambassador Terence A. Todman, a six-time ambassador who reached the rank of career ambassador and led the charge to de-segregate the cafeteria. Reuters-YonhapU.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned North Korea's recent missile tests in a telephone conversation with his Japanese counterpart Hayashi Yoshimasa, Tuesday.The top U.S. diplomat also vowed cooperation with South Korea and Japan to completely denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, according to State Department spokesperson Ned Price. "Secretary Blinken condemned the DPRK's recent ballistic missile launches, which were in violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions, and committed to trilateral cooperation with Japan and the Republic of Korea towards the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Price said in a press release.The Blinken-Hayashi call came after North Korea launched an intermediate range ballistic missile Sunday (KST) that it later iFeb 2, 2022
US calls for emergency UN Security Council meeting on North Korea: diplomats People watch a TV at the Seoul Railway Station showing images of North Korea's missile launch during a news program, Jan. 31. The United States has requested an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council, Thursday, on North Korea, which launched its most powerful missile since 2017 last weekend, diplomatic sources said Tuesday. AP-Yonhap The United States has requested an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council, Thursday, on North Korea, which launched its most powerful missile since 2017 last weekend, diplomatic sources said Tuesday.The meeting is expected to be held behind closed doors. It is up to Russia, the president of the Security Council for the month of February, to confirm the timing."We really do hope that the Council will be able to speak with one voice" with a declaration, a diplomat speaking on the condition of anonymity said. North Korea confirmed Monday it had launched a Hwasong-12 "ground-to-ground intermediate- and long-range ballistic mFeb 2, 2022
U.N. secretary-general condemns N. Korea's latest missile launch: statement U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres attends a press conference at the end of a 5+1 Meeting in Cyprus, in this file photo taken April 29, 2021. AFP-Yonhap U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned North Korea's latest missile launch, Tuesday, and called on Pyongyang to refrain from further provocations.North Korea test-fired what appeared to be an intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) Sunday (KST)."The Secretary-General condemns the launch of a ballistic missile of possible intermediate-range by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Jan. 30," a spokesperson for the top U.N. official said in a released statement, referring to North Korea by its official name."This is a breaking of the DPRK's announced moratorium in 2018 on launches of this nature, and a clear violation of Security Council resolutions," added the statement.North Korea has maintained a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear weapons long-range missile testing since November 20Feb 2, 2022
