North Korea expands online education for workers: state media In this 2017 March file photo, a North Korea flag flutters next to concertina wire at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. North Korea is spurring online education at major universities as part of efforts to train "intellectual-type workers" with science and technology expertise, according to its state media Monday. Reuters-YonhapNorth Korea is spurring online education at major universities as part of efforts to train "intellectual-type workers" with science and technology expertise, according to its state media Monday.The North's main newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, said around 100,000 workers are currently enrolled for online classes across the country, including 10,000 newly registered this year.North Korea has been highlighting its efforts to develop the remote education system as a tool to help workers acquire "modern science and technology" necessary at their workplaces. The North launched its first online education course 10 years ago at Kim Chaek University of Technology, with the number of students enrolled in such courses constantly increasing, according to thDec 27, 2021
North Korea set for key party meeting amid deadlock in nuclear negotiations A session of the meetings held by North Korean Army's educators, Dec. 4 and 5, is presided over by the country's leader Kim Jong-un at the April 25 House of Culture in Pyongyang, in this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency, Dec. 7. Yonhap North Korea is expected to convene a key party meeting within the coming week amid expectations it could unveil the country's policy directions for next year in the face of a prolonged stalemate in its denuclearization negotiations with the United States.The North's official Korean Central News Agency said earlier this month that the ruling Workers' Party will hold a plenary meeting of its central committee "in the last third of December" to "discuss and decide on work plans for the New Year."Experts say the upcoming party event could replace North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's annual New Year's Day address, which is closely watched by the outside world for clues on the country's stance on the nuclear talks and inter-KorDec 25, 2021
COVAX allocates 1.29 million additional COVID-19 vaccine doses to North Korea In this file photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on Aug. 31, workers disinfect a school in Moranbong District amid the coronavirus pandemic. YonhapThe COVAX Facility, a global vaccine distribution platform, has assigned 1.29 million doses of additional COVID-19 vaccines to North Korea, a U.N. website showed Friday. According to the U.N. Children's Fund's COVID-19 Vaccine Market Dashboard, the addition increases the number of vaccines allocated to North Korea to 8.12 million doses. The number is up from the previously known 6.83 million, including 4.7 million doses of COVAX allocated to the North last month.The type of the newly allocated vaccines was not immediately known, with COVAX having assigned AstraZeneca's vaccines for the North in its previous decisions.The total amount is enough to inoculate around 16 percent of the North's population, though the doses have yet to be shipped to the reclusive country. North Korea has imposed a strict border lockdown to stave off the virus since last year and claims to be coronavirus-free. (Yonhap)Dec 24, 2021
North Korea's economy shrinks 4.5% in 2020 on sanctions, pandemic Citizens visit an image of their late leaders Kim Il-sung, left, and Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang, Dec. 17, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of former leader Kim Jong-il's death. AP-YonhapNorth Korea's economy shrank 4.5 percent in 2020 from a year earlier due to international sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Thursday.The drop in the reclusive country's real gross domestic product (GDP) represents a turnaround from a 0.4 percent increase a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea.The statistics agency attributed the decline to international economic sanctions for its weapons program and border lockdowns stemming from the COVID-19 outbreak.The data also showed North Korea's nominal gross national income (GNI) coming to 35 trillion won ($29.4 billion) last year, or one-fifty-sixth of South Korea's.Pyongyang's per capita GNI stood at 1.379 million won last year, compared with South Korea's 37.62 million won.North Korea's trade volume tumbled 73.4 percent on-year to $860 million last year, compared with Seoul's $980.1 billion.Pyongyang's Dec 23, 2021
North Korea issues cold wave alert Citizens wearing face masks walk on the street in the snow in Pyongyang, Dec. 18. AP-YonhapNorth Korea issued a cold wave alert Wednesday, forecasting strong winds and heavy snow over the weekend amid keen attention from the outside world about whether leader Kim Jong-un will again visit Mount Paektu on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of his ascension to power.Extreme cold weather is expected from Friday night to Sunday, with the temperature in the region of Mount Paektu, the highest peak on the Korean Peninsula, likely to drop to as low as minus 35 C to 40 C on Saturday morning, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency.Kim has a history of visiting the mountain, considered one of the most sacred places in the country, ahead of major political decisions. Speculation arose he could do so again in the run-up to a plenary session of the North's ruling Workers' Party later this month where the North could announce its key domestic and foreign policy directions for the new year. This month's meeting comes as the North is set to mark the 10th year since Kim took ovDec 22, 2021
North Korea's child mortality estimated at 17 per 1,000 in 2020: UN report Citizens pay tribute to an image of their late leaders Kim Il-sung, left, and Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang, Dec. 17, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of former leader Kim Jong-il's death. AP-YonhapNorth Korea's mortality rate for children under age 5 was estimated at 17 per 1,000 births last year with a 3.2 percent annual rate of reduction over the past three decades, a recent U.N. report showed.The number is down from 43 in 1990 and 60 in 2000, according to the Level and Trends in Child Mortality: Report 2021.The global average of under-five mortality rate came to 37 per 1,000 in 2020, while the comparable figure for South Korea declined from 16 in 1990 to eight in 2000 and three last year. North Korea's infant mortality rate also dropped from 33 per 1,000 births in 1990 to 12 in 2020, and the neonatal mortality rate fell from 22 per 1,000 births to nine during the cited period, the report said. (Yonhap)Dec 22, 2021
North Korea's military staging drills This file photo taken on Sept. 9, 2018, shows Korean People's Army soldiers marching during a mass rally on Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang. North Korea's military is conducting a wintertime exercise, as South Korea and the United States are closely monitoring related moves, Seoul's defense authorities said Tuesday. AFP-YonhapNorth Korea's military is conducting a wintertime exercise, as South Korea and the United States are closely monitoring related moves, Seoul's defense authorities said Tuesday. "We believe that wintertime drills by North Korea's military are under way," Col. Kim Jun-rak, the spokesperson of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), told reporters. The North usually kicks off a regular military training in December, which continues through early spring often involving artillery firing drills.Kim declined to comment on a report of a submarine shipyard located in the city of Sinpo on North Korea's east coast, where the country test-launched what it claimed to be a new type of submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) in October."The intelligence authorities of South KoreaDec 21, 2021
North Korea's Kim 3rd most searched politician online in 2021: data North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspects Samjiyon County, in this photo released on Oct. 30, 2018, by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency. Kim is the third most searched politician by internet users worldwide this year, data showed Tuesday. Reuters-YonhapNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un is the third most searched politician by internet users worldwide this year, data showed Tuesday.Online searches for Kim totaled a monthly average of 1.9 million, behind U.S. President Joe Biden, who topped the list with 7 million searches, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson with 2 million, according to German data analytics firm Statista.Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel ranked fourth with 1.4 million searches.The most searched keyword related to the North Korean leader this year was "weight loss," separate analysis by Google Trends found.In June, the 37-year-old Kim appeared at a politburo session appearing to have lost a significant amount of weight, raising speculation about his health and sparking keen public interest.South Korea's state intelligence agency told lawmakers in OctobeDec 21, 2021
Biden administration puts North Korean nuclear issue on backburner North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left, and U.S. President Joe Biden / Korea Times photoBy Kang Seung-wooThe North Korean nuclear issue appears to have lost priority with the U.S. government, which is focusing heavily on ending China's control of global supply chains, cross-strait relations and other issues.As Washington shows signs of preserving the status quo with the Kim Jong-un regime, which has in recent years refrained from testing nuclear and long-range missiles, the issue, described as “unproductive,” is feared by some to remain shelved.In April, after its months-long policy review of the totalitarian state, the Joe Biden administration came up with a “calibrated practical approach” to North Korea's decades-long nuclear problem. However, combined with Pyongyang's nonresponse to U.S. overtures and U.S. refusals to offer enticements to engage the reclusive state, negotiations on denuclearizing the North have made little progress. U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan admitted, Friday (local time), that the U.S. “had not gotten traction in dipDec 20, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
Gov't cautious on possible change in political status of North Korean leader's sister Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un / YonhapSouth Korea's unification ministry responded cautiously Monday to reports of a possible change in the stature of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister, days after she was seen standing alongside members of the powerful politburo of the North's ruling party during a memorial event last week.Kim Yo-jong, apparently influential in the secretive regime, was spotted between members and alternate members of the politburo during a memorial event for her father and late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang on Friday, indicating she may have been named a member or an alternate member of the organ, according to footage aired on the North's state media.She, however, appeared in the fifth row of a large group that included her brother, in the first row, and senior officials while paying tribute to her father at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where his body lies in state, the same day. Kim Yo-jong was previously an alternate member of the political bureau but was demoted at a January party congress. Her currently knownDec 20, 2021
