Biden, Xi discuss North Korean issue in virtual summit: White House North Korean leader Kim Jong-un / AP-YonhapU.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping exchanged their views on various regional issues, including North Korea, in their first bilateral summit Monday, the White House said."The two leaders also exchanged views on key regional challenges, including DPRK, Afghanistan, and Iran," the White House said in a press release, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.A U.S. official said the summit largely focused on ways to manage the growing competition between the two countries."The meeting itself was really about, you know, the two leaders discussing ways to manage the competition between the United States and China responsibly and ways to establish guardrails, you know, for that competition," the senior administration official said in a telephonic press briefing Tuesday.Still, the Biden-Xi summit came amid U.S. efforts to bring North Korea back to the dialogue table.U.S. officials have insisted China could and should do more, including sanctions implementation, to help restart deNov 16, 2021
North Korean leader visits Samjiyon city in first public activity in more than one month North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited the northwestern city of Samjiyon, near the border with China, its state media reported on Nov. 16. YonhapNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited the northwestern city of Samjiyon, near the border with China, where a major development project is underway, Pyongyang's state media reported Tuesday. It marks his first public activity in more than a month.Located at the foot of Mount Paekdu, the highest peak on the Korean Peninsula, Samjiyon is known to be the birthplace of Kim's late father and former leader Kim Jong-il. Developing the city has been one of Kim's pet projects since taking office in late 2011."Kim ... gave on-the-spot guidance to Samjiyon City to learn about the real state of the third-stage project, with the conclusion of Samjiyon City construction now in hand," the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, adding the development will be wrapped up this year. The North originally planned to complete the Samjiyon development in three stages by 2020 in time for the 75th anniversary of the ruling party's foundatNov 16, 2021
North Korea to hold conference on '3 revolutions' to bolster internal unity gettyimagesbankNorth Korea was to hold a conference on the country's "three-revolution movement" aimed at developing its ideology, technology and culture, state media reported Monday, in an apparent effort to bolster internal unity.Participants for the 5th Conference of Frontrunners of the Three Revolutions "who set practical examples in carrying out the revolutions" arrived in Pyongyang the previous day, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).The three-revolution movement is a mass movement devised under Kim Il-sung, the North's late founder and grandfather of the current leader Kim Jong-un, to continue "the revolution in the realms of ideology, technology and culture even after the establishment of the socialist system."This year's conference will be the second of its kind held under the current leader after the fourth event took place in November 2015. The previous sessions were held in 1986, 1995 and 2006.The KCNA did not elaborate on the date or other details of the event, but it is expected to touch upon the first year outcome of the country's five-year economic devNov 15, 2021
North Korea calls for efforts to achieve economic goals under five-year plan In this file photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, Sept. 7, North Korea's Premier Kim Tok-hun, second from left, inspects a factory. YonhapNorth Korea urged its people Friday to make utmost efforts to accomplish the country's five-year economic plan under the spirit of "unconditionality, thoroughness and accuracy." The Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the North's ruling Workers' Party, emphasized only 50 days are left until the end of the first year in its five-year plan and called for an "aggressive spirit" to achieve the goals set out by the party. At the country's eighth party congress in January, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un admitted to a failure in his previous development plan and unveiled a new scheme focusing on self-reliance amid a protracted border closure due to COVID-19 and global sanctions."The party's demand is for every sector and unit, not a particular one, to make progress," the newspaper said. "Let's finish this year's battle with victory under the spirit of unconditionality, thoroughness and accuracy." In another article, the newspaper sNov 12, 2021
Moon's push for end-of-war declaration losing momentum: experts President Moon Jae-in speaks during the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters in New York, Sept. 21. AP-YonhapNext president unlikely to continue declaration initiative By Jung Da-min With less than six months left before President Moon Jae-in leaves office, his administration is making last-ditch efforts in its push for a declaration to formally end the Korean War, which he re-emphasized in a speech at the U.N. General Assembly, Sept. 21. But many experts say the possibility of Moon realizing his goal is very low, citing the different interests and political situations in the countries involved in the matter ― the two Koreas, the United States and China. And the chance of his successor ― whoever it will be ― to continue to pursue an “end-of-war” declaration also seems slim because they are likely to seek their own North Korea policy, they added.Since taking office in 2017, Moon has consistently pushed for engagement with North Korea. After a reconciliatory mood was created on the Korean Peninsula with three inter-Korean summits in 2018Nov 12, 2021
Unification minister says inter-Korean medical cooperation 'inevitable' Unification Minister Lee In-young delivers opening remarks at a conference held in central Seoul, Wednesday. YonhapSouth Korea's Unification Minister Lee In-young stressed Wednesday inter-Korean cooperation is "inevitable" against emerging health crises, saying North Korea apparently needs it as well.Lee said diseases and natural disasters have emerged as new threats beyond political and military threats, referring to the COVID-19 pandemic and the global climate crisis."Jointly responding to and cooperating on health crises on the Korean Peninsula ... is now an inevitable mission of the times," Lee said in an opening remark at a conference in Seoul. It was held to mark the launch of a "platform" to discuss health and medical cooperation with North Korea, which his ministry said is meant to serve as a channel for comprehensive inter-Korean consultations on the issue.South Korea and the United States are coordinating humanitarian assistance to North Korea, though Pyongyang has remained unresponsive to Washington's dialogue overtures."North Korea must have its own reasons and circumstanNov 10, 2021
Spy indicted for working to send defectors back to North Korea gettyimagesbankA North Korean spy in South Korea has been indicted for allegedly working to send defectors from her country back home, according to legal sources Wednesday.The 40-something female North Korean security ministry agent, whose name was kept private, was indicted by prosecutors in Suwon, south of Seoul, in May on charges of violating the national security law.The agent, who arrived in the South guised as a defector in December 2018, is suspected of having provided contact information of another defector living in the South and coaxing the person to follow orders from officials at the North's security ministry.Having previously worked as a money transfer broker between defectors and their families in the North from 2012, she was poached by the North's ministry after a local official learned of her secret dealings in 2014, and later started working as an undercover agent in 2016. The North's security ministry was found to have persuaded defectors in the South to return home thorough the contact provided by the agent. One defector reportedly returned to the North in SeptembeNov 10, 2021
Korean War veterans question necessity of Moon's 'end-of-war' declaration From left, Korean War veterans Vincent Courtenay from Canada, William Hale from the U.S. and Philip Wood from the U.K. pose during an interview with The Korea Times at the Millennium Hilton Seoul hotel, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Nam Hyun-wooBy Nam Hyun-wooA number of veterans who fought in the 1950-53 Korean War have questioned the necessity of a declaration to officially end the war, which was proposed by President Moon Jae-in as part of his peace initiative on the Korean Peninsula.“I think it's very unnecessary but if they (Koreans) want to do it, it's fine,” Vincent Courtenay, 87, a Canadian veteran, said during an interview with The Korea Times in Seoul, Tuesday.He fought in the Second Battle of the Hook near the inter-Korean border area Nov. 18 and 19, 1952. “South Korea was invaded and we repelled North Korea and the war ended. It ended as they stop shooting there,” Courtenay added. “You have a military armistice agreement and it lasted for 70 years. It's better than any other armistice that was ever signed in any war. If Koreans want do it, itNov 9, 2021By Nam Hyun-woo
'Deal with your own human rights issues': North Korea bristles at EU over UN resolution gettyimagesbankNorth Korea on Tuesday slammed the European Union (EU) for leading a U.N. resolution condemning its human rights situation, calling the move an act of hostility based on "false and fabricated" documents.The resolution, drafted by the European countries, was submitted to the United Nations' Third Committee for approval late last month. If passed, it will be put to a vote at the U.N. General Assembly in mid-December."We have long rejected this slanderous 'resolution' full of false and fabricated documents to blindly defame our human rights policy and situation," an official at a North Korea-EU association said in a commentary posted on the North's foreign ministry website.North Korea has been bristling at accusations of its human rights violations, calling them a U.S.-led attempt to topple its regime."The European countries with the worst records of human rights should do their job first, which is to deal with their own human rights trashes," the official added. South Korea has taken part in the adoption process by consensus, not as a co-sponsor of the resolution, since Nov 9, 2021
Satellite imagery shows continued operation of North Korea's uranium enrichment plant: report gettyimagesbankNorth Korea continues to operate its key uranium plant, a U.S. think tank said Monday, suggesting a steady growth in North Korea's stockpile of the material used to build nuclear weapons.Citing recent satellite imagery, Beyond Parallel, a project of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, reported the North's Pyongsan Uranium Concentrate Plant remains operational and is producing uranium concentrate."The main plant of the Pyongsan Uranium Concentrate Plant continues to show activity consistent with the continued production of uranium concentrate and ongoing maintenance efforts," the report said, citing commercial satellite imagery collected between April and October.It said some panels on the roof of a "leaching and classifying building" at the Pyongsan plant appeared to have been replaced due to deterioration that it said "is caused by acid vapor condensing on the underside of the roof panels."The report noted the Pyongsan plant remains the "sole verified producer of uranium concentrate," also known as yellowcake."As such it represents theNov 9, 2021
