N. Korean leader pays tribute to Soviet soldiers amid deepening Russia tiesNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un has paid tribute to Soviet soldiers who fought against Japan during World War II to mark Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule, vowing to further strengthen ties with Russia, Pyongyang's state media reported Saturday. Kim visited the Liberation Tower in Pyongyang on Friday, a day before the 81st anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule, the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. Kim laid a wreath bearing the phrase, "We will not forget the feats of the martyrs of the Soviet Army." "The excellent history, traditions and ties of blood between the DPRK and Russia now serve as a fundamental cornerstone and inexhaustible driving force for the bilateral relations of friendship and cooperation," Kim said in an English dispatch. He added that their "great friendship and unity" would be carried forward "generation after generation." DPRK is the acronym of North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. It marked the third time Kim has visited the Liberation Tower on the occasion of Liberation Day sAug 15, 2026By Yonhap
N. Korea warns of bolstering nuclear deterrent over US' new nuclear strategyNorth Korea on Friday denounced an upcoming joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States, warning it will respond to the drills "with a new level of a deterrent." A spokesperson at North Korea's foreign ministry made the statement, as South Korea and the U.S. are set to begin the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise starting Monday until Aug. 27. North Korea said the U.S. had described the annual exercise as "quite different from the ones of the past five years," framing it as Washington's effort to master modern warfare tactics, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). "By doing so, it did not conceal its aim to complete preparations for the substantial military confrontation with" North Korea, the statement read. "It is our consistent principle of ensuring security to respond to a new level of a threat with a new level of a deterrent," it said. The statement stressed Pyongyang "remains steadfast in its will to frustrate outsiders' hostile acts with the most powerful and overwhelming force and absolutely defend the supreme interests of the state secuAug 14, 2026By Yonhap
N. Korea warns of 'new level of deterrent' ahead of key S. Korea-US military drillsNorth Korea on Friday denounced an upcoming joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States, warning it will respond to the drills "with a new level of a deterrent." A spokesperson at North Korea's foreign ministry made the statement, as South Korea and the U.S. are set to begin the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise starting Monday until Aug. 27. North Korea said the U.S. had described the annual exercise as "quite different from the ones of the past five years," framing it as Washington's effort to master modern warfare tactics, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). "By doing so, it did not conceal its aim to complete preparations for the substantial military confrontation with" North Korea, the statement read. "It is our consistent principle of ensuring security to respond to a new level of a threat with a new level of a deterrent," it said. The statement stressed Pyongyang "remains steadfast in its will to frustrate outsiders' hostile acts with the most powerful and overwhelming force and absolutely defend the supreme interests of the state secuAug 14, 2026By Yonhap
NK aims to deepen ties with China, Russia by criticizing nuclear projects of S. Korea, Japan: expertsNorth Korea’s recent criticisms against South Korea’s nuclear submarine plans and Japan’s consideration of non-nuclear policy revisions, coupled with its latest missile tests, are likely aimed at boosting ties with China and Russia and bolstering its nuclear narrative, experts said. They believe Pyongyang's recent actions were timed with the expected visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Seoul, as early as next week. In a commentary released by Pyongyang's state-run news outlet Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Wednesday, Jang Kum-chol, first vice minister of North Korea's foreign ministry, criticized Seoul’s nuclear-powered submarine development plan with the United States, saying, "South Korea’s push to acquire nuclear-powered submarines will inevitably trigger a nuclear domino effect across the Asia-Pacific region." The criticism came three months after Seoul unveiled in May the Jang Bogo N Program, an initiative to develop around three 8,000-ton nuclear-powered submarines. A piece published by the KCNA on Wednesday attributed to international affairs commentator RAug 13, 2026By Park Ji-won
N. Korea again skips missile launch reportNorth Korea stayed silent Thursday on the ballistic missile it launched the previous day, marking the second straight time Pyongyang has departed from its usual practice of announcing such launches the following morning. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and the Rodong Sinmun, the most widely read newspaper in the country, had made no mention of the launch as of 7 a.m. But this was not without precedent, as Pyongyang has previously kept quiet about launches it considers minor or lacking propaganda value. South Korea's military detected the missile launch from North Korea's eastern coastal city of Wonsan at around 6 a.m. Wednesday. The missile flew more than 700 kilometers, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, adding a detailed analysis of its specifications was under way. It was North Korea's second launch from the Wonsan area in a week, including one last Thursday that Pyongyang has also remained silent about. The two launches came ahead of the Ulchi Freedom Shield, the annual South Korea-U.S. joint military exercise that Pyongyang has long denounced as preparation for an invasion. The NortAug 13, 2026By Yonhap
N. Korea vows to secure 'unsurvivable' retaliatory capability over S. Korea's nuclear submarine push: KCNANorth Korea denounced South Korea's efforts to build a nuclear-powered submarine, calling it a step toward "nuclear armament," Pyongyang's state media said. In a commentary carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Jang Kum-chol, first vice minister of North Korea's foreign ministry, said that Seoul's goal was to "free itself from the constraints of restrictions on spent nuclear fuel reprocessing and uranium enrichment and secure the right to produce nuclear material, ultimately paving the way to nuclear armament." He warned Seoul's nuclear cooperation with Washington on nuclear submarine development will further destabilize the Korean Peninsula and pose a grave challenge to North Korea's security and maritime sovereignty. "Having a capability to respond with unsurvivable, irrecoverable retaliatory strikes would be the most responsible choice for deterring war."Aug 12, 2026By Yonhap
InterviewInside Hwang's network, moving defectors, cash across N. Korea's hardening borderHwang Ji-sung, 46, fled North Korea in 2009. Since then, he has helped roughly 3,000 people escape the North and sent money to many of the families they left behind. “At first, I didn't understand why defectors would cry over having no news of their families. Getting that kind of news wasn't hard for me,” Hwang said in an interview with The Korea Times. “So I told them, 'I'll do it for you.'” From smuggler to broker Growing up in Musan County, North Hamgyong Province, Hwang became familiar with the geography of the North Korea-China border, including the Tuman River's currents and water levels, knowledge that proved critical when he began smuggling goods into China in the mid-1990s, amid a famine that killed an estimated 600,000 to 3 million people, though the exact toll remains unknown. He also guided women who had been trafficked into China, later sent back to North Korea and wanted to return to their Chinese husbands, leading them to the banks of the Tuman River. In 2005, Hwang made his first attempt to defect, drawn by a longing for freedom and stories that people in South KoAug 12, 2026By Park Ung
N. Korea sends condolences over death of ex-Lao parliament presidentNorth Korea has sent condolences over the death of a former leader of the Lao parliament, state media said Wednesday. The condolence message was sent Sunday by the standing committee of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) over the death of Xaysomphone Phomvihane, former president of Laos' National Assembly, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. "The feats performed by Xaysomphone Phomvihane in contributing to the Lao people's cause of building socialism and the development of the relations of friendship and cooperation between the two countries will always be remembered," read the message, carried by the KCNA. North Korean officials from the SPA standing committee, the foreign ministry, the ministry of external economic relations and the DPRK-Laos Friendship Association visited the Lao Embassy in Pyongyang to pay their respects, the report said. DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith held talks in Pyongyang last October on the occasion of the 80th founding anniversAug 12, 2026By Yonhap
Presidential office labels N. Korea's missile launch as provocation, urges immediate haltThe presidential office on Wednesday held an emergency meeting to address North Korea's latest ballistic missile launch, describing it as a provocation and calling for an immediate halt to such actions. The emergency security assessment meeting of Cheong Wa Dae's national security office came shortly after North Korea fired at least one ballistic missile toward the East Sea earlier Wednesday. The office discussed Seoul's responses to the missile launch, assessed its impact on national security and instructed officials to take necessary measures, Cheong Wa Dae said. The office also voiced concerns over the North's back-to-back ballistic missile launches. It said Pyongyang's ballistic missile launches constitute provocations in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions and called for an immediate halt to such launches. Wednesday's meeting was also attended by officials from the defense ministry, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other relevant agencies. The North's latest missile launch came six days after it fired a short-range ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Thursday. ThAug 12, 2026By Yonhap
N. Korea conducts another missile launch ahead of key S. Korea-US military drillsNorth Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Wednesday, South Korea's military said, marking the second such launch in less than a week in an apparent protest against an upcoming combined military exercise between the South and the United States. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the missile launched from the Wonsan area on the east coast at around 6 a.m. The missile flew more than 700 kilometers, with a detailed analysis on its specifications under way by South Korean and U.S. authorities, according to the JCS. While the military has yet to specify the type or range of the missile, the range it provided suggests the launch likely involved a short-range missile, which typically flies 300 to 1,000 km. North Korea has KN-23 short-range ballistic missiles, known as the North Korean version of Russia's Iskander, which have a maximum range of 700 to 800 kilometers. The latest launch came six days after the North fired what the South's military has identified as a short-range ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Thursday. The recent missile launches came as SouAug 12, 2026By Yonhap
