Russia provides 25,000 tons of wheat to typhoon-hit North Korea North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, second from right, visits areas in South Hwanghae Province that were affected by Typhoon Bavi, according to North Korea's Korea Central News Agency on Aug. 28. YonhapRussia has delivered 25,000 tons of wheat in humanitarian assistance to North Korea, the Russian mission in Pyongyang has said, as the impoverished North struggles to recover from damage caused by recent back-to-back typhoons. The grains were delivered with strict quarantine measures in place to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, the Russian Embassy said in a Facebook post on Saturday."The Korean side expressed heartfelt gratitude to the government and the people of Russia" for the support in time of difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and a series of typhoons, it said. The North has been hit by three consecutive typhoons in recent weeks, with the latest one, Haishen, lashing the country's eastern regions last week. In August, heavy rainfall also pounded the southwestern Hwanghae Province.On Saturday, state media said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited a flood-hit viSep 13, 2020
Biegun expresses US support for lasting peace on Korean Peninsula Advisor to the President Ivanka Trump, right, listens to U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun during an event for the W-GDP, Global Women's Development and Prosperity Initiative plan, at the State Department in Washington, DC on August 11, 2020. AFPU.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun has expressed Washington's support for efforts to build peace on the Korean Peninsula at a regional security forum, his office said. During the video-linked ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Ministerial Meeting on Saturday, Biegun, who also serves as the U.S. special representative for North Korea, "was joined by several foreign ministers in underscoring ... the U.S. support for a path to lasting peace in the Korean Peninsula," according to the State Department. Also discussed at the meeting were tensions in the South China Sea and human rights issues in Hong Kong, the department said. The virtual meeting brought together representatives from 26 countries, including the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the United States, North Korea, China and Japan, as well as the EU High CoSep 13, 2020
North Korean suspected of killing Kim Jong-un's half-brother charged with violating sanctions North Korean Ri Jong-chol, center, who was arrested in connection with the death of Kim Jong Un's half-brother, is transferred from Sepang district police station in Sepang, Malaysia Friday, March 3, 2017. APThe United States Department of Justice has filed a criminal complaint against a North Korean man suspected of killing Kim Jong-un's half brother on charges of violating sanctions placed on the communist regime.The justice department on Friday (Washington time) announced a criminal complaint charging Ri Jong-chol and two others with "conspiracy to violate North Korean Sanctions Regulations and bank fraud, and conspiracy to launder funds."Ri is suspected of murdering Kim Jong-nam, the half brother of the North Korean leader, in 2017 in Malaysia. Ri was taken into custody but was later released due to lack of evidence."The defendants allegedly established and utilized front companies that transmitted U.S. dollar wires through the United States to purchase commodities on behalf of North Korean customers," the justice department's statement read.Ri Jong-chol talks to reporters from iSep 13, 2020
North Korean leader visits flood-hit area for 2nd time to check recovery efforts North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited a flood-hit village in North Hwanghae Province in the country's southwest for the second time in a month to check on recovery efforts, state media said Saturday.Kim inspected reconstruction at the flood-ravaged Taechong-ri area in Unpha County and "acquainted himself with the progress and plan of the reconstruction," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.This was the second time in about a month that Kim has visited the village. The previous one came in early August after torrential rain led to the failure of a levee that left more than 900 homes flooded or destroyed and 600 hectares of rice fields inundated.The trip was seen as part of efforts by Kim to highlight his image as a leader who cares about the livelihood of ordinary people. During last month's visit, Kim ordered officials to send his own special stock of grain to the flood victims and facilitate the use of necessary supplies.On Saturday, the KCNA said Kim expressed his happiness with the progress of the recovery efforts."Such a village that has taken its shape as a faiSep 12, 2020
Gov't in hot seat over detained South Koreans in North Korea President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un hold hands during their first summit at the truce village of Panmunjeom, April 27, 2018. They held three inter-Korean summits that year, but six South Korean detainees in North Korea have not been released yet. / Korea Times fileBy Kang Seung-wooThe South Korean government's silence on its citizens detained in North Korea is drawing criticism from those who are claiming that Seoul is intentionally avoiding the issue so as not to ruffle feathers in Pyongyang while pursuing inter-Korean projects.A petition was posted on global petition website Change.org last month, calling for the release of the six South Koreans seized by the totalitarian state and detained for up to seven years. The petitioner, a youth group called Save 6 Koreans, wrote that the South Korean government and even the United Nations have made inadequate efforts to bring them home. “We question the United Nations and the South Korean government's lack of effort toward the repatriation of six South Koreans detained in North Korea,” it said in the petitSep 11, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
North Korea issues shoot-to-kill orders to prevent virus: USFK A woman wearing a face mask exits an underpass before a poster commemorating the 72nd anniversary of the founding of North Korea, in Pyongyang, Sept. 9, 2020. AFPNorth Korean authorities have issued shoot-to-kill orders to prevent the coronavirus entering the country from China, according to the commander of US forces in the South.The impoverished North ― whose crumbling health system would struggle to cope with a major virus outbreak ― has not confirmed a single case of the disease that has swept the world since first emerging in China, the North's key ally.Pyongyang closed its border with China in January to try to prevent contamination, and in July state media said it had raised its state of emergency to the maximum level.US Forces Korea (USFK) commander Robert Abrams said that the border shutdown had increased demand for smuggled goods, prompting authorities to intervene.The North introduced a new "buffer zone, one or two kilometers up on the Chinese border," Abrams told an online conference organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington on TSep 11, 2020
North Korea showing no sign of 'lashing out' in near future: USFK chief In this file photo taken on Sept. 25, 2018, U.S. Army General Robert Abrams testifies during his nomination hearing to be commander of all U.S. forces in South Korea in Washington, DC. Abrams said on Sept. 10, 2020, that he does not expect to see any "lashing out" from North Korea during upcoming celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the founding of Kim Jong-un's ruling party. AFPNorth Korea is not showing any signs of provocation, such as rolling out a new strategic weapons system, the head of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said Thursday, while insisting the impoverished North may be too caught up in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic and the amplified effects of sanctions."There's people suggesting that perhaps there'll be a rollout of a new weapons system. Ah, Maybe. But we're not seeing any indications right now, any sort of lashing out," USFK Commander Gen. Robert Abrams said in a webinar hosted by Washington-based Center for Strategic International Studies (CSIS).His remark comes amid widespread speculation that the North may unveil a new weapons system in the near future to mark the 7Sep 11, 2020
North Korea's child mortality rate nearly six times higher than South Korea in 2019: UN report North Koreans hold cards to make an image depicting North Korean children during a mass game performance of "The Land of the People" at the May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea, June 25, 2019. APNorth Korea's child mortality rate in 2019 was nearly six times higher than that of South Korea, a recent United Nations report showed.According to the report from the U.N. Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (IGME), North Korea's child mortality was estimated at 17 per 1,000 births in 2019, greatly reduced from 43 deaths in 1990, but still significantly higher than that of South Korea.South Korea's child mortality rate was 3 deaths per 1,000 births in 2019, according to the report.Child mortality rate refers to the number of deaths of children under the age of five per 1,000 births.The reclusive North suffered famine in the mid-1990s, which killed hundreds of thousands, and still grapples with chronic food shortage and malnutrition. (Yonhap)Sep 10, 2020
Resumption of North Korean weapons testing only matter of time: US expert North Korean leader Kim Jong-un / YonhapNorth Korea appears to be ready to resume its nuclear and weapons testing in the near future, a former U.S. intelligence official said Wednesday, stressing the need for "stronger" incentives or punishment for the communist state."Another big element we need to think about is that additional weapons testing is probably just a matter of time," said Markus Garlauskas, a former intelligence officer for North Korea at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.During a virtual seminar, titled "A New Direction for U.S. Policy on North Korea," he said that North Korean Kim Jong-un has personally stated that the North is no longer bound by its earlier pledges not to test nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs)."North Korean state media has been very clear that Kim has threatened that there's going to be a new strategic weapon reveal, and that he no longer feels bound by his previous pledges not to test ICBMs and nuclear weapons," Garlauskas told the webinar hosted by the Washington-based U.S. Institute for Peace."And so if you Sep 10, 2020
North-South Korean couples try to bridge 75-year division North Korean refugee Kim Seo-yun speaks during an interview with her South Korean husband Lee Jeong-sup at their house in Seoul, Thursday, July 23, 2020. Tens of thousands of North Koreans, mostly women, have fled to South Korea over the past two decades. Arriving from a nominally socialist, extremely repressive society, these women often struggle to adjust to fast-paced, capitalistic lives in South Korea. They also face widespread discrimination, bias and loneliness. Many want to marry South Korean men, who they think will help them better adjust to new lives in South Korea. The number of these North-South Korean couples appears to be on the rise, according to at least one government survey. APOn their second date last year, feeling a little drunk at a seaside restaurant, Kim Seo-yun let slip a revelation to her South Korean love interest: She had fled North Korea a decade ago, something that sometimes made her feel ashamed in a country where North Korean defectors can face discrimination.Her companion, Lee Jeong-sup, jokingly asked if she was a spy but then told her there was nothiSep 9, 2020
