S. Korea to permit public access to N. Korea's main newspaperThe unification ministry said Friday the government will take administrative steps to allow the public's easy access to the Rodong Sinmun, the main newspaper of North Korea's ruling Worker's Party. In South Korea, public access to North Korean media and publications, including the Rodong Sinmun, is denied as they are classified as "special materials" due to concerns that they include content praising and promoting North Korea. The unification ministry, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and other related government agencies held a consultative meeting earlier in the day to review ways to reclassify the Rodong Sinmun as "general materials," not as special ones under the spy agency's guidelines. The participants at the meeting shared a consensus on the reclassification of the North's daily and the government will take necessary administrative steps from next week for the access, the unification ministry said in a notice to the press. President Lee Jae Myung took issue with a ban on public access to the North's materials during last week's policy briefing by the unification ministry. LDec 26, 2025By Yonhap
S. Korea to merge defector resettlement centers as arrivals from North declineSouth Korea’s Ministry of Unification plans to merge its two resettlement centers for North Korean defectors next year as the number of arrivals continues to fall sharply, officials said Friday. A ministry official said the government has decided to move forward with integrating the main Hanawon resettlement center and its branch facility, with a final decision on the location — either Anseong in Gyeonggi Province or Hwacheon in Gangwon Province — expected soon. Unification ministry Deputy Spokesperson Chang Yoon-jeong said during a regular briefing that the move reflects a continued decline in the number of defectors entering South Korea. “We are reviewing integration measures and related personnel reassignments to ensure efficient operations,” she said. The plan was included in the ministry’s policy agenda for next year, which was reported to President Lee Jae Myung on Dec. 19. The number of North Korean defectors entering South Korea has fallen sharply since the COVID-19 pandemic. Arrivals peaked at 2,914 in 2009 but dropped to 1,047 in 2019. After North Korea closed its boDec 26, 2025By Kim Hyun-bin
Kim Chang-son, close aide of N. Korean leader, dies: KCNAKim Chang-son, who had served as the protocol chief to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has died, according to the North's state media Friday. The North's leader expressed "deep" condolences over his death and sent a wreath to the bier the previous day, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, without saying the cause of his death. The report said Kim Chang-son had worked in important posts of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea and the state for a long time under "the special loving care and deep trust of the peerlessly great men." He "made a distinguished contribution to defending the prestige of our Party and enhancing the external prestige of the country with his steadfast honesty and sincerity," the KCNA said. Kim Chang-son, known as the de facto chief of staff to Kim Jong-un, served as the protocol chief, notably appearing on the sites of the North Korean leader's summit diplomacy. In the height of Kim Jong-un's summit diplomacy in 2018-2019, highlighted by summit talks with U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore and Vietnam, Kim Chang-son visited summit facilities in advancDec 26, 2025By Yonhap
N. Korea's Kim calls for expanding missile, shell production capacityNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un has unveiled a plan to build new munitions factories to expand the production capacity of missiles and shells, stressing that raising their production is critical in bolstering the war deterrent, state media reported Friday. The report came a day after the North's state media said Kim had inspected an 8,700-ton "nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarine" under construction. The North's leader ordered expanding the production capacity of missiles and shells during his visit to major munitions industry enterprises as he inspected the missile and shell production in the fourth quarter, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). It did not elaborate on the date of his inspection or the factories' locations. Kim noted plans to construct new munitions factories will be decided at the upcoming party congress, stressing the importance of modernizing the munitions industry, according to the KCNA. "In order to satisfy the prospective demands of the missile and artillery forces of the Korean People's Army, it is necessary to continuously raise the lDec 26, 2025By Yonhap
N. Korea touts nuclear submarine under construction as S. Korea's plan advancesNorth Korea has vowed to strengthen its nuclear submarine capabilities as South Korea advances plans to build a nuclear-powered submarine, a move analysts say could fuel a naval arms race between the two Koreas and complicate Seoul's push to revive peace talks. According to the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Thursday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said Seoul's submarine plan would pose a direct threat to Pyongyang. "Saying that the nuclear submarine development plan of the ROK, which Washington has agreed on at the solicitation of Seoul recently, will worsen the instability in the region of the Korean Peninsula, he stressed that the DPRK regards it as an offensive act severely violating its security and maritime sovereignty and a threat to its security that must be countered," KCNA reported, using acronyms for the Republic of Korea and Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the official names of South Korea and North Korea. The North Korean leader made the remarks during a recent on-site inspection of an 8,700-ton nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarDec 25, 2025By Lee Hyo-jin
Kim receives New Year's message from Putin that hails 'heroic' dispatch of N. Korean troops in war against UkraineRussian President Vladimir Putin has sent a message of greeting to mark New Year's Day to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, hailing the North's "heroic" dispatch of troops in Russia's war against Ukraine, the North's state media said Thursday. Kim received the message on Dec. 18, in which Putin extended "wholehearted congratulations" on the occasion of the new year, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. "The past one year was of special significance in the relationship between Moscow and Pyongyang," Putin said, referring to the entry of North Korean troops in Russia's war with Ukraine. This "clearly proved the invincible friendship and militant fraternity" between the countries, Putin said. Putin also recalled the comprehensive strategic partnership treaty the two countries have signed, adding, "This has contributed to expanding remarkably the productive, bilateral cooperation in political, trade, economic, human and other fields. "I am convinced that we will in the future, too, strengthen the relations of friendship and alliance in every way and conduct constructive cooperation on rDec 25, 2025By Yonhap
N. Korea's Kim oversees test-firing of new anti-air missiles in East SeaNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said South Korea's plan to build nuclear-powered submarines will "worsen the instability" in the region, calling Seoul's move a threat to the North's national security, according to state media Thursday. Kim made the remarks during an on-site inspection of an 8,700-ton nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarine under construction, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The North Korean leader referred to Seoul's plan to build nuclear-powered submarines, saying it "will worsen the instability in the region of the Korean Peninsula ... (and) DPRK regards it as an offensive act severely violating its security and maritime sovereignty." DPRK refers to the official name of North Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. He also said it represents "a threat to its security that must be countered." Kim reaffirmed that the country will maintain its national security policy and principle of deterring the enemy. "It is needed to make the enemy understand with no doubt that they will be surely forced to pay a dear price when they violate the secDec 25, 2025By Yonhap
N. Korea's Kim warns Seoul's nuclear-powered submarine plan will 'worsen instability'North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said South Korea's plan to build nuclear-powered submarines will "worsen the instability" in the region, calling Seoul's move a threat to the North's national security, according to state media Thursday. Kim made the remarks during an on-site inspection of an 8,700-ton nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarine under construction, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The North Korean leader referred to Seoul's plan to build nuclear-powered submarines, saying it "will worsen the instability in the region of the Korean Peninsula ... (and) DPRK regards it as an offensive act severely violating its security and maritime sovereignty." DPRK refers to the official name of North Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. He also said it represents "a threat to its security that must be countered."Dec 25, 2025By Yonhap
Unification minister vows efforts to resolve separated families issueUnification Minister Chung Dong-young on Wednesday met with an aging separated family member in South Korea and pledged to address humanitarian issues through dialogue with North Korea, according to the unification ministry. Chung visited the home of Kim Bong-hwan, aged 105, in Seoul, in a bid to console her pain caused by decades of separation, according to the ministry. Kim asked Chung to confirm whether her family members in the North were still alive, saying it had been her lifelong wish to reunite with her siblings, from whom she was separated during the 1950–53 Korean War. While referring to separated families as the "biggest sorrow" stemming from the war, Chung vowed to make every effort to resolve humanitarian issues through various means, including dialogue with the North. Of the 134,514 people who applied for family reunions with their relatives in North Korea, only 34,658 were still alive as of late last month, according to the ministry. Among them, more than 32 percent are aged 90 or older, including 660 who are over 100.Dec 24, 2025By Yonhap
2 N. Korean POWs in Ukraine express desire to defect to S. Korea in letter: activistTwo North Korean soldiers who were captured in Ukraine while fighting for Russia have written a letter expressing their desire to defect to South Korea, an activist in Seoul said Friday. Jang Se-yul, head of a North Korean defectors' group in the South, said the two North Korean captives in their 20s wrote such a letter in October when they met a South Korean documentary producer at a prisoner-of-war camp near Kyiv. The letter was delivered to the group via the producer earlier this month. "We've made up our mind to go to South Korea, thinking of those in South Korea as our parents and brothers," the letter read. In the letter, the captives expressed their appreciation for those who said the current situation facing them is "not a tragedy but the beginning of a new life." "A new dream and aspiration have begun springing up on the back of support from people in the Republic of Korea," it said. The North Korean POWs were under the media spotlight when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote online in January that they had been captured by Ukrainian forces in Russia's western Kursk regDec 24, 2025By Yonhap
