Heat damage still haunts North Korea North Korean farmers work hard to provide water during the drought in this file photo from the country's party mouthpiece Rodong Sinmun on Aug. 2. YonhapBy Jung Da-minNorth Korea is yet to recover from damage caused by unusually hot weather that struck the country from mid-July to August, according to a recent report by an international aid agency.The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) DPRK Country Office Friday announced a two-month extension of the emergency plan that has been operated since Aug. 9."The extension is to allow sufficient time for expected delays in procurement and delivery of goods to DPRK," it said.Earlier on Aug. 2, the North Korean government declared an emergency situation due to the heat wave that added to the country's food crisis after years of natural disaster such as drought and floods.The IFRC report said about 13,768 people in South Hamgyong Province and Sough Pyongan Province have received assistance from the agency, after the regions' agricultural producers had been seriously affected.About 62 and 206 hectares of cornNov 19, 2018
Kim Jong-un's Seoul visit still possible: ministry It is still possible that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could visit the South this year despite a delay in denuclearization talks between Washington and Pyongyang, the unification ministry said Monday."We will make preparations to make the agreements that the South and the North agreed upon, including Kim's trip to the South, take place without a hitch within this year," Baik Tae-hyun, a ministry spokesman, told a regular press briefing.In a September summit in Pyongyang, Kim promised to visit South Korea "at an early date." South Korean President Moon Jae-in later said that his planned trip could be possible within this year should all things proceed without a problem.Stalled denuclearization talks between the U.S. and North Korea, however, have prompted speculation that Kim's first-ever visit to the South could be delayed, along with major cooperative projects the two Koreas agreed to launch before the end of this year. Washington and Pyongyang are currently pushing to rearrange their recently canceled high-level talks to discuss the nuclear issue and preparations for their possiNov 19, 2018
North Korea's propaganda outlet blasts US for maximum pressure tactic A North Korean propaganda outlet blasted the United States Monday for sticking to "maximum pressure" in pushing for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, calling it a "medieval-era" tactic that would never work on the North. "The U.S. has forgotten the objectives agreed upon during the Singapore summit, while moving a train off the basic theme and basic track of improving relations between North Korea and the U.S. and peace and now forcing it on a local line of denuclearization through maximum pressure," DPRK Today said in an article.It added that the U.S. is currently trying to intensify its monitoring system on the North's military activities and hold military drills with Japan by mobilizing nuclear-powered carriers and strategic fighter jets around the Korean Peninsula, calling it an effort to put more pressure on North Korea. "These acts by the U.S. apparently came from a medieval-era way of thinking that only threatening, coercive and barbarian tactics could enhance its negotiating leverage," it said. "The U.S. needs to realize again that such anti-physical and illogical forNov 19, 2018
Hyundai, North to commemorate 20th anniversary of Mount Geumgang program Hyun Jeong-eun, chairwoman of Hyundai Group, arrives at a service area near the border between two Koreas in Gangwon Province, Sunday. / YonhapBy Park Ji-wonHyundai Group and North Korea held a joint event Sunday to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the inter-Korean tourism program at the North's Mount Geumgang.According to Hyundai Group, 100 South Koreans headed to North Korea to participate in the first celebratory event in four years at the scenic resort from Sunday to today.Eighty officials from the North's Asia-Pacific Peace Committee also participated in the event, which it co-organized with the South's tour operator.“We hope the event can be used as a linchpin to resume the tour program for peace and cooperation as early as possible,” Hyundai said in a statement.Among South Korean participants were about 30 Hyundai officials, including Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun and Hyundai Asan CEO Bae Kook-hwan, six incumbent lawmakers, former government officials, private experts, businesspeople and journalists.This was Hyun's third visit to the North this year. SNov 18, 2018By Park Ji-won
CIA key official makes secret visit to Seoul Harry Harris, left, U.S. Ambassador to South Korea and Andrew Kim, head of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul in July. / Korea Times fileBy Park Ji-wonA senior Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) official on Korean affairs secretly visited South Korea and met senior officials of the two Koreas, according to local media reports last week.Andrew Kim, chief of the CIA's Korea Mission Center (KMC), made his visit to Seoul and went to the border village of Panmunjeom on a four-day trip from Wednesday to meet officials of the two Koreas, and returned to the U.S. on Saturday. Kim was said to have mediated efforts by the U.S. and two Koreas to narrow differences on denuclearization ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's planned visit to North Korea in late November, the reports said.Kim reportedly discussed the issue with South Korean government officials and lawmakers.The move came with denuclearization talks between North Korea and the United States stalled after Pyongyang asked Washington to offer corresponding measures in exchange for its agreeNov 18, 2018By Park Ji-won
Two Koreas on rapid military reconciliation A South Korean guard post in the border country of Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, is demolished, Thursday. The two Koreas will destroy 10 guard posts near the border area on each side by the end of this month. / Joint Press CorpsExpectations rise for inter-Korean air routesBy Lee Min-hyungThe two Koreas are on a rapid track to disarm fortifications on land border areas and ease military tension by taking concrete steps to realize their common goal of building peace on land, sea and in the air.The latest in a series of inter-Korean tension-easing and trust-building steps came Friday when the two Koreas held a working-level dialogue to discuss launching air routes on their eastern and western coasts.According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, North Korea offered to open international air routes on either coastal areas of the Korean Peninsula, which would allow aircraft from here and abroad to use the routes without restrictions.The land ministry plans to hold discussions with the defense and foreign ministries to decide whether to accept the North's proposal.The militNov 18, 2018By Lee Min-hyung
Kim Jong-un calls for modernized production in visit to glass victory North Korean leader Kim Jong-un stressed the importance of modernized production during his visit to a glass factory in the country's western region, Pyongyang's state media reported Sunday.The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim gave field guidance at the Taegwan Glass Factory in North Pyongan Province, where he praised "flawless" glassware and other optical apparatuses."Pointing out that the world is rapidly changing and developing, he called for directing steady efforts to putting the factory's overall production process and process for checking goods on a modern basis and introducing update technology, not content with the present success, and thus producing better optical glass and measuring equipment," the KCNA said in an English-language report.The KCNA added that Kim was accompanied by Choe Ryong-hae, vice chairman of the ruling Workers' Party, and two vice department directors of the party, Jo Yong-won and Kim Yong-su, among others.This was Kim Jong-un's first visit to Taegwan Glass Factory since May 2014. The plant is also said to have produced military lens, and wasNov 18, 2018
North Korean officials head home after 4-day cross-border trip Ri Jong-hyok, vice chairman of the Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, left, leave for Pyongyang with his North Korean delegation at the Gimpo International Airport, Saturday. YonhapA five-member North Korean delegation left South Korea on Saturday to return home after wrapping up their four-day visit to attend an international peace forum.The North's delegates, led by Ri Jong-hyok, vice chairman of the Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, left Seoul earlier in the day, and arrived in Beijing. Sources said it seems they will stay in China for two days before returning home, though it is not known whether they plan to hold any meetings with Chinese officials.After arriving here late Wednesday, they visited the Second Techno Valley in the Pangyo district of the city of Seongnam, just south of Seoul, the following day, and held a meeting with South Korean officials, including Gyeonggi governor Lee Jae-myung, to discuss various issues, such as pushing for joint business projects. On Friday they attended the 2018 International Convention for Peace and Prosperity in the Asia Pacific, whicNov 17, 2018
US voices appreciation for North Korea's release of American citizen In this file photo taken on March 09, 2018, the North Korean flag flies above the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, China. Pyongyang said Friday that it had expelled a US citizen who had entered its territory illegally, an unusually swift resolution of a case that could have further complicated reconciliation moves between the two countries. The man, identified as Lawrence Bruce Byron, had been in custody after crossing into North Korea from China, Oct. 16, the official Korean Central News Agency said. AFP-YonhapU.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed appreciation Friday for North Korea's release of an American citizen held there for alleged illegal entry.Pompeo said in a statement that the United States "appreciates the cooperation" of North Korea and the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang, which facilitated the release.Pyongyang said earlier that it was deporting an American citizen, identified as Bruce Byron Lowrance, after detaining him for illegally crossing its border with China last month.He confessed to have entered the North under the direction of the U.S. Central IntelligencNov 17, 2018
US upbeat about North Korean denuclearization despite new weapon test US President Donald J. Trump during the signing of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Act in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, Nov. 16. EPA-YonhapThe United States expressed confidence Friday that North Korea will honor its commitment to denuclearize despite its test of an unspecified “newly developed high-tech tactical weapon.”North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected the "successful" test of the weapon at a national defense institute, state media reported earlier in the day.This marked the first such inspection by Kim since he watched an intercontinental ballistic missile launch in November 2017."At the Singapore Summit, President Trump and Chairman Kim made a number of commitments regarding final, fully verified denuclearization and creating a brighter future for North Korea," a State Department spokesman said in response to a query from Yonhap News. "We are talking with the North Koreans about implementing all of those commitments."The summit in June yielded a commitment by Kim to work toward "complete" denuclearization of the KorNov 17, 2018
