N. Korea, Laos' FMs agree to strengthen bilateral ties, cooperationThe foreign ministers of North Korea and Laos have held talks and agreed to strengthen relations between the countries and expand cooperation in supporting each other on the international stage, the North's state media said Thursday. Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui met with her Lao counterpart, Thongsavanh Phomvihane, in Pyongyang following the Lao delegation's arrival in North Korea on Tuesday, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The ministers agreed to further strengthen their countries' traditional friendship by thoroughly implementing the agreement reached by their state leaders in October, the KCNA said. They also exchanged views on ways to boost mutual support and cooperation on the international stage, reaching a shared understanding, according to the report. The foreign ministers' talks came after talks between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith in Pyongyang in October on the occasion of the 80th founding anniversary of the North's ruling party, where they agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation. The Lao president was among the fNov 13, 2025By Yonhap
Seoul keeps backing UN resolution against N. Korean human rights violationsKorea has maintained its support for a U.N. resolution condemning North Korea's human rights violations, a document showed Wednesday, despite its push for rapprochement with Pyongyang under the liberal government of President Lee Jae Myung. South Korea was among the 41 U.N. member states co-sponsoring the resolution, according to the resolution distributed earlier this month, continuing its stance from the previous conservative government that had taken a hard-line approach toward the reclusive state. Earlier expectations were that the Lee government, launched in June, might pull back from U.N.-led efforts criticizing North Korea's human rights abuses, as it has put its top priority on easing tensions and resuming dialogue with Pyongyang. South Korea did not support the past U.N. resolutions from 2019-22, when then liberal President Moon Jae-in was in office, breaking with a decade of co-sponsorship. This came amid a strong push by the Moon government to engage with North Korea, which culminated in a flurry of diplomacy, including the first summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-unNov 12, 2025By Yonhap
Laos' FM visits N. Korea following summit talks in OctoberThe foreign minister of Laos has arrived in Pyongyang, North Korea's state media reported Wednesday, just about a month after the leaders of the two countries held summit talks in the North in October. A delegation, led by Thongsavanh Phomvihane, the foreign minister of the Southeast Asian country, arrived in Pyongyang the previous day upon invitation by the North's foreign ministry, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The KCNA did not provide further details on the purpose or duration of the visit, but the move raised views that the delegation will likely discuss follow-up measures following summit talks between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith in Pyongyang. The two leaders agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation during the talks held on the occasion of the 80th founding anniversary of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party of Korea on Oct. 10. The Lao president was among the foreign state leaders and senior officials who attended celebratory events in Pyongyang to mark the party founding anniversary, including a large-scale military parade. NNov 12, 2025By Yonhap
South Korean civic group launches online broadcast aimed at NKA new internet-based broadcast was launched on Tuesday to deliver uncensored information to North Koreans, as civic groups intensify efforts to connect citizens of the isolated regime with the outside world. The Korea Internet Studio (KIS), a Seoul-based internet broadcasting network, was created in response to what organizers called a growing "information vacuum" following the suspension of South Korean government-led broadcasts targeting North Korea earlier this year. "Information is the single most powerful force for change, and truth always finds a way," Jung Sung-jin, the network's inaugural chairman, said during a launch ceremony at the Korea Press Center in downtown Seoul. "Our mission is clear: to act as an information missionary linking North Korea to the wider world. Our broadcasts will serve as the oxygen that sustains and revitalizes North Korean society." Organizers said the new platform seeks to fill the gap left after the South Korean National Intelligence Service ended its decades-old propaganda transmissions to the North in July. The unprecedented decision to halt radioNov 11, 2025By Lee Hyo-jin
Satellite imagery shows fire occurred at building in central Pyongyang in early November: officialSatellite imagery has shown that a fire broke out at a large-scale building in central Pyongyang in early November, with the extent of the damage yet to be determined, a unification ministry official said Tuesday. The fire is believed to have occurred around Nov. 2 at a building measuring roughly 50 meters in both length and width in central Pyongyang, near the Ryugyong Hotel, the official told reporters. Further analysis is needed to determine the extent of the fire's damage or the nature of the affected building, in the absence of related reports from North Korean media, the official also said NK News has earlier reported that a fire on Nov. 2 reduced a building — likely a factory or warehouse — in central Pyongyang to ashes, releasing satellite imagery showing a tall column of smoke rising from the structure.Nov 11, 2025By Yonhap
Another N. Korean east coast tourism area in stage of completionNorth Korea is developing another seaside tourism area in its northern east coast region, following this year's launch of the east coast Kalma tourist zone, according to state media Tuesday. The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the construction of a maritime park zone in Yombunjin, North Hamgyong Province, has reached its completion stage, with roads, stores, restaurants and other amenities already built. The KCNA said paving and interior work are currently under way at a maritime inn in Yombunjin. Yombunjin, located on North Korea's northern east coast, is where construction of a hotel was launched in 2011 under the instruction by late former leader Kim Jong-il. As construction work had lagged for a long time, incumbent leader Kim Jong-un inspected the site in 2018, ordering a reconsideration of the hotel's design to better match modern tastes. During the visit, Kim pointed to the favorable traffic conditions and the scenic beach landscape of Yombunjin, ordering the construction of additional accommodation facilities and a maritime park. The development of a tourisNov 11, 2025By Yonhap
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOKUnification minister's remarks send mixed signals on NK policyA minister’s words carry particular weight — all the more so when that minister leads the agency steering North Korea policy for the Lee Jae Myung administration, which seeks rapprochement with Pyongyang. In recent months, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young's statements have often appeared uncoordinated with other security and foreign policy officials, leaving them scrambling to keep the government's message straight. On Thursday, he told reporters that scaling down South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises might be necessary to create conditions for renewed U.S.-North Korea diplomacy. On Monday, ministry spokesperson Yoon Min-ho clarified that Chung's comment reflected the broader implications of the exercises. While relevant ministries communicate closely, no specific adjustments are being discussed, the spokesperson said, suggesting that Chung's remarks had not been coordinated with defense officials in advance. This is not the first time the unification minister's comments on military drills have raised eyebrows. When Chung took office in July, he said he would recommend scalinNov 11, 2025By Lee Hyo-jin
Russian media delegation visits N. Korea: KCNAA delegation, led by a senior official of the Russian state-run media group Rossiya Segodnya, has arrived in Pyongyang, North Korea's state media reported Tuesday, as the two countries have been deepening cooperation in various fields. The delegation led by Sergei Kochetkov, first deputy editor-in-chief of the Russian media group, arrived in Pyongyang the previous day, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a short dispatch. The delegation was greeted by officials from the KCNA and the Russian Embassy in North Korea, it added. The visit came as Pyongyang and Moscow have been strengthening ties in various areas, raising views both sides could discuss establishing the Russian media group's bureau in Pyongyang and sending correspondents as part of such efforts. A number of major media outlets had correspondents based in North Korea, but they pulled out of the North as the country closed its border in the face of the pandemic in 2020. In February, reporters from Chinese media outlets took posts in North Korea in what marked the return of such correspondents for the first time in fiveNov 11, 2025By Yonhap
Senior official reaffirms no unification by absorption, no hostile acts toward N. KoreaSouth Korea will pursue neither unification by absorption nor any hostile acts toward North Korea, the vice unification minister said Monday, reaffirming the policy of President Lee Jae Myung's government of building peace on the Korean Peninsula. Vice Unification Minister Kim Nam-jung made the remarks during a meeting with residents of border areas at Camp Greaves, a former U.S. military base-turned-field-trip site in the western border city of Paju, Gyeonggi Province, just below the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas. "To achieve a peaceful Korean Peninsula without the need for conflict, the Lee Jae Myung government will recognize and respect the North Korean system and will neither pursue unification by absorption nor engage in any forms of hostile acts," Kim said. The vice minister said inter-Korean relations deteriorated abnormally under the previous Yoon Suk Yeol government, adding that anti-Pyongyang leaflet campaigns at the border, as well as North Korea's retaliatory release of trash-carrying balloons and blaring of loud noise, have caused damage to border areas durinNov 10, 2025By Yonhap
N. Korea's U-17 Women's World Cup victory tops domestic newspaperNorth Korea's victory in the 2025 Under-17 Women's World Cup topped the country's main newspaper Monday, which described it as a feat of the "world's best team." North Korea defeated the Netherlands 3-0 in the final of the Under-17 Women's World Cup on Sunday in Morocco to win its second straight championship and a record fourth in total. Featuring the victory on the front page of its Monday edition, North Korea's most-read newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, said North Korean players dominated the match from the beginning, leaving "a significant impression on football experts, fans and spectators around the world." The newspaper also hailed the team's victory in all seven matches of the tournament, saying they "clearly demonstrated their competence as the world's strongest team." "The latest tournament results have brought great inspirations to the people" in the run-up to the country's party congress, the Rodong Sinmun said. Several photos of Yu Jong-hyang, who received the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player and the Golden Boot as the top scorer with eight goals, and Kim Won-sim, theNov 10, 2025By Yonhap
