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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

Kim Jong-un wants to be 'normal' leader

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un steps out of his private jet, Chammae-1, in Dalian, China, May 7. / Korean Central News AgencyKim is first North Korean leader to travel abroad on plane since 1986By Yi Whan-wooNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un is believed to be speeding efforts to make his country appear as a “normal state” in line with his move to dismantle its nuclear program.For decades, North Korean leaders, amid rumors that they feared being assassinated, did not use planes when visiting abroad until Kim flew on his private jet, Chammae-1, to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Dalian, China from May 7 to 8.This was the second summit between Kim and Xi.Kim traveled by train when he met Xi in Beijing in March.Kim is also scheduled to fly to Singapore in June for an historic summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.“His air travel may be aimed at showing he is a confident, normal leader who meets international standards,” a source familiar with Pyongyang said.Before Kim’s Dalian trip, no North Korean leader had publicly gone abroad by air since Kim&

May 13, 2018
Kim Jong-un wants to be 'normal' leader
  • North Korea, US in talks over denuke roadmap

N. Korean Buddhists send prayer to Seoul to mark joint summit

By Yi Whan-wooA group of North Korean Buddhists has sent a prayer to South Korea in commemoration of the historic summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the truce village of Panmunjeom on April 27.The Association of Korean Buddhist Orders’ human rights committee in Seoul said last week that its co-head Ven. Jingwan received a prayer from North Korea’s Buddhist Federation.The prayer will be recited during a service to mark Buddha’s Birthday on May 22.“The historic Panmunjeom Declaration that affirmed the principle of national autonomy calling for self-determination of the fate of our people is a flare announcing a new start of history and a landmark to open up a new era of autonomous unification and connect the divided peoples,” the prayer reads.“We will march bravely toward the implementation of the Panmunjeom Declaration, a doctrine for national, autonomous unification.“We will let the preaching of peace and unification be heard loudly at the every corner of the Korean Peninsula.”North Korea’s

May 13, 2018

N. Korea vows not to make unannounced missile tests

By Yi Whan-wooNorth Korea has vowed to not carry out unannounced missile tests and other activities hazardous to commercial aviation, according to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).It said last week North Korean authorities made the promise to ICAO officials during their visit to Pyongyang from May 7 to 9, while explaining Pyongyang’s nuclear program.The visit came after North Korea announced at a plenary session of the ruling Workers’ Party on April 20 that the country would suspend its nuclear and intercontinental missile tests.“We received a solid assurance from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea that they will not be engaging in activities hazardous for aviation without full advanced notice for the other states in the region, and that they would coordinate that activity to ensure that we could retain safety,” ICAO Air Navigation Bureau Director Stephen Creamer said on his return to Beijing.Asked if this meant international airlines would resume flights over North Korea, ICAO Regional Director Arun Mishra said: “It&rsqu

May 13, 2018
  • North Korea, US in talks over denuke roadmap
  • Pompeo: US firms could invest in North Korea if it denuclearizes

Greenhouses become new source of income in N. Korea

By Yi Whan-wooNorth Korea is increasingly building greenhouses in coal-mining areas as part of efforts to rebuild its economy hit by U.N. Security Council (UNSC) sanctions, according to sources familiar with Pyongyang.The measure comes after the UNSC sanctions aimed at curbing exports of North Korean coal, one of the country’s main income sources, were introduced because of the North’s nuclear program.“We can’t export coal, so we’ve changed our lifestyle,” a source in South Pyongan Province said on condition of anonymity.The source claimed provincial residents were building greenhouses to “make a living,” adding, “It will be hard to find a household that hasn’t built a greenhouse in the coal mine regions.”Another source said more than 80 percent of residents in Tokchon, a provincial city, had greenhouses, which the authorities had encouraged.The greenhouses are used to grow cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers. The vegetables are sold to Sinuiju and Pyongyang using taxis and privately operated trucks.Many in the region pre

May 13, 2018

Defector-turned-journalist abducted to North Korea: lawmaker

A North Korean defector-turned reporter was abducted to the communist nation during a visit to a Chinese region bordering the North last year, an opposition lawmaker claimed Friday.Rep. Ha Tae-keung of the minor opposition Bareunmirae Party also said during a news conference with family members of the abducted reporter surnamed Choi that the government should demand Choi's return along with the release of six other South Korean abductees in the North.Choi, a reporter with the Seoul-based Daily NK internet newspaper, was abducted in late May last year while visiting a China-North Korea border region and has been held in an underground prison of the State Security Department in Pyongyang, the lawmaker claimed.Choi's wife said that her husband entered South Korea in 2011 and has since worked as a reporter. He traveled to China in order to collect fresh news on North Korea, she said."Our family is desperately waiting for my husband ... but there has been no word," she said. "I respectfully ask President Moon Jae-in that the government talk to North Korea and save those abducted." (Yonhap

May 13, 2018
Defector-turned-journalist abducted to North Korea: lawmaker
  • Seoul finds it 'hard to confirm' abduction of South Korean reporter to North

40% of North Koreans suffer from malnutrition, says WFP

By Kang Aa-youngNorth Korea still needs continued humanitarian assistance because many mothers and young children there still relied on aid to meet their nutritional needs, UN World Food Program (WFP) chief David Beasley said Friday.He said after a four-day visit to the North that, he did not see starvation as there was in the 1990s, but there was obvious hunger and under-nutrition.“There is a real need for continued humanitarian assistance, especially when it comes to meeting the nutritional needs of mothers and young children,” he said.According to the Washington Post, the WFP estimates that more than 10 million of North Korea's 24.8 million people (40 percent) are undernourished, with one in three young mothers and children under aged five or under 5 suffering from anemia.The WFP feeds about 500,000 women and children every month with food such as porridge and high-energy biscuits. But the organization says its food aid program is “severely underfunded.”Accompanied by government minders, Beasley spent four days in North Korea, two in the capital Pyongyang a

May 13, 2018
40% of North Koreans suffer from malnutrition, says WFP

Moon, Kim to talk over inter-Korean hotline 'soon'

By Park Si-soo Leaders of the two Koreas will talk over the inter-Korean hotline “soon,” South Korea's presidential office said in yet another sign of inter-Korean rapprochement before the historic summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore on June 12.The hotline was installed before the April 27 inter-Korean summit -- one fixed-line telephone on President Moon Jae-in's desk at Cheong Wa Dae and the other on Kim's desk in Pyongyang. But the line has not been used.A presidential office official said it was uncertain when the two leaders would talk over the line, but it would take place “sooner or later” because they would feel the need to talk before the Kim-Trump summit.Moon plans to meet Trump in Washington on May 22, so the hotline talks between Moon and Kim are expected before this.

May 13, 2018
Moon, Kim to talk over inter-Korean hotline 'soon'
  • North Korea, US in talks over denuke roadmap
  • Pompeo: US firms could invest in North Korea if it denuclearizes

Trump hails test site dismantlement as 'very smart and gracious gesture'

U.S. President Donald Trump has welcomed North Korea's announcement of details of its plan to dismantle its nuclear test site as "a very smart and gracious gesture."The North's foreign ministry announced Saturday night that it will dismantle its Punggye-ri nuclear test site between May 23 and 25, and will invite journalists from South Korea, China, Russia, the United States and Britain to cover the dismantling on-site.The ministry also said the ruling Workers' Party and other relevant institutions are "taking technical measures for dismantling the northern nuclear test ground" in order to "ensure transparency of discontinuance of the nuclear test.""North Korea has announced that they will dismantle Nuclear Test Site this month, ahead of the big Summit Meeting on June 12th. Thank you, a very smart and gracious gesture!" Trump said in a Twitter posting.The North's announcement was seen as yet another goodwill gesture before leader Kim Jong-un meets with Trump in Singapore on June 12 for what will be the first-ever summit of the two Cold War adversaries. It came just days after the Nort

May 13, 2018
  • North Korea to publicly blow up nuclear test site on May 23-25

North Korea to publicly blow up nuclear test site on May 23-25

North Korea announced Saturday it will publicly dismantle its northern nuclear test site in a ceremony scheduled for between May 23 and 25, adding it is taking "technical measures" to that end.The announcement by the North's foreign ministry moves the communist country closer to honoring an offer made by its leader Kim Jong-un during the inter-Korean summit last month.In an English-language statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the foreign ministry detailed the country's plans to shut down its Pyunggye-ri nuclear test ground.It said the ruling Workers' Party and other relevant institutions are "taking technical measures for dismantling the northern nuclear test ground" in order to "ensure transparency of discontinuance of the nuclear test."During the third inter-Korean summit on April 27, Kim told South Korean President Moon Jae-in that he would "carry out the closure of the northern nuclear test site in May," according to Seoul's presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae.Kim also offered to make the dismantling public. And the North's foreign ministry said t

May 13, 2018
North Korea to publicly blow up nuclear test site on May 23-25
  • Trump hails test site dismantlement as 'very smart and gracious gesture'
  • Cheong Wa Dae welcomes N. Korea's pledge to dismantle nuclear test site
  • Pompeo: US firms could invest in North Korea if it denuclearizes
  • Fate of 10,000 Pyongyang nuclear scientists up in the air
  • 8 South Korean reporters invited to witness nuke test site blowup

North Korea says taking 'technical measures' to dismantle nuclear test site

In this Sept. 3, 2017 file photo, a man watches a TV news program on a public screen showing an image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un while reporting North Korea's possible nuclear test in Tokyo, Japan. / AP-YonhapNorth Korea announced Saturday it is taking "technical measures" to dismantle its northern nuclear test site, moving closer to honoring an offer made by its leader Kim Jong-un during the inter-Korean summit last month.The North's foreign ministry issued a press release, carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), detailing the country's plans to shut down its Pyunggye-ri nuclear test ground.The English-language statement said the ruling Workers' Party and other relevant institutions are "taking technical measures for dismantling the northern nuclear test ground" in order to "ensure transparency of discontinuance of the nuclear test."During the third inter-Korean summit on April 27, Kim told South Korean President Moon Jae-in that he would "carry out the closure of the northern nuclear test site in May," according to Seoul's presidential office, Cheong Wa

May 12, 2018
North Korea says taking 'technical measures' to dismantle nuclear test site
  • US offers to help Pyongyang's economy if it 'quickly' denuclearizes
  • Pyongyang's denuclearization may proceed speedily: official
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