Kim Yong-nam, NK’s ex-titular head of parliament, dies at 97North Korea's state media reported Tuesday that the North's former titular head of state, Kim Yong-nam, who had led Pyongyang's diplomacy for decades, has died at the age of 97, with leader Kim Jong-un expressing deep condolences over his death earlier in the day. Kim Yong-nam, former chairman of the North's rubber-stamp Supreme People's Assembly, died the previous day from multiple organ failure related to cancer-linked poisoning, the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. Kim Yong-nam has been battling colorectal cancer since June last year. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited his bier at 1 a.m. Tuesday to express "deep condolences," accompanied by major senior party and government officials, the KCNA said. Kim Yong-nam visited South Korea as head of the North's delegation to the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics. The parliamentary standing committee and the cabinet decided to hold a state funeral for Kim Yong-nam on Tuesday, and his coffin will leave the facility Wednesday to be laid to rest. The state funeral committee is composed of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Premier PNov 4, 2025By Yonhap
Trump's April Beijing trip offers window for US-N. Korea summitThe next possible opportunity for a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could come during Trump's planned trip to Beijing in April, according to local observers on Monday. After Trump's Asia trip last week ended without a much-anticipated meeting with Kim, speculation is mounting that the two sides may seek to arrange one early next year. Following a high-stakes summit between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Busan on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, Thursday, both sides confirmed that Trump will visit Beijing in April. As the U.S. president wrapped up his visit to South Korea, he told reporters he would "come back for a meeting with Kim Jong-un." The remarks came after their encounter failed to materialize, despite Trump repeatedly saying he "would love to meet" the North Korean leader during his Asia trip. Yang Moo-jin, former president of the University of North Korean Studies, said a Trump-Kim encounter in April coinciding with Trump's planned trip to Beijing is a realistic possibility. "As the NNov 4, 2025By Lee Hyo-jin
Denuclearizing Korean Peninsula is shared international goal: unification ministryThe unification ministry reaffirmed Monday that denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula is a goal universally shared by the international community, days after North Korea described it as a "pipe dream." "Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is the international community's unanimous goal," unification ministry spokesperson Koo Byoung-sam told a briefing, saying the government is continuing communication and cooperation with key nations regarding the matter. The remarks were in response to North Korea's statement issued Saturday, calling denuclearization of the peninsula "a pipe dream" that can never be realized. The North issued the statement under Vice Foreign Minister Pak Myong-ho's name, after South Korea's presidential office said the issue would be on the agenda for President Lee Jae Myung's summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, which took place last Saturday. Koo also said the window of opportunity for North Korea-U.S. dialogue remains open, urging Pyongyang to "make a strategic decision not to miss the opportunity." Seoul will make consistent efforts to support dialogue betweeNov 3, 2025By Yonhap
N. Korea's Kim inspects special operations unit's war readinessNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un has inspected the combat readiness of a military special operations unit and gave instructions for its development, the North's state media reported Sunday. Kim visited the headquarters of the 11th Corps of the Korean People's Army the previous day and watched a training session, expressing "great satisfaction" with its perfect war posture, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The 11th Corps is the North Korean military's most elite special forces unit, which deployed troops to Russia late last year to support its war with Ukraine and gained experience in modern warfare. The visit came on the same day President Lee Jae Myung held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the southeastern South Korean city of Gyeongju. Ahead of the summit, the South Korean presidential office said the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula would be on the agenda for the Lee-Xi talks, but the results disclosed after the summit made no mention of the issue. "It is the will and desire of the (ruliNov 2, 2025By Yonhap
N. Korea slams denuclearization as 'pipe dream' ahead of Lee-Xi summitNorth Korea said Saturday that denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula was a "pipe dream" that can never be realized, after Seoul said President Lee Jae Myung and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to discuss the issue during their summit. Lee and Xi are scheduled to hold their first summit Saturday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders Meeting in the southeastern city of Gyeongju. The Presidential Office said denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula was on the agenda. North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Pak Myong-ho criticized South Korea for seeking to raise the denuclearization issue whenever an opportunity arises, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). "We will show with patience that denuclearization is a 'pipe dream' which can never be realized even if it talks about it a thousand times," Pak said in a statement carried by the KCNA. He said South Korea still remains unaware that "struggling to deny the DPRK's position as a nuclear weapons state and talking about its daydream of realizing the denuclearization just reveals its lack oNov 1, 2025By Yonhap
2 N. Korean captives in Ukraine pled to take them to S. Korea: activistTwo North Korean prisoners of war in Ukraine, captured while fighting for Russia and detained since early 2025, have pleaded with a visiting documentary producer to bring them to South Korea, an activist said Friday. Jang Se-yul, head of a North Korean defectors' group in South Korea, disclosed the meeting between two North Korean captives in their 20s and a South Korean documentary producer Tuesday at a prisoner camp near Kyiv, where they are currently held. The North Korean soldiers first came to media attention when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote online in January that they had been captured by Ukrainian forces in Russia's western Kursk region while in battle. "Please bring (us) to South Korea," Jang quoted them as telling the producer, weeping. Both of them expressed a desire to go to South Korea, Jang suggested, a change from February, when only one of them had expressed such an intent during a meeting with a South Korean lawmaker. Provided photos showed that the jaw wound sustained by one of them at the time of capture was now healed, though it left some bone distortiOct 31, 2025By Yonhap
N. Korea's Kim inspects new hospital as Trump departs S. KoreaNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un has inspected a hospital under construction near Pyongyang, calling for a healthcare revolution to promote public health, state media reported Friday, on the day when U.S. President Donald Trump left South Korea on the occasion of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gathering. Kim visited Kangdong County Hospital, which is near completion, the previous day to inspect the construction and instructed that medical equipment be installed within next month, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The hospital inspection came on the same day Trump departed South Korea after a two-day visit for talks with President Lee Jae Myung and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the occasion of the APEC gathering. The KCNA report on Kim's public appearance came as North Korea remained silent on Trump's repeated calls to meet Kim during his trip to South Korea. Friday's KCNA report made no mention of any response to Trump's offers to meet him. It marked Kim's first reported public appearance since North Korean media said he visited a cemetery for Chinese soldiers kiOct 31, 2025By Yonhap
Trump says would come back to meet with NK leader: reportU.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday he was too busy in South Korea to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un but would come back for a meeting, Reuters reported. Trump made the remark to reporters aboard Air Force One after departing the southeastern city of Busan to return home. His visit to South Korea had sparked speculation of a possible meeting with Kim in what would have been their fourth face-to-face meeting to discuss the North's nuclear weapons program. Reuters said Trump told reporters he would like to see denuclearization. At a summit with President Lee Jae Myung on Wednesday, Trump said he and Kim "get along very well" but "really weren't able to work out timing."Oct 30, 2025By Yonhap
N. Korea calls Japan's Takaichi defender of conservative rightsNorth Korea on Thursday described new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi as a defender of conservative rights, referring to her past visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, which symbolizes Japan's militaristic past. The Rodong Sinmun, North Korea's most widely read newspaper, made the point in its Thursday edition, portraying her as a "person who speaks for conservative rights." It marks North Korea's first media response to Takaichi since she took office last week. The newspaper accused Takaichi of glorifying imperial Japan's criminal acts and of justifying her visit to the Yasukuni Shrine, a symbol of Japan's militarism. It also slammed Takaichi's party election pledge to inscribe the Japan Self-Defense Forces in the country's constitution, accusing her of trying to turn Japan into a war state through military buildup and constitutional revision. "It is clear that Japan's political circles' shift to the right will never change and will go further toward a more dangerous path," the newspaper said.Oct 30, 2025By Yonhap
Trump indicates may soon return to region to meet NK Korean leader: reportU.S. President Donald Trump indicated Wednesday that he may soon return to Asia to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Reuters reported. Trump made the remark to reporters aboard Air Force One en route from Tokyo to Busan, where he is scheduled to begin a two-day state visit to South Korea. He also downplayed North Korea's latest missile launches Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. "He's been launching missiles for decades, right?" Trump was quoted as saying, apparently referring to Kim. Trump reiterated his wish to meet again with the North Korean leader, saying they "had a really good understanding of each other." The two leaders met three times during Trump's first term to try to reach a deal on North Korea's denuclearization. The talks broke down, however, due to differences over how they would match North Korea's denuclearization steps with U.S. concessions, including sanctions relief.Oct 29, 2025By Yonhap
