N. Korean delegation of senior female officials visits Russia: KCNAA North Korean delegation of senior female officials is visiting Russia, Pyongyang's state media reported Tuesday, marking the latest in a series of exchanges between the two countries. The delegation, led by Kim Jong-sun, department director of the ruling party's central committee, departed for Russia via Pyongyang International Airport the previous day, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. Kim is responsible for overseeing various labor organizations. The KCNA did not disclose the purpose of the visit, but the trip appears aimed at discussing bilateral cooperation with Russian women's organizations, as it comes amid growing bilateral cooperation between the two countries across various fields.Jul 22, 2025By Yonhap
N. Korea says to build additional 5,000-ton destroyer by Oct. 2026North Korea plans to build an additional 5,000-ton destroyer by October next year, state media reported Tuesday, following the launch of two such military vessels earlier this year. Workers at a dockyard in the western coastal city of Nampho held a rally the previous day, vowing to "build one more new destroyer by Oct. 10, 2026," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. In North Korea, Oct. 10 marks the anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea. In April, North Korea unveiled its first 5,000-ton destroyer, the Choe Hyon, as it scrambles to bolster its naval warfare capabilities. In June, another destroyer of the same class, the Kang Kon, was launched after repairs, a month after the vessel had tipped over and sustained damage during its initial launch attempt in May. During the June launch ceremony, state leader Kim Jong-un ordered the construction of two Kang Kon-class or larger destroyers annually starting in 2026. The KCNA quoted the manager of the Nampho dockyard as urging workers to complete the construction of the new vessel on time to "uphold the party'sJul 22, 2025By Yonhap
N. Korea issues weather alert as heavy rains pound northern regionNorth Korea has issued a weather alert to warn residents against potential damage after heavy rains battered the country's northwestern province of Jagang, a radio dispatch showed Monday. The advisory came after cumulative rainfall of 176.1 millimeters fell in a county in Jagang Province from 10 p.m. Sunday to 8 a.m. Monday, with up to 250 mm of rain forecast to additionally fall in the northern areas of the province, according to the Korean Central Broadcasting Station. "Thorough measures should be drawn up to prevent damage from heavy rains, lightning and strong winds," the dispatch said. North Korea is vulnerable to natural disasters due to its lack of infrastructure, with heavy rains, in particular, leaving thousands of people displaced in the impoverished country. The risk of landslides is especially believed to be high in the mountainous province of Jagang. Heavy rains in July last year flooded large swaths of land along the Amnok River in North Phyongan, Jagang and Ryangang provinces, prompting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to reprimand officials over causing "even the casualtyJul 21, 2025By Yonhap
South Korea mulls allowing individual tourism to NorthThe South Korean government is considering allowing individual tourism to North Korea as part of the Lee Jae Myung administration's broader push to rebuild fractured inter-Korean relations. "The government is reviewing and implementing its North Korea policy with the aim of easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula and improving inter-Korean relations. Various measures are under review as part of this process," Koo Byung-sam, spokesperson for the Ministry of Unification, said during a briefing Monday. Koo was responding to a local media report suggesting that the tourism idea had been discussed during a recent National Security Council meeting presided over by the president. While he did not deny the report, the spokesperson declined to comment on any specific measures under consideration. The presidential office said that "various plans are under review to improve inter-Korean relations," but offered no further details. South Koreans' tours to North Korea have been suspended since 2008, after a South Korean tourist was shot and killed by a North Korean soldier in the Mount Geumgang resortJul 21, 2025By Lee Hyo-jin
S. Korea's spy agency suspends broadcasts targeting N. Korean regimeThe National Intelligence Service (NIS) suspended all of its decades-old broadcasts targeting the North Korean regime this month, anti-Pyongyang broadcasters said Monday, as the Lee Jae Myung administration is working to improve strained ties with Pyongyang. "The NIS' radio broadcasting channels targeting North Korea have halted their transmissions one after another this month," Lee Kwang-baek, president of South Korea's Unification Media Group, told Yonhap News Agency. The private media group focuses on radio broadcasts aimed at North Korea, Kim Seung-chul, head of another anti-North broadcaster, North Korea Reform Radio, also listed Voice of the People and Echo of Hope among the NIS' anti-North Korea radio channels that have stopped broadcasting recently. The spy agency is also reported to have suspended its television broadcasts targeting the North, although the organization declined to confirm the suspensions. Those channels, in operation for decades through changes of government, have transmitted propaganda messages targeting North Korea, promoting the values of South Korea's free sJul 21, 2025By Yonhap
Seoul says reviewing measures to improve ties with NK amid report on individual trips to NorthSouth Korea is reviewing various measures to ease tensions and improve ties with North Korea, the unification ministry said Monday, following a news report that permitting individual trips to the North is under consideration. "The government is formulating and pursuing North Korea policies with the goal of easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula and improving inter-Korean ties, with various measures under consideration in the process," the unification ministry said in a press release. The reaction follows a report by the Dong-A Ilbo daily that the Lee Jae Myung administration is considering resuming individual trips to North Korea as a negotiating card to reopen dialogue with Pyongyang. The newspaper said Lee mentioned the idea during a National Security Council meeting held on July 10, and that the government subsequently begun a related review on feasibility and other issues, quoting a senior official as describing the review as a "long-term" one. Trips to North Korea, once a symbol of inter-Korean reconciliation, have been suspended since 2008, when a South Korean female tourist was sJul 21, 2025By Yonhap
N. Korea boasts of rich wheat harvest despite int'l concerns about food shortageNorth Korea said Sunday it expects this year's wheat harvest to be more than triple that of 2021. In a front-page story, the Rodong Sinmun, the North's main newspaper, wrote that harvests of wheat and barley exceeded the national grain production plan. "The wheat cultivation area is growing every year, and this year alone, it increased by over 30,000 jongbo from last year," the paper said, referring to a unit equivalent to about 10,000 square meters. Despite the North's claims, international agencies have reported chronic food shortages in the country. In March, the Food and Agriculture Organization designated North Korea as a country in need of outside food aid for the 19th consecutive year.Jul 20, 2025By Yonhap
World Baseball Softball Confederation president visits N. Korea: KCNAThe president of the World Baseball Softball Confederation is visiting North Korea, the country's state media said Sunday, without providing details. A WBSC delegation headed by Riccardo Fraccari arrived in Pyongyang on Saturday and was greeted at the airport by Park Chon-jong, vice minister of physical culture and sports, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a brief dispatch. Baseball and softball are not known to be popular sports in North Korea. During a visit to South Korea in 2014, Fraccari expressed his openness to visiting North Korea to promote baseball.Jul 20, 2025By Yonhap
APEC summit in S. Korea fuels speculation for possible Kim-Trump meetingSpeculation is mounting over the possibility of a high-stakes summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on the sidelines of the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gathering in South Korea this autumn, rekindling memories of their earlier diplomatic encounters that once captivated global attention. Trump is expected to attend the APEC summit scheduled for Oct. 31 to Nov. 1 in the southeastern city of Gyeongju. While no formal plans for a meeting with Kim have been announced, analysts say shifting geopolitical dynamics and the leaders’ history of personal diplomacy have opened a narrow but significant window for talks. Speculation intensified following the United States’ late June airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, which heightened Pyongyang’s concerns about its own strategic vulnerabilities. Victor Cha, president of the Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, noted that while a summit remains possible, it would take place “under a different context,” with Kim likeJul 20, 2025By Kim Hyun-bin
Russian airline begins ticket sales for new Pyongyang-Moscow air route: reportRussian airline Nordwind has begun selling tickets for flights on the newly authorized direct route between the capitals of North Korea and Russia, according to a Russian news report. The Russian budget carrier is scheduled to operate its first flight from Moscow to Pyongyang on July 27, with ticket prices starting at 44,600 rubles ($566.50), the Russian news agency Tass reported Friday. The new air route follows Russian aviation authorities' recent approval of Nordwind's request last month to operate direct flights between Pyongyang and Moscow twice a week. Tass said the flight will take about eight hours and will be operated by a Boeing 777-200ER, with the first return flight to Moscow expected July 29. Currently, North Korea and Russia have direct flights only between Pyongyang and Vladivostok.Jul 19, 2025By Yonhap
