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    Unification advisory vice chief expects US-NK talks around US midterms

    Kang Chang-il, senior vice chair of a presidential advisory on unification policy, said he expected talks between North Korea and the United States will resume in the second half of this year, around the U.S. midterm elections in November. “North Korea and the U.S. will likely hold talks around the Trump administration’s midterm elections, potentially late this year or early next year,” Kang, senior vice chair of the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council (PUAC), said Wednesday at his first press conference since taking office on April 17. The PUAC is a presidential advisory body mandated by the Constitution to promote peaceful unification through policy consultation, consensus building and international outreach. President Lee Jae Myung serves as an ex officio chairperson of the body. Kang, a veteran four-term lawmaker who previously served as ambassador to Japan, added that “Washington had no room to maneuver due to the war with Iran ... Once the U.S.-Israel war with Iran ends, the North Korea issue will take center stage as the last major unresolved global conflict. The focus

    2 MIN READBy Park Ji-won
    Unification advisory vice chief expects US-NK talks around US midterms
  • Foreign Affairs

    Filipino killer of Korean businessman nabbed as Lee hails arrest

    2 MIN READBy Jung Min-ho
    Filipino killer of Korean businessman nabbed as Lee hails arrest
  • Foreign Affairs

    Lee arrives in Italy for talks with Italian president, PM

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Lee arrives in Italy for talks with Italian president, PM
  • Foreign Affairs

    Seoul denies report of Japan's request for talks on Fukushima seafood import ban

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Seoul denies report of Japan's request for talks on Fukushima seafood import ban
  • Foreign Affairs

    Lee, Belgian PM agree to expand investment in batteries, energy, boost market access

    2 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Lee, Belgian PM agree to expand investment in batteries, energy, boost market access
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North Korea

N. Korea-backed hackers launch newly detected cyberattack scheme using computer files: report

A North Korea-linked cyber hacking group appears to have launched a new cyberattack campaign, code-named "Artemis," that embeds malicious code inside computer files, a report showed Monday. The Genians Security Center (GSC), a South Korean cybersecurity institute, said in a report that it detected the operation believed to have been carried out by APT37, a Pyongyang-backed cyber hacking group. According to the report, the threat actors embedded malicious object linking and embedding (OLE) code inside Hangul Word Processor (HWP) documents. An attack chain is triggered when a user allows the opening of the document's content and clicks a hyperlink in the file. HWP is a document file format widely used as a standard in South Korea. The findings follow an October report by 38 North, a U.S.-based website monitoring North Korea, which said North Korean cyber operators have repeatedly exploited the HWP format to infiltrate government, military and key industrial networks in South Korea. "This attack demonstrates APT37's ongoing pattern of highly developed reconnaissance and infiltration activiti

Dec 22, 2025By Yonhap
N. Korea-backed hackers launch newly detected cyberattack scheme using computer files: report
Foreign Affairs

S. Korea, China arranging summit talks early next year: FM Cho

Seoul and Beijing have been in arrangements for summit talks between President Lee Jae Myung and Chinese President Xi Jinping early next year, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said Monday. Asked during an interview with Yonhap News TV whether Lee and Xi would hold summit talks early next year, Cho replied, "We have been in (relevant) consultations with China." Cho said a date for the planned summit between Lee and Xi will be announced "soon." If the summit is held, how to persuade North Korea to return to the dialogue table will be a major agenda item, Cho said. "It will be important to seek China's cooperation so that North Korea can come to the dialogue table," Cho said. South Korea has called on China to play a role in fostering conditions to resume dialogue with North Korea, with China reaffirming its commitment to ensuring stability on the Korean Peninsula. Diplomatic tensions between Seoul and Beijing persist over China's steel structures built in the overlapping sea zone in the Yellow Sea. The steel towers have raised speculation that China has installed them to lay territorial claims to t

Dec 22, 2025By Yonhap
S. Korea, China arranging summit talks early next year: FM Cho
North Korea

Ministry dismisses report on proposing legal revision to recognize N. Korea as separate nation

The unification ministry on Monday dismissed a news report that it had proposed a constitutional revision to President Lee Jae Myung to recognize North Korea as a separate nation as part of efforts to resume engagement with Pyongyang. The reaction came after a local newspaper claimed that the ministry had proposed amending the Constitution to recognize North Korea as a separate, independent nation during a closed-door policy briefing to Lee last Friday. The Constitution currently defines the entire Korean Peninsula as the sovereign territory of South Korea, effectively not recognizing North Korea as an equal nation. Ministry spokesperson Yoon Min-ho dismissed the report as "groundless and false" during a press briefing Monday. "The ministry did not propose a constitutional revision during the policy briefing, nor has it ever reviewed such a move," Yoon said, expressing "regret" over what he called a "distorted report."

Dec 22, 2025By Yonhap
Ministry dismisses report on proposing legal revision to recognize N. Korea as separate nation
North Korea

N. Korea ramps up cybertheft following $2.3 bil. crypto haul: report

North Korea has refined its cryptocurrency hacking operations, carrying out fewer but far more lucrative attacks on major targets and deploying increasingly sophisticated laundering techniques to evade detection, according to a report by the blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. In a preview of its Crypto Crime 2026 report, Chainalysis revealed that North Korean hackers siphoned a record $2.02 billion in cryptocurrency in 2025. This 51 percent surge from the previous year highlights the regime’s intensifying reliance on digital theft to bypass global sanctions and fund state priorities. The windfall brings the total amount stolen by Pyongyang-linked actors to approximately $6.75 billion since records began, underscoring a deepening crisis for international cybersecurity. While the number of confirmed attacks declined sharply, the overall value of thefts increased, driven by a handful of extraordinarily large breaches, the analysis found. “The year’s data highlight a shift toward fewer but larger thefts — with the biggest three hacks alone accounting for a majority of all servic

Dec 21, 2025By Kim Hyun-bin
N. Korea ramps up cybertheft following $2.3 bil. crypto haul: report
North Korea

With daughter in tow, N. Korean leader attends factory openings for 2nd straight day

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has attended ceremonies to open new factories for the second straight day, state media reported Sunday, highlighting his push for regional development as he appeared alongside his daughter. The Korean Central News Agency said Kim toured factories in the eastern coastal city of Sinpho on Friday, a day after he cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony for a plant in the western county of Jangyon. While the KCNA article did not mention her by name, Kim's daughter, Ju-ae, widely seen as his heir apparent, appeared in photographs released by the agency. It marked her first public appearance with her father since Monday, when they toured another set of factories together. According to the report, Kim noted that Sinpho now has "reliable potential and a strong driving force for its independent development" and reaffirmed the determination of the ruling Workers' Party to pursue more ambitious regional development goals. Kim also visited Sinpho's offshore farm, where he was briefed on aquaculture processing, the KCNA said. North Korea has been pursuing its regional dev

Dec 21, 2025By Yonhap
With daughter in tow, N. Korean leader attends factory openings for 2nd straight day
Foreign Affairs

S. Korea, Russia hold talks in Moscow on N. Korean nuclear, security issues: sources

South Korea and Russia recently held closed-doors talks in Moscow on North Korea's nuclear program and other pressing regional security issues, diplomatic sources said Sunday. According to the sources, a South Korean foreign ministry official handling North Korean nuclear issues recently traveled to Moscow for meetings with Oleg Burmistrov, the Russian foreign ministry's ambassador-at-large for the North Korean nuclear issue, and other relevant officials. The South Korean official apparently asked Russia to play a constructive role in ensuring peace on the Korean Peninsula, with Seoul looking to reopen dialogue with North Korea next year and efforts being made to end the war in Ukraine. Given Russia's close ties with North Korea, South Korea likely believes Moscow can play a decisive role in ensuring Pyongyang's return to dialogue. Except for the meeting between the two foreign ministers in September this year, the recent meeting was the first involving North Korean nuclear officials of Seoul and Moscow since October 2024, when their bilateral relations took a turn for the worse due to N

Dec 21, 2025By Yonhap
S. Korea, Russia hold talks in Moscow on N. Korean nuclear, security issues: sources
North Korea

N. Korea calls for standing up to US-led 'Western coercion'

North Korea on Saturday called for standing up to "Western coercion" led by the United States and its allies, accusing them of violating U.N. principles of respect for other countries' sovereignty and noninterference in their internal affairs. North Korea made the call in a statement released by the foreign ministry, urging partner countries to continue raising their voices against such actions should they want to build "an equal and multipolar" world. "Unilateral coercive measures that obliterate the rights to sovereignty, survival and development must be abolished," the ministry said in the statement posted on the website. The ministry also said that the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the U.N. — a new U.N. group of which North Korea is a member — had a meeting earlier this month to mark the U.N. International Day against Unilateral Coercive Measures. The group was launched in 2021 by 18 countries, including China, Russia and Iran, to support what they say are the purposes of the U.N., but its members largely include some of the world's most repressive regimes. The gro

Dec 21, 2025By Yonhap
N. Korea calls for standing up to US-led 'Western coercion'
Foreign Affairs

Senate confirms Korean American official as assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate has confirmed a Korean American official as assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, a post that deals with defense cooperation with South Korea and other regional allies and partners, Congress' website showed Friday. On Thursday, the upper chamber approved John Noh, who has served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, in a 53-43 vote. The confirmation came as Seoul and Washington are working to deepen security cooperation and "modernize" the bilateral alliance amid North Korea's advancing nuclear and ballistic missile threats and China's growing assertiveness. In his written answers to questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee in October, Noh said that many South Korean defense capabilities could contribute to deterring China, as he stressed that the United States' defense priorities should focus on addressing the "most serious" military threat of the Asian superpower. Regarding China's naval activities in the Yellow Sea, Noh said that those activities appear to be aimed at "intimidating" South Korea. The

Dec 20, 2025By Yonhap
Senate confirms Korean American official as assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security
Foreign Affairs

FM Cho says to push for Lee's state visit to China early next year

Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said Friday that his ministry will work to arrange President Lee Jae Myung's state visit to China early next year. Cho made the remarks during a policy briefing to the president, outlining his ministry's plans for diplomacy with key countries and regions, as well as major international issues. "We will pursue the president's state visit to China in the early part of next year," he said at the start of the briefing. South Korea is seeking to maintain a stable relationship with China amid its efforts to resume dialogue with North Korea. China is the North's traditional ally and a primary economic benefactor. With the United States, the foreign ministry will work to arrange another timely summit between Lee and U.S. President Donald Trump next year and ensure that follow-up steps for the agreements reached at the recent summits in August and October will be carried out, he said. "Particularly, we will make sure that we make tangible progress in nuclear-powered submarines, nuclear energy and shipbuilding," Cho said. The U.S. has committed to supporting South Korea for

Dec 19, 2025By Yonhap
FM Cho says to push for Lee's state visit to China early next year
North Korea

USFK commander says DMZ should not become 'politicized,' amid bill to ease access

The commander of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said Friday that the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) should not be "politicized," voicing opposition to a bill in South Korea that seeks to grant the government control of non-military access to the buffer zone. The remarks by USFK Commander Gen. Xavier Brunson, who also doubles as commander of the U.N. Command (UNC), followed a recent UNC statement in opposition to the pending bill. He said the armistice agreement that ended the 1950-53 Korean War should remain the barometer governing behavior. Under the armistice, the UNC currently has the authority to approve or deny access to the DMZ. "What we want to try to make sure that we do is, number one, we don't allow that area to become politicized ... we signed an agreement to say that we will maintain this buffer here," Brunson said in an episode of security-focused podcast series "War on the Rocks." Brunson noted that South Korea recently proposed military talks with North Korea to discuss how to clarify the Military Demarcation Line in the DMZ in a bid to prevent possible clashes near the inter-Kore

Dec 19, 2025By Yonhap
USFK commander says DMZ should not become 'politicized,' amid bill to ease access
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