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North Korean leader visits site of major housing project in Pyongyang
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited a major housing construction site nearing completion in Pyongyang, describing it as bringing a "new era of prosperity" to the capital, state media reported Sunday. Kim visited the construction site of 10,000 apartments in the capital's Hwasong area Saturday -- the third phase of a four-part plan to build 40,000 units in the area, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). "This is a significant development of enhancing the strategic function a
March 16, 2025 -
N. Korea's top diplomat meets Russia's vice foreign minister in Pyongyang
North Korea's Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui has met a senior Russian diplomat visiting Pyongyang, state media reported Sunday, amid talks for a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war. Choe met a Russian delegation headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko on Saturday, a day after they arrived in the country, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. The KCNA said the talks were attended by North Korean foreign ministry officials and Russian Ambassador to North Korea Aleksandr Mat
March 16, 2025 -
Trump appears to use 'nuclear power' label to lure N. Korea to dialogue: US expert
US President Donald Trump's repeated mention of North Korea as a "nuclear power" might be an effort to lure Pyongyang back to the negotiating table as the recalcitrant regime wants "de facto" US recognition as a nuclear-armed country, a preeminent US expert said Friday. Victor Cha, Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), also noted that Trump appears to be holding out the prospects of the next US-North Korea negotiation being about threat reduction rather than d
March 15, 2025 -
G7 ministers call for North Korea to abandon its nuclear arms
Top diplomats decry North Korea's military aid to Russia The top diplomats of the Group of Seven (G7) countries called Friday for North Korea to abandon all its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and condemned Pyongyang's military aid to support Russia's war in Ukraine. The foreign ministers of the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and the High Representative of the European Union issued a joint statement after their meeting in La Malbaie, Canada. "G7 members dem
March 15, 2025 -
S. Korea calls for immediate release of 3 missionaries detained in N. Korea following U.N. report
The unification ministry on Friday called for the immediate and unconditional release of three South Korean missionaries held in North Korea, following the United Nations' adoption of a report demanding their release. The ministry issued the call a day after the UN Human Rights Council's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention adopted opinions calling for North Korea to release the three South Korean Christian missionaries. The three -- Kim Jung-wook, Kim Kook-kie and Choi Chun-gil -- have been det
March 14, 2025 -
North Korea slams Japanese ruling party’s constitutional amendment push
North Korea, in a commentary released by its state media on Friday, criticized a push by Japan's ruling party to amend the country's pacifist constitution, which has remained unchanged since it took effect after World War II. The North’s Korean Central News Agency also called Japan’s trilateral security cooperation with South Korea and the US a military scheme to carry out a reinvasion of the Korean Peninsula. “After all, Japan has fully revealed its militaristic nature to change the constitutio
March 14, 2025 -
North Korean IT workers forced into brutal workloads, surveilled 24/7: report
North Korean IT workers, who are forced to work for the Kim Jong-un regime to generate illegal revenue, must endure grueling conditions, strict surveillance and intense pressure to meet brutal workload quotas just to get paid, according to a report released by a human rights organization. The report, written by Pscore, a Seoul-based nongovernmental organization advocating for human rights in North Korea, highlighted the need to recognize North Korean tech workers as victims of serious human righ
March 13, 2025 -
N. Korean cargo ship suspected of smuggling coal collided with Chinese ship in Yellow Sea: source
A North Korean cargo ship suspected of smuggling out North Korean coal collided with a Chinese ship and sank in the Yellow Sea last month, according to a source familiar with the matter Thursday. The accident is believed to have left around 15-20 North Korean crew members dead. But North Korea and China seem to be keeping a low-key stance about the accident, apparently due to a violation of United Nations Security Council sanctions banning exports of North Korean coal. While turning off its auto
March 13, 2025 -
Signs detected of North Korea, Russia ramping up joint bridge construction
Satellite photos have detected signs of North Korea and Russia ramping up the construction of a joint motorway bridge linking the two countries across the Tumen River, Radio Free Asia said Wednesday. The satellite photos taken by SI Analytics, a South Korean satellite imagery analysis platform, showed yellow construction materials and "probable bridge column location(s)" being installed across the frozen river. The pillars extended 300 meters from the Russian side of the border, RFA noted. Const
March 12, 2025 -
Human rights groups urge Zelenskyy to send N. Korean POWs to S. Korea if they wish
Third Geneva Convention does not apply to N. Korean POWs, who face likely ‘draconian punishment’ if repatriated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been urged to respect the wishes of two North Korean soldiers captured in Ukraine and to allow them to seek asylum in South Korea if they choose, according to a joint letter from North Korean human rights organizations and relatives of detainees in North Korea. The letter to Zelenskyy was made public as authorities in Ukraine and South Korea
March 12, 2025 -
North Korea mentions Pocheon bombing to condemn S. Korea-US drills
North Korea’s state media on Wednesday mentioned the South Korean fighter jets’ accidental bombing of a civilian village last week in lambasting the ongoing annual South Korea-US springtime military exercise. "The enemies should not give a sigh of relief, but they should take seriously an ominous sign of the dangerous US-S. Korea joint military drills and immediately stop a nuclear war simulation, the root cause for the worsening security situation on the Korean Peninsula," the North's Korean Ce
March 12, 2025 -
North Korea slams South Korea-US military drill as preemptive strike rehearsal
North Korea denounced South Korea and the United States on Tuesday, claiming the two allies are using the annual Freedom Shield exercise ― a large-scale joint military drill that began the previous day ― as a rehearsal for a preemptive strike on its nuclear facilities. The Korean Central News Agency, a North Korean state-run media outlet, accused the two allies of escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula by increasing the scale of their joint drills, referring to the Freedom Shield exercise.
March 11, 2025 -
N. Korea denounces S. Korea-US joint drills as 'dangerous provocative act'
North Korea on Monday denounced joint military drills by South Korea and the United States as a "dangerous provocative act," as the allies were set to begin their annual joint drills. The warning was issued by the North Korean foreign ministry in a statement dated Sunday, a day before South Korea and the US were set to begin their annual joint military exercise for an 11-day run, involving computer-simulated drills and on-field training. The ministry accused the allies of "persistently staging t
March 10, 2025 -
N. Korean leader inspects project to build nuclear-powered submarine
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has inspected a project to build a nuclear-powered submarine, warning that his country's maritime defense capability will be "fully" projected "in any necessary waters without limitation," the North's state media reported Saturday. Kim made the remark when he visited major shipyards tasked with constructing warships, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The report did not disclose the date and location of his inspection. During the inspection, the r
March 8, 2025 -
N. Korea warns S. Korea, US will pay 'horrible price' over next week's joint military drills
North Korea threatened Friday that South Korea and the United States will pay a "horrible" price for their joint military exercise slated for next week, saying the drills will soon bring a "storm" that deteriorates the security situation on the Korean Peninsula. The North's warning came a day after the militaries of the allies announced that the annual Freedom Shield exercise will kick off Monday for an 11-day run, involving computer-simulated drills and on-field training. The Korean Central New
March 7, 2025