Captured NK soldiers' intention 'most important factor' for their defection to S. Korea: FM Cho

South Korea's top diplomat said Wednesday that confirming the captured North Korean soldiers' intentions is the key factor before allowing them to defect to the South, reaffirming Seoul's willingness to bring them here. Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul made the remarks after a North Korean soldier held by Ukraine said in an interview with a South Korean daily last week that he wants to go to South Korea and that he was about "80 percent sure" of it. He was one of the two wounded North Korean soldier

Feb. 26, 2025

[Obituary] Jeong Su-il, ex-North Korean spy turned Silk Road scholar, dies at 90

Once a deep-cover North Korean spy disguised as Lebanese national 'Muhammad Kansu,' Jeong ultimately found redemption in South Korea as a leading expert on the Silk Road Jeong Su-il, a former North Korean spy who later became a leading expert on the Silk Road in South Korea, has died at the age of 90. Once known as Lebanese national "Muhammad Kansu," the alias he used to operate covertly in South Korea, Jeong’s life spanned espionage, imprisonment and eventual redemption as a scholar of global c

Feb. 26, 2025

N. Korea likely to ramp up military activities this year: unification ministry

South Korea's unification ministry said Wednesday that North Korea is likely to ramp up its military activities this year, citing the country's designation of 2025 as "a year of training." Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho reported the assessment to a meeting of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee earlier in the day. Marking the 77th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Army, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited the defense ministry on Feb. 8 and designate

Feb. 26, 2025

N. Korea's Kim stresses 'actual experiences in modern warfare' during visit to military academy

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited a military academy in Pyongyang, emphasizing the need to educate soldiers on "the actual experiences of modern warfare" and master rapidly advanced weapons, state media reported Wednesday. Kim inspected the Kang Kon Military Academy, the most prestigious commanding officers training center, the previous day, the Korean Central News Agency said, marking his second consecutive day of visiting a military education institution. On Monday, Kim inspected the

Feb. 26, 2025

N. Korean party delegation visits Moscow: KCNA

A high-ranking delegation from North Korea's Workers' Party has arrived in Moscow for a visit at the invitation of Russia's ruling party, state media reported Tuesday. The delegation, led by Ri Hi-yong, a member of the party's Central Committee Politburo, landed in Moscow the previous day at the invitation of Russia's United Russia Party, the Korean Central News Agency said. Andrey Klimov, a member of the presidium of the Russian party's Supreme Committee and deputy head of the party's foreign a

Feb. 25, 2025

N. Korea's Kim stresses 'ideology-first' principle for military during university visit

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited a military and political university and emphasized the "ideology-first" principle and loyalty in building a powerful military, the North's state media reported Tuesday. Kim visited the Kim Il Sung University of Politics the previous day and gave a speech to faculty and students, the Korean Central News Agency said, describing the university named after North Korea's founder and the leader's grandfather as the supreme military and political school of th

Feb. 25, 2025

N. Korean workers face forced labor aboard Chinese fishing vessels

North Korean workers face forced labor aboard Chinese tuna longliners operating in the Indian Ocean to generate foreign revenue, potentially in breach of United Nation sanctions, a recent nongovernmental organization report showed Monday. The Britain-based Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) released the report, which was based on interviews with Indonesian and Philippine workers who had worked on such Chinese fishing vessels. The report quoted an interviewee testifying that North Korean crew

Feb. 24, 2025

N. Korea warns of 'resolute' action against multilateral sanctions monitoring group's activities

North Korea threatened Monday to take "resolute" action after a South Korea-led monitoring group implementing UN sanctions against the North over its nuclear and missile programs has launched official activities. The North's threat came as the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team, established by South Korea and 10 other countries in October, pledged to ensure the full implementation of UN sanctions against North Korea at the inaugural meeting of its steering committee last week. Calling the MS

Feb. 24, 2025

North Korea shows signs of ramping up ChatGPT use

Concerns grow over North Korea’s advances in use of AI for fraud, scams North Korea is showing signs of incorporating ChatGPT into its operations, adding to concerns that artificial intelligence technology could be used to advance the reclusive regime’s cybercrimes. A video released Saturday by a North Korean external propaganda outlet showed scholars in the North learning about ChatGPT, a generative artificial intelligence chatbot developed by US AI research organization OpenAI. The report by V

Feb. 23, 2025

N. Korean hackers suspected in crypto’s biggest hack, stealing nearly $1.5 billion

Hackers drained $1.4 billion of cryptocurrency from Bybit exchange, CEO says Crypto exchange Bybit said it was hacked, resulting in what analysts estimate was the loss of almost $1.5 billion worth of tokens in the biggest theft ever committed in the industry. Researchers believe North Korean hackers were likely responsible. A hacker took control of one of Bybit’s offline Ethereum wallets, the exchange’s Chief Executive Officer Ben Zhou announced in a post on X on Friday. An estimated $1.46 billi

Feb. 22, 2025

N. Korea designated 'high-risk jurisdiction' for money laundering, terrorism financing for 15th year

North Korea has been designated a "high-risk jurisdiction" for money laundering and terrorism financing for the 15th consecutive year, according to a Paris-based intergovernmental body. The Financial Action Task Force, which is tasked with combating money laundering and terrorism financing, said it decided at a plenary session Friday (local time) to put North Korea in the highest risk category along with Iran and Myanmar. "The FATF remains concerned by the DPRK's continued failure to address the

Feb. 22, 2025

Ukraine official says sending of N.K. POWs to S. Korea 'possible'

A Ukrainian defense intelligence official has mentioned the possibility of sending North Korean soldiers captured during combat to South Korea, in the first such acknowledgment by Kyiv. Andriy Chernyak, the representative of defense intelligence of Ukraine, made the remark in an exclusive interview with Yonhap News Agency in Kyiv on Friday (local time) when asked about the two North Korean soldiers held in Ukraine amid the ongoing war with Russia. "Everything is possible," Chernyak said in the i

Feb. 22, 2025

N. Korea seen using ChatGPT in AI education

North Korea is apparently using ChatGPT, a generative artificial intelligence service developed by OpenAI of the United States, in its higher education AI studies, according to a media report Saturday. According to the report from Voice of Korea, a Pyongyang external propaganda outlet, members of an AI research institute at Kim Il Sung University were seen learning ChatGPT and its functionalities. Learning material used by the institute explained how ChatGPT generates text based on user input. G

Feb. 22, 2025

S. Korea to lead new N. Korea sanctions watchdog, replacing UN panel

Seoul sees 1st MSMT meeting in Washington under Trump as pivotal after launch under Biden South Korea will take the lead this year in operating a new multilateral sanctions monitoring body and publishing its reports, filling the gaps in sanctions enforcement and monitoring on North Korea left by the dissolution of the UN Panel of Experts following Russia's veto. The outcome came after the inaugural meeting of the steering committee of the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team or MSMT in Washing

Feb. 21, 2025

Swiss ambassador to N. Korea assumes post as embassy reopens after COVID-19

Switzerland's top envoy to North Korea has begun his duties after submitting his credentials to Choe Ryong-hae, chairman of the North's parliamentary standing committee, according to the North's state media Friday. Choe was presented with credentials from Jurg Burri, Switzerland's ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to North Korea, at Mansudae Assembly Hall on Thursday on behalf of state leader Kim Jong-un, the Korean Central News Agency reported. Choe and the ambassador had talks, whic

Feb. 21, 2025