Oct 17, 2019   North Korea

Senior NK military official in Beijing to attend regional security forum

A senior North Korean military official arrived in Beijing on Thursday, apparently to attend a regional security forum to be held next week.Kim Hyong-ryong, the North's vice defense minister, was seen arriving earlier in the day at the Beijing international airport on an Air Koryo flight from Pyongyang.The trip appears aimed at Kim attending Xiangshan Forum, a regional security forum, to be held in Beijing from Sunday through Tuesday. China has held the forum every year since 2014 to counter the

Oct 17, 2019   North Korea

US seeks to address N. Korea's security interests: official

The United States will address North Korea's security interests if the regime gives up its nuclear weapons program, a senior US official said Wednesday, beckoning Pyongyang to return to denuclearization talks.David Stilwell, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, testified at a Senate hearing after working-level talks between Washington and Pyongyang broke down in Sweden on Oct. 5."They've come out to talk. We need to encourage them to continue doing that," St

Oct 16, 2019   North Korea

Kim Jong-un says pain caused by US turned to rage

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un rode up Paektusan on a horse, the North’s state media reported Wednesday, highlighting it as a historical event.Visiting upper Samjiyon County -- the birthplace of his father and predecessor Kim Jong-il, according to North Korea -- Kim said the pain the US is causing his people has turned to rage. He also stressed self-reliance.Releasing photographs of Kim on the back of a white horse on a snow-covered mountainside, the state-run Korean Central News Agency p

Oct 16, 2019   North Korea

Crew from North Korean ship fall overboard near Japan: NHK

TOKYO (Reuters) -- Crew of a suspected North Korean ship fell overboard in the East Sea near Noto Peninsula, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported on Wednesday, citing government sources.It was not clear if the broadcaster was referring to a member of the crew, more than one member of the crew or the vessel's entire crew. No further details were available in the NHK report. Japan's Coast Guard could not immediately confirm the report when contacted by Reuters.This month, Japan rescued about 6

Oct 16, 2019   North Korea

US sanctions aim to make N. Korea productive at talks: Pentagon

WASHINGTON -- The United States' sanctions campaign against North Korea is intended to bring the regime to the negotiating table with a mindset to be productive and reach solutions, a senior US defense official said Tuesday.Randall Schriver, assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, made the comment at a forum discussing US relations with China, including its role in denuclearizing North Korea.Negotiators from the US and North Korea met in Sweden Oct. 5 to resume working-

Oct 15, 2019   North Korea

FIFA president to watch inter-Korean football game in Pyongyang

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has flown to Pyongyang to watch a match between South and North Korea for the World Cup qualifier on Tuesday, a government official here said. “The president flew to Pyongyang via his chartered plane to watch the South-North soccer game,” an official at the Unification Ministry told reporters. On Monday, 55 people from South Korea, including 25 players, arrived in Pyongyang for the Group H match in the second round of the Asian qualification for t

Oct 15, 2019   North Korea

$4m frozen in Chinese Taipei due to sanctions on N. Korea

Taiwan has frozen millions of dollars worth of assets as it carried out sanctions on North Korea aimed at preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction, a recent report said.The implementation of targeted financial sanctions for North Korea has resulted in 81 freezing actions worth over $3.96 million, according to the Mutual Evaluation Report on Chinese Taipei released by the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering on Monday.   "Chinese Taipei authorities have highlighted an

Oct 15, 2019   North Korea

S. Korea seeks Russia's support for N. Korea's denuclearization

South Korean National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang has asked Russia to persuade North Korea to rid itself of nuclear weapons and promote economic projects with Seoul and Moscow.Moon made the request to Valentina Matviyenko, chairwoman of the Russian Federation Council, on Monday as they met after attending the 141st assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Belgrade, Serbia. He referred to a visit to Russia on Oct. 23-24 by a delegation of North Korea's parliament, known as the Presidium of

Oct 15, 2019   North Korea

N. Korea's SLBM launch hurt nuclear talks with US: ex-US envoy

A former US envoy for North Korea said Monday that Pyongyang's recent test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile ruined its chances of reaching a nuclear deal with Washington in Sweden earlier this month.Joseph Yun, who served as US special representative for North Korea policy until early last year, spoke at a forum after fresh working-level denuclearization negotiations between the United States and North Korea broke down in Stockholm on Oct. 5.The talks had resumed for the first time sinc

Oct 15, 2019   North Korea

Top military officials of N. Korea, China highlight bilateral ties

Top military officials of North Korea and China have reaffirmed the importance of bilateral relations, saying defending them is a "notable duty" of their armies, Pyongyang's state media reported Tuesday.Kim Su-gil, director of the General Political Bureau of the North's army, met with Miao Hua, director of the political affairs department of China's Central Military Commission, in Pyongyang on Monday, according to the Korean Central News Agency. During the meeting, Kim emphasized that

Oct 14, 2019   North Korea

World Cup qualifier in Pyongyang not to be broadcast live

South Korea's most-anticipated World Cup qualifier of the current campaign, set to kick off in Pyongyang, will not be broadcast live to a South Korean audience, broadcasters here said Monday.On Tuesday, North Korea hosts the South-North match for the second round of the Asian qualification for the 2022 FIFA World Cup at 5:30 p.m. at Kim Il-sung Stadium in the North Korean capital. It is a rare sports exchange between the two sides at a time of heightened tensions on the divided peninsula followi

Oct 14, 2019   North Korea

NK propaganda outlet denounces meeting of military chiefs of S. Korea, US, Japan

A North Korean propaganda outlet on Monday slammed a recent trilateral meeting between the chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea, the United States and Japan, claiming that their talks were aimed at heightening tensions on the Korean Peninsula.South Korea's JCS Chairman Gen. Park Han-ki and his US and Japanese counterparts, Gen. Mark Milley and Gen. Koji Yamazaki, met in Washington earlier this month, as Park and Yamazaki were in the US capital to attend the change of command cere

Oct 13, 2019   North Korea

Pyongyang ups pressure against Seoul, denounces joint military exercise with US

North Korea denounced South Korea’s combined military exercise with the United States on Sunday, saying it is “the most concentrated” security threat against its regime. In a column on North Korean propaganda website Uriminzokkiri, Pyongyang made issue of the recent remark by US Marine Commandant Gen. David H. Berger, who said the joint military exercise of US and South Korean marines has continued, in a seminar. ”The US and South Korea’s military warmongers said th

Oct 11, 2019   North Korea

Kim Jong-un visits mausoleum on party anniversary

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un paid tribute to his late grandfather and father on Thursday to mark the anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party, Pyongyang state media reported Friday.Kim visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun with members of the political bureau of the Workers’ Party central committee on Oct. 10, the 74th founding anniversary of the party, the Korean Central News Agency said.The bodies of Kim’s grandfather and the country’s founding leader Kim Il-sung an