A United Nations committee has voiced concern over the potential negative impact on North Korea's human rights situation following the North's decision to abandon its policy of seeking reunification with South Korea, a draft report showed Monday. The UN General Assembly Third Committee, which deals with human rights and humanitarian affairs, made the reference to the shift in the North's state policy in the latest draft resolution regarding the human rights violations in the reclu

The Unification Ministry in Seoul suggested Monday that the North Korean leader's directive for full war readiness -- alongside his framing of the Ukraine war as the start of global military intervention by the US and the West -- was likely intended to quell probable dissent in North Korea over the regime’s deployment of troops to support Russia in Ukraine. Kim Jong-un issued the order and delivered his speech on Nov. 15, the final day of the two-day 4th Conference of Battalion Comman

The unification ministry said Monday it is reviewing measures to reclaim loans granted to North Korea for building inter-Korean roads and train tracks after the North blew them up in October. The unification ministry unveiled the tentative measures as part of its policy plan for the second half of President Yoon Suk Yeol's administration, which is now at the midpoint of his five-year term. On Oct. 15, North Korea demolished parts of the roads and train tracks connected to South Korea -- the

North Korea again sent balloons carrying trash toward South Korea on Monday, the military here said, resuming its balloon campaign after about a three-week hiatus. North Korea floated some 40 balloons in the early hours, with approximately half of them falling in the Seoul metropolitan area and surrounding Gyeonggi Province, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The fallen objects were leaflets critical of South Korea and included no hazardous items, it added. Since late May, North Korea has sent more

North Korea's jamming of GPS signals across the border with South Korea continued Sunday for the 10th consecutive day, the military said. GPS jamming was detected in the northern part of Gangwon Province early Sunday morning, according to the military. The latest jamming attacks began near the northwestern islands before they began spreading to the northern parts of Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces last Thursday. The military has said the jamming has involved weaker signals than in May and Ju

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said Sunday that South Korea will have to pay a "dear price" for sending propaganda leaflets across the border the previous day. Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of the central committee of the North's ruling Workers' Party, said "various kinds of political agitation leaflets and dirty things" were dropped by the South near the border and further inland. "We strongly denounce the shameful and dirty act

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversaw performance tests of newly developed “suicide attack drones of various types” at a test site on Thursday, where he underscored the urgency of establishing a serial production system “as early as possible” to commence full-scale mass production, North Korean state media reported Friday. The suicide drones, developed by an unnamed institute affiliated with the Unmanned Aerial Technology Complex and other unspecified enterprises, are d

The upcoming trilateral summit between South Korea, the United States and Japan in Peru will be a chance for the three countries to discuss a "coordinated" response to North Korea's troop dispatch to support Russia's war in Ukraine, a senior US security official said Thursday. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan made the remarks as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba are set to hold a trilateral summit on

As US President-elect Donald Trump’s second term augurs the resurgence of his "America First" policy, a consistent message resonated at a timely Korea Herald forum: Seoul must forge a strategic pivot, carefully balancing its role as a US ally with its own autonomy and core interests. At the “Alliance After the US Election 2024: A Seoul Perspective” security forum held Wednesday at the National Assembly Museum, a pressing question took center stage: How can South Korea

North Korean troops dispatched to Russia have moved to the frontline region of Kursk and are "already engaging in combat" against Ukraine, South Korea's spy agency said Wednesday. "North Korean soldiers dispatched to Russia have moved to the Kursk region over the past two weeks and their deployment to battlefields has been completed," the National Intelligence Service said. It said work is underway to gather and analyze additional intelligence, without providing further

North Korea has remained mum about former US President Donald Trump's reelection for a week, despite the significance the outcome might hold for the North's leader Kim Jong-un and his regime. As of early Wednesday, none of the North's state media had published any articles, commentaries, or broadcasts about Trump's election victory, although this is not rare considering that it took a similar course in the past. North Korea has a track record of delaying reports on US preside

The United States confirmed Tuesday that North Korean troops, who have been deployed to Russia's western front-line Kursk region, have begun engaging in combat operations against Ukrainian forces. Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the State Department, made the remarks amid growing concerns that the North's troop deployment could expand Moscow's protracted war in Ukraine with security implications for both Europe and the Indo-Pacific region. "We are incredibly

The secretary general of South Korea's presidential advisory body on unification said Tuesday that North Korea would not engage in dialogue with the US as long as it is being paid by Russia for its troop deployment and other forms of military cooperation. Tae Yong-ho, the secretary general of the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council, made the remarks amid expectations that US President-elect Donald Trump could revive his personal diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un after he ta

South Korea's Unification Ministry on Tuesday released key details from 12 leaked diplomatic cables, revealing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's direct orders -- transmitted through the Foreign Ministry to overseas missions -- to counter increasing international scrutiny and pressure on human rights, especially at the United Nations. This marks the first public release of diplomatic telegrams -- confidential communications from North Korea’s Foreign Ministry to its embassies and

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has signed off a defense pact with Russia, the North's state media reported Tuesday, as Pyongyang sent its troops to Russia in support of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. The treaty on "comprehensive strategic partnership" between North Korea and Russia was ratified the previous day as a decree from the North Korean leader, the North's Korean Central News Agency reported. The report noted that the treaty will take effect from the day both si

Ukraine's defense intelligence agency has released an audio clip of what it claims to be intercepted radio communications between North Korean soldiers in Russia speaking in coded military terms. The Defense Intelligence of Ukraine uploaded a post on Sunday (local time) of what it claimed to be intercepted radio transmissions of a group of North Korean soldiers deployed in Russia's western Kursk region to support Russia's war against Ukraine. In the audio, the soldiers exchange co

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed off on a landmark defense pact with North Korea, a deal that comes amid reports that Pyongyang has dispatched thousands of troops to fight against Ukraine. Putin struck the deal during a visit to North Korea in June, but it had to pass through Russia's parliament and signed by the Kremlin leader to come into force. The Kremlin published the signed law ratifying the treaty on its website on Saturday evening. The agreement formalizes months of deepe

North Korea's Under-17 Women's World Cup-winning footballers received a heroes' welcome back in the capital Pyongyang, AFP footage showed on Sunday, with hundreds of people on the streets to celebrate their success. They had defeated Spain on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the U17 World Cup final in the Dominican Republic a week ago. Remarkably it was the second global title in two months for secretive North Korea -- largely closed off to the outside world -- they also lifted the

North Korea staged GPS jamming attacks for the second consecutive day Saturday, affecting several ships and dozens of civilian aircraft, South Korea's military said. The jamming attacks were conducted in the North's Haeju and Kaesong areas, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, warning vessels and civilian aircraft operating in the Yellow Sea to beware of the attacks. Military operations and equipment were not affected, according to the JCS. "North Korea should immediately halt the GPS provocatio

More than 3,700 North Koreans visited Russia during the third quarter this year for "study" purposes, marking the highest quarterly figure since 2010, a United States news outlet reported Saturday. US broadcaster Radio Free Asia said a total of 5,263 North Korean nationals visited Russia during the July-September period, citing data from Russia's Federal State Statistics Service. The number is comparable to the 5,591 recorded during the same period in 2019, after which it dropped