North Korea has continued operation and production at its key uranium plant, a US think tank said Monday, highlighting the reclusive regime’s pursuit of weapon advances amid the stalled denuclearization talks with Washington.  Beyond Parallel, a website specializing in North Korean matters run by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the Pyongsan Uranium Concentrate Plant, located some 45 kilometers north of the inter-Korean border, remains operat

North Korea Nov. 9, 2021

A senior US diplomat for East Asia is scheduled to visit South Korea on Wednesday, during which he is expected to meet the South Korean presidential candidates of the two major parties. 　 Daniel Kritenbrink, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, is on his first Asia trip since taking office in September. He will arrive here on Wednesday after a four-day stay in Japan, according to the State Department. 　 In Seoul, Kritenbrink is expected to meet officials, in

Foreign Affairs Nov. 8, 2021

The US said it remains committed to imposing UN Security Council resolutions on North Korea aimed at limiting its nuclear and ballistic missile program, amid Beijing and Moscow’s push to ease sanctions on the regime.  “We do remain committed to the sanctions regime,” Ned Price, the spokesperson for the US State Department, said during a daily press briefing on Thursday (US time). “We call on all UN members to fulfill their sanctions obligations under existing UN Sec

North Korea Nov. 5, 2021

Around 42 percent of North Koreans have suffered from undernourishment over the past three years, a UN report said Friday, as the impoverished nation grapples with acute food insecurity amid the prolonged pandemic and severe weather conditions, compounded by international sanctions.  As many as 10.9 million people in North Korea, or 42.4 percent of the population, were undernourished from 2018 to 2020, according to the Statistical Yearbook – World Food and Agriculture 2021 released

North Korea Nov. 5, 2021

South Korea’s Unification Minister Lee In-young on Thursday said the envisioned papal visit to North Korea is a real possibilty, and that it hinges on Pyongyang’s determination.  The minister accompanied President Moon Jae-in to his meeting with Pope Francis last week at the Vatican. During their talks, Moon asked the pope to visit the North to help build “momentum for peace” on the Korean Peninsula. In response, the pope, calling the two Koreas “brothers who

North Korea Nov. 4, 2021

North Korea may launch a space rocket next year as part of the regime’s program to enhance weapons capabilities amid long-stalled denuclearization talks with the US, a state-run think tank report says.    Ko Jae-hong, a researcher at the Institute for National Security Strategy, a think tank run by South Korea’s spy agency, released a report Tuesday examining the North’s weapons expo held last month and the country’s defense outlook. 　 Ko said that it i

North Korea Nov. 3, 2021

South Korean President Moon Jae-in is striving to have Pope Francis visit North Korea in what appears to be a final push to salvage diplomacy with the reclusive regime, but it remains to be seen whether Pyongyang will accept the proposal. 　 Moon asked the pope to visit the North when they met at the Vatican on Friday, saying a visit would build “momentum for peace” on the Korean Peninsula, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Park Kyung-mee. 　 In response, the pope, calling the

North Korea Oct. 31, 2021

South Korean President Moon Jae-in departed for Europe on Thursday, for a meeting with Pope Francis and to attend a Group of 20 summit in Rome and the UN climate summit in Scotland. 　 Moon’s first stop of his nine-day trip is Italy, where he is scheduled to meet Pope Francis at the Vatican on Friday to discuss a wide range of issues surrounding the Korean Peninsula, as well as global issues, including poverty, climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. He is also scheduled to meet Vatican

Foreign Affairs Oct. 28, 2021

South Korea and Russia stressed the urgent need to resolve North Korea’s nuclear problem and agreed to closely communicate to resume the stalled talks with Pyongyang, Seoul’s top diplomat said Wednesday.  The remarks came after talks between South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, took place in Moscow. 　 “The two countries shared the view on the urgency of resolving North Korea’s nuclear problem and agreed to closel

Foreign Affairs Oct. 28, 2021

South Korean President Moon Jae-in stressed the importance of regional cooperation to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for future, as he attended a video summit with leaders of China, Japan and the Southeast Asian nations.  Moon said health cooperation was “urgent” to overcome the pandemic, in his opening remarks at the annual ASEAN Plus Three Summit, which involves the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations along with China, Japan and Korea.  Other p

Foreign Affairs Oct. 27, 2021

Washington and Seoul appear to be on different trajectories on the matter of declaring a formal end to the Korean War, with a top US security official saying the allies could have “different perspectives” on the timing and conditions. 　 US national security adviser Jake Sullivan made the remarks Tuesday (US time) amid Seoul’s renewed push to declare a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War, as a way to nudge Pyongyang back to talks and ultimately to convince the regime to aband

North Korea Oct. 27, 2021

A 93-year-old former “comfort woman” pleaded with the South Korean government on Tuesday to take the issue of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery to the UN Committee Against Torture.  Speaking at a virtual press conference, Lee Yong-soo urged President Moon Jae-in to refer the case to the UN body, which monitors adherence to the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment -- which both South Korea and Japan have ratified. 

Foreign Affairs Oct. 26, 2021

A declaration to formally end the Korean War is the most symbolic move that Seoul could take to show Pyongyang that neither Washington nor Seoul have a “hostile policy” toward the regime and revive the stalled denuclearization talks, South Korea‘s chief nuclear envoy said Monday. 　   　 Noh Kyu-duk, the special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, made the remark at a forum organized by the Institute for National Security Strategy, a think tank a

North Korea Oct. 25, 2021

North Korea on Thursday defended its latest test-firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile as necessary for its own defense and said the weapon does not target the US. 　 A spokesperson for the North’s Foreign Ministry said it is “truly concerned” that the US is showing “abnormal reactions” to the country’s exercise of its right to self-defense and criticized the US for taking “provocative moves” by calling for an emergency UN Security Coun

North Korea Oct. 21, 2021

North Korea on Wednesday confirmed it had test-fired a new submarine-launched ballistic missile the previous day, the first such weapons test in two years and evidence of the regime’s ever-expanding weapons program. 　 On Tuesday, South Korea’s military said the North had fired what appeared to have been a short-range SLBM from the port of Sinpo in the east of the country, home to the regime’s main shipyard that builds submarines. 　 The North’s state-run Korea Central N

North Korea Oct. 20, 2021