North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for a nationwide “80-day campaign” in a bid to revive the country’s ailing economy and attain its goals before a congress next year, state media reported Tuesday. 　 Kim announced the decision during a politburo meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party held the previous day, according to the North’s official Korea Central News Agency. The key party meeting comes as the communist regime’s economic woes are believed to have be

North Korea Oct. 6, 2020

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha has been hit by controversy over her husband’s recent trip to the US presumably to purchase a yacht, with political parties lambasting the excursion as “inappropriate,” saying it went against her own recommendation that people refrain from overseas travel amid the COVID-19 pandemic.   　 Local broadcaster KBS on Saturday reported that Lee Yill-byung, a professor emeritus of computer science at Yonsei University, was spotted at Incheon Airpo

Foreign Affairs Oct. 5, 2020

As the US presidential election approaches, North Korean watchers are looking out for an “October surprise,” a dramatic turn of events in Washington‘s relations with Pyongyang that will grab global headlines and swing the presidential race in favor of the incumbent President Donald Trump. 　 Some have suggested Trump could opt for another summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in a bid to salvage stalled nuclear talks with the North, which could give him a much-needed fore

North Korea Oct. 3, 2020

US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun on Monday (US time) said “creative ideas” were discussed regarding ways to resume stalled nuclear diplomacy with North Korea during his talks with South Korea’s top nuclear envoy, and called for the communist regime’s engagement. 　 “I very much appreciate the encouragement and creative ideas that we discussed today,” Biegun told reporters after his meeting with Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsu

North Korea Sept. 29, 2020

South Korea’s top nuclear envoy, Lee Do-hoon, arrived in Washington on Sunday for talks with US officials, saying he plans to discuss the recent killing of a South Korean official by North Korea and the proposed declaration of a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War.   　 Lee’s trip to Washington to meet with his US counterpart, Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, and other officials, came just days after Pyongyang shot dead a South Korean fisheries official who had drifte

North Korea Sept. 28, 2020

South Korea on Sunday officially requested North Korea join a joint investigation into the killing of a South Korean fisheries official by North troops last week and reopen a military communication line for the exchange of information. 　 Cheong Wa Dae made the announcement after President Moon Jae-in presided over an emergency security-related ministers’ meeting regarding the incident in the afternoon. The top office has also requested China’s support in the search of the dead man&

North Korea Sept. 27, 2020

South Korea demanded Thursday that North Korea explain the killing of a South Korean fisheries official in the North’s waters, strongly condemning the act as “inhumane.”  　 North Korean soldiers shot dead a 47-year-old official affiliated with Seoul’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, who appeared to have been trying to defect to the North via sea, the military confirmed in Seoul. North Korean soldiers then burned his dead body, it added. 　 Pyongyang had neither a

North Korea Sept. 24, 2020

US President Donald Trump made no mention of North Korea in his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday (US time), for the first time in any of his four UN speeches since taking office.  In a prerecorded address from the White House, Trump focused his seven-minute speech on attacking China for “unleashing” COVID-19 onto the world and touched on various foreign policy issues, but did not say a word about Pyongyang.  It was the first time Trump has not me

North Korea Sept. 23, 2020

A former Nouth Korean diplomat who was in charge of protocols during the inter-Korean summits in 2000 and 2007 has died, the North’s official Korea Central News Agency said Tuesday.   　 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a wreath to “express deep condolences” over the death of Jon Hui-jong, the KCNA said, without stating the exact date of his passing. Jon was born in 1930.   　 The honoree of the country’s highest decoration Order of Kim Il-sung and the Orde

North Korea Sept. 22, 2020

North Korea has used American banks to launder massive amounts of money for years to dodge international sanctions, leaked documents have revealed, according to NBC News on Sunday (US time). 　 The bank documents revealed Pyongyang has illegally transferred at least $174 million across the border using shell companies and help from Chinese companies, through major US banks such as JPMorgan Chase and Bank of New York Mellon from 2008 to 2017, during which time the US tightened sanctions against

North Korea Sept. 21, 2020

South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee has advanced to the second round in the race to become the next director-general of the World Trade Organization.   The WTO announced the results of the first round of voting on Friday, selecting five of the eight candidates to proceed to the next round. They are Yoo, Mohammad Al-Tuwaijri from Saudi Arabia, Liam Fox from the UK, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala from Nigeria and Amina Mohamed from Kenya. Three other candidates -- from Egypt, Moldova and Mexico

Foreign Affairs Sept. 18, 2020

A South Korean expert on human rights has been elected as a member of the UN Human Rights Committee, the body that monitors civil and political rights, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.  Soh Chang-rok, a professor based at the Korea University Graduate School of International Studies, will serve a four-year term starting in 2021 as one of 18 individual experts on the committee, which oversees the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by its member stat

Foreign Affairs Sept. 18, 2020

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha on Thursday left for Vietnam for talks with her counterpart there on introducing an expedited entry program for essential visitors from South Korea amid the COVID-19 pandemic.  “We will have to consult intensively. There still remain a lot of parts that need to be coordinated,” Kang told reporters at the Incheon International Airport as she departs for Hanoi for a two-day trip, when asked about the prospect of a fast-track entry pro

Foreign Affairs Sept. 17, 2020

Unification Minister Lee In-young urged North Korea to fulfill inter-Korean agreements from 2018 during his visit to the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom on Wednesday. 　 Lee’s visit -- his first since taking office in July -- occurred a few days ahead of the second anniversary of the Pyongyang Joint Declaration reached by South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the North’s capital on Sept. 19, 2018, which aimed to reduce military tensions an

North Korea Sept. 16, 2020

Japan will see Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga sworn in as the country’s new leader Wednesday, but no major changes are expected in its soured relations with South Korea in the near future as Suga is expected to mostly carry forward the foreign policy of outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, analysts said Tuesday. 　 Suga, Abe’s longtime right-hand man, was chosen as head of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic party Monday, making it all but certain that he will become Japa

Foreign Affairs Sept. 15, 2020