North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has guided the country's nuclear weaponization project, calling for expanding the production of weapons-grade nuclear materials for an exponential increase in its nuclear arsenal, Pyongyang's state media said Tuesday. The North's leader called for "perfect" preparations for the use of nuclear weapons "anytime and anywhere," Monday, when he received a briefing by the Nuclear Weapons Institute, according to the official Korean Cent

WASHINGTON -- The United States' goals remains the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, a state department spokesperson said Monday after Pyongyang threatened to use its nuclear weapons should the US continue to push for such an objective. Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the state department, also reaffirmed US commitment to engaging in dialogue with North Korea. "We are committed to diplomatic approach with the DPRK and we harbor no hostile intent,"

SUWON -- Four current or former executives of a major umbrella labor group have been arrested on charges of making unauthorized contact with North Korean spies, according to court officials Tuesday. The Suwon District Court issued warrants to detain the four, including a ranking executive of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions whose identity has been withheld. They are accused of violating the National Security Law that prohibits unauthorized contact with North Koreans. The court cited the

Junior Chun admits drug use and expresses his will to visit Gwangju

  Today our life is undergoing profound qualitative changes. Cardinal reforms are rapidly forming a completely new image of our society. The new edition of our constitution contains special norms on ensuring environmental rights of citizens, in particular, everyone has the right to a comfortable environment, reliable information about its condition, the state takes measures on improvement, restoration and protection of the environment, maintaining the ecological balance, protection of the e

Japan is moving toward accepting South Korea as a partner that Tokyo can work with following Seoul’s decision to put behind their historical dispute, South Korean Ambassador to Japan Yun Duk-min said Monday in an annual meeting meant to update the foreign minister on the latest issues. The ambassador was referring to a March 6 decision that essentially skips Japan’s official apology for and direct compensation to Korean victims forced to work for Japanese companies during Japan&rsquo

Ex-chief of war crimes court explains why pursuing North Korean leader is harder

North Korea fired two ballistic missiles toward waters off its eastern coast on Monday, in an apparent protest against combined military exercises between the South Korean and US navies that featured a US aircraft carrier in international waters near the Korean Peninsula. The US Navy’s supercarrier USS Nimitz, capable of carrying up to 90 aircraft, and its strike group that includes warships armed with guided-missiles were set to dock at a naval base in Busan on Tuesday, marking the first

Foreign Minister Park Jin said Monday diplomatic missions will be key in pushing for exports as South Korea looks for greater economic might amid rising US-China geopolitical tensions. At an in-person meeting in Seoul with 166 mission chiefs, the first in five years over COVID-19 travel curbs, the top South Korean diplomat called safeguarding economic interests a matter of “security.” “What’s more important than efficiency is reliability and stability. Seeking a united fr

A mobile app developed by families of bullying victims offers grotesque real-life experience of cyberbullying, currently rising among teens

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday tapped Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Commissioner Woo Jong-soo as the new state investigation chief, ending the leadership vacuum created by an ex-prosecutor who resigned from the post amid a school bullying controversy involving his son. The new chief of the National Office of Investigation will oversee 30,000 investigators under the national police, according to Yoon's office. Launched in 2021, the NOI, often referred as the Korean version of the US' Federa

Four Nigerian children were killed in a fire early Monday in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province. The two girls aged 11 and 4, and boys aged 7 and 6 were siblings. The fire broke out around 3:28 a.m., and was put out at 4:16 a.m. by firefighters at the second floor of the three-story residential building in Seonbu-dong of Danwon-gu in the city just southwest of Seoul. Three more Nigerians including the parents of the deceased children, two Uzbeks and a Russian sustained injuries, and 37 people were evacuat