South Korea’s call to the North went unanswered Tuesday afternoon with Pyongyang not responding to Seoul’s latest efforts to restart an inter-Korean dialogue channel through a hotline in the truce village of Panmunjom.  Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon (Yonhap)“(We) tried to communicate with North Korea at around 4 p.m. through a communication channel in Panmunjom, but North Korea remained unresponsive,” the Unification Ministry said Tuesday. The South Korean government offered high-level ta

North Korea Jan. 2, 2018

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s public activities were about 30 percent less frequent this year compared to 2016, with his visits mostly focusing on military affairs, a year-end analysis of news reports and data showed.  North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (Yonhap)“Analysis showed that this indicates that the regime has been stably controlled and (Kim) has strengthened internal solidarity, reducing the need for public activities,” Lee Eugene, vice spokesperson at Seoul’s Unification Ministry, said

North Korea Dec. 29, 2017

President Moon Jae-in said Thursday that the 2015 South Korea-Japan agreement on Japan’s wartime enslavement of Korean women does not resolve the “comfort women” issue. He also stressed it was a “political agreement” that did not take the opinions of victims and citizens into account and urged the government to swiftly take follow-up measures.  (Yonhap)The accord pushes for both nations to “finally and irreversibly” resolve the comfort women issue, and Tokyo made financial compensation of 1 bill

Foreign Affairs Dec. 28, 2017

The Park Geun-hye administration kept parts of the 2015 Korea-Japan agreement on Japan’s wartime enslavement of Korean women in the dark, a South Korean task force confirmed Wednesday. The administration also pushed the deal despite the pact falling short of fundamentally resolving related issues. A group of activists address the 2015 "comfort women" agreement outside the Central Government Complex in Seoul on Wednesday. (Yonhap)“A victim-centered approach, which has become the norm when it come

Foreign Affairs Dec. 27, 2017

The 2015 deal on Japan’s wartime sexual slavery of Korean women lacked a “victim-oriented approach” and Seoul will further communicate with the victims and civic groups before making a final decision, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said Tuesday.  South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha answers reporters during a press briefing held at the Central Government Complex in Seoul on Tuesday. (Yonhap)“It is fundamentally a human rights issue,” Kang told a group of reporters. “There a

Foreign Affairs Dec. 26, 2017

With about 50 days left to the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, questions remain on whether North Korea will come to the games. The Moon Jae-in administration has been struggling to reopen a solid inter-Korean dialogue channel in a bid to patch up ties that have been strained for nearly a decade.  President Moon Jae-in speaks at a special event in July, marking 200 days until the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. (Yonhap)Viewing the Winter Games as an opportunity to ease ten

North Korea Dec. 25, 2017

If North Korea perfects its intercontinental ballistic missile re-entry technology next year, it is likely to seek talks with the United States after declaring itself a nuclear state, a state-run think tank said Thursday.  North Korea test fires the “Hwasong-15” ICBM on Nov. 29. (Yonhap)“If the North launches the missile on a standard trajectory and its re-entry technology is confirmed, there is a high possibility that North Korea will seek disarmament talks with the US on its proclaimed nuclear

North Korea Dec. 21, 2017

Despite sharing the common goal of achieving North Korea’s denuclearization, US State Secretary Rex Tillerson and national security adviser H.R. McMaster are once again at odds in representing Washington’s approach toward the rogue nation. (Yonhap)On Tuesday, Tillerson said the international community could not start talks with North Korea unless it is ready to talk, but hinted that Washington has not ruled out the possibility of a dialogue channel with the isolated nation.“We can’t talk unless

North Korea Dec. 20, 2017

North Korea may be turning its cyberwarfare to the growing cryptocurrency market, with increasing reports pointing to Pyongyang in bitcoin-related hacking attempts. The reclusive regime may be eying the virtual currency as its transactions are difficult to trace, allowing Pyongyang to bypass international sanctions, experts here said.  (Yonhap)“It is difficult to trace a bitcoin exchange if North Korea wants its financial transactions to remain in the dark,” Lee Kyung-ho, a professor at Korea Un

North Korea Dec. 19, 2017

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha is scheduled to visit Japan on Tuesday with the issues of North Korea and Japan’s wartime sexual slavery of Korean women likely to loom over the entire stay. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha (Yonhap)The two-day visit will include a meeting with her Japanese counterpart Taro Kono, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Sunday. “During the meeting to be held on Tuesday, the two ministers will exchange views on issues of mutual concern, such as South Korea-Japan relations, Nor

Foreign Affairs Dec. 18, 2017

Oh Chung-sung, the 24-year-old North Korean solider who dashed across the border last month, has not yet spoken about life in the reclusive state that he desperately wanted to escape. But his body has offered some clues already. Receiving treatment for the critical gunshot wounds he suffered during his dash across the border at a South Korean hospital, his health and dietary condition have provided a window into the North’s current hygiene and living standards.On top of hepatitis B, doctors foun

North Korea Dec. 17, 2017

The outcome of the latest summit between the leaders of South Korea and China embodies the two nations’ willingness to work on their differences over the deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system here and reaffirm their cooperation on North Korean issues, an expert said. From left: South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. (Yonhap)“President Xi avoided directly referring to THAAD and was cautious in addressing the issue in meetings, which could indicate th

Foreign Affairs Dec. 15, 2017

On Dec. 5, two empty wooden boats were found adrift in waters near Niigata Prefecture in Japan.Soon the Japanese Coast Guard also detected two dead bodies presumed to be from the boats.  Eight bodies presumed to be North Koreans were found in a boat grounded on a beach in Akita Prefecture, Japan on Nov. 27. (Yonhap)It was just a mere day after three decomposed bodies were found off the coast of Sakata in the adjacent Yamagata Prefecture. Remains of eight people were found in a boat grounded on a

North Korea Dec. 12, 2017

The Donald Trump administration has nominated former White House official and Washington-based academic Victor Cha as the next US ambassador to South Korea and asked for Seoul’s approval, US sources said Sunday. According to sources in Washington, the request was recently delivered to the South Korean government in the form of an “agrement,” a formal request sent to the receiving state from the sending state before dispatching a diplomatic representative. The decision was made after an extensive

Foreign Affairs Dec. 11, 2017

More North Korean entities and individuals will be subjected to South Korea’s unilateral sanctions, as Seoul steps up efforts to curb the North‘s weapons development programs, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Sunday.According to the Foreign Ministry, an additional 20 North Korean firms and 12 individuals will be subjected to Seoul‘s sanctions from Monday. North Korea`s "Hwasong-15" missile test on Nov. 29. (Yonhap)“It is expected that the updated sanctions will block the inflow of illegal financial

North Korea Dec. 10, 2017