NK News |
Matched Keyword: denuclearization
The defense ministers of South Korea and Japan reaffirmed their shared commitment to the “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” and trilateral cooperation with the U.S. on Friday, meeting against the backdrop of North Korea’s nuclear advancements. South Korean defense minister Ahn Gyu-back and his Japanese counterpart Shinjiro Koizumi held talks in the Japanese city […]
NK News |
Matched Keyword: armistice
A legislative bill seeking to allow South Korea’s unification minister limited authority over access to the Demilitarized Zone would conflict with the Armistice Agreement that paused hostilities since the Korean War, according to the U.N. Command (UNC) on Wednesday. “From a technical reading of the armistice agreement and reading of the bills that are pending, […]
NK News |
Matched Keyword: defectors
South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party has launched a special committee to support the roughly 34,000 North Korean defectors living in the country amid a declining number of defections since the COVID-19 pandemic. The party’s Special Committee on North Korean Defectors held its inaugural meeting in Seoul on Tuesday with a goal of working with experts […]
NK News |
Matched Keyword: propaganda
North Korea is drowning in myths. Some are crafted by its own propaganda machine, others happily recycled by scholars, journalists and internet know-it-alls who really should know better. Perhaps the biggest myth is that Juche is some mystical word meaning “self-reliance,” a pervasive misconception that stems from both Kim Il Sung’s ignorance of German philosophy […]
NK News |
Matched Keyword: missile
North Korea launched multiple missiles toward the East Sea (Sea of Japan) on Tuesday afternoon, according to the South Korean and Japanese militaries. Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the DPRK launched “multiple short-range ballistic missiles” toward the sea from the northern part of Pyongyang around 3:50 p.m. KST. The ROK military said the […]
NK News |
Matched Keyword: human rights abuses
A Japanese court ruled Monday that North Korea is liable for serious human rights abuses as part of its decades-long campaign to lure Koreans and Japanese citizens to the country, ordering Pyongyang to pay 22 million yen ($142,000) in damages to each of four plaintiffs. The ruling marks an important milestone in efforts to obtain […]
NK News |
Matched Keyword: denuclearization
The first U.S. National Defense Strategy (NDS) since Donald Trump’s return to office has omitted mention of North Korean denuclearization, while placing the onus on South Korea to deter threats from Pyongyang. The strategy document, released by the Pentagon on Friday, acknowledges that North Korea poses a direct military threat not only to South Korea […]
NK News |
Matched Keyword: defectors
A total of 223 North Korean defectors entered South Korea last year, falling from the previous year in the latest evidence that the DPRK’s strengthened border controls are making it difficult for citizens to escape. Seoul’s unification ministry reported this week that 198 women and 25 men from North Korea resettled in the South in […]
NK News |
Matched Keyword: defectors
“Ask a North Korean” is an NK News series featuring interviews with and columns by North Korean defectors, most of whom left the DPRK within the last few years. Readers may submit their questions for defectors by emailing ask@nknews.org and including their first name and city of residence. Today’s question asks about what North Korean […]
NK News |
Matched Keyword: denuclearization
North Korea’s denuclearization is the most ideal but an unlikely choice Pyongyang will make, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said in a press conference Wednesday, adding that the notion is akin to the world “turning a blind eye” to reality. “Denuclearization is something that should happen — it is the most ideal outcome — […]
NK News |
Matched Keyword: drone
North Korea’s claim that small South Korean drones have crossed into its airspace multiple times in recent months triggered speculation about who was behind the intrusion, with Seoul denying responsibility and ordering an investigation. But now that a civilian has claimed he sent the drone, attention has begun to shift to another question: why the […]
NK News |
Matched Keyword: drone
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung ordered a full investigation on Wednesday into reports that civilians launched drones into North Korea, calling it “practically the same as an act of starting a war.” Speaking during a Cabinet meeting at the Blue House on Tuesday, Lee said the case had heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula […]
NK News |
Matched Keyword: diplomacy
North Korea and China spent the last year carefully repairing ties after visible signs of strain, but that doesn’t mean a resurgence of bilateral cooperation is in the cards for 2026. Leader-level diplomacy resumed, bilateral trade rebounded to multiyear highs and limited cross-border movement restarted. Yet engagement remained highly reversible and appeared to reflect a […]
NK News |
Matched Keyword: drone
South Korea’s ruling party has urged authorities to investigate a Korean man who claims to have sent the drones captured by North Korea, after he said he did so to measure radiation levels at a uranium refinery. “A man in his 30s who previously worked as a contract employee at the presidential office under former […]
NK News |
Matched Keyword: sanctions
South Korea is moving to streamline import procedures for food products from North Korea, a step that lays regulatory groundwork for renewed inter-Korean trade despite ongoing tensions and sanctions. Seoul’s unification ministry said in a press release on Friday that it issued a legislative notice to revise enforcement of the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act, […]
NK News |
Matched Keyword: sanctions
A group of South Korean companies that invested in inter-Korean cooperation projects have urged Seoul to lift unilateral sanctions against North Korea, which have halted cross-border trade since 2010. Businesspeople from 10 inter-Korean cooperation organizations called for lifting the May 24 Measures at the unification ministry’s headquarters on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Corporate Association […]
NK News |
Matched Keyword: drone
The South Korean military has found a former army general guilty of “general treason” for his role in a covert drone operation into North Korea in Oct. 2024, which authorities allege aimed to justify then-South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived martial law declaration. A military committee determined that Counterintelligence Command Chief Lt. Gen. Yeo […]
NK News |
Matched Keyword: drone
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has ordered officials to “review” the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement scrapped by his predecessor, just days after North Korea warned of tit-for-tat retaliation for alleged ROK drone intrusions. National Security Adviser (NSA) Wi Sung-lac confirmed that the government was exploring the pact’s possible restoration, speaking at a press conference […]
NK News |
Matched Keyword: drone
The North Korean leader’s sister Kim Yo Jong dismissed South Korea’s “pitiful” hopes of renewed dialogue late Tuesday, warning that Seoul will pay an “unbearable price” if it does not stem alleged drone incursions into the DPRK. In a statement released via the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim reiterated North Korea’s firm stance rejecting […]
NK News |
Matched Keyword: denuclearization
The leaders of South Korea and Japan reaffirmed their countries’ commitment to the “denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” on Tuesday, following a summit that otherwise emphasized economic concerns over the security threat from North Korea. During a press conference after their summit in the Japanese city of Nara, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and […]