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N. Korea, Russia reaffirm strong ties in foreign ministers' talks: reports
North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui met her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Wonsan for the second round of strategic talks between the two countries, a day after Lavrov arrived in the city, where a tourist zone opened earlier this month, according to TASS. In opening remarks, Lavrov reaffirmed Choe's earlier description of their bilateral ties as an "invincible military brotherhood," citing North Korean troops who fought alongside Russian soldiers against Ukrainian forces in Russia
July 12, 2025 -
N. Korea, Russia reaffirm strong ties in foreign ministers' talks: reports
North Korea and Russia reaffirmed their strong ties Saturday during a meeting of their top diplomats in a coastal North Korean resort city, Russian news agencies reported. North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui met her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Wonsan for the second round of strategic talks between the two countries, a day after Lavrov arrived in the city, where a tourist zone opened earlier this month, according to TASS. In opening remarks, Lavrov reaffirmed Choe's earlier desc
July 12, 2025 -
ASEAN, regional partners call for 'complete denuclearization' of Korean Peninsula
Southeast Asian countries and Indo-Pacific partners, including South Korea and the United States, have called for efforts to achieve the "complete denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula, a joint statement showed Saturday, as they concluded this week's multilateral gathering led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The chair's statement from the ASEAN Regional Forum, released Friday, also underscored the need to resume dialogue among concerned parties for peace and stability, a call
July 12, 2025 -
At ASEAN meetings, S. Korea reaffirms alignment with US, Japan, pushes for NK dialogue
First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo has wrapped up his visit to Malaysia after attending a series of multilateral meetings led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a venue marked by three-way talks with the United States and Japan, and calls for dialogue with North Korea. Park's three-day trip, which concluded Friday, also set the stage for Seoul to reaffirm its commitment to ASEAN diplomacy under the new government of President Lee Jae Myung and to demonstrate resilience in the
July 12, 2025 -
Russia's top diplomat arrives in N. Korea: reports
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has arrived in North Korea for talks with his North Korean counterpart, a Russian news agency reported Friday, in yet another sign of a deepening bilateral partnership. His plane touched down in Wonsan, an eastern coastal city where Pyongyang opened a coastal tourist zone on July 1 in an effort to boost its tourism industry at a time when it is striving to secure foreign currency, according to TASS. Lavrov's trip to the North will last until Sunday, when he
July 12, 2025 -
S. Korea, US, Japan stage joint air drills involving B-52 bomber
South Korea, the United States and Japan held combined air drills Friday as part of efforts to strengthen their joint response against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, the South's defense ministry said. The exercise took place over international waters off the southern South Korean island of Jeju and involved at least one US B-52H bomber as well as the South's KF-16 and Japan's F-2 fighters, according to the ministry. It marked the strategic bomber's first deployment near the Korean Pe
July 11, 2025 -
Burned once, business owners demand safeguards before inter-Korean projects resume
A coalition of business owners previously engaged in inter-Korean economic cooperation — and compelled to withdraw from it abruptly — urged Seoul on Friday to establish legal safeguards for businesspeople before resuming any cross-border projects. The Federation of Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation Organizations — composed of businesspeople who were forced to wind down operations amid deteriorating inter-Korean relations — emphasized the need to protect businesspeople from abrupt, involuntary sh
July 11, 2025 -
N. Korea touts robust ties with China on anniversary of key treaty signing
North Korea's state media on Friday touted its robust relations with China, reaffirming its commitment to further strengthening bilateral ties as the two nations mark the 64th anniversary of their mutual defense treaty. "It is the unwavering position of our party and the republic to ceaselessly strengthen and develop the friendly relations between North Korea and China," the Rodong Sinmun newspaper reported. The report came on the anniversary of the signing of the North Korea-China Treaty of Fri
July 11, 2025 -
Boat carrying repatriated N. Koreans safely docks at port in North: official
A wooden boat carrying six North Koreans has safely docked at a North Korean port, a South Korean government official said Thursday, a day after they were repatriated across the sea border following their rescue in the South. Boarding the wooden boat they had been rescued in by South Korean authorities, the six North Korean fisherman were sent back home the previous day across the Northern Limit Line in the East Sea. Four of them had drifted into the southern side of the East Sea and were rescue
July 10, 2025 -
N. Korean defector to file lawsuits in S. Korea against Kim Jong-un over human rights crimes
A North Korean defector in South Korea plans to file a lawsuit and a criminal complaint against North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un over human rights violations this week, a civic group said Wednesday. The Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB) said it would file the civil suit to the Seoul Central District Court and a criminal complaint to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office on Friday on behalf of Choi Min-kyung. Choi, who fled North Korea to China in 1997, was forcibly rep
July 9, 2025 -
N. Korea sends boats, not words, to retrieve 6 returnees from South
The South Korean government on Wednesday repatriated six North Koreans via an inter-Korean maritime route in the East Sea, after they had drifted across the maritime border. North Korean vessels arrived to retrieve them, despite Pyongyang remaining silent in response to Seoul’s notifications through its hotline with the United Nations Command. A vessel carrying the North Koreans crossed the Northern Limit Line, de facto inter-Korean maritime border in the East Sea, at around 8:56 a.m. Wednesday,
July 9, 2025 -
US sanctions NK cyber actor for IT worker scheme to generate revenue for Kim regime
The US Treasury Department on Tuesday sanctioned a North Korean cyber actor accused of facilitating a scheme under which Pyongyang uses its overseas information technology workers to generate revenue for the recalcitrant regime. The department's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced the sanction on Song Kum-hyok, describing him as a "malicious" actor associated with the sanctioned Reconnaissance General Bureau hacking group Andariel. RGB is the North's key military intelligence agency. "Son
July 9, 2025 -
N. Korea calls for loyalty to its leader on founder's death anniversary
North Korea called for continued loyalty to leader Kim Jong-un as it marked the 31st anniversary of the death of his grandfather and state founder Kim Il-sung, according to state media Wednesday. "Everyone should join in advancing the dignity and might of our invincible state, the great Korea of Kim Jong-un, by upholding the party's revolutionary ideology as the highest priority and dedicating themselves to the struggle for the prosperity of our-style socialism," the Rodong Sinmun newspaper repo
July 9, 2025 -
Families of abductees halt anti-North Korea leaflet campaign
A South Korean civic group representing families of abductees held in North Korea officially announced Tuesday that it would halt its distribution of anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border. “We were moved after receiving direct phone calls from Unification Minister candidate Chung Dong-yong, Vice Unification Minister Kim Nam-jung and Rep. Yoon Hu-duk (of the Democratic Party of Korea),” said Choi Sung-ryong, head of the Association of the Families of Those Abducted by North Korea. “We promise
July 8, 2025 -
No more anti-Pyongyang leaflets, abductee family group announces
A civic group representing the families of those abducted by North Korea announced Tuesday it will no longer send anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the inter-Korean border, after the South Korean government requested that it discontinue the campaign. Choi Seong-ryong, who heads the group, said the members will "trust the government and stop sending the leaflets," at a press conference held at Imjingak in Paju, about 30 kilometers northwest of Seoul. He expressed hope that President Lee Jae Myung wi
July 8, 2025