Intelligence agency says North Korea continues cyber operations against Seoul

The unification ministry's next year budget for inter-Korean cooperation slightly increased despite chilled cross-border exchanges in the face of deadlocked nuclear negotiations and the North's prolonged border lockdown, according to officials. Under the budget plan approved by the National Assembly earlier in the day, the 2022 budget for the ministry handling inter-Korean relations was set at 1.5 trillion won ($1.3 billion), up from this year's 1.48 trillion won. Of the total, 1.27 trillion w

The United Nations has excluded North Korea from its global humanitarian assistance plan for 2022, its recent report showed, apparently due to the impoverished country's prolonged border lockdown against the COVID-19 pandemic. The Global Humanitarian Overview 2022 released by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said, "Afghanistan, DPR Korea and Myanmar are facing acute food insecurity situations, which are likely to deteriorate further by the year's end."

Time running too short to untangle complicated interests of all parties

North Korea will hold a key party meeting later this month as leader Kim Jong-un is set to mark 10 years in office, North Korean media said Thursday, with growing speculation that Pyongyang could unveil its policy toward Washington and Seoul for the next year.  The decision to hold a plenary session was made during a politburo meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea held on Wednesday, presided by leader Kim, according to the Korea Central News Agency. 　 The 4th plenary meetin

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has presided over a politburo session of the ruling party and decided to convene a key party meeting later this month, Pyongyang's state media reported Thursday. During the meeting held the previous day, Kim called 2021 a year of "victory" for "the stable management of the state economy and big successes made in the agricultural and construction sectors," and decided to discuss plans for the new year at the plenary session, according to the Ko

North Korea's main newspaper on Wednesday published a series of stories lauding late leader Kim Jong-il ahead of the 10th anniversary of his death this month. Kim Jong-il, father of current leader Kim Jong-un, died on Dec. 17, 2011, having ruled the reclusive regime since the death of his father and national founder, Kim Il-sung, in 1994. Kim Jong-un, the third son of the late leader, took over the helm of the North in another hereditary succession of power. In an editorial, the North's Rodon

The COVAX Facility, a global vaccine distribution platform, has assigned 4.7 million doses of additional COVID-19 vaccines to North Korea in its latest distribution plan, its report showed Tuesday. According to the program's 12th vaccine allocation decision, AstraZeneca's vaccines will be provided to North Korea, though Pyongyang remains unresponsive to the proposed vaccine assistance. When added to the 2 million doses of vaccines COVAX earlier allocated to the North, the amount is enough to i

North Korea has seen an increase in heat waves and tropical nights and a decline in cold spells over the past three decades as global warming has driven up temperatures, South Korea's state weather agency said Tuesday. The average annual temperature in North Korea rose by 0.4 degree Celsius to 8.9 C for the 1991-2020 period in comparison with the 1981-2010 period, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). The agency used temperature and precipitation data collected from 27 ob

Lee and Yoon differ on sequencing of denuclearization, sanctions relief, peace building

North Korea said Monday it has strengthened preventive measures against COVID-19 in response to growing concern about the Omicron variant, a move that heralds a further delay in easing its stringent border control. The reclusive nation had been seen preparing to reopen its land border with China and Russia, at least partially, before the end of this year. But the emergence of a new variant of the coronavirus has put the country and many other parts of the world on high alert. In a report, the

South Korea is monitoring North Korea's nuclear and missile activities in close cooperation with the United States, the unification ministry said Friday, following reports the North appears to be continuing the operation of a nuclear reactor at its mainstay Yongbyon complex. 38 North, a US monitoring website, said Wednesday steam was detected emanating from the 5-megawatt reactor in an indication at least one generator is in operation, citing recent satellite imagery. Asked to comment on the r

More than half of South Koreans believe an inter-Korean summit at the Beijing Winter Olympics, slated for February, will not be possible, a survey showed Friday. According to the survey on 1,000 adults by the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council on Nov. 20 and 21, 53.9 percent said an inter-Korean summit during the Winter Olympics would not be possible, while 40.1 percent said it would be. South Korea has sought to use the Beijing Games to create fresh momentum for the resumption of stalled d

Pyongyang appears to keep up efforts to produce plutonium and uranium at high-profile facilities

South Korea is closely monitoring the possibility of North Korea holding an event celebrating its 2017 launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), a unification ministry official said Thursday. North Korea's calendars began to mark Nov. 29 as an anniversary for its "rocket" development this year. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared the completion of the country's nuclear force after firing the new ICBM, the Hwasong-15, on the day in 2017. "We are keeping monitor