The two short-range projectiles North Korea fired into the East Sea on Sunday were super-large rockets, the North’s Korean Central News Agency said Monday, calling the test a “success." Unlike previous launches, leader Kim Jong-un was reportedly not there to guide the latest test. This was the North’s fourth weapons test this year, all in March. Pyongyang tested super-large rockets March 2 and 9 and ballistic missiles March 21 in an unprecedented flurry of launches that S

North Korea fired what appeared to be two ballistic missiles into the East Sea on Sunday morning, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, urging the regime to halt the “inappropriate” military act amid the coronavirus pandemic. It was the North’s fourth weapons test this year, all in March. 　 The missiles flew approximately 230 kilometers from Wonsan on the North’s eastern coast and reached a peak altitude of 30 kilometers. South Korea’s key security offici

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres advised loosening sanctions on some countries so that they can better counter the coronavirus outbreak, during a teleconference with G-20 countries Thursday. “I also appeal for the waiving of sanctions that can undermine countries’ capacity to respond to the pandemic,” he said. The UN chief repeated that countries under sanctions should be able to import key medical supplies and receive relief goods in their efforts to combat COVID-19. A

United States Forces Korea said Friday that a soldier and a contract worker at Camp Humphreys, its headquarters in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, had tested positive for COVID-19, bringing its tally to 12. Korea hosts 28,500 US troops here. Of the 12 patients, two were soldiers -- one at Camp Humphreys, the other at Camp Carroll near Daegu -- and the rest were either the service members’ family or contract employees working for the US military. Two days ago, USFK declared a public healt

A pair of missiles North Korea fired Saturday had a payload capacity sufficient to carry nuclear warheads, 38 North said Wednesday. The Washington-based website monitors North Korea. The firings on March 21 marked Pyongyang’s third weapons test this year, following two rounds in the same month. The missiles were the North’s variant of the US surface-to-surface missile ATACMS. The website said it suspected that the North Korean missiles had payload compartments that were 700-750 mi

President Moon Jae-in’s approval rating rose to its highest level in more than 16 months, owing to the government’s COVID-19 response, local pollster Realmeter said Thursday. The country’s aggressive tracing and testing early in the pandemic has helped it to avoid drastic lockdowns. According to the poll, conducted between Monday and Wednesday, Moon’s approval rating stood at 52.5 percent, up 3.2 percentage points from the previous week. It was the highest since the

Michelle Bachelet, UN high commissioner for human rights, said Tuesday that North Korea needs UN sanctions relief because its health care system lacks the resources to counter the coronavirus. “Obstacles to the import of vital medical supplies, including over-compliance with sanctions by banks, will create long-lasting harm to vulnerable communities,” she said. She was implying UN sanctions could hamper Pyongyang’s coronavirus response. Bachelet said the North Korean public

North Korea’s foreign currency income looks set to shrink this year, as the coronavirus halts Chinese tourism, one of the few remaining legitimate sources of hard currency for the cash-strapped regime, a Seoul-based think tank said in its latest report. Pyongyang, which closed its borders with Beijing to contain COVID-19, has long relied on tens of thousands of its people working in China, Russia and elsewhere to send dollars back home, but many workers have been sent back because of UN s

Kim Yo-jong, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, seems to have risen above her leadership title as deputy chief of Pyongyang’s propaganda affairs to Kim Jong-un’s personal messenger, aggressively weighing in on US relations and the inter-Korean agenda. In her second known official statement, released Sunday, she disclosed that US President Donald Trump had sent Kim Jong-un a letter, saying Washington was ready to expand cooperation with Pyongyang to combat the cor

The two short-range projectiles North Korea fired into the East Sea on Saturday were ballistic missiles and the test was overseen by leader Kim Jong-un, the North’s Korean Central News Agency said Sunday, adding the “strategic and guided weapons” would soon be operational. The missiles flew approximately 410 kilometers and reached a peak altitude of 50 kilometers from Sonchon, along the North’s western coast. In its third weapons launch this month, the North was suspect

South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun on Saturday urged South Koreans to refrain from visiting public facilities – such as restaurants, bars, indoor gyms and religious gatherings – in the next two weeks to curb the spread of COVID-19. “Stronger self-isolation is unavoidable to contain the virus and to restore peaceful everyday life to our children,” Chung said in a statement, noting the government will force noncompliant facility operators to close down their shops

A US public health expert has refuted North Korea’s repeated claims of zero COVID-19 infections, saying that Pyongyang could potentially be dealing with domestic transmission. “It’s really not very conceivable that they aren’t having transmission in North Korea,” epidemiologist Jonathan Mayer from the University of Washington told Voice of America on Thursday. The North could not have blocked the transmission, especially if the virus was circulating in China, he ad

North Korea fired what appeared to be two ballistic short-range missiles into the East Sea on Saturday morning, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, adding that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may have overseen the third weapons test this month after previous rounds on March 2 and 9. The missiles flew approximately 410 kilometers and reached a peak altitude of 50 kilometers from Sonchon, along the North’s western coast. The North is suspected of firing variants of the US surfac

North Koreans born in 2020 can expect to live about 71 years on average, whereas their South Korean neighbors have an average life expectancy of about 82 years, the Central Intelligence Agency said in its latest World Factbook. Boys and girls in the North have life expectancies of 67 and 75 years, respectively, as opposed to 79 and 85 in the South, the CIA said. The median ages for the North and South stand at 34 and 43, respectively. North Koreans over the age of 65 make up only 9 percent of

A majority of South Koreans approve of their government’s efforts to contain the novel coronavirus that has infected more than 8,000 people and killed 84 here. According to the latest survey, released Tuesday by local polling firm Realmeter, 58.4 percent of respondents were happy with the government’s response to the pandemic, while 39.9 percent disagreed. The approval rate showed a 3 percentage point rise since the same survey came out six weeks ago, though the increase fell with

A hospital chief who is part of South Korea’s central coronavirus response team was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Wednesday, forcing a number of officials into self-isolation, including Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip. Lee Yeong-sang, president of the Bundang Jesaeng Hospital, tested positive for COVID-19, the hospital said. He is one of the country’s key medical chiefs in charge of overseeing response to COVID-19. His hospital, which identified its first infection on March 5, has si

The US State Department on Monday reiterated its earlier stance opposing a South Korean proposal to separately discuss labor costs for United States Forces Korea. Korean workers at the US military here were notified that they would be put on unpaid leave amid stalled talks on sharing costs for 28,500 US troops. “A separate negotiation based solely on labor cost sharing would greatly detract from expeditiously concluding a mutually acceptable and comprehensive Special Measures Agreement,&r

Seoul, along with other local municipalities, is offering a helping hand to pharmacies struggling with increased workloads as they scramble to hand out government-rationed protective masks. Since Monday a week ago, when nationwide rationing began, pharmacists have juggled the rationing responsibilities and their full-time job of dispensing prescriptions and counseling patients. The rationing system involves a long line of work: Pharmacies have to check customers’ identification, answer

South Korea and the US will resume talks Tuesday in Los Angeles to discuss the upkeep of 28,500 American troops in Korea and 9,000 Koreans working alongside at the US military here, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Friday. Jeong Eun-bo, Korea’s chief negotiator, is expected to push for a partial agreement to address the salaries of those workers in his two-day talks with James DeHart, the top US negotiator. The Korean workers were notified that they would be put on unpaid leave startin

Two members of the US House of Representatives on Wednesday called on Washington to find a way to avoid putting South Korean civilians, employed by the US military in Korea, on unpaid leave. On Feb. 28, the US military said it had started notifying nearly 9,000 Korean employees that they could be put on unpaid leave starting April 1, because of Seoul and Washington’s failure to reach consensus on a new Special Measures Agreement over the upkeep of 28,500 US troops here. In a letter sent