The young girl who was holding hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at a missile test site, in photos released by Pyongyang’s state media, is Ju-ae, Kim’s second daughter, South Korea’s spy agency confirmed Tuesday. On Friday, Korean Central News Agency, North Korea’s state-run media released a slew of photos of the North Korean leader holding hands with a young girl wearing a white jacket and red shoes. The news agency said Kim inspected the launch of its new strat

As the United Nations Security Council was to convene an open meeting on Monday to discuss countermeasures to North Korea’s latest launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, Pyongyang denounced the UN chief as “not impartial,” calling him a “puppet” of the United States. The Korean Central News Agency on Monday delivered a statement issued by North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, where she denounced UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for his condemnat

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un revealed his daughter to the world for the first time on Saturday, in photos of him holding a young girl’s hand as he inspected the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile. Experts say the unexpected event manifests Kim’s confidence in his missile program, and that it could possibly signal the beginning of her training for leadership succession. The Korean Central News Agency, Pyongyang’s state media, said on Saturday Kim observed the

North Korea stole $620 million in cryptocurrency from hacking a game company in March, which was likely used to fund the launching of dozens of ballistic missiles it fired in the first half of this year, Seoul’s special envoy for North Korea said Thursday. Speaking at a symposium on North Korea’s cyber threats jointly held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the US State Department for the first time, Kim Gunn, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs

South Korea and the United States vowed to strengthen cooperation to counter North Korean threats in cyberspace Wednesday, after news that the reclusive state reaped billions of dollars in cryptocurrency scams to fund its nuclear program. The two countries held a second working group meeting on North Korean cyber threats in Seoul, the Foreign Ministry said. Some 60 government officials and experts attended the meeting, with Director General for North Korean Nuclear Affairs Lee Tae-woo of Foreign

US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first in-person bilateral summit on Monday, where they each showed a desire to improve US-China ties that have hit rock bottom in recent years. While they continue to stand at odds on key issues, including Taiwan, experts assess that Monday's summit will positively improve bilateral ties and reduce tensions. On the eve of the Group 20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia, Biden and Xi met for about three hours, according to officials.

South Korea’s first diplomatic strategy for the Indo-Pacific region appears to show the intention to align with the United States in the US-China rivalry, experts based in Seoul said Monday. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Friday unveiled the country's first Indo-Pacific strategy for freedom, peace and prosperity for the region, at the biannual Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Cambodia. There, Yoon highlighted the importance of maintaining peace and stability i

South Korea is set to reveal its long-awaited Indo-Pacific strategy this week, drawing attention to the course Seoul sees for itself as it navigates between the United States and China. At the biannual Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit slated for Friday, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol is expected to present the country’s first diplomatic strategy for the Indo-Pacific. The presidential office said the strategy is the last piece of a puzzle to complete Yoon’s diplomat

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol will present the country’s Indo-Pacific strategy at the biannual Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit slated for later this week, the presidential office said on Wednesday. In a press briefing, national security adviser Kim Sung-han said Yoon will participate in the summit with leaders of ASEAN countries on Friday in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. There, he will announce the country’s Indo-Pacific strategy and also the government’s new ASE

North Korea denied accusation of supplying weapons or ammunition to Russia, saying that it also does not have such plans in the future, while accusing the US of attempting to tarnish its reputation. Pyongyang’s state-operated Korean Central News Agency on Tuesday revealed a statement issued by a vice director of the Military Foreign Affairs of the Ministry of National Defense to denounce the US for spreading “groundless” rumors to tarnish its reputation. "We regard such mo

South Korea, the United States and Japan on Monday strongly condemned North Korea for launching an unprecedented number of ballistic missiles last week, and warned that such provocative actions would only further isolate the regime. In a trilateral talk over the phone, South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong spoke with his American and Japanese counterparts, Wendy Sherman and Takeo Mori, to discuss cooperation measures to handle North Korea’s missile threats, Seoul’s F

North Korea’s ramped up missile provocations last week highlight the deepening divide between the West and Pyongyang's allies China and Russia, building more tension on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea launched an unprecedented number of missiles last week, prompting the United Nations Security Council to hold an emergency council session on Friday to discuss ways to handle the multiple sanctions violations by Pyongyang. The meeting, however, failed to draw a unified voice to hold

In an unprecedented level of saber-rattling this week, North Korea has launched over two dozen ballistic missiles into the East and Yellow seas, and also fired some 100 artillery shots, violating a symbolic inter-Korean military agreement, again. With the North’s rising hostility and disregard for the 2018 Comprehensive Military agreement, calls are rising for the South to break off the inter-Korean pact that has effectively been invalidated. At the same time, experts warn that Seoul shoul

North Korea's latest firing of more than 10 ballistic missiles, one of which landed south of the de facto maritime border for the first time, reflects the regime's confidence in its military capabilities and its determination to cement its status as a nuclear-armed state, Seoul-based experts said on Wednesday. The short-range ballistic missile that crossed the Northern Limit Line fell into the high sea 57 kilometers east of South Korea’s eastern city of Sokcho and 167 km northw

As South Korea is mourning over the deadly crowd surge that caused over hundreds of casualties including deaths of 26 foreigners, the government promised to apply the same support measures to foreign victims as offered to Korean national victims, Tuesday. Under the support plan, the 26 foreign victims who died, and 15 who were injured from the Itaewon disaster would be provided with financial support, including coverage of funeral costs of up to 15 million won ($10,500). "The government dec

South Korea joined as a co-sponsor for a UN resolution on North Korea’s human rights abuses, the Foreign Ministry confirmed Tuesday, breaking a four-year hiatus to speak out against Pyongyang’s violations. South Korea joined other countries as a co-sponsor of a EU-draft resolution addressing the human rights situations in the North, which was submitted to the United Nations’ Third Committee on Monday in the US, Seoul's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lim Soo-suk confirmed in

Saturday's Halloween crowd crush, which resulted in 153 deaths and more than 100 injuries as of Sunday afternoon, would be recorded as the worst national tragedy in almost a decade, since the Sewol ferry disaster in 2014. The Itaewon tragedy also marks as the worst human stampede case rare in the country's history, and has raised public concerns over the country's lack of measures for public safety and crowd management. One accident where a large number of casualties occurred from

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said on Friday the country has never supplied lethal weapons to Ukraine, reiterating the government’s position after Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that such a decision would harm their bilateral ties. “We have been delivering humanitarian and peaceful support to Ukraine, together with the international society,” Yoon said during a doorstepping session at the Presidential Office in Yongsan, Seoul. His remarks came a day after Puti

The United States warned that any nuclear attack North Korea carries out against the US or its allies would result in “the end of the regime,” as speculations of a nuclear test by Pyongyang runs high. “Any nuclear attack by North Korea against the United States or its Allies and partners is unacceptable and will result in the end of that regime,” the US Department of Defense said in a report, named "Nuclear Posture Review," released Thursday. “There is no

Seoul is reportedly seeking donations from Japanese firms as one of the solutions to the wartime forced labor issue. According to Asahi Shimbun on Wednesday, South Korea is solely reviewing the plan in which the Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization by Imperial Japan, a state-operated entity, collects donations from both Korean and Japanese companies to pay damages to Korean victims who were forced into labor during Japan's 1910-1945 occupation of the Korean Peninsula. “The