The opening of a South-North joint liaison office may be facing obstacles, with the latest reports of North Korea’s sanctions violations apparently heightening the US’ sensitivity toward the issue. Seoul has been asking for US cooperation in granting an exemption for the establishment of the liaison office in the border town of Kaesong, which was a clause in the agreement reached between the leaders of the two Koreas in April, as part of efforts to foster cross-border communication and cooperati

Growing reports of North Korea’s sanctions violations are fueling concerns that there may be a further delay in ongoing negotiations on denuclearization between Washington and Pyongyang. Media reports released late Saturday, citing a confidential UN report, said that North Korea has in fact not halted its nuclear and missile programs and actively continued illicit ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum products and coal in 2018. It also states that the North has been cooperating militarily with Syr

With a recent detente between South and North Korea fueling hopes for reunification, the South’s legal community believes that drawing up a strong legal framework for inter-Korean economic projects will lay the groundwork for the constitutional law of a reunified peninsula. Studies seeking a legal system that could support peaceful reunification are being done in the South, in the hopes of designing a legal framework that could bridge the political and economic gaps between the two Koreas.  A gr

With Seoul approving Hyundai Group’s visit to North Korea scheduled for Friday, all eyes are on whether the visit will contribute to the revival of inter-Korean economic cooperation amid the US’ determination to keep sanctions intact until the North’s complete denuclearization.A group of 15 officials from Hyundai, including Chairman Hyun Jeong-eun and Lee Young-ha, CEO of the group’s inter-Korean business arm Hyundai Asan, has been permitted by the Unification Ministry to visit Kumgangsan, locat

South Korea’s Ministry of Unification on Monday reaffirmed its position that the 12 North Korean restaurant workers who came to the South in 2016 defected of their own volition. The statement came a day after the National Human Rights Commission, the country’s human rights watchdog, said it plans to launch an investigation into claims that the 12 women were abducted by the South’s National Intelligence Service, without knowledge of their destination. “Our stance on the matter remains unchanged,”

North Korea remained mum on Sunday on its return of the remains of American soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War, but it is in fact sending a silent message to the US to swiftly declare mark an official end of war, experts say. In a move that is seen as the first tangible result from the Singapore summit in June, North Korea repatriated 55 sets of remains of US soldiers Friday, which prompted a note of thanks from US President Donald Trump to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un via Twitter.

North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations was recently dismissed from his post, sources within the UN said Thursday, which may indicate that Pyongyang is seeking to further cement a fresh diplomatic stance amid ongoing denuclearization talks. Ja Song-nam, a 64-year-old diplomat who had served as the North’s permanent representative to the UN since 2014, embarked on a trip to Pyongyang via Beijing on Thursday, the sources said. The background and motive behind the North’s decision are yet un

The two Koreas exchanged the results of their search for families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War ahead of a reunion event in August, the Ministry of Unification said Wednesday. Documents compiled following the weekslong search were exchanged by Red Cross officials from the respective sides at the border village of Panmunjom around 11 a.m., officials said.  Korean Red Cross employees holding documents of results of their search for families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War on Wednesday. (

Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday said it believes North Korea’s reported decision to dismantle a key nuclear test site will have a “good effect” on denuclearization, seeing it as a step forward amid the perceived lack of progress in US-North Korea talks. Pyongyang began dismantling key facilities at its Sohae satellite launching station, including a rocket engine test stand and a rail-mounted processing building, where space launch vehicles were assembled before being transferred to the launch pad, acco

United States Ambassador Harry Harris stressed the allies’s synchronization in dealings with North Korea‘s nuclear issues in a meeting with Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon on Monday.“I think it is important that we work together in synchronization,” Harris, who made a courtesy call on Cho after taking office on July 7, said ahead of the meeting with Cho.  South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon (left) and US Ambassador to Seoul Harry Harris (right). (Yonhap)“The Korea-US alliance

Families of the victims of the 1987 terror attack orchestrated by North Korea filed a lawsuit against Kim Hyon-hui, who was convicted of the attack, on Monday for libel and obstruction of business, nearly three decades after the incident took place. The bombing of Korean Air Flight 858 shocked the nation, as the flight exploded mid-air over Myanmar on its way from Baghdad, Iraq, to Seoul, killing all 115 passengers and crew aboard, who were mostly South Koreans. (Yonhap)The Chun Doo-hwan adminis

DAEJEON -- A unified Korean mixed doubles ping-pong team advanced to the finals Friday, propelled by thunderous cheers and applause from South Korean spectators. At the semifinals that kicked off around noon, the impeccable teamwork of Jang Woo-jin of South Korea and Cha Hyo-sim of North Korea caught Taiwan’s Chen Chien-An and Cheng I-Ching off guard with a score of 3-2 (6-11, 11-5, 16-14, 11-6, 11-4) at the International Table Tennis Federation World Tour Platinum Korea Open in Daejeon, 160 kil

North Korea’s media on Friday called on South Korea to swiftly repatriate a group of restaurant workers and warned that a delay in the process could negatively impact inter-Korean ties, along with the upcoming reunion of families separated by the Korea War.North Korea has been ramping up its demand that Seoul return 12 North Korean women who came to South Korea in April 2016 after the restaurant manager who came with the women told a local broadcaster in May that the South’s intelligence agency

Local media on Thursday said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un summoned his ambassadors and heads of overseas missions back to Pyongyang, amid a shift in the atmosphere surrounding Kim’s diplomacy. Earlier in the day, the South’s media outlets reported that the heads of the North’s embassies and other missions were called in for what is “presumed to be an ambassadorial meeting,” citing unnamed sources.  North Korean leader Kim Jong-un prepares to take a photo with officials, when he recalled

South Korea will tap into a state fund to help cover the costs to reunite families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, scheduled for next month, the Ministry of Unification said Wednesday.  Following a series of panel meetings held from July 11-16, the Seoul government decided to offer about 3.2 billion won ($2.83 million) to cover costs for the Aug. 20-26 reunions, according to the ministry. Event preparations will receive support of about 2 billion won, while 1 billion won will go to repairin

South Korea plans to revise a law to bolster ties with North Korea and protect local businesses involved in inter-Korean economic projects, the Ministry of Unification said Tuesday.The revision would require the government’s bans or restrictions on economic projects with North Korea to be subject to a Cabinet review. It would also help normalize the operations of companies if they suffer damages from the government’s unilateral decisions.  Kaesong Industrial Complex (Yonhap)“Procedures for a Cab

North Korea will issue special pardons for prisoners to mark the 70th anniversary of the regime, North Korean state media said Monday, which experts see as Kim Jong-un’s effort to bolster domestic solidarity amid a shift in political atmosphere following last month’s US-North Korea summit. “The DPRK will grant amnesty to those who have been convicted of crimes against the state and people on the occasion of the 70th founding anniversary of the DPRK,” the Korean Central News Agency said, referrin

A major South Korean pro-unification organization, chaired by a son of late President Kim Dae-jung, is set to visit North Korea this week to discuss a joint project of bringing home the remains of victims of forced labor during the 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, the group said in a statement released Sunday. (Yonhap)The Ministry of Unification on Thursday approved a four-day trip to Pyongyang by five members of the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, inclu

With the controversy surrounding the arrival of North Korean restaurant workers in 2016 snowballing, a lawyers’ group on Sunday urged the South Korean government to confirm the facts before it is “too late.”The narrative involving the 2016 incident took a sharp turn in May, when restaurant manager Heo Gang-il claimed in an interview with local network JTBC that he had tricked the workers into traveling to South Korea and that the South’s National Intelligence Service had orchestrated their defec

South Korea said Thursday it will allow the country’s major pro-unification civic group, chaired by a son of late President Kim Dae-jung, to visit North Korea next week to discuss with its North Korean counterpart cross-border cooperation and exchange. Five members of the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation including Kim Hong-gul, head of the group, will visit Pyongyang from Monday to Thursday, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Unification.  Kim Hong-gul, head of