North Korea stressed the need to “fully implement” its economic policy integrating market-oriented reforms, the country’s state-run newspaper said Monday, following its leader’s decision to pivot away from nuclear testing and toward the economy. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visits a store selling dinnerware in Pyongyang. (Yonhap)North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced on Saturday his country’s nuclear and missile tests coupled with a key nuclear test site will be scrapped with the completio

In what is generally seen as a bold pre-emptive move, North Korea on Saturday announced its decision to halt nuclear and missile tests and shut down its main nuclear test site -- and instead focus on economic development. The move took by surprise those who believed the North would slowly and cautiously play out such steps towards denuclearization as a bargaining chip for regime survival, through the two landmark summits planned between South Korea and the United States.  The United Nations Secu

North Korea will hold a plenary session of its ruling party‘s central committee on Friday, the country’s state media said Thursday, ahead of its planned summits with South Korea and the United States. The Workers’ Party of Korea meeting which will be convened Friday will “discuss and decide the policy issues of a new stage in line with the demand of the important historic period of the developing Korean revolution,” the North’s Korean Central News Agency said.The policy issues were not specified

The two Koreas held working-level talks on Wednesday in an effort to finalize preparations for the upcoming summit between their leaders next week. The talks kicked off 10 a.m. sharp at the Joint Security Area of the truce village of Panmunjeom near the border, which will also serve as a venue for the summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un slated for next Friday. It lasted for nearly five hours without any breaks, according to the South’s presidenti

A petition calling for a probe into lawmakers that may have participated in illegal overseas trips or tampered with political donations is gaining traction, following the resignation of the country’s newly appointed financial watchdog chief on such misconduct.  A screen capture of a petition uploaded on Cheong Wa Dae website, calling for a probe into lawmakers. (Cheong Wa Dae/The Korea Herald)As of early Tuesday, more than 90,000 people had signed a petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website, request

With an inter-Korean summit scheduled to take place on April 27, the two Koreas are expected to hold what is likely to be the final round of preparation talks this week. The two sides will hold working-level talks at the Tongilgak administrative building in the truce village of Panmunjeom on Wednesday, which will be closely followed by high-level talks, according to the South’s presidential Cheong Wa Dae, to build a solid foundation for the fast-approaching summit. The exact date for the high-le

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met senior Chinese diplomat Song Tao and discussed “matters of mutual concern,” the North’s state media said Sunday, indicating closer ties between Pyongyang and Beijing ahead of Kim’s planned summits with South Korea and the United States.Kim met Song, head of the international liaison department of at the Central Committee of the Communist Party, on Saturday, according to the Korean Central News Agency. A Chinese art troupe, led by Song, arrived in Pyongyang on

North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly convened Wednesday, the country’s state media reported Thursday, with leader Kim Jong-un apparently absent from the proceedings. The parliamentary meeting comes head of an inter-Korean summit scheduled for April 27 and a planned meeting between Kim and US President Donald Trump in late May or early June.  North Korea`s parliament holds a key session on Wednesday, without its leader Kim Jong-un in attendance. (KCNA-Yonhap)The SPA, a rubber-stamp parliament,

South Korea reiterated Wednesday that it has ruled out North Korea’s human rights record as an agenda item for the upcoming inter-Korean summit, while the United States said it may touch on the sensitive issue. An unnamed Cheong Wa Dae official told Yonhap News Agency that the focus of the summit is tackling the “most urgent” issue of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Otto Frederick Warmbier (center), a University of Virginia student who was detained in North Korea for 17 months since Ja

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has briefed top ruling party officials on the prospects for dialogue with the United States, the North’s state media said Tuesday. It marks Kim’s first official comment on the diplomatic overtures he has made toward Seoul and Washington since January. Kim gave a “profound analysis and appraisal” of inter-Korean ties and potential talks with the US at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea held Monday, according to

The two Koreas are likely to hold additional working-level talks this week, Seoul’s Ministry of Unification said Monday, ahead of an inter-Korean summit scheduled for April 27. The two sides held talks on measures, protocols, and media coverage for the summit on Thursday and a separate meeting for the establishment of a Seoul-Pyongyang hotline on Saturday. A South Korean high-level delegation led by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon crosses the military demarcation line in the truce village o

With the historic inter-Korean summit scheduled for April 27, experts say Ri Sol-ju, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s wife, is likely to accompany her husband on the cross-border trip. 　Ri has maintained a largely veiled existence since the North‘s state media identified her as the wife of Kim Jong-un in 2012.  North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju wave from a car as they bid farewell to Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan in Beijing. (AP-Yonhap)That is, unt

The two Koreas held working-level talks at the truce village of Panmunjeom on Thursday to discuss security measures, protocols and media coverage for their upcoming summit. The meeting kicked off around 10 a.m. (Seoul time) and lasted for four hours on the southern side of the joint security area, also known as Panmunjeom, according to the South Korean presidential office Cheong Wa Dae. South Korean soldiers stand on guard as they face the North Korea side at the border village of Panmunjeom in

The two Koreas started working-level talks on protocol, security and media coverage on Thursday, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said, ahead of an inter-Korean summit set for later this month. The meeting was to kick off at 10 a.m. at the southern side of the truce village of Panmunjeom near the border, according to Seoul. South Korean soldiers look toward the North Korean side as a North Korean solder approaches the UN truce village building that sits on the border of the Demilitarized Zone. (AP)T

The establishment of a hotline between the leaders of the two Koreas is expected to be a key agenda item at working-level talks slated for the weekend, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said Wednesday. The two Koreas agreed to hold two working-level meetings this week to hammer out details in preparation for the inter-Korean summit on April 27. Talks on protocol, security and media coverage are to be held Thursday, while cross-border communications will be the focus of a meeting slated for Saturday,

South Korean musicians and a taekwondo demonstration team returned home via a chartered flight early Wednesday after performing in Pyongyang for the first time in more than a decade. The delegation, led by Culture Minister Do Jong-hwan, arrived at Incheon Airport at 3:40 a.m. South Korean pop musicians Cho Yong-pil, Ali, Lee Sun-hee and Seohyun (from R to L) arrive at Incheon International Airport on April 4, after wrapping up a series of concerts in Pyongyang. (Yonhap)The 160-member art troupe

The final and second performance by South Korean pop artists in Pyongyang was held Tuesday.South Korea agreed earlier this month to hold the concert, in a move that was largely seen as an effort to further ease border tensions before the inter-Korean summit slated for April.  (Yonhap)Top-tier musicians who performed in the first concert Sunday -- including Cho Yong-pil, Lee Sun-hee, girl group Red Velvet and Girls’ Generation member Seohyun -- were largely expected to participate in Tuesday’s sh

Former President Park Geun-hye’s sentencing hearing will be allowed to be televised live, a Seoul court said Tuesday.  Former President Park Geun-hye (Yonhap)Park, who was impeached and arrested last year, faces a string of charges including bribery and abuse of power. The former president is also alleged to have allowed long-time confidante Choi Soon-sil to meddle in state affairs.The decision was made by the three judges presiding over Park’s corruption trial, according to the Seoul Central Di

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expressed hope that South Korean musicians’ performance in Pyongyang could serve as a “meaningful occasion” to show the unity of the divided Koreas, the North’s state-run news agency said Monday. Under the theme “Spring Comes,” K-pop heavyweights including Cho Yong-pil, Lee Sun-hee, girl group Red Velvet and Seohyun of Girls’ Generation performed a concert at the 1,500-seat East Pyongyang Grand Theater in Pyongyang for two hours, starting at 6:30 p.m. (South Korea

After US President Donald Trump’s abrupt remarks tying talks with North Korea to the recently finalized US-South Korea trade deal, Cheong Wa Dae said it will try to find out the “true intention” behind the remark. (Yonhap)While mentioning the Korea-US free trade agreement, Trump suddenly warned on Friday that he “may hold it up until after a deal is made with North Korea,” in an effort to gain more leverage in potential talks with the rogue nation. “You know why? Because it’s a very strong card.