WASHINGTON -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may not be "eager" to engage with former US President Donald Trump if he wins the White House in the Nov. 5 election, a US expert has said, noting Pyongyang has already been "burnt" by Trump. Ralph Cossa, president emeritus at the Pacific Forum, made the forecast in a recent piece for The National Interest, an international affairs magazine, suspecting Pyongyang will be more interested in "what kind of damage a second Trump a

WASHINGTON -- South Korean and US officials have stressed the need to address an "inextricable" link between North Korea's human rights and security issues, claiming Pyongyang's repressive political climate has led it to divert its scarce resources to its weapons programs without public pushback. The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, a US-based nongovernmental institute, issued a report Friday to further substantiate the claim as it sheds light on how the reclusive r

  North Korea said Saturday it has test-fired a tactical ballistic missile equipped with a new "autonomous" navigation system in a bid to advance its weapons capabilities. The North's leader Kim Jong-un oversaw the weapons test on Friday, according to the Korean Central News Agency. The report did not reveal further details such as how many missiles were fired. "The accuracy and reliability of the autonomous navigation system were verified through the test fire," the rep

A US F-16 fighter jet crash incident in South Korea in May of last year occurred due to a partial power loss experienced by the aircraft and weather conditions at the time, a US Air Force unit stationed in the country said Friday. On May 6, 2023, the single-engine fighter jet assigned to the 8th Fighter Wing (FW) of the US 7th Air Force crashed into farmland near Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 60 kilometers south of Seoul, shortly after take-off. The pilot ejected safely, with no serious injuries

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had voiced frustration over global skepticism on his will for denuclearization, stressing he had no intention to use nuclear weapons, a memoir written by former President Moon Jae-in showed Friday. The details of exchanges between Moon and Kim during their first summit held in April 2018 were shared in the book, of which the title translates into "From the Periphery to the Center." It recounts significant diplomatic events, such as Moon's summit mee

President Yoon Suk Yeol instructed the government Friday to scrap all preliminary feasibility studies for research and development projects to speed up their implementation and support economic growth. Yoon made the remark during a national financial strategy meeting held to discuss fiscal policy issues ahead of the government's formulation of next year's budget. "I ask you to abolish preliminary feasibility studies and sharply increase the scale of investment in order to nurture

South Korean stocks slumped more than 1 percent Friday as investors locked in profits from a recent rally caused by hope for a rate cut by the Federal Reserve. The local currency fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 28.38 points, or 1.03 percent, to 2,724.62, snapping a two-session winning streak. It rose 0.83 percent on the previous day. Trade volume was moderate at 561.1 million shares worth 10.3 trillion won ($7.6 billion), with losers beating winne

North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Friday, the South Korean military said, a day after South Korea and the United States staged combined aerial drills involving advanced stealth jets. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected what are presumed to be short-range missiles fired off the eastern coastal city of Wonsan at 3:10 p.m. toward the East Sea. "The North Korean missiles flew about 300 kilometers and landed in the East Sea," the JCS said

Officials of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration expressed expectations for greater space cooperation with South Korea on Thursday, as the two countries are widening the scope of their alliance beyond its longstanding security focus. Mark Clampin, NASA's astrophysics division director, and John Wisniewski, a NASA scientist for the SPHEREx, a future space observatory, attended an event on bilateral space cooperation at the South Korean Embassy in Washington. The event took p

South Korea added more than 200,000 jobs in April on the back of the marked increase in manufacturing jobs on export growth, data showed Friday. But the number of people who remained unemployed and sought a job surged by the most in more than three years amid demographic changes, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The number of employed people came to 28.69 million last month, up 261,000 from a year earlier. The country added more than 300,000 new jobs in both January and Februa

South Korean stocks started a tad lower Friday following the previous day's rally amid hopes for a US rate cut. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 6.19 points, or 0.22 percent, to 2,746.81 in the first 15 minutes of trading. On Wall Street, major stock indices closed lower Thursday after their record high on the previous day on data showing a slowdown in inflation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.26 percent. In Seoul, most

North Korea on Friday denounced a plan by South Korea and the United States to stage their joint annual military drills in August, warning that they could face a "catastrophic aftermath" if they carry out the exercise. The Ulchi Freedom Shield by Seoul and Washington is a "nuclear attack exercise" against Pyongyang that will involve state-of-the-art military equipment, including nuclear strategic assets, according to the Korean Central News Agency. In December 2023, South Kor

Former President Donald Trump may like to "solve" North Korea's nuclear quandary if reelected, a former US official during Trump's presidency said Thursday, noting how to address the issue is "unpredictable." Allison Hooker, former senior director for Asia at the National Security Council, made the remarks, underscoring that leader-level diplomacy with North Korea is the "right " approach given that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is the "top decision

Police raided famous popera singer Kim Ho-joong's house in Seoul on Thursday over suspicions that he caused a hit-and-run accident while drunk driving last week, officials said. Investigators from Seoul Gangnam Police Station searched Kim's house as well as the home and office of the head of Think Entertainment, an agency representing Kim, to figure out the whereabouts of Kim and his manager following the incident. Kim is suspected of fleeing after hitting a taxi while drunk driving in

The leaders of Russia and China issued a joint statement opposing what they call "acts of military intimidation" against North Korea by the United States and its allies, a Russian news report said Thursday. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping issued the statement following a bilateral summit in Beijing, according to Russian news agency TASS. "The parties oppose the acts of military intimidation by the US and its allies that escalate confrontation with

South Korea and China discussed ways Thursday of strengthening bilateral cooperation on supply chains of critical minerals and key industry items, Seoul's finance ministry said. The discussions were made during the 18th Korea-China Meeting on Economic Cooperation held virtually between South Korea's Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok and Zheng Shanjie, chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. It was the fi

The unification ministry on Thursday unveiled an artwork inspired by three forget-me-nots at a garden show in an effort to raise public awareness of South Koreans detained in North Korea. Earlier this year, the government created an image of three blue forget-me-nots as a symbol of South Korean abductees, detainees and prisoners of the 1950-53 Korean War in hope of their safe repatriation from the repressive regime. The artwork by artist Nanan Kang, comprising a glass greenhouse filled with the

South Korean stocks finished nearly 1 percent up Thursday as hopes for a possible US rate cut boosted investor sentiment here. The local currency sharply rose to an almost two-month high against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 22.66 points, or 0.83 percent, to 2,753, after reaching an intraday high of 2,773.46 points. Trade volume was moderate at 510.3 million shares worth 13 trillion won ($9.66 billion), with gainers outpacing decliners 531 to 345. Foreign i

First lady Kim Keon Hee will attend an official luncheon with the visiting Cambodian prime minister Thursday, the presidential office said, marking her return to public duties after she withdrew in December amid corruption allegations. The first lady will join President Yoon Suk Yeol, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and his wife during the luncheon, which will be held at the presidential office following a summit between the leaders. The last time Kim appeared in public was in December when s

An appellate court in Seoul was to deliver a critical ruling Thursday that would determine the fate of the government's highly contested plan to increase the nationwide medical school admission quota, officials said. The Seoul High Court will issue a ruling at around 5 p.m. on an injunction filed by the medical community seeking to halt the government's plan to increase the medical school quota by 2,000, court officials said. A court rejection of the request would pave the way for the