SEOUL, March 6 (Korea Bizwire) — A North Korean soldier captured by Ukraine said that the North has military training camps that feature mockups of facilities and buildings in Seoul, Busan and Jeju Island, according to a South Korean lawmaker who recently met the soldier on Thursday. Rep. Yu Yong-weon of the ruling People Power [...]
SEOUL, March 6 (Korea Bizwire) — North Korea has abruptly suspended the entry of foreign tourists after reopening foreign tourism for the first time in about five years due to COVID-19, according to tour agencies Thursday. Koryo Tours, a China-based agency specializing in North Korean tours, said on its website the previous day that “We [...]
SEOUL, March 5 (Korea Bizwire) — North Korea’s crop yields and production were “generally favorable” last year despite torrential rains that flooded parts of the country, a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) showed Wednesday. “Last July, torrential rains triggered flooding, which caused localized crop losses in western and central parts of the [...]
SEOUL, March 5 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s humanitarian assistance to North Korea reached zero last year for the first time in nearly 30 years, amid Pyongyang’s continued antagonistic stance toward Seoul, the unification ministry said Wednesday. Not a single humanitarian assistance program for North Korea was carried out last year, either at the government [...]
SEOUL, March 5 (Korea Bizwire) — Around 1,500 North Korean soldiers who were believed to be additionally deployed to Russia have been already on front lines to aid Russia’s war against Ukraine, a South Korean lawmaker who recently visited Kyiv said Wednesday, citing Ukraine’s defense intelligence agency. Rep. Yu Yong-weon of the ruling People Power [...]
SEOUL, March 4 (Korea Bizwire) — A China-based tour agency has begun taking bookings for an international marathon in Pyongyang next month, marking the latest sign of North Korea reopening to foreign tourists. Koryo Tours, which specializes in North Korean tours, has recently begun taking bookings on its website for the amateur competition in the [...]
SEOUL, March 4 (Korea Bizwire) — A North Korean soldier caught alive by Ukraine has told a South Korean lawmaker that he wants to go to South Korea, asking whether he could “live as I wish with the rights” he hoped for once in Seoul, according to the lawmaker Tuesday. Rep. Yu Yong-weon made the [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 28 (Korea Bizwire) – North Korea has completed the building of a general hospital in Pyongyang after five years of construction and plans to open it in October to mark the 80th founding anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), according to state media Friday. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — North Korea appears to have deployed additional troops to support Russia’s war against Ukraine, although the number of recently deployed troops is being assessed, South Korea’s spy agency said Thursday. “Following about a monthlong lull, North Korean troops were placed back in the frontline region of Kursk starting in [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — A high-ranking delegation from North Korea’s Workers’ Party has arrived in Moscow for a visit at the invitation of Russia’s ruling party, state media reported Tuesday. The delegation, led by Ri Hi-yong, a member of the party’s Central Committee Politburo, landed in Moscow the previous day at the invitation [...]