SEOUL, Nov. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — Many North Korea watchers were doubtful when Kim Jong-un, then 27, took over the Hermit Kingdom in December 2011 following the sudden death of his father, Kim Jong-il. A decade later, apparently, few question Kim’s grip on power, despite a host of challenges, such as its moribund economy, amid [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has lost around 20 kilograms after previously weighing about 140 kg, but he appears to have no health issues, South Korea’s spy agency was quoted as saying Thursday. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) gave the briefing during a closed-door parliamentary session, rejecting rumors that [...]
SEOUL, March 26 (Korea Bizwire) — A Seoul court has ordered North Korea and leader Kim Jong-un to compensate a family member of a South Korean who was abducted to the North during the 1950-53 Korean War. The plaintiff, identified by his surname Choi, filed a damages suit in December over the policeman father who [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — North Korea’s state media have used “president” as the official English title of leader Kim Jong-un, instead of the previous title of “chairman,” in what experts see as intended to rev up the image of a “normal state.” The North’s Korean Central News Agency used the new title for [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — The demotion of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s powerful sister at an ongoing party congress is raising questions over whether it signals any change in her status in the top echelons of power. During the sixth-day session of the party’s eighth congress in Pyongyang on Sunday, Kim Yo-jong, the [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s remarks on South Korea during a key party meeting appear to have passed the ball into Seoul’s court by attaching challenging conditions that portend cloudy prospects for any change in the currently chilled cross-border relations, experts said Saturday. During the fourth-day session at the [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — North Korea has held a rare meeting of the Supreme People’s Assembly to adopt an anti-smoking law, state media reported Thursday, amid questions whether leader Kim Jong-un, known as a heavy smoker, would kick the habit. The plenary meeting of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA), held [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — A rare and swift apology from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un over the killing of a South Korean official shows he wants to prevent already frayed inter-Korean relations from further worsening, experts said Friday. South Korea needs to take the North’s conciliatory gesture as a chance to explore ways [...]
SEOUL, June 24 (Korea Bizwire) — North Korea’s decision to hold off on military action plans against South Korea appears aimed at “taking a breather” to avoid provocations that may further strain its economy, experts said Wednesday. Earlier in the day, the official Korean Central News Agency reported that leader Kim Jong-un presided over a [...]
SEOUL, June 15 (Korea Bizwire) — After threatening military action, North Korea may open fire to shoot down giant balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets flying from South Korea, but major provocations are unlikely, such as the 2010 artillery attack on a border island, experts said Monday. South Korea has been on high alert after Kim Yo-jong, [...]