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, [...]
SEOUL, May 11 (Korea Bizwire) — Unsubstantiated rumors and speculative media reports about North Korea could cause mutual distrust between the two Koreas and create an “impasse” in inter-Korean relations, an expert said Monday. Kim Dong-yeop, a research professor at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies, also called for more efforts to create “high-quality” [...]
SEOUL, May 2 (Korea Bizwire) — A broadly-smiling Kim Jong-un appeared in public for the first time in 20 days, looking well without any signs of an illness, despite a wave of speculation that he might be gravely sick or even dead. Kim’s reappearance underlined the difficulty in figuring out affairs in the communist nation, [...]
SEOUL, May 1 (Korea Bizwire) — A North Korea defector elected as a lawmaker in South Korea claimed Friday that he is “99 percent” sure that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un died after surgery amid speculation over his health. Unconfirmed reports about Kim’s ill health have mounted since he has not appeared in public for [...]
SEOUL, April 29 (Korea Bizwire) — Kim Yo-jong, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has been seen exerting increasing clout in Pyongyang as of late, raising the possibility of her succeeding her brother amid speculation that he may be ill, a legislative think tank assessed Wednesday. In an analysis report of the [...]
SEOUL, April 26 (Korea Bizwire) — North Korea’s state media reported on leader Kim Jong-un expressing his “appreciation” for people working to build facilities in a northern border town Sunday but continued to stay silent about his public activities for two weeks amid growing rumors about his health. “Comrade Kim Jong-un sent appreciation to workers [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — Nuclear talks between the United States and North Korea remain in limbo a year after their no-deal summit in Hanoi, with their engagement hamstrung by mutual distrust, domestic politics and, most recently, Pyongyang’s focus on fending off an epidemic. The second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of North Korea’s ruling party, introduced the Rungra 4D Simulation Cinema, reflecting back on when the cinema was first highlighted in Sept. 14, 2013 when leader Kim Jong-un visited the facility. “Young citizens may prefer dinosaurs or other movies with scary scenes,” said [...]
YEONPYEONG ISLAND, Oct. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — An offspring of a pair of Pungsan-breed dogs gifted to South Korean President Moon Jae-in by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is growing healthily on an island just south of the inter-Korean sea border, the Incheon municipal government said Monday. The white female puppy, named Haetnim, is one [...]