North Korea's institutionalized and extensive system of forced labor, spanning prisons, schools, military conscription, and overseas dispatches, "exhibits features of servitude and slavery" in some instances, the UN Human Rights Office said Tuesday. The report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is based on sources, including 183 in-depth interviews conducted from June 2015 to May 2023 with victims and witnesses of forced labor who have fled Nor

North Korea July 16, 2024

Ri Il-kyu, who was serving as a counselor at the North Korean Embassy in Cuba, defected to South Korea in November of last year, South Korea's spy agency confirmed Tuesday. This confirmation followed a report by the Chosun Ilbo daily, which interviewed the 52-year-old former diplomat who had fled to South Korea with his wife and children. This is the first confirmed defection of a North Korean diplomat since 2019, when Jo Song-gil, then the acting ambassador to Italy, defected in July, foll

North Korea July 16, 2024

Nearly 60 percent of North Korean defectors believed it necessary to change the official terminology labeling them as "North Korean defectors," according to a survey released Friday by the government-funded Korea Institute for National Unification. The KINU reported that 58.9 percent of 505 North Korean defectors aged 18 and above, who were surveyed online, believed the term "should be changed," while 28.9 percent felt it "doesn't need to be changed." The remai

North Korea July 12, 2024

South Korea and the United States signed joint guidelines Thursday to ensure a swift and decisive response to any North Korean nuclear attack by integrating South Korea's advanced conventional forces and US nuclear capabilities into a strengthened combined defense strategy. The "Guidelines for Nuclear Deterrence and Nuclear Operations on the Korean Peninsula" were signed by South Korea's Defense Ministry and the US Defense Department just before the summit between South Korean Presiden

Defense July 12, 2024

The inaugural Seoul Forum on North Korean Human Rights 2024 was held Thursday to illuminate egregious human rights violations in North Korea and seek ways for improvement particularly in coordination with all UN member states, including China and Russia. The event notably coincided with the 10th anniversary of the UN Commission of Inquiry report on North Korean human rights, which highlighted the "systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations" by the North Korean regime, dra

North Korea July 11, 2024

Jung Pak, who served as the United States' top diplomat for North Korea issues, has recently resigned, leaving the position vacant again amid stalled talks between Washington and Pyongyang since the Biden administration's inauguration in January 2021. Pak's resignation is noteworthy in light of the Biden administration's trend of downgrading similar positions. The trend led to the US special representative for North Korea position within the State Department remaining unfille

North Korea July 10, 2024

North Korea has dispatched a military training delegation to Russia, marking the first military exchange since the two countries signed a mutual defense treaty in mid-June. The move has drawn warnings from Seoul that any action aiding North Korea's military buildup contravenes UN sanctions. The delegation, comprising military training officials from the Korean People's Army and led by Kim Kum-chol who serves as the president of Kim Il Sung Military University, departed Pyongyang for Ru

North Korea July 9, 2024

ASTANA, Kazakhstan – In a display of unity, leaders of Eurasian countries pledged Thursday to strengthen the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's goal of shaping a new world order and to enhance security cooperation amid global geopolitical turbulence. At the SCO summit in Astana, chaired by Kazakhstan, leaders from the 10 member countries, including Russia and China, agreed that the organization was imperative in shaping a new multipolar world to move away from the current Western-led

Foreign Affairs July 5, 2024

ASTANA, Kazakhstan -- The leaders of Eurasian titans convened in Astana on Thursday for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, spearheaded by China and Russia as they aim for a multipolar world order, while ceremoniously welcoming Belarus as the newest member of the SCO. Hosted by Kazakhstan, the summit spotlighted a growing alignment among members of the economic, defense-oriented and security bloc — many of which oppose a West-led global order — amid escalating geopolitical

Foreign Affairs July 4, 2024

ASTANA, Kazakhstan -- Kazakhstan is willing to share its nuclear disarmament expertise with North Korea, emphasizing its own journey of voluntarily relinquishing nuclear weapons inherited from the Soviet Union and subsequently achieving substantial economic growth, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Roman Vassilenko said Wednesday. "We want to help in whichever way we can, in a modest way, I should say, to help ease these tensions and provide our expertise," Vassilenko said whe

Foreign Affairs July 4, 2024

North Korea launched two ballistic missiles Monday, with the South Korean military presuming that at least one of them could be the KN-23 short-range ballistic missile supplied to Russia for use against Ukraine on the battlefield. The missile launches notably coincided with a key party meeting, presided over by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un since Friday, where crucial domestic and foreign policies are being deliberated, around a week after Russian President Vladimir Putin's rare visit to

North Korea July 1, 2024

South Korean and Japanese vice foreign ministers on Friday pledged close cooperation to address the Russia-North Korea treaty aimed at enhancing military cooperation, while also agreeing to strengthen coordination on Indo-Pacific regional and global issues, according to the Foreign Ministry in Seoul. South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun met with his Japanese counterpart Masataka Okano in Tokyo for the 14th Korea-Japan Vice-Ministerial Strategic Dialogue, the first such meeting

Foreign Affairs June 28, 2024

South Korean Ambassador to Russia Lee Do-hoon voiced alarm over increasing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia during his meeting with Andrey Rudenko, the Russian deputy foreign minister in charge of the Asia-Pacific region, on Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry in Seoul said Thursday. The meeting, which Seoul described as an opportunity to hear Russia's stance on the "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty" signed by President Vladimir Putin and North Korean lead

Foreign Affairs June 27, 2024

Testimonies from North Korean defectors have revealed that the Kim Jong-un regime has conducted public executions of individuals caught distributing South Korean TV series, movies or K-pop music under a 2020 law, South Korea's Unification Ministry said Thursday. According to the 2024 North Korean Human Rights Report released by the ministry in Seoul, testimonies suggested an "increase in public executions based on violations of the Law on Rejecting Reactionary Ideology and Culture.&quo

North Korea June 27, 2024

South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are poised to elevate their relationship to a "comprehensive strategic partnership," marking the highest level that ASEAN's dialogue partners can forge, aiming to cover the most extensive possible range of sectors, ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn said in his interview with The Korea Herald in Seoul. "This year is a very important year in the context that we are commemorating and celebrating the 35th anniversary

Foreign Affairs June 25, 2024