North Korea

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un faces the challenge of shoring up support at home while a dissident group stirs abroad.
N Korea at crossroads

Heir to Kim bloodline looms over sanctions-battered regime

Dissident group that protected North Korean leader's nephew emerges from shadows

6 April 2019
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks while meeting with China's Vice Premier Liu He in the Oval Office of the White House on Thursday.
Trade war

Economists see US and China stuck in endless 'economic cold war'

Analysts at Tokyo seminar struggle to see fundamental resolution of trade spat

5 April 2019
A South Korean-flagged tanker suspected of illicit transfers of oil to North Korea has been held at the port of Busan since October.
N Korea at crossroads

South Korea probes tanker for smuggling oil to the North

Revelation comes ahead of Trump-Moon summit in Washington

4 April 2019
Amano speaks at a U.N. Security Council meeting April 2. (Photo by Kaori Yoshida)
International relations

North Korea nuclear program a priority, IAEA chief says

Pyongyang's activities 'significantly expanded' since inspectors expelled in 2009

3 April 2019
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meet in Hanoi on Feb. 28, before ending their summit early without a deal.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea's Kim mulls next move under cloud of 'disappointment'

Failed summit with Trump puts Pyongyang's whole strategy in jeopardy

28 March 2019
The inter-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex  is seen in this picture taken from the Dora observatory near the demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas.
International relations

North Korean officials return to inter-Korean liaison office

Pyongyang reverses a decision to withdraw made just two days earlier

25 March 2019
The Koryogwan Wing Cafe in Dandong, China, serves both North Korean and American cuisine. (Photo by Daisuke Harashima)
N Korea at crossroads

Mystery North Korean border cafe serves American fare

Eatery reflects Pyongyang's conciliatory stance toward Washington

25 March 2019
Moon's window for action is closing.
Opinion

South Korea's Moon is waning

President needs reforms to revive economy and political rating

25 March 2019
U.S. President Donald Trump did not realize that Kim Jong Un had no intention of giving up his nuclear arsenal last month in Hanoi.
Comment

Kim Jong Un has to be made to realize he cannot wait out Trump

Sanctions must be more strictly enforced and maintained through US election cycle

23 March 2019
Kim Chang Son, de facto chief of staff to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, visited Hanoi in February shortly before the U.S.-North Korea summit there.
N Korea at crossroads

Kim Jong Un's aide visits Moscow in sign of possible summit

North Korea seeks leverage in deadlocked US negotiations

23 March 2019
Officials from both sides of the 38th Parallel attend an opening ceremony for the two Koreas' first liason office in Kaesong, North Korea, in September. 
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea pulls out of inter-Korean liaison office

Move is a sign that Pyongyang intends to suspend nuclear talks with Washington

22 March 2019
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announces North Korea-related sanctions at the White House in 2018.
International relations

US sanctions 2 Chinese shippers over North Korea trade

Treasury lists dozens of vessels suspected of banned activities

22 March 2019
Siti Aisyah, right, who was accused of killing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's half brother in Malaysia, thanks Indonesian President Joko Widodo at a meeting at the presidential palace in Jakarta on March 12.
Politics

How release of suspect in Kim Jong Nam murder helps Widodo

Opposition frets Indonesian president may use high profile case in election

18 March 2019
North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un has a "mysteriously wonderful" chemistry with U.S. President Donald Trump, a North Korean diplomat said on Friday. (KCNA via Reuters)
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea blasts US but admits Kim has chemistry with Trump

Pyongyang blames 'gangster-like' demands for rift and refuses to yield

16 March 2019
Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, center, is escorted by police as she arrives at Shah Alam High Court in Shah Alam, Malaysia on Thursday. Vietnam has urged Malaysia to release the second woman accused of killing the estranged half brother of North Korea's leader after her co-defendant was unexpectedly set free this week.
International relations

Trial of Vietnamese defendant in Kim Jong Nam case to resume

Ambassador protests decision after diplomatic bid to drop case

14 March 2019
North Korea has abducted over a dozen Japanese citizens. Miho Yamamoto, standing, is among those suspected of being taken by Pyongyang agents.
N Korea at crossroads

Japan forgoes UN human rights motion on North Korea

Tokyo modifies hard-line stance in hopes of progress on abduction

14 March 2019
North Korea says it is fully committed to denuclearization, at least officially.
N Korea at crossroads

Kim's absence from North Korean parliament spurs speculation

This marks the first in country's history, but leader's position is unchallenged

13 March 2019
Siti Aisyah, who was held in Malaysia as a suspect in the Kim Jong Nam murder, spoke to the press Martch 11 before flying home.
Politics

Indonesia diplomacy helped free suspect in Kim brother's death

Malaysia meets neighbor's request as North Korean role remains unresolved

12 March 2019
Kim Jong Un will see what comes out of the expected meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. 
Opinion

Xi holds key to North Korea nuclear deal

Trump's best hope of a lasting accord with Pyongyang depends on China

12 March 2019
South Korea's military said it is carefully monitoring North Korean nuclear and missile facilities such as the Sanumdong research center on the outskirts of Pyongyang, seen here in a satellite image captured on Feb. 22.
N Korea at crossroads

Warnings of North Korean 'satellite' launch grow stronger

US and South Korean governments say they are monitoring the situation

11 March 2019
Students from the VinFast Training Center prepare to welcome a senior North Korean delegation at an automotive startup in northern Vietnam on Feb. 27.
Business trends

Vietnam courts North Korean officials for pole position on trade

Pyongyang delegation toured factories and smart farms during Trump-Kim summit

10 March 2019
A U.N. panel of experts called on member states to share more information on cyberattacks originating in North Korea. (Nikkei montage/Reuters)
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea stole cryptocurrency via hacking: UN panel

Online theft and blockchain help regime to evade sanctions

8 March 2019
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks during a press conference on the sidelines of the annual meeting of China's National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing on March 8.
China People's Congress

China backs Huawei's legal counteroffensive, top diplomat says

Wang Yi says company cannot be 'silent lamb' in the face of US pressure

8 March 2019
North Korea tested three intercontinental ballistic missiles in 2017, before tensions eased on the Korean Peninsula last year.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea is rebuilding its ICBM launch site, South says

Work signals Pyongyang may be preparing to resume its nuclear weapons program

6 March 2019
North Korea officially maintains that last week's summit with the U.S. was a success.
Trump-Kim Summit

News of failed US summit seeps into North Korea

State media double down with reports of success

6 March 2019