KIM IL SUNG

North Korea has threatened unspecified “offensive action” over the expansion of U.S. military exercises with rival South Korea as President Joe Biden’s special representative for North Korea flew to Seoul for talks with allies over the North’s growing nuclear threat.

North Korea has unveiled the little-known daughter of its leader Kim Jong Un at a missile launch site.

For decades North Korea has threatened to turn enemy cities into a “sea of fire,” even as it doggedly worked on building a nuclear weapons program that could back up its belligerent words.

The assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has revealed long-suspected, little-talked-of links between him and the Unification Church.

North Korea says leader Kim Jong Un has vowed to bolster his country’s nuclear capability at "maximum speed.”.

North Korea says it has successfully test-launched a newly developed tactical guided weapon.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has attended a massive civilian parade in the capital Pyongyang to celebrate a milestone birth anniversary of his state-founding grandfather.

North Korea is marking a key state anniversary with calls for stronger loyalty to leader Kim Jong Un.

U.S. and Japanese warships are conducting a joint naval exercise in a rare location — in waters between Japan and the Korean Peninsula.

A day after a North Korean missile exploded after takeoff, there's speculation that the failed launch is related to the North’s push for its first intercontinental ballistic missile test in years.

The U.S. Treasury Department is placing new sanctions on three Russian companies after North Korea tested parts of its biggest intercontinental ballistic missile in two recent launches.

As skaters and sledders vie for medals at the Beijing Olympics, another extraordinary event is quietly unfolding on nine acres in the city’s embassy district.

North Korea has celebrated the 80th birthday of late leader Kim Jong Il with a concert, fireworks and a rare outdoor ceremony near its border with China.

During the last Winter Games, North Korea basked in the global limelight in South Korea.

North Korea is commemorating the 10th anniversary of former leader Kim Jong Il's death with calls for greater public loyalty toward his son and current leader Kim Jong Un, who is facing pandemic-related hardships and long-dormant nuclear diplomacy with the U.S. North Korean state newspapers published articles Friday venerating the late leader.

In an unusual North Korean parade that showcased military animals and virus workers in hazmat suits instead of ballistic missiles, leader Kim Jong Un still managed to seize the spotlight by looking thinner and more energetic than he has in years.

Civil defense forces carrying rifles and health workers wearing gas masks and red hazmat suits have paraded in North Korea’s capital in a celebration of the nation’s 73rd anniversary that was a marked departure from past militaristic displays.

South Korea's spy agency has told lawmakers that there is no sign that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been inoculated against the coronavirus and his country hasn’t received any foreign vaccines.

After saying for months that it kept the coronavirus at bay, North Korea has come closest to admitting that its anti-virus campaign has been less than perfect.

The frustration and belligerence, however, may actually be an overture. AdWhether any negotiations happen may depend on the Biden administration's policy review on North Korea, which is expected to be completed in coming weeks. ___WHAT NORTH KOREA IS SAYINGOn Tuesday, Kim Jong Un’s powerful sister berated the latest U.S.-South Korean military exercises, which were scheduled to end a nine-day run on Thursday. “There’s probably going to be serious opposition from the North” over Blinken's human rights comments, said Park Won Gon, a professor of North Korea studies at Seoul’s Ewha Womans University. But, Shin said, “they will keep any dramatic action on hold at least until the Biden administration’s North Korea policy review is out."

(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool, File)SEOUL – What has happened to Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader’s influential sister? Some say Kim Jong Un may have demoted his sister over general policy failures. Kim Yo Jong hasn't been purged or forced to quit politics, a fate that some officials have met under Kim Jong Un, and she still retains her membership in the party’s Central Committee, also a high-level body. Previously little known to outsiders, Kim Yo Jong has soared politically since her brother inherited power after their father, Kim Jong Il, died in late 2011. “Kim Yo Jong can meet and talk to Kim Jong Un freely anytime ... so we can’t help saying that she has a tremendous influence,” Oh said.

During the meeting, Kim also vowed to build more sophisticated nuclear weapons, disclosed economic developmental goals and reshuffled party officials. During a 2016 party congress, he was named party chairman and before that had led the party with the title of first secretary. But general secretary has important symbolism in the country led by dynastic rule since it was the title held by his father, Kim Jong Il, and grandfather, Kim Il Sung. When Kim Jong Un inherited the country’s leadership upon his father’s death in late 2011, some foreign experts initially questioned his grip on power. Cheong Seong-Chang, a fellow at the Wilson Center’s Asia Program, said Kim likely restored the old general secretary title after determining that it would further benefit his dictatorship.

North Korea has opened its biggest political event in five years amid what some experts see as the most fraught moment of leader Kim Jong Uns nine-year rule. Here are a few things to know about the biggest political event of the year in North Korea:___WHAT IS IT? Some experts say Kim Jong Il’s “military-first” policy helped undermine the influence of the Workers’ Party during his 17-year rule. During this month’s congress, North Korea has said it will announce new economic developmental goals for the next five years. Others says North Korea, which recently completed an 80-day “productivity campaign,” might call for more such campaigns to squeeze its people for increased labor.

North Korean defector Kang Mi-Jin speaks during an interview in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. “North Korean people have gotten used to providing such (free labor) for so long. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un faces his share of trouble: crippling U.S.-led economic sanctions, the coronavirus pandemic and damage from devastating typhoons and summer floods. “North Korea is staging (this campaign) as it doesn’t have any other available option. “In North Korea, complaining about the government could get your family sent to a political prison camp,” he said.

People wearing face masks watch a TV screen during a news program reporting about the ceremony to mark the 75th founding anniversary of the North Korea's ruling Workers' party, at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020. A part of letters read on the top "A military parade to mark the 75th founding anniversary of the North Korea's ruling Workers' party." (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A part of letters read on the top "A military parade to mark the 75th founding anniversary of the North Korea's ruling Workers' party." Kim's speech was punctuated by thousands of goose-stepping troops, tanks, armored vehicles, rocket launchers and a broad range of ballistic missiles rolled out in Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square. The missiles highlighted how the North has continued to expand its military capabilities during a stalemate in nuclear negotiations with the Trump administration. Earlier Saturday, masked citizens lined up to lay flowers at the statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, the father of the current ruler, at Pyongyang’s Mansu Hill. But many analysts believe North Korea will avoid serious negotiations or provocations before the U.S. presidential election because of the chance that the U.S. government could change.

FILE - In this Oct. 10, 2015, file photo, warheads are paraded during a military parade during celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of North Korea's Workers' Party in Pyongyang, North Korea. For months, North Korea has been relatively uncombative, as leader Kim Jong Un grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, a string of natural disasters and the deepening economic pain from years of tough U.S.-led sanctions. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 10, 2015, file photo, warheads are paraded during a military parade during celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of North Korea's Workers' Party in Pyongyang, North Korea. But ahead of the 75th founding anniversary of his ruling party this weekend, speculation has risen that Kim may hold a massive military parade and unveil newly developed, powerful missiles. South Korean Defense Minister Suh Wook told lawmakers Wednesday that North Korea is expected to unveil unspecified “strategic weapons” during a military parade marking the Oct. 10 anniversary. North Korea typically celebrates major state anniversaries with big military parades during years that end in zero and five. North Korea has steadfastly argued it hasn’t had a single coronavirus case, a claim widely disputed by foreign experts.

In this Wednesday, June 17, 2020 photo Gunnar Dedio, German film producer and managing director of PROGRESS Film GmbH poses for a photo between rolls of film in the archive of PROGRESS Film, in Leipzig, Germany. A new project is underway to digitize thousands of East German newsreels, documentaries and feature films 30 years after Germanys reunification. The East German Augenzeuge, or Eyewitness, newsreel on the Kennedy visit trumpeted the prank as a triumph, scoffing that the American president got an “unexpected surprise instead of the great view into the East German capital promised by his Secret Service” and allegedly had to cut his visit from “20 minutes to five." Germany was divided into four occupation zones after World War II, the Soviet-influenced East Germany and West Germany's American, British and French sectors. In 1950, the year after East Germany was established as a country, the authorities formed another company, Progress, as a state monopoly to distribute DEFA films and to import foreign productions.

SEOUL – North Korea is preparing for a massive military parade in its capital to mark the 75th anniversary of its ruling party next month, satellite images indicated Friday, even as the country strengthens its anti-coronavirus measures. The images, provided by Maxar, a Colorado-based satellite imagery company, show thousands of people assembled in formation near Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square and rehearsing for a military parade. The anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers’ Party is on Oct. 10. North Korea often holds military parades featuring goose-stepping soldiers and new weapons systems on state anniversaries to bolster unity and intimidate enemies. North Korea insists it hasn't had any coronavirus cases, a claim widely disputed by many foreign experts.

(AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin)SEOUL North Korea leader Kim Jong Un said his countrys hard-won nuclear weapons were a solid security guarantee and a reliable, effective deterrent that could prevent a second Korean War, state media reported Tuesday. Kim Jong Un and Trump met three times since Kim in 2018 abruptly reached out to Washington and Seoul for talks after expressing his intent to deal away his advancing nuclear arsenals. The nuclear diplomacy remains largely stalled since a second Kim-Trump meeting in February 2019 in Vietnam collapsed without reaching any agreement because Trump Kim rejected Kims proposal to get extensive sanctions relief in return for a limited denuclearization step. Kim entered this year with a vow to bolster his nuclear program and threatened to unveil a new strategic weapon. Kim hasnt performed such high-profile weapons tests, which some analysts say could completely derail diplomacy with the United States.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, left, is greeted by his South Korean counterpart Lee Do-hoon during their meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul Wednesday, July 8, 2020. Biegun is in Seoul to hold talks with South Korean officials about allied cooperation on issues including North Korea. (Kim Hong-ji/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, left, is greeted by his South Korean counterpart Lee Do-hoon during their meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul Wednesday, July 8, 2020. Biegun is in Seoul to hold talks with South Korean officials about allied cooperation on issues including North Korea. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Bieguns meetings in Seoul came hours after the Norths state media reported that leader Kim Jong Un visited a mausoleum in Pyongyang to pay tribute to his late grandfather and state founder Kim Il Sung on the anniversary of his death. I do not take direction from (North Korean) Vice Minister Choe Son Hui, Biegun said. They say North Korea likely doesnt want to make any major commitments or concessions when there is a chance U.S. leadership could change.

(AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)SEOUL Six decades after they returned to their homeland, traces of thousands of North Korean children orphaned by the Korean War linger for the elderly Europeans whose lives they briefly touched. At the same time the North Koreans were being sent for education in Eastern Europe, thousands of South Korean orphans were being adopted by families in North America and Western Europe. When the North Koreans started arriving in Europe, the countries were still reeling from the devastation of World War II. The film shows Bulgarians giving flowers to North Korean children, clad in identical dark hats and jackets, upon their arrival in 1952. Haesung Lee, chief of Korean studies at Poland's University of Wroclaw, said three former North Korean diplomats dispatched to Poland and a fourth who taught Polish at a Pyongyang university were orphans sent to Poland.