KIM YO JONG

A South Korean activist says he launched a million propaganda leaflets by balloon into North Korea this week

A South Korean activist says he launched a million propaganda leaflets by balloon into North Korea this week.

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.

For the second time this week, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un berated South Korea for touting its supposed preemptive strike capabilities against the North, saying her country’s nuclear forces would annihilate the South’s conventional forces if provoked.

"South Korea may face a serious threat owing to the reckless remarks made by its defense minister," Kim Yo Jong said.

The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called the South Korean defense minister a "scum-like guy" for talking about preemptive strikes on the North, and made a "serious threat"

The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called the South Korean defense minister a “scum-like guy” for talking about preemptive strikes on the North and warned the South may face “a serious threat.”.

The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called the South Korean defense minister a “scum-like guy” for talking about preemptive strikes on the North, warning Sunday that the South may face “a serious threat.” Kim Yo Jong’s statement came amid heightened tensions between the rival Koreas over the North’s spate of weapons tests this year, including its first intercontinental ballistic missile launch in more than four years.

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

North Korea says its two latest rounds of weapons tests this week were successful and vows to speed up the development of more powerful warheads.

Kim Jong Un has so far disproven rumors of his demise, but recent decisions suggest North Korean leaders may be preparing for when Kim is really gone.

As North Korea goes back to its pattern of pressuring South Korea to get what it wants from the United States, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un has emerged as the face of its campaign of mixing weapons demonstrations and peace offers.

As North Korea goes back to its pattern of pressuring South Korea to get what it wants from the United States, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un has emerged as the face of its campaign of mixing weapons demonstrations and peace offers. If long-stalled negotiations resume, U.S. and South Korean officials will likely find themselves dealing with Kim Yo Jong, whose promotion to a key government post this week formalized her status as her brother’s top foreign policy official. Amid a freeze in nuclear diplomacy between Pyongyang and Washington, Kim Yo Jong shocked South Korea in June last year when she ordered the destruction of an empty, South Korean-built liaison office inside North Korea.

North Korea leader Kim Jong Un has expressed willingness to restore stalled communication lines with South Korea to promote peace in early October, while he shrugged off recent U.S. offers for dialogue.

North Korea has accused the United States of hostility and demanded the Biden administration permanently end joint military exercises with South Korea.

South Korea is urging North Korea to restore dormant communication hotlines, a day after the North repeated an offer to open conditional talks.

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says her country will take steps to repair ties with South Korea, and may even discuss another summit between their leaders, if the South drops what she described as hostility and double standards.

Days after outgoing South Korean President Moon Jae-in made possibly his last ambitious push to diplomatically resolve the standoff over North Korea’s nuclear program, the North has rejected his call for a declaration ending the Korean War, making it clear it has no interest in political statements unless they bring badly needed relief from crippling economic sanctions.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister says her country is willing to resume talks with the South with conditions. Analysts say the offer is likely an effort to get the U..S. to ease sanctions.

The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says her country is willing to resume talks with South Korea if conditions are met, indicating it wants Seoul to persuade Washington to relax crippling economic sanctions.

North Korea said it successfully launched ballistic missiles from a train for the first time and was continuing to bolster its defenses, after the two Koreas test-fired missiles hours apart in dueling displays of military might.

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.

The U.N. atomic agency says North Korea appears to have restarted the operation of its main nuclear reactor used to produce weapons fuels.

North Korea has repeated a threat to respond to U.S.-South Korean military exercises it claims are an invasion rehearsal, while the United States insisted the drills were “purely defensive in nature” to maintain the South’s security.

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ripped South Korea for proceeding with military exercises with the United States she claimed are an invasion rehearsal.

South Korea says it’ll keep pushing to improve ties and resume talks with rival North Korea, despite the North’s threat to rekindle animosities if Seoul continues with its upcoming military drills with the United States.

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has warned that next month’s annual military drills between South Korean and U.S. troops will undermine prospects for better ties between the Koreas, just days after the rivals reopened their long-dormant communication channels.

North Korea isn't at the Tokyo Olympics this summer.

North Korea’s foreign minister says his country is not even considering a resumption of stalled nuclear talks with the United States, dismissing hopes expressed by U.S. and South Korean officials for a quick resumption of negotiations.

Kim Yo Jong dismissed restarting talks with the US, saying it was taking her brother's comments "the wrong way."

Kim's renewed efforts to regulate how North Korean citizens think and look comes as South Korean and Western pop culture continue to seep into the country.

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has dismissed prospects for an early resumption of diplomacy with the United States, saying that U_S_ expectations of talks would “plunge them into a greater disappointment.”.

South Korean police have summoned an anti-North Korean activist for questioning hours after President Moon Jae-in appeared to criticize the activist’s campaign of sending propaganda leaflets to the North by balloon

A South Korean activist says he launched 500,000 propaganda leaflets by balloon into North Korea in defiance of a new law that criminalizes such actions.

North Korea, citing the coronavirus, has become the world’s first country to drop out of the Tokyo Olympics.

North Korea says it will not participate in the Tokyo Olympics because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Two months after President Joe Biden took office, North Korea is again turning to weapons tests to wrest outside concessions. That indicates Washington has a window of engagement before North Korea pursues bigger provocations. Later in 2017, four days after current South Korean President Moon Jae-in was inaugurated, North Korea fired what it called a newly developed, nuclear-capable intermediate-range missile. North Korea could turn to long-range missile and even nuclear tests, which Kim Jong Un suspended when he began engaging diplomatically with Washington. Given its current tensions with Washington, China may not easily agree to more sanctions even if North Korea engages in long-range missile or nuclear tests, analyst Cha said.

The missile tests were confirmed by two senior Biden administration officials who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity. AdSouth Korea’s military said in a statement Wednesday that it had detected two suspected cruise missile launches by North Korea on Sunday morning. The statement said South Korea is closely monitoring North Korean missile activities in cooperation with the United States, but noted it doesn’t publicize all its information about North Korea. U.N. Security Council resolutions ban North Korea from engaging in any ballistic activities, but not cruise missile tests. But a Biden administration officials added that the Biden administration does not view the weekend’s missile tests as closing the door to such talks.

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."

WASHINGTON – A top North Korean official said Pyongyang will not respond to numerous invitations to restart nuclear discussions until the United States drops its "hostile policies." Choe added that the Biden administration initiated contact in February and has since sent multiple e-mails, phone calls and messages through a third country. The statement comes as Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wrap their first overseas trip under Biden leadership. The pair traveled to Japan and South Korea in an effort to reaffirm U.S. commitments in the region and discuss ongoing security challenges. Coinciding with Blinken's and Austin's arrival in Asia, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un issued an eerie message to the United States.

U.S.-led diplomacy on North Korea’s nuclear program has been in limbo since a February 2019 summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un collapsed over disputes on U.S.-led sanctions. While in Tokyo on Tuesday, Blinken said that Washington reached out to North Korea through several channels starting in mid-February, but it hasn’t received any response. Iran hasn’t built any bomb, but North Korea has already manufactured dozens. Ad“Everyone can say easily that (settling for) a nuclear freeze would allow North Korea to preserve its existing nukes. But I ask them what other options do they have” to realize North Korea’s denuclearization, said Kim Yeol Soo, an analyst with South Korea’s Korea Institute for Military Affairs.

(Kiyoshi Ota/Pool Photo via AP)The White House is setting low expectations ahead of Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan’s first face-to-face meeting with their Chinese counterparts in Anchorage, Alaska. But ahead of the meeting, a senior administration official described the talks as a chance for the two sides for “taking stock” in the relationship. “We will push back if necessary when China uses coercion or aggression to get its way,” Blinken said before departing Japan. AdThe Republican courted China on trade and took pride in forging what he saw as a strong relationship with Xi Jinping. On negotiating many of the pressing issues in the relationship, the White House is “simply not there yet," the senior administration official said.

Tokyo — The U.S. and Japan presented a united front on Tuesday against an increasingly bold China and as North Korea cast a new warning at the Biden administration. March 2019 file photo shows Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Blinken and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin were set to visit South Korea on the next leg of their diplomatic trip. "North Korea is really waiting with bated breath to see the new approach by the Biden administration," said Benoit Hardy-Chartrand, an political analyst and adjunct professor at Temple University in Tokyo. Getting U.S. allies on the same page to confront North Korea, however, will be another challenge for the Biden administration.

WASHINGTON – The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent an eerie message to the United States on Tuesday, as Biden administration officials arrive for high-level talks in Japan and South Korea. Blinken and Austin, in their first trip abroad under Biden's leadership, arrived in Japan on Tuesday and will travel to South Korea on Wednesday. The pair plans to reaffirm U.S. commitments in the region and discuss ongoing security challenges, including North Korea. "To reduce the risks of escalating, we reached out to the North Korean government channels, starting in mid-February, including in New York. "This follows over a year without active dialogue with North Korea despite multiple attempts by the United States."

Worldview: North Korea warns U.S., Bolivia former president awaits trial in jail Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, has warned the U.S. against "causing a stink," right before top U.S. officials travel to South Korea. Jeanine Áñez, the former interim president of Bolivia, has been ordered to four months detention for her role in the alleged 2019 coup that ousted leader Evo Morales. CBS News' Chris Livesay joins CBSN AM's Anne-Marie Green with these and other headlines from around the world.

Worldview: North Korea warns U.S., Bolivia former president awaits trial in jail Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, has warned the U.S. against "causing a stink," right before top U.S. officials travel to South Korea. Jeanine Áñez, the former interim president of Bolivia, has been ordered to four months detention for her role in the alleged 2019 coup that ousted leader Evo Morales. Chris Livesay joins Anne-Marie Green and "CBSN AM" with these and other headlines from around the world.

FILE - In this March 2, 2019, file photo, Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, attends a wreath-laying ceremony at Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi, Vietnam. Her statement was issued on Tuesday, March 16, 2021, as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Asia to talk to U.S. allies Japan and South Korea about North Korea and other regional issues. Kim Yo Jong’s statement was issued as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Asia to talk with U.S. allies Japan and South Korea about North Korea and other regional issues. AdShe said the North would also consider scrapping an office that handled South Korean tours to the North’s scenic Diamond Mountain, which Seoul suspended in 2008 after a North Korean guard fatally shot a South Korean tourist. In the past, the North has often responded with U.S.-South Korea drills with missile tests.

(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.

People visit the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum to lay flowers on the occasion of the 67th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, which the country celebrates as the day of "victory in the fatherland liberation war" in Pyongyang, Monday, July 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin)

(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.

SEOUL U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo downplayed the possibility of another summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un before the U.S. presidential election, saying Trump would only want to engage if there were real prospects of progress. But negotiations have faltered since their second summit in February 2019, where the Americans rejected North Korean demands for major sanctions relief in exchange for a partial surrender of its nuclear capability. Some analysts believe North Korea will avoid serious talks with the Americans for now before attempting an eventual return to negotiations after the U.S. election in November. They say North Korea likely doesnt want to make any major commitments or concessions when there is a chance U.S. leadership could change. The prolonged stalemate in nuclear talks have raised doubts on whether Kim Jong Un would ever agree to fully relinquish the nukes he likely sees as his strongest guarantee of survival.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, left, and Japan's Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi greet each other prior to their bilateral meeting in Tokyo Friday, July 10, 2020. (Behrouz Mehri/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, left, and Japan's Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi attend their bilateral meeting in Tokyo Friday, July 10, 2020. (Behrouz Mehri/Pool Photo via AP)

SEOUL The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Friday she doesnt expect her brother to meet President Donald Trump this year, saying theres no reason for the North to gift Trump high-profile meetings when its not being substantially rewarded in return. But also, you never know, Kim Yo Jong said in a statement released through Pyongyangs official Korean Central News Agency, where she called for major concessions from Washington to keep alive the nuclear diplomacy. Thats because a surprise thing may still happen, depending upon the judgement and decision between the two top leaders," Kim Yo Jong said. Trump and Kim Jong Un have met three times since embarking on high-stakes nuclear diplomacy in 2018. But negotiations have faltered since their second summit in February 2019, when the Americans rejected North Korean demands for major sanctions relief in exchange for a partial surrender of its nuclear capability.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun is in Tokyo after his visit to Seoul where he discussed nuclear diplomacy with North Korea, which has refused to resume talks due to what it calls hostile American policies. Biegun met with Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Defense Minister Taro Kono separately and reaffirmed the importance of their alliance in maintaining and strengthening the free and open Indo-Pacific and dealing with regional concerns including North Korea and China. In her statement released through Pyongyangs official Korean Central News Agency, she called for major concessions from washing ton to keep alive the nuclear diplomacy. Kim Yo Jong is seen as her brothers closest confidant and was recently confirmed as his top official for inter-Korean affairs. He stressed during his meetings in Seoul that resuming the diplomacy with the North was important.

South Korea says that North Korea has exploded the inter-Korean liaison office building just north of the tense Korean border. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. Some outside experts have said these moves undermined South Korea's security more as the North's nuclear weapons arsenal remain intact. South Korea's government didn't immediately respond to the North Korean military statement. North Korea's moves have been a serious setback to Moon's efforts at engagement.

South Korean army soldiers patrol along the barbed-wire fence in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Monday, June 15, 2020. While it wasnt immediately clear what actions North Koreas military might take, North Korean has threatened to abandon a bilateral military agreement reached in 2018 to reduce tensions across the border. The waters have occasionally been the scene of bloody skirmishes, including a 2010 attack on a South Korean naval ship that killed 46 sailors. Moon on Monday called on North Korea to stop raising animosities and return to talks, saying that the rivals must not reverse the peace deals. Although Kim Jong Un had declared a frontal breakthrough against sanctions, experts say the COVID-19 crisis likely thwarted many of his economic goals.

FILE - In this March 2, 2019, file photo, Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un attends a wreath-laying ceremony at Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi, Vietnam. (Jorge Silva/Pool Photo via AP, File)SEOUL South Korea on Sunday convened an emergency security meeting and urged North Korea to uphold reconciliation agreements, hours after the North threatened to demolish a liaison office and take military action against its rival. North Korea has recently abruptly resumed a fiery rhetoric against its southern neighbor, accusing it of failing to prevent activists from launching propaganda leaflets across their border. Some experts say North Korea is expressing its deep frustration over Seouls failure to revive lucrative joint economic projects and over a lack of progress in nuclear diplomacy with Washington. Such a move could deepen anti-Pyongyang sentiments make it difficult for the North to restore ties with South Korea when needed.

North Korea on Saturday, June 13, 2020 again bashed South Korea, telling its rival to stop nonsensical talk about its denuclearization and vowing to expand its military capabilities. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)SEOUL The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un threatened military action against South Korea as she bashed Seoul on Saturday over declining bilateral relations and its inability to stop activists from floating anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border. For years, activists have floated huge balloons into North Korea carrying leaflets criticizing Kim Jong Un over his nuclear ambitions and dismal human rights record. The leafleting has sometimes triggered a furious response from North Korea, which bristles at any attempt to undermine its leadership. Trump and Kim met for a third time that year in June at the border between North and South Korea and agreed to resume talks.

FILE - In this July 29, 2010, file photo, South Korean conservative activists launch balloons carrying leaflets denouncing North Korean leader Kim Jong Il during a rally in Hwacheon, South Korea. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)SEOUL SEOUL, South KoreaNorth Korea threatened to permanently shut a liaison office with South Korea as it continued to condemn its rival for failing to prevent activists from sending anti-North Korean leaflets across the border. Sending balloons across the border has been a common activist tactic for years, but North Korea considers it an attack on its government. It combined South Korean capital and technology with cheap North Korean labor. Seouls previous conservative government shut it down in 2016 following a North Korean nuclear test, removing a crucial cash source for North Koreas struggling economy.

North Korea has threatened to end an inter-Korean military agreement reached in 2018 to reduce tensions if the South fails to prevent activists from flying anti-Pyongyang leaflets over the border. (Pyongyang Press Corps Pool via AP, File)SEOUL North Korea threatened on Thursday to end an inter-Korean military agreement reached in 2018 to reduce tensions if the South fails to prevent activists from flying anti-Pyongyang leaflets over the border. Sending balloons across the border has been a common activist tactic for years, but North Korea considers it an attack on its government. (South Korean) authorities will be forced to pay a dear price if they let this situation go on while making sort of excuses, she said. After years in her brothers shadow, Kim Yo Jong emerged as part of her brother's diplomatic efforts in 2018.

The fog of rumors about Kim Jong Uns health will clear up soon. Its ideology requires that the ruler must be a direct descendant of Kim Il Sung part of the so-called Mt. The only currently viable adult candidates seem to be Kims sister, Kim Yo Jong, and his brother, Kim Jong Chul. AdvertisementAs for Kim Jong Chul, he was passed over by his father twice first in favor of his older half-brother, Kim Jong Nam, who fell out of favor and was eventually murdered, and later for his younger brother, Kim Jong Un. His father, Kim Jong Il, reportedly derided Kim Jong Chul as being like a little girl, and he, unlike his high-profile sister, has been excluded from power and the inner leadership circle.