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North Korea
Kim Jong-un’s younger sister, Kim Yo-jong, has been referred to as senior party official for the first time in the North Korean state media.
Kim Yo-jong, who is in her mid to late twenties, was identified as a vice-director of a department within the powerful Central Committee, KCNA said.
Kim Jong-un is the third generation of the Kim family to rule North Korea.
His aunt also had a prominent role in the party but disappeared after her husband was executed for treason.
Observers say could end up also playing a significant supportive leadership role.
She was first seen publically at the funeral of her father, Kim Jong-il, in 2011.
Since then Kim Yo-jong has on occasion been seen in political events and “field guidance trips” accompanying her brother but without any official title in the party.
Kim Jong-un, 31, and his sister are both children of Kim Jong-il and his late wife, Ko Yong-hui.
They are believed to have gone to the same boarding school in Switzerland as their older brother Kim Jong-chol.
Kim Jong-chol does not have any publicly defined role in the government.
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North Korea has responded to a UN move towards a probe into the country’s human rights violations by threatening to conduct a nuclear test.
The North Korean foreign ministry on November 20 accused the US of orchestrating a recent UN resolution calling for the investigation.
North Korea previously conducted nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013.
Its threat comes as new satellite images emerge indicating fresh activity at a North Korean nuclear facility.
A UN human rights committee on November 18 passed a resolution calling on the Security Council to refer North Korea to the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity.
Pyongyang said the resolution was based on “fabricated testimonies” from North Korean defectors and “slander against Pyongyang”.
The resolution’s approval was a “grave political provocation” by the US and such “aggression..is leaving us unable to further refrain from staging a new nuclear test”.
It added that its military deterrence “will be beefed up limitlessly” to guard against the US.
A US State Department spokesman said: “It would certainly be unfortunate to threaten with that kind of activity in response to the legitimate focus on North Korea’s human rights situation by the international community.”
North Korea has previously rejected claims of human rights violations.
Following a UN report alleging the country was committing “unspeakable atrocities”, a Pyongyang official held a rare open briefing last month where he denied the existence of prison camps, and said there were only detention centers.
Tuesday’s resolution drew heavily on the report, which was released in February.
Analysts however say that it is unlikely that the Security Council will allow North Korea to be tried in the ICC, as Russia and China – which voted against the resolution – sit on the Council.
North Korea’s nuclear test threat comes as a US research institute published new evidence that Pyongyang may be restarting a plant that can reprocess nuclear fuel into weapons-grade plutonium.
The US-Korea Institute posted recent satellite images showing activity at a radiochemical laboratory at the Yongbyon facility on 38 North, its website devoted to North Korea analysis.
The pictures show a cooling tower emitting steam, vehicles coming and going, and piles of “grey material” stacked outside a facility believed to be manufacturing fuel.
The UN has called for the Security Council to refer North Korea to the International Criminal Court (ICC) over its human rights record.
The human rights committee passed a motion seeking a probe into alleged crimes against humanity committed by the Pyongyang regime.
The motion still needs to be voted on by the General Assembly itself.
A UN report released in February revealed ordinary North Koreans faced “unspeakable atrocities”.
The UN Commission of Inquiry detailed wide-ranging abuses in North Korea after hearing evidence of torture, political repression and other crimes.
It led to Tuesday’s non-binding vote, which was passed with 111 countries in favor and 19 against, with 55 abstentions.
China and Russia, which hold veto power on the Security Council, voted against the motion.
The resolution also condemned North Korea for its poor human rights record, and urged the Security Council to consider targeted sanctions against those responsible for the crimes.
Michael Kirby, who chaired the report, described the move as “an important step in the defense of human rights”.
“One of the only ways in which the International Criminal Court can secure jurisdiction is by referral by the Security Council. That is the step that has been put in train by the big vote in New York,” he said.
The General Assembly is to vote on the motion in coming weeks.
Diplomats say, however, that long-time ally China would probably use its veto to block the Security Council from referring the case to the ICC.
The UN report said North Korea’s human rights situation “exceeds all others in duration, intensity and horror”.
It said those accused of political crimes were “disappeared” to prison camps, where they were subject to “deliberate starvation, forced labor, executions, torture, rape and the denial of reproductive rights enforced through punishment, forced abortion and infanticide”.
The report, based on interviews with North Korean defectors, estimated that “hundreds of thousands of political prisoners have perished in these camps over the past five decades”.
It included an account of a woman forced to drown her own baby, children imprisoned from birth and starved, and families tortured for watching a foreign soap opera.
North Korea refused to co-operate with the UN report and rejected its conclusions.
Speaking ahead of the vote, a North Korean foreign ministry official warned the committee of the possibility of further nuclear tests.
Penalizing North Korea over human rights “is compelling us not to refrain any further from conducting nuclear tests”, Choe Myong-nam said.
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North Korea will send top Communist party official Choe Ryong-hae as special envoy to Russia, state media have said, without stating the purpose of the trip.
Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) also did not say when Choe Ryong-hae would go.
In Soviet times, Russia was a strong ally to North Korea, supplying aid and missile technology.
Relations with China, North Korea’s strongest supporter in recent years, have frayed recently.
North Korea will send Choe Ryong-hae as special envoy to Russia
Beijing is distancing itself from Pyongyang after North Korea raised tensions last year with a third nuclear test and issued threats of nuclear strikes against South Korea and the US.
North Korea has also pulled out of the six-party talks aimed at its nuclear disarmament which involve China, the two Koreas, Russia, Japan and the US.
The visit comes ahead of an expected UN General Assembly vote next week on a resolution – put forth by the EU and Japan – that condemns the North’s human rights record.
Choe Ryong-hae is thought to be one of Kim Jong-un’s closest associates. He went to Beijing last year as Kim Jong-un’s special envoy to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Choe Ryong-hae was also part of a high-profile delegations that went to South Korea in October to resume senior-level talks.
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North Korea has released detained US citizens Matthew Todd Miller and Kenneth Bae.
Matthew Todd Miller and Kenneth Bae are now on their way home.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper travelled to North Korea and is accompanying the men back, the US has confirmed.
A third US citizen, Jeffrey Fowle, was freed last month and no Americans are now being held in North Korea.
President Barack Obama said he was “grateful” for their safe return.
He said it was “a wonderful day” for the men and their families.
The US had accused North Korea of using its citizens as pawns in a diplomatic game. Pyongyang denies the accusations.
James Clapper travelled to North Korea for direct talks with the authorities.
North Korea has released detained US citizens Matthew Todd Miller and Kenneth Bae
Barack Obama said: “I appreciate the director doing a great job on what was obviously a challenging mission.”
The US department of state said in a statement that it “welcomes the release of US citizens Kenneth Bae and Matthew Todd Miller from the DPRK [North Korea], where they have been held for two years and seven months, respectively”.
It added: “The United States has long called on DPRK authorities to release these individuals on humanitarian grounds. We join their families and friends in welcoming them home.”
One US official told Associated Press news agency that nothing was offered in return for the releases.
The official said that the releases had not changed the US view of North Korea’s nuclear program and that the North should show a serious commitment to denuclearization and improved human rights.
The US thanked Sweden, which serves as the US protecting power in North Korea, for its efforts in the releases.
Matthew Todd Miller, 24, had been sentenced to six years’ hard labor in September for what North Korean state media described as “hostile acts”.
He had been in custody since April 10 when, according to North Korean sources, he destroyed his tourist visa and demanded asylum.
Kenneth Bae, 42, had been arrested in November 2012 as he entered the north-eastern port city of Rason, a special economic zone near North Korea’s border with China.
He has been described as both a tour operator and Christian missionary. North Korea said he used his tourism business to form groups to overthrow the government.
Kenneth Bae was sentenced to 15 years’ hard labor in May 2013.
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Kim Jong-un has been pictured by North Korean media walking without a cane at an army meeting, following speculation about his health.
The North Korean leadr was not seen in public for nearly six weeks before appearing at an event using a walking stick last month.
South Korean intelligence said Kim Jong-un had surgery to remove an ankle cyst.
Kim Jong-un’s health has been the subject of much rumor in recent years, with some saying he may be suffering from gout or hip problems.
The latest pictures, which came out in newspaper Rodong Sinmun on November 5, show Kim Jong-un meeting with military commanders.
Kim Jong-un pictured walking without a cane at an army meeting, following speculation about his health
North Korea agency KCNA said Kim Jong-un had attended the army meeting on November 3 and November 4 and posed with participants for photographs.
He was accompanied by right-hand man Hwang Pyong-so and other top leaders.
Kim Jong-un missed a key political event in October – the anniversary of his ruling party. But South Korea said it believed he remained in control.
South Korean intelligence later said that Kim Jong-un had developed a cyst on his left ankle in May, pinching a nerve and causing the ankle to swell.
A team of European medical experts were said to have flown to Pyongyang in September or October to operate on Kim Jong-un’s left ankle and remove the cyst.
Kim Jong-un has been pictured smoking a cigarette while visiting a baby home and orphanage in Pyongyang.
After missing from public for almost two months due to an apparent ankle surgery, the North Korean leader found time to visit an orphanage with candy-pink bunk beds surrounded by soft toys.
Kim Jong-un has been pictured smoking a cigarette while visiting a baby home and orphanage in Pyongyang
The facility has over 250 rooms for nursing, education, physical exercise and treatment as well as outdoor and indoor wading pools, parks and various amusement equipment for children.
It is not the first time Kim Jong-un’s been snapped having a puff on official business.
Kim Jong-un has had surgery to remove a cyst from his ankle, according to South Korean intelligence.
A spy agency briefing to lawmakers on October 28 said that a foreign doctor operated on the North Korean leader in September or October.
Kim Jong-un recently dropped out of public view for nearly six weeks leading to speculation that he was seriously ill.
He has been seen walking with a stick in recent official photographs.
One such photo, used by North Korean media, showed him using a stick on October 14 as he inspected a new residential district.
Kim Jong-un had not been seen since September. South Korean intelligence says the cyst could recur because the North Korean leader is a smoker and leads a busy lifestyle.
South Korean politicians were told that foreign medical experts had been flown to the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, to remove the cyst from Kim Jong-un’s left ankle.
The growth which materialized in May was caused by what is known as “tarsal tunnel syndrome” whereby a nerve is pinched, causing the ankle to swell.
Kim Jong-un has had surgery to remove a cyst from his ankle
An intelligence official said the medical team was from Europe but did not specify which country.
This is not the first time that a North Korean leader has been treated by foreign experts.
Kim Jong-un’s father and grandfather were reported to have been treated by French doctors during their leaderships.
It was reported that a pace-maker was flown out from Switzerland in a diplomatic bag for Kim Il-sung, the founder of North Korea.
On October 28, North Korean officials also attended talks with Japan for the first time in a decade to discuss the abduction of Japanese citizens.
North Korea has admitted it kidnapped 13 Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 80s to train spies in Japanese customs.
Five of them were returned to Japan in 2002. Pyongyang says the other eight died but Japan has said it does not believe this.
Japan lifted some sanctions on Pyongyang in July in return for North Korea’s agreement to reopen an investigation into the fates of Japanese abductees.
South Korea has taken down a tower used to construct a Christmas tree at the border with North Korea.
The ritual, in which the 60ft tower was covered in colorful lights and topped with a cross, was seen by the North as propaganda by the South.
North Korea repeatedly demanded its demolition and threatened to shell it.
The move came a week after senior military officials from the two Koreas held talks for the first time in seven years.
Two weeks ago, the two countries briefly exchanged gun fire across their land border, in a rare incident.
Gunfire was also exchanged recently when a North Korean patrol ship crossed the disputed western maritime border.
South Korea has taken down a tower used to construct a Christmas tree at the border with North Korea (photo AFP/Getty Images)
The tower, which stood about 2 miles from the border, could be seen by North Koreans living in nearby towns.
Citing a defense official, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the tower, built in 1971, was being removed because it could collapse.
The official refuted speculation that the demolition had to do with relations with North Korea, and said the tower had been awarded a low grade during a safety check.
In 2004, South Korea stopped allowing groups to erect the Christmas tree after dialogue with North Korea in which both sides agreed to stop propaganda activities by the border.
However, it allowed Christian groups to put up the tree in 2010 when a South Korean warship was sunk by, Seoul says, a North Korean submarine.
News of the tower’s demolition came as North Korea freed Jeffrey Fowle, one of three US citizens currently detained.
American citizen Jeffrey Fowle has been released by the North Korean authorities, US officials say.
Jeffrey Fowle, 56, was one of three US citizens detained in North Korea.
State department spokeswoman Marie Harf confirmed that Jeffrey Fowle was on his way home on October 21 following negotiations.
Marie Harf said the US was working to secure the release of two other US nationals, Matthew Miller and Kenneth Bae, who remain in detention in North Korea.
The US has accused North Korea of using the detained Americans as pawns in a diplomatic game.
Jeffrey Fowle entered North Korea on April 29 and was detained in early June as he was leaving the country. He was charged with “anti-state” crimes.
He was reported to have left a Bible in the toilet of a restaurant in the northern port city of Chongjin but his family has insisted that he was not on a mission for his church.
Jeffrey Fowle entered North Korea on April 29 and was detained in early June as he was leaving the country
Missionary activity is considered a crime in North Korea.
In August, Jeffrey Fwle and fellow detainee Matthew Miller made a televised appeal to the US government to help secure their release.
Responding to the appeal, the US authorities vowed to make securing the release of the detainees a “top priority”.
Matthew Miller was later sentenced to six years’ hard labor for committing “hostile acts”.
The state department’s Marie Harf said Washington welcomed Jeffrey Fowle’s release, adding that US officials “remain focused on the continued detention of Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller and again call on the DPRK [North Korea] to immediately release them”.
She said North Korea had asked the US government to transport Jeffrey Fowle out of the country as a condition of his release.
Marie Harf also thanked Sweden, which serves as the US protecting power in North Korea, for the “tireless efforts” of its embassy in Pyongyang.
No reason was given for Jeffrey Fowle’s release.
Washington has been trying to send high-level representatives to negotiate the detainees’ release, but these visits have been cancelled by North Korea in recent months.
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North Korea and South Korea have held talks for the first time in seven years, South Korean Yonhap news agency reports.
The news agency, citing an unnamed source, said the talks began at 10:00 at the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone.
In recent weeks the two Koreas have exchange limited gun fire across both their land and sea borders.
South Korean ministry officials have not formally confirmed the talks.
Yonhap, citing its parliamentary source, said it was because North Korea did not want the talks made public.
An opposition lawmaker gave the same information to a party meeting, a statement from his party said.
North Korea and South Korea have held talks for the first time in seven years
The talks were widely expected to focus on reducing tensions after two small military incidents across the border that divides the two nations – which remain technically at war.
Last week, gun fire was exchanged after a North Korean patrol ship crossed the disputed western maritime border, South Korea said.
On October 10, there was also an exchange of fire across the land border, something that happens rarely.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, citing military officials, said North Korea fired towards balloons carrying propaganda leaflets that had been launched across the border by South Korean activists.
South Korea responded after some shots landed south of the border, its officials said.
The two sides last held working-level military talks in February 2011 and general-level talks in December 2007, Yonhap said.
In February, Pyongyang and Seoul also had two rounds of high-level meetings in Panmunjom, without providing any details on how the talks went.
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Kim Jong-un has made his first public appearance since September 3, the North Korean official news agency says.
The KCNA agency said on October 14 that Kim Jong-un “gave field guidance” at a newly-built scientists’ residential district.
Rodong Sinmun daily newspaper carried several photographs of Kim Jong-un using a walking stick as he inspected the site.
The absence of the North Korean leader had prompted a flurry of speculation about his health.
Some observers said Kim Jong-un, 32, could be suffering from gout or problems in his hip joint. Others even questioned if he remained in control of the state.
Official media have cited unspecified personal “discomfort” as grounds for Kim Jong-un’s absence from public view.
Kim Jong-un has made his first public appearance since September 3 at a newly-built scientists’ residential district
KCNA said that Kim Jong-un was briefed on the Wisong Scientists Residential District “before a map showing its bird’s-eye view” and that he then “overlooked it”.
“Looking over the exterior of the apartment houses and public buildings, decorated with diverse colored tiles, [Kim Jong-un] expressed great satisfaction, saying they looked very beautiful,” the agency said.
It also said that Kim Jong-un visited the newly-built Natural Energy Institute of the State Academy of Sciences.
Although the news release was dated October 14, it did not specify on which day he made the visits.
During his absence, Kim Jong-un missed two high-profile public events – the October 10 anniversary of the establishment of the Korean Worker’s Party and the September 9 Foundation Day of the North Korean State.
Analysts said they were two days in the political calendar when the leader would be expected to make an appearance.
Kim Jong-un took office on the death of his father, Kim Jong-il, in December 2011 and was quickly named head of the party, state and army.
In 2012 he was appointed marshal – the highest military rank – following a high-level military reshuffle.
In December 2013, Kim Jong-un purged and executed his uncle, Chang Song-thaek, who state media said had been plotting a coup.
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Kim Jong-un missed a key political anniversary ceremony on October 10, the North Korean media said, amid speculation over his absence from public view.
The North Korean leader’s name was not on a list of those who visited a mausoleum to mark the ruling party’s anniversary.
Kim Jong-un has not been seen for more than a month, the longest hiatus since he came to power in 2011.
State television last month said Kim Jong-un had an “uncomfortable physical condition” and later showed him limping.
On October 10, South Korea said it believed Kim Jong-un remained in control of the communist state.
“It seems that Kim Jong-un’s rule is in normal operation,” Unification Ministry spokesman Lim Byeong-cheol was quoted by Yonhap news agency as saying.
“With regard to his specific health conditions, our government has no information to confirm yet,” he said.
On October 10, North Korean officials visited Kumsusan Palace, a mausoleum for late leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, to mark the 69th anniversary of the Workers’ Party.
For the first time in three years, Kim Jong-un’s name was not included in the list.
Kim Jong-un, 31, who inherited power after his father Kim Jong-il died in 2011, has not been seen in public since September 3.
Kim Jong-un has not been seen in public for more than a month, the longest hiatus since he came to power in 2011
His absence has led to speculation over both his health and his grip on power.
South Korean media outlets, citing unidentified sources, suggest Kim Jong-un, who is overweight, has gout.
Adding to speculation about Kim Jong-un’s whereabouts, Reuters correspondent James Pearson tweeted an image of a North Korean newspaper on Friday featuring an image of Kim Jong-il, the now deceased former leader.
“Front page of today’s main North Korean paper shows leader Kims pics, but no Kim Jong-Un – to whom it pledges loyalty,” said James Pearson, who covers North and South Korea.
Appearances by Kim Jong-un’s number two, coupled with recent claims by a former North Korean official, have also led to suggestions that the young leader may have been toppled.
Hwang Pyong-so, a top military aide who is considered Kim Jong-un’s number two, has made high-profile appearances.
General Hwang Pyong-so, 65, led a delegation of North Korean officials to Seoul for the closing ceremony of the Asian Games, in a visit seen as a rare opportunity for high-level talks between the North and South.
None of the speculation can be confirmed.
Hwang Pyong-so’s visit, coupled with continued coverage in North Korean state media of Kim Jong-un’s leadership, were cited by the Seoul on October 10 as evidence that Kim Jong-un was still in power.
It is not the first time that Kim Jong-un has failed to appear in public for an extended period. He spent 21 days out of the public eye in March 2012 and then another 24 in June the same year.
In January 2013, Kim Jong-un was absent for 18 days.
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The North Korean mission at the UN held a rare briefing to discuss its recent report on its own human rights situation.
A North Korean official acknowledged his country runs labor camps to “reform” detainees, but dismissed criticism of its rights record as “wild rumors”.
A UN report released in February 2014 said North Korea was committing “unspeakable atrocities” against its own people on a vast scale.
North Korea is thought to hold tens of thousands of people in prison camps.
Official Choe Myong-nam told the briefing – which was open to reporters and foreign diplomats – that there were “no prison camps” operating in North Korea but there were “detention centres where people are improved through their mentality and look on their wrongdoings”.
He said North Korea was a “transition society” and as such “there might be some problems, for example in the economic and other areas, we may need to establish more houses and social facilities in order to provide people with better living conditions”.
Choe Myong-nam blamed North Korea’s economic situation on “external forces”, Reuters reports, in an apparent reference to the stringent international sanctions the country is under as a result of its repeated nuclear and ballistic missile tests in recent years.
The North Korean mission at the UN held a rare briefing to discuss its recent report on its own human rights situation
As the country moved forward “the enjoyment of the people will be further expanded”, Choe Myong-nam said.
The UN report in February said there was evidence of “systematic, widespread and grave violations of human rights” in North Korea.
It said those accused of political crimes are “disappeared” to prison camps, where they are subject to “deliberate starvation, forced labor, executions, torture, rape and the denial of reproductive rights enforced through punishment, forced abortion and infanticide.
The report, based on interviews with North Korean defectors, estimated that “hundreds of thousands of political prisoners have perished in these camps over the past five decades”.
North Korea’s report rebutting the UN findings, first released last month, said that “hostile forces are persistently peddling the ‘human rights issue’ in the DPRK [North Korea] in a bid to tarnish its image and bring down the social system and ideology chosen by the Korean people”.
The open UN briefing comes days after North Korea agreed to resume formal high-level talks with South Korea – which were suspended in February – after Northern officials made a surprise visit to the South for the Asian Games.
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North Korea and South Korea have agreed to resume formal high-level talks, the South Korean media reported.
The talks between the two countries had been suspended since February 2014.
The agreement came during a surprise visit to South Korea by North Korean officials for the closing ceremony of the Asian Games in Incheon.
The visit was led by two top-ranking North Korean officials seen as close aides to leader Kim Jong-un.
Both sides were said to have agreed to meet again within the next few weeks.
Hwang Pyong-so, seen as the second-most powerful man in North Korea, held talks with Ryoo Kihl-jae, the South’s reunification minister, on October 4 after flying to Incheon to attend the sporting event.
Hwang Pyong-so, seen as the second-most powerful man in North Korea, held talks with Ryoo Kihl-jae, the South’s reunification minister
He is the top political officer at the Korean People’s Army.
The other two members of the North’s delegation were Choe Ryong-hae and Kim Yang-gon – key members of the ruling Workers’ Party.
It is not known what was discussed at the meeting and neither party has commented publicly on the talks.
Relations between North Korea and South Korea have been practically non-existent for four years, but the North’s economic troubles seem to have forced a change of tack.
The two Koreas remain technically at war because the 1950-53 conflict was ended with a truce.
The surprise meeting comes amid ongoing speculation about the health of Kim Jong-un.
Kim Jong-un has not been seen in public since September 3. A recent official documentary showed him overweighed and limping.
A delegation of three senior North Korean officials arrived in South Korea for the closing ceremony of this year’s Asian Games.
The North Korean visit in South Korea is seen as a rare opportunity for high-level talks.
The North Korean team is led by Hwang Pyong-so, who is considered to be the second most important official after leader Kim Jong-un.
Hwang Pyong-so is expected to meet South Korean Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae and a senior security adviser.
The visit comes as speculation continues about the health of Kim Jong-un.
Kim Jong-un has not been seen in public since September 3. A recent official documentary showed him limping and being overweight.
Hwang Pyong-so is considered to be the second most important official in North Korea after leader Kim Jong-un (photo AP)
The three North Korean officials arrived in the city of Incheon – the venue of the Asian Games.
They will take part in the closing ceremony of the major sporting event later on Saturday, October 4.
They are also expected to hold talks over lunch with Ryoo Kihl-jae and Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin before returning home.
Hwang Pyong-so is the top political officer at the Korean People’s Army. The other two officials are Choe Ryong-hae and Kim Yang-gon – key members of the ruling Workers’ Party.
Despite that harsh rhetoric of recent years, the visit indicates a desire for economically-pressed North Korea to have closer relations with the South.
The visit has also caused speculation about Kim Jong-un, who has been absent from public view for a month.
What the closest members of his inner circle tell the South Korean government will be analyzed to try to discern the health and views of Kim Jong-un back in Pyongyang.
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North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, So Se Pyong, says his country is not planning any missile or nuclear tests.
In a recent interview with Reuters news agency, So Se Pyong was also saying that North Korea was ready to resume six-party talks on its nuclear program.
North Korea has been conducting missile and nuclear tests since the negotiations broke down in 2008.
So Se Pyong also dismissed as “fabricated rumors” recent reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is unwell.
Kim Jong-Un has not been seen in public for four weeks, and missed an important political meeting in late September.
A state TV report said Kim Jong-Un was suffering from an “uncomfortable physical condition”.
In the interview with Reuters, So Se Pyong rejected the suggestion that North Korea was planning further missile tests.
So Se Pyong is North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva
However, he appeared to suggest that North Korea’s policy was a response to US and South Korean exercises earlier this year.
“We have to be alert also, we have to be prepared to make counter measures against that military exercise which are against us,” So Se Pyong was quoted as saying.
“In case, in case, if they do that kind of joint military exercise, the joint nuclear military exercise against my country continuously, we have to, also.”
North Korea pledged to abandon its nuclear program in 2005, but appeared to backtrack by testing devices in 2006 and 2009.
The program was the subject of six-nation talks, involving Russia, China, Japan, the US and North and South Korea, until 2009.
Attempts to restart the negotiations have floundered.
“For the six-party talks we are ready,” So Se Pyong said, adding that Russia and China were also prepared.
“But America, they don’t like that kind of talks right now,” he was quoted as saying.
“Because America does not like that, so that’s why the countries like South Korea, Japan also are not ready for those talks.”
So Se Pyong also told Reuters North Kroea’s nuclear program had acted as a deterrent against the US.
“In case if we give [the weapons] up like other countries, then of course I think they would have attacked us already,” he was quoted as saying.
So Se Pyong said he was unaware of US efforts to secure the release of three American citizens held in North Korea on charges of crimes against the state.
“I don’t know whether America is ready or not to release them or have some understandings or the recognition of those crimes they made,” he said.
A US official has accused North Korea of missing an opportunity to build relations with the US by refusing to discuss the detentions.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has become so fat while in office that his ankles have fractured under his own weight, it was reported.
Kim Jong-un, 31, who has looked increasingly portly since taking power, had to undergo a hospital operation after putting too much strain on his ankles during a gruelling round of official engagements.
The treatment has also been linked to Kim Jong-un’s unexpected failure to attend a recent session of the Supreme People’s Assembly, according to a Pyongyang source who spoke to the Chosun Ilbo newspaper in neighbouring South Korea.
Unlike other members of North Korea’s political elite, for whom a sudden absence from public life often means they have been killed or imprisoned, in Kim Jong-un’s case it is said to be down to weight gain as a result of his unhealthy diet.
Kim Jong-un has become so fat while in office that his ankles have fractured under his own weight
Kim Jong-un is now believed to weigh at least 20 stone as a result of his fondness for heavy drinking and imported Swiss cheese, which he gained a taste for while at school in Switzerland.
His ankle injuries are said to have resulted from a long tour of military bases and factories while wearing shoes decked out with Cuban heels, which boosted his 5ft 9ins height but proved difficult to walk in. He is said to have suffered sprains on both feet first and then compounded the injuries by walking more, leading to the fractures.
Bodyguards have been posted around the ward of a Pyongyang hospital where he is now being treated.
There was also speculation that a team of private European doctors had flown in to treat him.
Kim Jong-un’s absence from the assembly was followed by a rare admission by state television which not only showed footage of him limping but also stated that he was ill.
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Kim Jong-un has an unspecified medical problem, North Korea’s state media reported after the leader failed to appear at a key political event.
A report on state television said on September 25 that Kim Jong-un, 31, was in an “uncomfortable physical condition” but gave no details.
Earlier, Kim Jong-un was absent from a session of the Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA) – North Korea’s legislature.
Kim Jong-un has not been seen in public for more than three weeks.
His non-appearance at the SPA – to which he was elected in March with 100% of the vote – on September 25 prompted renewed speculation about the leader’s whereabouts.
The report on state-run Central Television later in the day showed footage of the leader limping during one of his regular inspection tours back in July.
Kim Jong-un made his last public appearance on September 3, when he attended a concert given by the Moranbong Band – an all-girl musical troupe reputedly hand-picked by the leader himself.
State newspaper Rodong Sinmun showed Kim Jong-un sitting in comfortable front-row seats, alongside his wife Ri Sol-ju.
Kim Jong-un has not been seen in public for more than three weeks (photo Reuters)
Previous appearances, the usual diet of factory and military unit inspections, show a clearly overweight Kim Jong-un walking with a limp and wearing generously cut trousers, possibly to disguise his walking difficulties.
South Korean newspaper Joongang Daily supports the leg injury theory, and suggests that his disappearance may be due to an injury picked up during some sort of sporting activity.
It is known that Kim Jong-un is a lover of horse riding and is keen on watching basketball and football.
An anonymous source – said to be “familiar with North Korea affairs” – quoted by the South Korean news agency Yonhap, said he understood Kim Jong-un was “suffering from gout, along with hyperuricemia, hyperlipidemia, obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure”.
The agency said some people attribute the deterioration in Kim Jong-un’s health to frequent drinking and overeating.
The source said gout runs in Kim Jong-un’s family, with his grandfather Kim II-sung, his father Kim Jong-il and his elder brother Kim Jong-nam all suffering from the disease.
Chosun Ilbo suggests that Kim Jong-un simply might be on holiday, but notes that army politburo head Hwang Pyong-so, Kim Jong-un’s constant shadow on inspection visits, has also disappeared from view.
It is not the first time that the North Korean leader has failed to appear in public for an extended period. In March 2012, he spent 21 days out of the public eye; in June of the same year it was 24 days; and in January 2013 it was 18 days.
Despite the lack of recent footage of Kim Jong-un, he has not entirely disappeared from televisions tuned to Central Television.
Viewers get a daily dose of archive footage of months-old inspection visits along with an enthusiastic voice-over, usually in the hour leading up to the main evening news.
An American man has been detained by the South Korean authorities as they believe he was trying to swim to North Korea.
Guards arrested the man, in his late 20s or early 30s, on September 16 at a river border near the demilitarized zone.
Border patrol troops found the American lying on the southern shore of the Han River, a government source told South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.
Yonhap said he told investigators he wanted to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
South Korean guards arrested the American man at a river border near the demilitarized zone
The arrest comes days after a court in North Korea sentenced American citizen Matthew Todd Miller to six years of hard labor for “hostile acts”.
Matthew Todd Miller and two other Americans are currently being detained by North Korea.
Attempts to cross the river in the heavily-guarded demilitarized zone are very rare and dangerous.
In September, a South Korean man was shot dead by border guards while trying to swim to the North.
In 1996, 26-year-old US citizen Evan C. Hunziker crossed the Yalu River into North Korea from China on an apparent drunken dare.
Evan C. Hunziker was held for three months by North Korea on charges of espionage and eventually released after negotiations with the US.
American citizen Matthew Todd Miller has been sentenced by a North Korean court to six years of hard labor for “hostile acts”, the state-run KCNA news agency has said.
Matthew Todd Miller, 24, was arrested in April 2014, shortly after arriving as a tourist.
The US accuses North Korea of using Matthew Todd Miller and two other detained Americans as pawns in a diplomatic game.
The North Korean authorities have not specified the charges against Matthew Todd Miller, but they claim he tore up his visa and demanded asylum.
During the trial, prosecutors said Matthew Todd Miller admitted having a “wild ambition” to spend time in a North Korean prison so he could find out about the country’s human rights situation, the AP reports.
Notes produced in court also suggested he had become a fugitive because he was involved with WikiLeaks, the organization that has leaked US state secrets.
After a 90-minute trial, the sentence was handed down and Matthew Todd Miller was handcuffed and led from the room, AP reports.
The White House has described securing the release of Matthew Todd Miller and the two other American citizens detained in North Korea as a “top priority”.
Matthew Todd Miller has been sentenced to six years of hard labor for hostile acts in North Korea (photo Reuters)
In the past the US has been able to negotiate the release of American detainees.
Notably two journalists who were held whilst filming a documentary in North Korea were granted a “special pardon” after former President Bill Clinton travelled to the country.
The US has offered several times to send Robert King, its special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, to Pyongyang to discuss the detainees, but these visits have been cancelled by North Korea.
Matthew Todd Miller of Bakersfield, California, had been in custody since April 10.
Little information has been released about him, and the US State Department said this was partly because he had not signed a Privacy Act Waiver, which allows information about him to be released to the public.
According to KCNA, Matthew Todd Miller tore up his tourist visa on arrival in the country and shouted that “he came to the DPRK [North Korea] after choosing it as a shelter.”
In a brief interview with CNN earlier this month, attended by North Korean officials, Matthew Todd Miller said: “I will say that I prepared to violate the law of the DPRK before coming here.”
He also said he deliberately committed his “crime”, although he did not specify what he had done wrong.
In a recent interview with Associated Press, all three American detainees appealed to the US government to send a high-ranking representative to negotiate about their freedom.
State department official Daniel Russel told Reuters last week that the US found North Korean treatment of its citizens “objectionable and distressing”.
“This is the way that they play,” he said.
“They use human beings, and in this case Americans citizens, as pawns.”
Jeffrey Fowle came to North Korea as a tourist but was arrested in May for allegedly leaving a Bible in a public place. North Korea considers the distribution or spreading of Christian information as incendiary.
Korean-American missionary Kenneth Bae, who was arrested in November 2012, is serving 15 years in a labor camp after being convicted of trying to overthrow North Korea’s government.
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The White House has announced it is working to free three American citizens detained in North Korea.
The statement was made in response to a televised appeal by the Americans asking for help from the US government.
Kenneth Bae, 46, has been held in North Korea since 2012 and is currently in a labor camp outside Pyongyang.
Jeffrey Fowle, 56, and Matthew Miller, 24, are charged with violating North Korean law and are awaiting trial.
The three spoke to CNN and the Associated Press on September 1 with North Korea officials present.
Each man was interviewed separately for five minutes in different hotel rooms in the capital Pyongyang.
All asked for a US representative to go to North Korea to make a direct appeal for their release.
Kenneth Bae has been held in North Korea since 2012 and is currently in a labor camp outside Pyongyang
“We have seen the reports of interviews with the three American citizens detained in North Korea,” White House spokesman, Patrick Ventrell, said in a statement.
“Securing the release of US citizens is a top priority and we have followed these cases closely in the White House. We continue to do all we can to secure their earliest possible release,” he said.
In his interview, Kenneth Bae said he had been hospitalized for health problems which included back pain, a sleep disorder and weight loss.
The Korean American missionary is serving a sentence of 15 years of hard labor in a camp outside Pyongyang after being convicted of trying to overthrow the government.
“The only hope that I have is to have someone from the US come,” Kenneth Bae said.
“But so far, the latest I’ve heard is that there has been no response yet. So I believe that officials here are waiting for that,” he said.
Kenneth Bae said he was not aware he had violated North Korean law and asked for forgiveness.
The other two detainees, Jeffrey Fowle and Matthew Miller, told reporters they expected to face trial within a month, but did not know what the specific charges were against them.
Jeffrey Fowle arrived in North Korea in April and was held when he tried to leave the country, according to North Korean news agency KCNA.
Reports in the Japanese press say Jeffrey Fowle was suspected of leaving a bible in a nightclub in the northern port city of Chongjin. Christian proselytizing is considered a crime in North Korea.
Matthew Miller was also taken into custody in April after he reportedly tore up his tourist visa at the airport and shouted he wanted asylum, according to KCNA.
“I’ve been requesting help for a long time and there’s been no movement from my government,” Matthew Miller told CNN.
Jeffrey Fowle and Matthew Miller have said they expect to face trial within a month. But they said they do not know what punishment they could face or what they are accused of.
North Korea has a history of using detainees as bargaining chips.
In the past, senior US figures including former President Bill Clinton have travelled to the country to ensure the release of Americans.
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Pope Francis has urged for reconciliation between the two Koreas, on the final day of his visit to South Korea.
Koreans, Pope Francis said, should reject a “mindset of suspicion and confrontation” and find new paths to build peace.
The pontiff spoke at a Mass in Seoul’s main cathedral attended by President Park Geun-hye and North Korean defectors.
The service coincided with the start of major US-South Korea military exercises.
The annual drills, called Ulchi Freedom Guardian, last for 12 days and involve some 80,000 US and South Korean service personnel.
The exercises always enrage North Korea, which has in recent weeks conducted a series of short-range missile tests – including one as the Pope arrived.
It has threatened a “merciless” retaliatory strike in response to the drills.
North Korea and South Korea remain technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in an armistice and not a peace treaty.
Pope Francis has urged for reconciliation between the two Koreas, on the final day of his visit to South Korea (photo EPA)
Speaking at Myeongdong Cathedral, Pope Francis said all Koreans were “brothers and sisters, members of one family, one people”.
“Let us pray for the emergence of new opportunities for dialogue, encounter and the resolution of differences,” he said.
He also called for generosity in providing humanitarian assistance to those in need, and urged Koreans to work together as one, “with no victors or vanquished”.
Representatives from North Korea’s state-run Korean Catholic Association were invited to attend the Mass, but Pyongyang rejected this offer.
Also at the service were seven elderly women forced to work as prostitutes for Japanese troops during World War Two.
One of the women gave Pope Francis a gold butterfly pin – a symbol of their continuing struggle for justice – which he wore during the Mass.
Pope Francis, who on Saturday beatified 124 Koreans who died for their faith in the 18th and 19th Centuries, later flew out of Seoul.
The pontiff will visit the Philippines and Sri Lanka in January.
En route to Rome, Pope Francis sent a telegram to Chinese President Xi Jinping as a follow-up to a message he had sent when he flew over China to South Korea on Thursday.
“Returning to Rome after my visit to Korea, I wish to renew to your Excellency and your fellow citizens the assurance of my best wishes, as I invoke divine blessings upon your land,” Pope Francis said.
The Vatican and Beijing have no formal ties, but the decision to let Pope Francis fly through Chinese airspace is being seen as a possible sign of warmth.
When Pope John Paul II visited Seoul in 1989, he had to fly through Russian airspace to get to South Korea.
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Two American tourists detained in North Korea have pleaded for the US government to help secure their release.
Matthew Todd Miller and Jeffrey Fowle told the AP news agency they expected to be tried soon and given long prison terms.
The two men said they were in good health and had been treated well but expected conditions to get worse.
They were detained separately in April but both were accused of “committing hostile acts” while in the country.
Matthew Todd Miller and Jeffrey Fowle have pleaded for the US government to help secure their release
Jeffrey Fowle, 56, entered North Korea on April 29 and was detained in early June as he was leaving the country
He is said to have left a bible in the toilet of a restaurant in the northern port city of Chongjin but his family have insisted that he was not on a mission for his church.
North Korean authorities say Matthew Miller, 24, entered the country on April 10 with a tourist visa but tore it up at the airport and shouted that he wanted to seek asylum.
Speaking for the first time since being detained more than three months ago, Matthew Miller said: “The horizon for me is pretty dark. I don’t know what the worst-case scenario would be, but I need help to extricate myself from this situation. I have been requesting help from the American government, but have received no reply.”
It is unclear whether North Korean officials were in the room at the time of the interview or if the men were being coerced.
Authorities say they are preparing to bring them before a court, but the charges or potential punishment have not been specified. The date of the trial has not been announced.
North Korea has in the past been accused of using arrested Americans as diplomatic bargaining chips.
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The operator of a North Korean ship seized in July 2013 near the Panama Canal with Cuban weapons on board has been blacklisted by the UN Security Council.
The move means Pyongyang-based Ocean Maritime Management is now subject to an international asset freeze and travel ban.
The company operated the Chong Chon Gang, found with Soviet-era weapons and fighter jets hidden under sugar sacks.
UN sanctions ban most arms shipments to North Korea.
Under resolutions adopted after Pyongyang’s nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, the export of all arms and related parts, with the exception of small arms and light weapons, to North Korea is prohibited.
The UN Security Council has blacklisted the operator of the North Korean ship seized in July 2013 (photo Reuters)
The UN’s North Korea sanctions committee said that the company had “played a key role in arranging the shipment of the concealed cargo of arms”.
The move showed “intent to evade UN sanctions, and is consistent with previous attempts by the DPRK (North Korea) to transfer arms and related materiel through similar tactics in contravention of Security Council prohibitions”, the committee said.
The Chong Chon Gang was stopped near Manzanillo, on the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal, on July 15, 2013, under suspicion that it was carrying drugs.
It had disappeared from satellite tracking for a few days as it approached the Cuban capital, Havana, having departed from Russia’s eastern coast three months earlier.
On searching the vessel, officials found military hardware including two Soviet-era MiG-21 fighter aircraft, air defense systems, missiles and command and control vehicles.
Cuban authorities said that the ship was carrying 240 tonnes of “obsolete” defensive weapons.
The North Korean government insisted the ageing weapons were simply being transferred to North Korea to be repaired, before returning them.
The US envoy to the UN, Samantha Power, described the episode as a “cynical, outrageous and illegal attempt” by Cuba and North Korea to circumvent UN sanctions.
In February the ship and most of the crew were allowed to leave Panama and a court later ordered the release of the remaining three officers.
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