Four hundred South Koreans are visiting North Korea to meet their North Korean relatives in a rare reunion event for families separated by the Korean War.
The reunion, comprising a series of meetings over a week, is being held at a Mount Kumgang resort, at the border.
Thousands of families have been apart with little or no contact since the Korean War ended in 1953.
Korean family reunions have been held sporadically since 1988 and depend on the state of relations between South Korea and North Korea.
The last reunion was held in February 2014.
This year’s family reunion comes after an agreement in August that de-escalated tensions sparked by a border explosion that injured South Korean soldiers.
The meetings, organized by the Red Cross, are hugely popular with tens of thousands signing up, but few on each side get chosen and they tend to be elderly.
In South Korea participants are picked at random by a computer which takes into account their age and family background.
They also have to sit for interviews and take medical examinations to determine if they are fit to travel.
The first group of about 400 South Koreans, comprising of chosen participants and their accompanying family members, are taking part in the first round of meetings running from October 20 to October 21, reported Yonhap news agency.
Another 250 will attend the second round of meetings from October 24 to October 26. Each round comprises of six two-hour sessions.
Many of those attending from South Korea are bringing gifts for their North Korean relatives such as clothes, food, toothpaste, and cash.
South Korea and North Korea remain technically at war as the Korean War only ended in an armistice.
The family reunions began in 2000 and have since been carried out sporadically.
North Korea has declined President Barack Obama’s offer for nuclear negotiations, Reuters reported.
Barack Obama made the statement during a joint news conference with South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Friday, October 16.
The next day, the North Korean Foreign Ministry declined the opportunity to open negotiations, but it again demanded a peace treaty in place of the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War.
The ministry said in a statement: “No issue in which the countries concerned, including the U.S., are interested can be settled unless a peace treaty is concluded before anything else.
“If the U.S. insists on its hostile policy, it will only see the DPRK’s limitless bolstering of nuclear deterrence and the growth of its revolutionary armed forces.”
Barack Obama and Park Geun-hye Friday reaffirmed the strength of their alliance.
Park Geun-hye called the US-South Korea relationship a “lynchpin of peace and stability” for Asia and the Korean Peninsula where tensions have been high in recent months.
North Korea has resumed normal operations at the Yongbyon nuclear complex, state-run news agency KCNA reported.
The country was improving its nuclear weapons “in quality and quantity”, the KCNA says.
Yongbyon’s reactor was shut down in 2007 but Pyongyang vowed to restart it in 2013, following its third nuclear test and amid high regional tensions.
The reactor has been the source of plutonium for North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
Experts believe that if re-started, the reactor could potentially make one bomb’s worth of plutonium per year.
The announcement is the first official confirmation from North Korea that it has restarted operations at Yongbyon.
KCNA also said on September 15 that North Korea was ready to face US hostility with “nuclear weapons any time”.
However, the full scope of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities is unclear.
Pyongyang claims it has made a device small enough to fit a nuclear warhead on to a missile, which it could launch at its enemies.
However, US officials have cast doubt on this claim and experts say it is difficult to assess the progress North Korea has made on miniaturization.
The news comes ahead of the 70th anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party on October 10, which North Korea is planning to mark with a parade.
Pyongyang has also announced plans to launch a long-range rocket carrying a satellite – something outsiders have described as a military rocket test.
Correspondents say the latest announcements do not mean North Korea has long-range missile capabilities – but do show that Pyongyang has ambitions to achieve this.
South Korean Kim Ki-jong, who stabbed US Ambassador Mark Lippert earlier this year, has been sentenced to 12 years in jail for attempted murder.
Kim Ki-jong, 56, attacked Mark Lippert at a breakfast function in a Seoul hotel on March 5.
The US ambassador in South Korea needed 80 stitches in his face and hand and was left scarred.
Kim Ki-jong, a known Korean nationalist, had made multiple visits to North Korea.
He said he was protesting against joint South Korean-US military drills but did not intend to kill Mark Lippert.
The prosecution, however, argued the force of the attack was so great that it might well have been fatal. They had sought a 15-year prison term.
Kim Ki-jong was also convicted of assaulting a foreign envoy, but cleared of a charge under the National Security Law of assisting North Korea.
The Seoul Central District Court said he had “shown no repentance, attempting to justify his actions throughout the trial,” the AFP news agency reported.
Mark Lippert spent five days in hospital but has since returned to work and said the US mission in Seoul would remain “open and friendly”.
The US has some 28,000 military personnel based in South Korea, and the two militaries regularly carry out military exercises together.
The drills are an ongoing source of tensions with North Korea, which views them as preparation for war. They are also unpopular with many in South Korea, with demonstrations regularly staged against them.
North Korea and South Korea have agreed to hold reunions for families separated by the Korean War, according to Seoul government.
The family reunions will take place in October at the Diamond Mountain resort in North Korea.
The decision follows an agreement last month that de-escalated tensions sparked by a border mine explosion that injured two South Korean soldiers.
Thousands of Korean families have been separated with little or no contact since the war ended in 1953.
The highly emotional reunions of family member who have not seen one another in decades have been infrequent, and depend hugely on the state of relations on the Korean peninsula.
The reunions, which started in 1988, used to be annual but have often been canceled in recent years as relations frayed. The last round was held in February 2014.
About 66,000 South Koreans remain on the waiting list to see their relatives, many in their 80s and 90s.
The upcoming reunions, slated to be held at the Diamond Mountain resort in Mount Kumgang from October 20 to 26, will see 100 people from each side selected.
The decision came after Red Cross officials from both Koreas held talks earlier this week at the border village of Panmunjom.
Communication between relatives across the border is highly restricted and almost non-existent.
South Korea and North Korea are conducting talks on organizing a rare reunion for families separated by the Korean War.
The talks are being held at the border village of Panmunjom by Red Cross officials from both sides.
Thousands of Korean families have been separated with little contact made since 1953 when hostilities ended.
The sporadic reunions depend hugely on the state of relations, and North Korea is known to have canceled a few. The last reunion was held in February 2014.
Each meeting gets deluged by tens of thousands of applications from South Korea, but only a tiny percentage gets selected. The last meeting saw 100 from each side attending, in a hugely emotional event.
The discussions come after a tense few weeks on the Korean peninsula, which saw exchanges of fire at the border and the evacuation of thousands of South Koreans from the border region.
The tensions began when a border landmine injured two South Korean soldiers – South Korea responded by broadcasting propaganda messages into North Korea.
The two sides reached an agreement to defuse the situation after marathon talks.
North Korea, which denied planted the mine, agreed to express “regret” about the incident – though later clarified this was an expression of sympathy not an apology.
South Korea and North Korea remain technically at war as the Korean War only ended in an armistice.
North Korea and South Korea have reached an agreement to defuse tension after recent confrontations.
Seoul has agreed to halt cross-border propaganda broadcasts as part of the deal.
South Korea started the broadcasts after a landmine injured two of its soldiers on the border earlier this month.
Its lead negotiator said the move came after North Korea agreed to express “regret” over the incident.
The agreement came after marathon talks that began after an exchange of fire at the border on August 20.
The negotiations in the abandoned “truce village” of Panmunjom inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) were said to have ended at 00:55 local time on Tuesday, August 25.
A joint statement said South Korea would stop the loudspeaker broadcasts at midday on August 25 and North Korea would end its “semi-state of war”.
Both countries have also agreed to work towards a resumption of reunions for families separated by the 1950-1953 Korean War.
National security adviser Kim Kwan-jin, who led the negotiations for South Korea, said there would be follow-up talks to discuss a range of issues on improving ties
However, he said it was not the right time to push for a summit between the leaders of the two countries.
South Korea resumed the propaganda broadcasts after an 11-year hiatus earlier this month in apparent retaliation for the landmine incident on August 4 – although North Korea denied having planted the mines.
It also denied shelling South Korea last week – an incident that prompted artillery fire from the South.
Pyongyang ordered its troops to be “on a war footing” on August 21 while Seoul warned that it would “retaliate harshly” to any acts of aggression. About 4,000 residents were also evacuated from border areas in South Korea.
In 2004, the two Koreas reached an agreement to dismantle their propaganda loudspeakers at the border.
South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye has announced the country’s cross-border propaganda broadcasts will continue until Pyongyang apologizes for landmines that injured two South Korean soldiers.
North Korea has threatened to use force to stop the broadcasts, ratcheting up tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
High-level talks to resolve the issue went through a second night on August 23.
Both Korea’s militaries are on alert after a brief exchange of fire at the border on August 20.
North Korea denies laying the landmines which maimed the soldiers earlier this month as they were patrolling the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the heavily fortified border.
It also denies shelling South Korea on August 20, an incident which prompted return artillery fire from the South.
“We need a clear apology and measures to prevent a recurrence of these provocations and tense situations,” said President Park Geun-hye according to a statement released by her office.
“Otherwise, this government will take appropriate steps and continue loudspeaker broadcasts.”
South Korea resumed the propaganda broadcasts along the DMZ earlier this month, after an 11-year hiatus, in apparent retaliation for the landmine attack.
The talks that began on August 22 in the abandoned “truce village” of Panmunjom inside the DMZ have, for the time being, subdued heated rhetoric of imminent war.
South Korea is represented by national security adviser Kim Kwan-jin and Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo, while the North has sent senior officials Kim Yong-gon and Hwang Pyong-so, who is seen by many analysts as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s second-in-command.
However, South Korea’s military had said that most of North Korea’s submarines appeared to be away from their bases, and amphibious landing vessels had been deployed to the border, the Yonhap news agency reports.
On August 21, North Korea ordered its troops to be “on a war footing”.
South Korea has evacuated almost 4,000 residents from border areas and warned that it would “retaliate harshly” to any acts of aggression.
In 2004, the two Koreas reached an agreement to dismantle their propaganda loudspeakers at the border.
North Korea and South Korea will hold a second day of top-level talks amid growing tension, South Korean officials say.
The announcement was made after several hours of negotiations on August 22.
Senior aides to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye met at the Panmunjom truce village on the border.
North Korea had threatened “strong military action” if South Korea did not stop border loudspeaker broadcasts that had provoked a “semi-state of war”.
The two sides have agreed to meet again on August 23 to “narrow down differences” as overnight talks were finally wound up after nearly 10 hours of negotiations.
No media organizations were present at the talks, which took place inside the Demilitarized Zone which divides the two Koreas.
South Korea said ahead of the talks that it would be represented by national security adviser Kim Kwan-jin and Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo, and North Korea would send senior officials Hwang Pyong-so and Kim Yong-gon.
Hwang Pyong-so is seen by many analysts as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s second-in-command.
Photo South Korean Unification Ministry
North Korea had earlier issued a deadline for the dismantling of banks of loudspeakers, which have been blasting news bulletins, weather forecasts and music from the South. It had moved artillery into positions to fire on them.
South Korea has evacuated almost 4,000 residents from border areas and warned that it would “retaliate harshly”.
American and South Korean fighter jets have been flying in formation near the border.
The US’s top military officer has reaffirmed his country’s “unwavering commitment” to South Korea’s defense in a phone call to his South Korean counterpart.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Martin Dempsey and South Korea’s Admiral Choi Yoon-hee agreed they would “ensure that the US and [South Korea] continue to work closely with one another to deter further North Korean provocations and defuse tensions,” a Pentagon statement said.
North Korea and South Korea remain technically at war, because the 1950-1953 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
In 2004, the two Koreas reached an agreement to dismantle their propaganda loudspeakers at the border.
The broadcasts were part of a program of psychological warfare, according to South Korean newspaper Korea Times, to deliver outside news so that North Korean soldiers and border-area residents could hear it.
North Korea and South Korea are planning to hold top-level talks amid growing tension, the South’s presidential office has announced.
Senior aides to Kim Jong-un and President Park Geun-hye will meet at the Panmunjom truce village on the border at 09:00 GMT, the Blue House said.
North Korea had threatened “strong military action” if South Korea did not stop border loudspeaker broadcasts.
Following an exchange of fire on August 20, North Korea declared a “semi-state of war”, state media reported.
South Korea said that it would be represented by national security adviser Kim Kwang-jin and Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo, and North Korea would send senior officials Hwang Pyong-so and Kim Yong-gon.
North Korea had earlier issued a deadline for the dismantling of banks of loudspeakers, which have been blasting news bulletins, weather forecasts and music from South Korea. It had moved artillery into positions to fire on them.
South Korea has evacuated almost 4,000 residents from border areas and warned that it would “retaliate harshly”.
US and South Korean fighter jets have been flying in formation near the border.
The two Koreas remain technically at war, because the 1950-1953 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
In 2004, South Korea and North Korea reached an agreement to dismantle their propaganda loudspeakers at the border.
The broadcasts were part of a program of psychological warfare, according to South Korean newspaper Korea Times, to deliver outside news so that North Korean soldiers and border-area residents could hear it.
On August 10, South Korea restarted broadcasting in an apparent reaction to two South Korean soldiers being injured in a landmine explosion in the demilitarized zone that was blamed on North Korea.
According to military authorities, days later North Korea also restarted its broadcasting of anti-South propaganda.
However, some reports said that the quality of the North Korean loudspeakers is so bad that it is difficult to understand what they are saying.
South Korea had previously threatened to restart broadcasts in 2010 but although the loudspeakers were reinstalled at that time, they were not put into use, with the South using FM broadcasts into North Korea instead.
Residents from South Korea’s western border have been evacuated after an exchange of fire with North Korea, reports say.
North Korea fired a shell at a South Korean military unit on August 20, prompting South Korea to retaliate with several artillery rounds, the South’s defense ministry said.
South Korea’s National Security Council is due to hold an emergency session.
The western sea border has long been a flashpoint between the two Koreas.
North Korea fired a projectile towards Yeoncheon, a town north-west of Seoul, at 15:52 local time, the defense ministry said.
Reports suggest the target could have been a loudspeaker broadcasting anti-Pyongyang messages.
South Korea then fired “dozens of rounds of 155mm shells” towards where they thought the rocket was launched from, the ministry added in a statement.
There were no immediate reports of any injuries or damage on either side.
South Korea and North Korea remain technically at war, because the 1950-1953 war ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
The two sides have exchanged cross-border fire several times in recent years.
A local official told AP news agency that about 80 residents in Yeoncheon had been evacuated, with other residents in the area also urged to take shelter.
The latest incident comes amid heightened tensions between the North and South.
Seoul has blamed the North for planting a landmine that injured two South Korea soldiers earlier this month.
Since then, the sides have begun blasting propaganda broadcasts from loudspeakers along the border – restarting a practice both had suspended back in 2004.
South Korea and the US also began annual joint military exercises on August 17 – they describe the drills as defensive, but North Korea calls them a rehearsal for invasion.
North Korea’s vice-premier Choe Yong-gon was executed in May on the orders of supreme leader Kim Jong-un, the South Korean government says.
Choe Yong-gon was executed after he “expressed discomfort against the young leader’s forestation policy”, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reports.
Close to 70 officials have been killed under Kim Jong-un’s rule, Yonhap says.
North Korea rarely confirms South Korea’s reports of executions.
Choe Yon-gon was last seen publicly in December, South Korea’s unification ministry said.
The ministry said it was “closely monitoring the possibility of any changes in Choe’s circumstances”.
Few details about the execution were given by Yonhap, which is often first to report news from North Korea.
Choe Yong-gon was deputy minister of construction and building material industries, and had represented North Korea in trade talks in Seoul in the mid-2000s.
He was appointed as one of seven vice-premiers in June 2014, and his promotion was seen by one analyst as a sign Pyongyang was keen to maintain close ties with South Korea.
In April, South Korea’s intelligence agency said Kim Jong-un had ordered the execution of 15 officials in the first four months of the year.
Among them was a forestry official who complained about the leader’s forestation plan, the agency said at the time, but it is not clear if this man was Choe Yong-gon.
In May, the agency said North Korean Defense Minister Hyon Yong-chol was reportedly executed by anti-aircraft fire for apparently showing disloyalty to the leader.
The reports of the killing of Choe Yong-gon for disagreeing with Kim Jong-un’s forestry policy bring into focus a program that is closely followed by the leader.
North Korea is suffering its worst drought in a century and close to a third of rice paddies have dried up.
Radio Free Asia says the country launched an intensive “greenification” program last year, with more power granted to every province’s forestry department.
In a speech in February, Kim Jong-un delivered a speech in which he said: “At present, the forests of the country can be said to have reached a crossroads – whether to perish for ever or to be restored.”
Kim Jong-un also criticized officials for seeking to respond to problems caused by flooding, rather than prevent flooding in the first place by planting more trees.
Former South Korea’s First Lady Lee Hee-ho has travelled to North Korea for a peace visit.
It is unclear whether, the widow of former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, who is on a private trip, will be able to meet top North Korean officials, including leader Kim Jong-un.
In 2000, President Kim Dae-jung held inter-Korean reconciliation talks – later winning a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
The two Koreas are technically still at war since 1953.
Kim Dae-jung, who died in 2009, was a supporter of rapprochement with Pyongyang. The summit between him and Kim Jong-un’s father, and former leader Kim Jong-il, led to a time of relatively better relations between the two Koreas.
“Lee voiced hope that the two Koreas could heal pain and wounds from a 70-year-long inter-Korean division and promote reconciliation and co-operation, “ said Kim Sung-jae, from the Kim Dae-jung Peace Centre which organized the trip, according to Yonhap news agency.
“She expressed wishes that this visit could pave the way for continuous dialogue, exchanges and co-operation between the two Koreas.”
Lee Hee-ho’s official itinerary says she will visit a maternity clinic, an orphanage and a children’s hospital.
Laibach will be the first foreign band to perform in North Korea, director Morten Traavik has confirmed.
Morten Traavik has arranged for the group to play two concerts in Pyongyang in August in front of 2,000 people.
The concert will include some of Laibach’s hits over their 35-year career and North Korean folk songs.
The controversial Slovenian band has been slated by some critics because of its ambiguous use of political and nationalist imagery.
But admirers say that their tendency to wear military uniforms on stage is a critique of totalitarian ideology.
Norwegian director Morten Traavik says that in North Korea they will be uncontroversial – even performing songs from The Sound of Music.
Also on their playlist is one of this year’s most popular hits in North Korea, performed by the all-girl band Moranbong: We Will Go To Mount Paektu.
Mount Paektu is the tallest peak on the Korean peninsula and is the mythological birthplace of the whole Korean nation.
The Laibach performances on August 19 and 20 – which coincide with the 70th anniversary of the Korean peninsula’s liberation from Japanese colonization – would never have been possible without Morten Traavik’s contacts and artistic direction.
He is one of the few Western directors regularly to have arranged artistic and cultural exchanges with North Korea and over the last five years has won the trust of the authorities.
Despite its extremist reputation individual members of Laibach have not been vetted by the North Korean authorities because the director has given his word that they will not cause an upset.
The director argues that much of misunderstanding surrounding the band stems from their tendency in the 1980s and 90s to wear military uniforms on stage.
North Korea has released pictures of a new airport terminal in Pyongyang.
Several pages of the daily newspaper Rodong Sinmun showed images of Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju inspecting the restaurants and shops.
North Korea has unveiled several large building projects in recent years but human rights groups say much of the country still lives in poor conditions.
The new airport, which will serve only a few flights, is set to open on July 1.
Earlier this month, North Korea said it was facing its worst drought in a century, sparking fears of worsening food shortages.
Three pages of Thursday’s Rodong Sinmun – the ruling Workers’ Party official daily newspaper – were devoted to images of Kim Jong-un and Ri Sol-ju being shown around the terminal.
In one image, Mars bars and bottled beers were on display in one of the airport’s new duty-free shops. Another showed a cafe serving espresso-based drinks.
The glass-fronted building is reported to be six times larger than the old terminal but passenger numbers are likely to be low.
Most of the tiny handful of flights to and from Pyongyang carry Chinese tourists and North Koreans on official business between the North Korean capital and Beijing.
Kim Jong-un described the building as a “landmark of the Songun [military-first] era”, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
He told workers and officials he was “very satisfied to see the terminal well built in harmony with modern aesthetic taste and national character”, KCNA said.
The North Korean leader was also reported to have called for the construction of a high-speed railway and a motorway between Pyongyang and the airport, some 15 miles northwest of the capital.
Since taking power in 2011, Kim Jong-un has promised to raise living standards in the isolated country, but most of his signature projects have been beyond the reach of average North Koreans, like ski resorts and water parks.
Many North Koreans suffer from a lack of food, drinking water and stable electricity.
Sony Pictures Entertainment has failed to dismiss a legal action brought by nine ex-employees over the last year’s cyber attack.
A judge said the plaintiffs could pursue claims that the film unit of the Sony corporation had been negligent.
The plaintiffs are seeking to hold Sony liable for not bolstering security after previous breaches.
“We are pleased that the court has properly recognized the harm to Sony’s employees,” said lawyer Michael Sobol.
Many Sony employees had their personal details made public in 2014 when a group calling itself Guardians of Peace leaked data from the studio’s computers.
The attack was described as an act of revenge motivated by Sony’s release of The Interview, a comedy about an assassination attempt on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The nine plaintiffs claim Sony Pictures Entertainment violated a California confidentiality law by spurning security measures to stop the theft of employees’ salary and health data, Social Security numbers and other sensitive information.
Without ruling on their action’s merits, US District Judge Gary Klausner said Sony had created a “special relationship” with its employees by requiring them to provide personal information to be eligible for salaries and benefits.
The former workers said Sony’s negligence caused them economic harm and that the hack had been “an epic nightmare, much better suited to a cinematic thriller than to real life”.
The Interview, starring James Franco and Seth Rogen as journalists recruited by the CIA to assassinate Kim Jong-un, was initially withdrawn from cinemas but was later made available online.
According to South Korea officials, a North Korean soldier has walked across one of the world’s most heavily militarized borders to defect to the South.
The solder, in his late teens, approached a South Korean guard post in north-eastern Hwacheon in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) on June, South Korea’s defense ministry said.
There was no exchange of fire and the soldier is now being held in custody.
It is extremely rare for defectors to walk across the DMZ. The last time it happened was in 2012.
Most defectors cross over into China, then make their way through South East Asia and then into South Korea.
The DMZ is fortified with landmines and barbed wire and guarded by tens of thousands of troops on both side.
Hundreds of North Koreans flee poverty and a repressive regime at home each year.
In August 2014, two North Koreans swam across the Yellow Sea border to a South Korean island.
Of the nearly 28,000 North Koreans who have resettled in South Korea, most of them left the country through the border with China, and not through the DMZ.
This is because the 155 mile-long DMZ is heavily guarded, littered with anti-personnel landmines.
The last time a North Korean soldier defected through the wire fence was in October 2012, when a solider managed to cross undetected.
Recently, there has been increased activity by North Korean soldiers in the DMZ and some believe the North has been trying to make defections more difficult.
Kim Jong-un’s elder brother Kim Jong-chul has been spotted attending two Eric Clapton concerts in London.
The footage shows a man resembling Kim Jong-chul visiting the Royal Albert Hall.
Kim Jong-chul has previously been seen attending Clapton concerts abroad.
One North Korea observer said the man in the footage did appear to be Kim Jong-un, who was taken out of the leadership succession several years ago.
Video filmed by a Japanese television network on May 20 shows a car arriving outside the venue in west London, and a woman wearing a green leather jacket and sunglasses emerging from inside.
Cameras follow her briefly before another similar-looking man, dressed in identical clothes, also walks out of the car.
He is asked a number of questions by journalists but does not speak. Several minders surround him, and they push journalists and cameras away from the man.
The same visitors were seen at a second Eric Clapton concert in the same venue on May 21.
Kim Jong-chul has attended Eric Clapton concerts in Germany in 2006 and Singapore in 2011.
The South Korean news agency Yonhap said that the man stayed at the Chelsea Harbour Hotel in west London, where rooms can cost more than £2,100 ($3,290) a night.
He was due to board a flight to Moscow on May 22, Yonhap said.
Kim Jong-chul is the oldest child of the fourth wife of former ruler Kim Jong-il, and is 33 years old.
Like his full brother Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-chul was educated in Switzerland before returning to North Korea.
Kim Jong-chul plays an important support role for his brother. At one point, he worked in North Korea’s propaganda department.
North Korea claims it made progress on nuclear miniaturization by creating warheads small enough to fit on a missile.
A North Korean defense official said in a statement on May 20 that its nuclear program had “long been in the full-fledged stage of miniaturization”.
However, analysts say while there is evidence the program is advancing, it is difficult to assess its true extent.
The claim comes hours after North Korea cancelled a planned visit by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Ban Ki-moon was due to visit an industrial complex in the Kaesong economic zone run jointly by the North and South and would have been the first UN chief to visit North Korea in more than 20 years.
Speaking at a forum in Seoul, Ban Ki-moon said the move was “deeply regrettable” and that no explanation was given.
North Korea previously claimed it had miniaturized a device for the nuclear test it conducted in 2013 but experts have continued to debate how far along that process it is.
The latest announcement on nuclear advances follows the publication earlier this month of pictures apparently showing a missile being launched from a submarine. Some experts have said the images may have been doctored.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s visit to North Korea has been canceled by the secretive country without explanations one day before he was due to arrive.
Ban Ki-moon, who was previously South Korea’s foreign minister, was due to visit an industrial complex in the Kaesong economic zone run jointly by the North and South.
Speaking at a forum in Seoul, Ban Ki-moon said the move was “deeply regrettable” and that no explanation was given.
Ban Ki-moon would have been the first UN chief to visit North Korea in more than 20 years.
The UN secretary general said he wanted to promote reconciliation.
When he first announced the meeting on May 19, Ban Ki-moo said he would “urge North Korea to co-operate with the international community for the Korean Peninsula and for peace and stability”, reported Yonhap.
Ban Ki-moon was also due to meet South Korean business leaders and North Korean workers on his trip to Kaesong.
According to South Korea’s spy agency, General Hyon Yong-chol, the North Korean defense minister, has been executed for showing disloyalty to Kim Jong-un.
The spy agency has told South Korean parliament that Gen. Hyon Yong-chol was killed on April 30 by anti-aircraft fire in front of an audience of hundreds, the Yonhap news agency reports.
It said Hyon Yong-chol had fallen asleep during an event attended by Kim Jong-un and had not carried out instructions.
Reports from North Korea are impossible to independently confirm.
According to analysis site NK News, Hyon Yong-chol had last appeared in state media a day before the alleged execution date.
Hyon Yong-chol is believed to have been a general since 2010, though little is known about him. He served on the committee for late leader Kim Jong-il’s funeral in December 2011, an indication of his growing influence.
He was appointed defense minister in 2014.
Kim Jong-un has conducted a series of purges of close officials since becoming North Korea’s leader.
The most notable was his uncle, Chang Song-thaek – once North Korea’s second-most powerful figure.
Chang Song-thaek was arrested in December 2013 in front of a party meeting, found guilty of treason and immediately executed. The move was widely seen as the young Kim Jong-un stamping his authority.
North Korea has announced it successfully tested a submarine-launched missile.
If confirmed would be a significant boost in North Korea’s arsenal.
Pictures on state media showed North Korean leader Kim Jong-un looking on as a missile shot out of the water.
Analysts say North Korea owns several nuclear warheads but this development would be an advance as submarine-fired devices are difficult to detect.
This latest test has not been independently verified.
State media described the missile emerging with “a fiery, blazing trail”, but did not mention the date or the location of the test.
One possibility is the eastern coastal city of Sinpo, where satellite images released earlier this year appeared to show a submarine being equipped with launch capabilities.
Kim Jong-un said North Korea now possessed a “world-level strategic weapon capable of striking and wiping out in any waters the hostile forces infringing upon [North Korea’s] sovereignty and dignity”, the reports said.
Such a test would violate UN sanctions banning North Korea from using ballistic missile technology.
Up to now, North Korea’s missiles have been land-based and only capable of hitting neighboring countries.
North Korea is also believed to be attempting to miniaturize nuclear weapons to fit on its missiles.
North Korea may have restarted one of its nuclear reactors, satellite pictures taken earlier this year suggest.
According to the Institute for Science and International Security, images of the Yongbyon plant show patterns of melting snow indicating new activity.
Yongbyon’s reactor was shut down in 2007 but was restarted in 2013.
Six-nation talks aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear program have been stalled since early 2009.
The think-tank’s report says that its assessment in late 2014 was that the reactor at Yongbyon, in the country’s west, had been “shut down or partially shut down” but more recent images suggested the plant “may be operating at low power or intermittently”.
As well as the patterns of melting snow, the satellite photos are also said to capture a stream of warm water coming out of the reactor’s discharge pipeline and steam rising off the turbine.
In 2008, North Korea walked away from six-party talks with South Korea, the US, China, Japan and Russia on its denuclearization.
The other countries have since tried to persuade North Korea to return to the negotiating table.
Earlier this year North Korea offered to stop nuclear tests if the US stopped holding military drills with Seoul, but the offer was rejected.
North Korea has conducted three nuclear tests, in 2006, 2009 and 2013.
According to South Korea’s intelligence, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered the execution of 15 people in 2015, including several top officials.
South Korea’s spy agency told a parliamentary meeting on April 29 that they were executed by firing squad on spying charges.
Those killed include two vice ministers who challenged Kim Jong-un over his policies and members of an orchestra, intelligence officials said.
Kim Jong-un purged and executed his once-powerful uncle Chang Song-thaek for treachery in 2013.
South Korean politicians were told that one of the officials killed was a forestry minister who had complained about North Korea’s forestation plan, Yonhap news agency reported.
“Excuses or reasoning doesn’t work for Kim Jong-un, and his style of rule is to push through everything,” said Shin Kyung-min, a member of South Korea’s parliamentary intelligence committee, quoting an intelligence official.
Shin Kyung-min’s office told Reuters news agency that the unnamed official had added that the executions were a “showcase” in response to what Kim Jong-un saw as a challenge to his authority.
Four members of North Korea’s Unhasu Orchestra are also believed to have been executed in March.
Reports say that Kim Jong-un’s wife, Ri Sol-ju was a singer in the orchestra before her marriage.
South Korean politician Lee Cheol-woo told Yonhap that the head of the orchestra had been executed, possibly for leaking family secrets.
There has been no confirmation from North Korea about the executions but Kim Jong-un has purged his opponents before.
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