Summary of domestic news in North Korea this week

NK weekly-domestic news

Summary of domestic news in North Korea this week

SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of domestic news in North Korea this week.

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(LEAD) Chinese vice foreign minister visiting N. Korea: KCNA

SEOUL -- Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong has arrived in North Korea, Pyongyang's state media reported Friday, as the two countries are marking the 75th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations this year.

A delegation of Chinese diplomats, led by Sun, arrived in the North's capital Thursday via the border city of Sinuiju, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a short dispatch.

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(3rd LD) N. Korea says it test-fired new strategic cruise missile

SEOUL -- North Korea said Thursday it test-fired a new strategic cruise missile, named "Pulhwasal-3-31," for the first time the previous day in what was seen as an effort to strengthen capabilities to deliver nuclear weapons.

The North's Missile General Bureau said the test-fire is a "process of constant updating of the weapon system and a regular and obligatory activity of the agency and its affiliated defense science institutes," according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

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(LEAD) N. Korean leader calls weak regional economy 'serious political issue'

SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for an improvement in the country's regional economy and rebuked officials over their lukewarm attitude in tackling the "serious political issue," state media said Thursday.

Kim made the remarks as he has stressed the importance of developing the economy in areas outside of Pyongyang by building modernized factories in 20 counties each year over the next decade as the North continues to face severe food shortages and economic hardships.

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(2nd LD) N. Korea fires several cruise missiles into Yellow Sea: JCS

SEOUL -- North Korea fired several cruise missiles toward the Yellow Sea on Wednesday, the South Korean military said, the latest in a series of saber-rattling that heightened tensions.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the North's launch took place around 7 a.m. but did not elaborate, citing an ongoing analysis.

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N. Korea's exports of beauty products jump over 13 times in 2023: data

SEOUL -- North Korea's exports of beauty products to China, such as wigs and false eyelashes, soared more than 13 times last year from the previous year amid the North's border opening, Chinese customs data showed Monday.

The value of the North's exports of beauty-related goods reached US$167 million last year, up 13.4 times from the previous year, according to data from China's General Administration of Customs.

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N. Korea calls for economic development in provincial regions

SEOUL -- North Korea called Monday for developing the country's provincial regions to improve the livelihood of people living outside the capital area.

The North's main newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, carried an article on its front page stressing that developing the economy in provincial regions is an "important task" that can no longer be postponed or neglected.

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(LEAD) N. Korea defends its stepped-up military measures at int'l forum

SEOUL -- North Korea has defended its measures to bolster military capabilities as a just exercise of the sovereign right against Washington-led military confrontations at the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Uganda, state media reported Monday.

North Korea claimed it has recently conducted a test of an underwater nuclear attack drone, named the Haeil-5-23, in the East Sea in response to the latest joint naval drills involving South Korea, the United States and Japan. The drills came after North Korea's launch of a solid-fuel hypersonic missile on Jan. 14.

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N. Korea condemns U.N. Security Council meeting on its hypersonic missile test

SEOUL -- North Korea on Sunday strongly condemned a recent meeting of the U.N. Security Council convened to discuss Pyongyang's recent test-fire of a hypersonic missile and other issues.

The council held the closed-door meeting Thursday, days after the North launched what it claims was a solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile tipped with a hypersonic warhead last Sunday.

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N.K. parliament's longest-serving chairman dies

SEOUL -- Choe Thae-bok, a former chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA), North Korea's rubber-stamp legislature, has died, the North's official news agency reported Sunday. Choe was 93.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un paid a visit to Choe's funeral bier with secretaries of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party at dawn Sunday to express his deep condolences over his death, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

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N.K. says Putin expressed willingness to visit Pyongyang at early date

SEOUL -- North Korea said Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed his willingness to visit Pyongyang at an early date and the country is ready to "greet the Korean people's closest friend with the greatest sincerity."

The North Korean foreign minister's assistant office made the announcement in a statement released on the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), two days after Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui returned from a trip to Moscow.

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