NK weekly-external news
Summary of external news of North Korea this week
SEOUL, June 3 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of external news of North Korea this week.
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S. Korea. U.S., Japan set for trilateral consultations on N. Korea
SEOUL -- The top nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan are set to hold a meeting in Seoul on Friday to discuss the security situation on the Korean Peninsula amid reports that North Korea has completed preparations for another nuclear test.
Kim Gunn, Seoul's new special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, will have bilateral and trilateral meetings with his U.S. counterpart, Sung Kim, and Japan's Takehiro Funakoshi at the foreign ministry headquarters.
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(2nd LD) N. Korea continues to seriously restrict religious freedom in 2021: State Dept.
WASHINGTON -- North Korea continued to seriously limit the religious freedom and other basic human rights of its people in 2021, the U.S. Department of State said Thursday.
In its 2021 country report on international religious freedom, the state department said up to 70,000 North Koreans may be held prisoners for their religious beliefs.
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N. Korea denounced for its weapons program in U.N. disarmament forum
GENEVA -- North Korea faced criticism over its nuclear and missile program Thursday as it took the rotating presidency of the U.N.-backed disarmament forum focused on denuclearization efforts.
North Korea took a rotating one-month presidency of the 65-nation Conference on Disarmament, based in Geneva, on May 30, amid rising speculation it could conduct its first nuclear test since 2017.
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S. Korea, China hold high-level phone talks on N. Korea, bilateral ties
SEOUL -- South Korea and China held high-level phone talks Thursday, during which the two sides discussed bilateral ties and the security situation on the Korean Peninsula, the presidential office said.
South Korea's National Security Adviser Kim Sung-han and Yang Jiechi, China's top diplomat, exchanged opinions on the bilateral relations under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, which took office last month.
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S. Korea requests China's role in efforts against N. Korea's provocative mode: ministry
SEOUL -- South Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong met with the top Chinese envoy here Thursday and asked for Beijing's role in trying to coax Pyongyang into discontinuing provocations and returning to dialogue, his ministry said.
Cho and Ambassador Xing Haiming agreed that their governments have been maintaining "smooth communication" since the launch of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration.
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Blinken highlights need to work with China on global issues including N. Korea
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday urged China to work with the U.S. and the rest of the international community insisting that China can play a major role when it comes to global issues such as climate change and North Korea.
His remarks come less than a week after China and Russia blocked a U.S.-proposed U.N. Security Council resolution seeking to impose fresh U.N. sanctions on North Korea for its recent missile provocations.
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U.S. will push for tougher sanctions on N. Korea in case of nuclear test: U.S. envoy
WASHINGTON -- The United States will push for additional U.N. sanctions on North Korea should the recalcitrant state go ahead with its feared nuclear test, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Tuesday.
The remarks come after the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) failed to pass a U.S.-proposed sanctions resolution on North Korea last week due to opposition from China and Russia.
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N. Korea's food shortages estimated at 860,000 tons: CIA data
SEOUL -- North Korea is in urgent need of food imports or assistance as many of its people continue to suffer from food shortages and malnutrition, with the gap estimated at 860,000 tons, data from the U.S. intelligence community showed Tuesday.
The country's food gap is equivalent to around two to three months of food use, with the woes deepening in the midst of economic constraints attributable to its ongoing antivirus fight, according to the data posted on the online World Factbook of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
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