"Our wish is unification" falls out of fashion among South Koreans SEOUL, September 30 (AJP) - “Our wish is unification, and even in our dreams, we wish for unification.” The familiar song South Koreans know by heart is losing its resonance as a new survey shows seven out of 10 have little interest in their hostile neighbor and fewer than half see unification as necessary. The 2026 survey by the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU) found that 48.2 percent considered unification necessary, down from 49 percent last year, when September 30, 2026

Crisis Group warns DMZ blast raises escalation risks SEOUL, September 30 (AJP) - A recent land mine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone has underscored the risk of unintended escalation between the two Koreas at a time when Seoul and Washington are exploring renewed diplomacy with Pyongyang, experts at the International Crisis Group said Wednesday. Christopher Green, senior adviser for the Korean Peninsula at Crisis Group, said there was only so much South Korea could do in response to the incident, which occurred on Sept. 21 south September 30, 2026

Kim Yo Jong denies North's role in DMZ blast, warns of retaliation SEOUL, September 30 (AJP) -Kim Yo Jong, head of the Workers’ Party’s general affairs department and sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, warned Wednesday of retaliation should Seoul take military action over a DMZ mine explosion she dismissed as a “staged act.” In a swift response to the South Korean military’s preliminary findings on Tuesday pointing to a North Korean mine as the likely cause of the blast, Kim accused Seoul of fabricating evi September 30, 2026

N. Korea declares nuclear status irreversible: UN address SEOUL, September 29 (AJP) - North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son Gyong used the United Nations podium on Monday to stress that his country’s status as a “nuclear-weapons State” is irreversible while condemning South Korea’s pursuit of nuclear-powered submarines. Kim accused Washington of turning its military alliance with Seoul and Tokyo into a more offensive and aggressive bloc “unmistakably aimed at the DPRK,” the acronym for North Korea& September 29, 2026

Seoul, Kyiv clash over secrecy of North Korean prisoner transfer SEOUL, September 26 (AJP) - South Korea on Saturday reaffirmed that it handled the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war from Ukraine according to legal and humanitarian principles, as Seoul and Kyiv offered conflicting accounts over whether the move was supposed to remain secret. A presidential office official, speaking to reporters in Mexico City during President Lee Jae Myung’s state visit, declined to directly respond to Ukraine’s denial that it had agreed to September 26, 2026

Kim Jong-un invited to Russia: Russian deputy foreign min SEOUL, September 25 (AJP) - Russia has invited North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to visit the country, with the timing to be arranged through diplomatic channels, as Moscow and Pyongyang deepen a relationship that has evolved from political alignment into a military alliance. “Kim Jong-un has been invited to visit our country. Russia will always be glad to welcome the leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rude September 25, 2026

Lee regrets Kyiv breaking confidentiality over N. Korean POW transfer SEOUL, September 25 (AJP) -South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, still on a state visit to Mexico, expressed regret over Ukraine’s public disclosure of the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea and pushed back against opposition claims that his government had improperly concealed the sensitive operation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed in his U.N. General Assembly speech that two North Korean soldiers captured while fighting for Russia h September 25, 2026

North Korea vows "irreversible" nuclear-state status SEOUL, September 24 (AJP) -North Korea vowed Thursday to keep its nuclear weapons “forever,” rejecting a renewed denuclearization push by South Korea, the United States and Japan as Seoul seeks to revive long-stalled dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang. Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said Pyongyang's nuclear status was irreversible and would remain unchanged for “a hundred or a thousand years,” according to a statement carried by the state-run Korean September 24, 2026

Seoul does not deny Zelensky's claim 2 North Korean POWs sent to South Korea SEOUL, September 24 (AJP) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky disclosed at the United Nations that two North Korean soldiers captured while fighting for Russia have been transferred to South Korea, an announcement Seoul stopped short of confirming but did not deny. “Recently, we sent two North Korean prisoners of war to the Republic of Korea,” Zelensky said in his address to the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Wednesday. He gave no details on when or how the t September 24, 2026

North Korea stays mum on missile launches over the weekend SEOUL, September 21 (AJP) - North Korea on Monday still made no mention of its launches of ballistic missiles over the weekend, breaking with its usual practice of publicizing such tests the following morning through its state-run Korean Central News Agency. According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, it detected a missile fired from Wonsan, Kangwon Province at around 3 p.m., followed roughly three hours later by another missile. The first missile traveled approximately 450 kilometers September 21, 2026