It also conducted two nuclear tests past year as it pursues development of a long-range nuclear missile that could reach the USA mainland.
Another North Korean soldier has defected to South Korea via the inter-Korean border.
North Korean Ambassador to India Kye Chun-yong said his country is willing to consider a conditional freeze of its nuclear and missile testing if the US ceases joint military drills with South Korea, Yonhap News reported.
The upcoming taekwondo event is expected to be the largest world championship of the sport, indigenous to Korea, to date, with a record number of 971 athletes from 183 nations registered to compete.
North Korean missile tests present a hard challenge for Moon.
Taekwondo is a Korean traditional martial art but has been the subject of a bitter North-South rivalry.
India to take on England in Women's World Cup opener
England will be bolstered by the return of talented wicket-keeper/batsman Sarah Taylor following a stress-related illness. You can download the complete match schedule by saving the image in the PDF or JPEG format.
In March, Jang reportedly said in Japan that there was no reason for the North to stay away from the Olympics, but that the games would be hosted by South Korea.
The 32 members of the North Korean team performed a taekwondo exhibition at the opening ceremony of the championship on Saturday, but the ITF canceled a press conference with North Korean officials.
"There are plans to talk with the International Olympic Committee to create an inter-Korean women's hockey team", Do Jong-hwan, South Korea's new sports minister, said Tuesday.
In a phone conversation with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Kim Dong-yeon said any efforts Seoul makes in denuclearizing the isolated country will in cooperation with the United States and the worldwide community, South Korea's finance ministry said in a statement.
In the United States, public anger at the repressive Kim Jong Un state has increased following the recent tragic death of Otto Warmbier, an American student who was arrested in North Korea and remained in custody for over a year, despite suffering a serious injury that sent him into a coma.
In a tweet posted earlier this week, he suggested he no longer had any faith that China, North Korea's most significant ally, could influence the actions of Pyongyang anymore.
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