The North Korean leader's powerful sister said on Thursday that the country has never taken down propaganda loudspeakers and will not do so, calling South Korea's belief that Pyongyang was responding to its peace overtures a "pipedream.

South Korea's military is 20 percent smaller than it was six years ago as the world's lowest birth rate shrinks the pool of men available for enlistment, according to a new report from the country's defense ministry.