Captured during the Korean War and imprisoned for decades for refusing to renounce his communist beliefs, 95-year-old Ahn Hak-sop now has a single dying wish: to return to North Korea and be buried alongside his comrades.

North Korea is stepping up criticism of South Korea's new President Lee Jae Myung as he prepares for his first summit with U.S President Donald Trump, calling Lee's efforts to engage with Pyongyang a "pipedream".

Relations between the two Koreas were at an all time low in years under South Korea’s former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached over his martial law declaration last December, as the two sides engaged in tit-for-tat psychological warfare campaigns.