S. Korea’s Moon arrives in New York for Trump summit, UN meeting

NEW YORK -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in arrived in New York on Sunday for a bilateral summit with US President Donald Trump that is partly aimed at brokering a second US-North Korea summit.The Moon-Trump summit is set to be held Monday, four days after the South Korean president returned home from a three-day trip to North Korea for talks with leader Kim Jong-un. (Yonhap)Moon has said the North Korean leader hopes to hold a second US-North Korea summit with Trump in the near future, and t

Sept. 24, 2018

Key points of Kim’s commitments explained by Moon

Upon his return to Seoul after a three-day visit to Pyongyang for an inter-Korean summit, South Korean President Moon Jae-in offered details on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s commitments. One of the major outcomes of this week’s summit was that Kim agreed to dismantle his country’s long-range missile testing site in the presence of international inspectors, and to close its main Yongbyon nuclear complex if the US takes corresponding measures. Here are some of the key points of what North Kore

Sept. 21, 2018

Inter-Korean summit kick-starts stalled nuclear talks

The US said it is prepared to resume talks with North Korea after the North agreed to dismantle its key missile facility and potentially its main nuclear complex at this week’s inter-Korean summit, kick-starting stalled denuclearization negotiations.　At his third meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Kim agreed to permanently dismantle the Tongchang-ri missile testing site in the presence of international experts, and suggested the North would permanently destroy the Yongbyon nuclear

Sept. 20, 2018

Looking back on its communist legacy, Romania supports inter-Korean peace

As the two Koreas join hands to forge lasting peace on the peninsula, achieving security and peace is impossible without dialogue, said former Romanian President Emil Constantinescu in Seoul, urging the two sides to communicate about how the people can take ownership of society.“It is impossible to achieve peace without dialogue. It’s important for the two leaders of North and South Korea to sit down at a table and communicate,” he said during a lecture titled “Korean Peninsula’s Peace and Visio

Sept. 20, 2018

Trump praises Korean summit, cites progress on North Korea

U.S. President Donald Trumphailed Wednesday‘s summit between North Korean leader Kim JongUn and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, and said there had been “tremendous progress” with North Korea on several fronts, including Pyongyang’s denuclearization.　 (Yonhap)Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said agreements reached between the two Korean leaders at the meeting, in which North Korea said it would permanently abolish its key missile facilities with witnesses, was “very good news.

Sept. 19, 2018

Moon, Kim watch ‘largest show on Earth’

For the first time in 11 years, the two Koreas’ leaders Wednesday sat together and watched North Korea’s massive choreographed performance -- commonly known as the Mass Games -- to celebrate the third inter-Korean summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un. According to Cheong Wa Dae, the two leaders watched the Mass Games in late night at May Day Stadium in Pyongyang. The show lasted for about an hour and some 150,000 people packed the stadium. Moon delivered a sh

Sept. 19, 2018

NK commitment keeps denuclearization momentum alive

North Korea said Wednesday it would permanently dismantle a key missile facility, a gesture experts say will keep alive the momentum for dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington but falls short of a major denuclearization step. 　In a joint statement signed by South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, North Korea said it would “permanently” dismantle its Dongchang-ri missile engine test site and a launch pad in the presence of international experts. 　North Korea als

Sept. 19, 2018

[Breaking] Moon to hold summit with Trump in New York next week: official

South Korean President Moon Jae-in will head to the United States next week for talks with President Donald Trump following his historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, a Seoul official said Wednesday.Moon will head to New York on Sunday for a meeting with Trump the following day on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Moon's chief press secretary Yoon Young-chan told a press briefing.Moon is expected to brief Trump on the result of his third summit with North Korea's Kim in Py

Sept. 19, 2018

Pompeo to chair UN meeting on N. Korea

WASHINGTON -- US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will chair a United Nations Security Council meeting next week to address efforts to dismantle North Korea's nuclear weapons program, the State Department said Tuesday.Pompeo plans to chair the ministerial meeting in New York on Sept. 27 after accompanying US President Donald Trump there to attend the UN General Assembly. (AP)"That meeting will give the secretary a chance to update the Security Council on our efforts toward the final, fully verifie

Sept. 19, 2018

Kim Jong-un credits Moon Jae-in for NK-US summit

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un gave credit to South Korean President Moon Jae-in for his “tireless effort” in bring together Pyongyang and Washington to the negotiations table, as he met with Moon for a meeting Tuesday.  (Joint Press Corps)“There was big progress, and it is thanks to Moon’s tireless effort. North Korea-South Korea relations, and North Korea-US relations saw an improvement,” Kim said at an opening speech before the first official meeting of the third inter-Korean summit. 　“Presi

Sept. 18, 2018

[Herald interview] ‘Denuclearization efforts on peninsula opportunity for nuclear free world’

Ahead of the inter-Korean summit this week, all eyes are again on the Korean Peninsula, as South Korea, the US and major powers strive to achieve denuclearization. 　If the ongoing negotiations to rid North Korea of nuclear weapons succeeds, it would boost the decades-old campaign to make the world nuclear-free, according to Alyn Ware, global coordinator for Parliamentarians for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament. 　“Here, we have an opportunity in Northeast Asia,” Ware said during an interv

Sept. 17, 2018

No meeting set between N. Korea, US at UN session: report

The United States has no plan yet for any talks with North Korea in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session late this month, a State Department official was quoted as saying Sunday.The official told Radio Free Asia, a Washington-based news service, that there's no related schedule "for now." (AP)The official was responding to a question about the possibility of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meeting Kim Yong-chol, a top North Korean communist party official, during the UN ga

Sept. 16, 2018

Working-level talks underway to prep inter-Korean summit

Working-level talks between officials from South and North Korea are underway at the border village of Panmunjom on Friday to hammer out details of an inter-Korean summit planned for next week.Panmumjom (Ock Hyun-ju/The Korea Herald)The preparatory meeting comes four days before South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are set to sit down for their third meeting in Pyongyang from Tuesday to Thursday.At Friday’s meeting, officials are expected to discuss the size and

Sept. 14, 2018

US to disclose North Korea’s sanctions violations: report

The US and allies plan to launch a new effort to expose North Korean violations of sanctions aimed at curbing its nuclear and missile programs, according to a news report Thursday.The new effort will make the public more aware of steps taken by the US and its allies to enforce the UN sanctions against North Korea, particularly the monitoring of ships illicitly transferring refined petroleum to North Korean oil tankers in the East China Sea, CNN reported, citing two defense officials.  (AP)The UN

Sept. 13, 2018

PM calls for international support for Seoul's peace efforts

Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon called Wednesday for international support for South Korea's efforts to reconcile with North Korea, saying peace on the Korean Peninsula will contribute to prosperity in Northeast Asia and beyond.Lee made the remark during a keynote speech at the Eastern Economic Forum in Russia's Far East city of Vladivostok, stressing that peace on the divided peninsula is a prerequisite for building a joint economic community in the region. Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon (far right). (Y

Sept. 12, 2018

N. Korea-US summit likely by October in a third country: experts

With prospects of a second summit between North Korea and the US cautiously growing, the leaders of the two countries would likely sit down for talks in a third country by October, if the meeting takes place, analysts say. Foreign policy experts interviewed by The Korea Herald all said that the summit is likely to take place by mid-October, as both North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump would like to use the meeting to appeal to their domestic audiences. 　Trump, who is emb

Sept. 12, 2018

PM Lee voices optimism for economic cooperation involving two Koreas, Russia

South Korea's Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon on Tuesday voiced optimism for three-way economic cooperation involving the two Koreas and Russia amid Seoul's stepped-up diplomacy to facilitate Pyongyang's denuclearization."On Sept. 18, there will be a third inter-Korean summit.High-level talks between the North and the United States are also expected to resume," Lee said during his speech at the South Korea-Russia Business Dialogue in the Russian far eastern port city of Vladivostok."There will be a n

Sept. 11, 2018

PM Lee calls for Mongolia's cooperation on East Asia railway community

South Korea's Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon on Tuesday expressed his expectation for Mongolia's cooperation on Seoul's proposal to build an East Asian railway community aimed at promoting multilateral exchanges, trust and peace. During his meeting with Mongolia's President Khaltmaa Battulga in Russia's far eastern port city of Vladivostok, Lee also voiced hope that the two countries will make progress in ongoing talks to elevate the bilateral relationship to a "strategic partnership." Prime Ministe

Sept. 11, 2018

US envoy for N. Korea: Starting is half the job

The US special envoy on North Korea said Tuesday that South Korea and the US need to make the most of the opportunity to achieve denuclearization amid growing momentum for a breakthrough in stalled denuclearization talks. “We have some hard work to do,” Stephen Biegun, special representative for North Korea, said in an opening speech during a meeting with his counterpart Lee Do-hoon. “But we also have a tremendous opportunity created by President Donald Trump and by President Moon Jae-in and by

Sept. 11, 2018

Korea to send special envoy to Kofi Annan's funeral

The South Korean government said Tuesday it will send a delegate to the funeral of former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan this week.Choi Young-jin, the country's former ambassador to the United States, will attend the funeral, to be held in Ghana on Thursday, as the special envoy of Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, according to her ministry. (Yonhap)Choi served as assistant secretary-general for Peacekeeping Operations at the UN while Annan was in office.He also worked as Seoul's ambassador to t

Sept. 11, 2018