Moon, Trump agree on need to maintain dialogue momentum over N. Korea

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump agreed Saturday that it‘s necessary to maintain dialogue momentum between Washington and Pyongyang, Cheong Wa Dae said, amid growing worries about the future of the Korea peace process.During half-hour phone talks, they also agreed that the recent situations on the Korean Peninsula are “severe” and “dialogue momentum should be maintained to achieve prompt results from denuclearization negotiations,” ac

Dec. 7, 2019

International Criminal Court says it has no jurisdiction over NK leader

The International Criminal Court said Thursday that it has no jurisdiction over North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un.In 2016, leaders of nongovernmental organizations NK Watch and Lawyers for Human Rights and Unification of Korea filed a complaint against Kim with the ICC, holding him responsible for human rights violations in the North. ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said in its annual Report on Preliminary Examination Activities issued Thursday that the alleged crimes referred to the ICC were

Dec. 6, 2019

North Korea again designated as food-deficit nation by FAO

The Food and Agriculture Organization has once again designated North Korea as a food-deficit country in need of external aid. The UN agency also announced a weak outlook for food security in North Korea. In its latest report released Wednesday, FAO included North Korea on its list of 42 countries that need external assistance in food resources, according to Voice of America, a US-based news outlet, on Friday.  North Korea is expected to experience food shortages and an economic slump, said

Dec. 6, 2019

Seoul says US, N. Korea appear to remain apart in nuclear negotiations

The United States and North Korea appear to remain apart in their nuclear negotiations, Seoul's unification ministry said Friday, following a senior North Korean official's warning that Pyongyang could resume insults against US President Donald Trump.On Thursday, North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui issued a statement slamming Trump for hinting at the possibility of using military force against Pyongyang and referring to leader Kim Jong-un as "rocket man" for the first

Dec. 6, 2019

S. Korea moves one step closer to hosting 2024 Winter Youth Olympics

South Korea has inched closer to hosting the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games, following a proposal made by a new panel at the International Olympic Committee.At a press conference following the IOC Executive Board meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Thursday (local time), IOC President Thomas Bach said the Executive Board will soon initiate "a targeted dialogue" with South Korea as the "preferred host" of the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics, following the recommendation from the

Dec. 6, 2019

NSC vows cooperation with neighboring countries for progress on nuclear talks

South Korea's National Security Council on Thursday reviewed unfolding developments on the Korean Peninsula and vowed to beef up cooperation with neighboring countries to push the nuclear negotiations between the United States and North Korea forward, the presidential office said. In the weekly session of the NSC's standing committee, its members also reviewed the results of last week's special summit between South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states in Busan, 450

Dec. 5, 2019

[News analysis] North Korea has not given up hope for nuclear talks with US yet

Tensions between the US and North Korea have heightened as the two sides exchanged threats and bellicose rhetoric of possible military actions if necessary, amid their stalled nuclear talks. But they appear to have no intention to wind up their diplomacy at least for the next few weeks, experts said. On Wednesday, Heino Klinck, US deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, said the US has been refraining from responding to every single one of North On Wednesday, US Deputy Assistant Sec

Dec. 5, 2019

Europeans again condemn North Korea's missile launches

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Half a dozen European countries on Wednesday again condemned North Korea's 13 "provocative" ballistic missile launches since May, saying they violate UN Security Council resolutions and undermine regional and international security.A statement from the five European council members -- Belgium, France, Germany, United Kingdom and Poland -- and Estonia, which will join the UN's most powerful body in January, also condemns recent North Korean threats "to partne

Dec. 5, 2019

North Korea warns US against meeting on its human rights

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- North Korea warned Wednesday that tensions on the Korean peninsula will increase and the situation "take a turn for the worse again" if the United States goes ahead with a UN Security Council meeting on the country's human rights situation.North Korea's UN ambassador, Kim Song, said in a letter to the 14 other council members obtained by The Associated Press that Pyongyang considers any council meeting on its human rights "another serious provocation" r

Dec. 5, 2019

N. Korea raps Japan over past wrongdoing, urges sincere apology

North Korea on Wednesday blasted Japan for its crimes against Koreans during the 1910-45 colonial rule period, calling it a "shameless country" that continues to refuse to apologize for its past wrongdoings."There is such a shameless country as Japan which swims against the trend. Japan still refuses to admit, apologize for and make reparation for the monstrous crimes against the Korean people, other peoples of Asian countries and mankind," the North's Korean Central News Age

Dec. 4, 2019

Pyongyang to hold party meeting ahead of year-end deadline

North Korea will hold a plenary meeting around the end of December to decide on “crucial issues,” its state-run news agency said Wednesday.On the same day, the Korean Central News Agency reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un rode up Paektusan on a white horse accompanied by military commanders, raising speculation that the communist regime may take more provocative military actions as the year-end deadline it set for denuclearization talks with the US quickly approaches.North

Dec. 4, 2019

Defense chief calls for firm readiness posture against N. Korea

South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo called Wednesday for maintaining a staunch defense posture, his office said, as North Korea and the United States traded thinly veiled threats against each other amid stalled nuclear negotiations.Jeong made the call during a biannual meeting of top commanders held at the ministry compound in Seoul. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Park Han-ki and around 150 high-level military officers and government officials from related agencies attended the m

Dec. 4, 2019

Trump hints US may use military force against NK if necessary

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump hinted Tuesday that the United States may use military force against North Korea if necessary, after Pyongyang warned that an end-of-year deadline for the two countries' denuclearization negotiations is drawing near.Trump alluded to the use of force to reporters in London, where he is attending a meeting of North Atlantic Treaty Organization leaders, according to news reports.However, Trump also said he continues to have a good personal relationship with N

Dec. 4, 2019

North Korea warns US year-end deadline is approaching

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry once again pressed the US for a decision on their denuclearization talks on Tuesday, ahead of the year-end deadline given by the regime. In a statement issued by Ri Thae-song, North Korea’s vice minister of foreign affairs in charge of US affairs, Pyongyang criticized the US for using their denuclearization negotiations to influence domestic politics.“The US is keen on earning time needed for it, talking about the ‘sustained and substantial

Dec. 3, 2019

S. Korea offers to repair Mount Kumgang resort facilities, but NK insists on complete removal: official

South Korea has offered to repair some worn-out facilities at North Korea's Mount Kumgang resort, but Pyongyang is insisting on its demand for the removal of all facilities built by the South, a unification ministry official said Tuesday.The North has demanded the South tear down all facilities it had built at the mountain resort as part of a joint tourism project, saying the country will build a new international tourist destination of its own. It has also threatened to destruct them unilateral

Dec. 3, 2019

NK warns end-of-year deadline is drawing near for US to present new negotiating proposal

North Korea said Tuesday that a year-end deadline is drawing near for the United States to come up with a new proposal in their nuclear negotiations, warning it is entirely up to Washington what "Christmas gift" it wants to get.In a statement, Ri Thae-song, vice minister in charge of US affairs, also accused Washington of talking about dialogue aimed only at earning time without taking any corresponding measures to Pyongyang's denuclearization steps."The DPRK has done everything t

Dec. 3, 2019

NK leader visits Samjiyon ahead of year-end deadline for nuke talks with Washington

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un celebrated the completion of a newly-built urban township near the birthplace of his late father, state media reported Tuesday, in a visit that could suggest a major policy announcement is forthcoming.Kim attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Township of Samjiyon County on Monday, the official Korean Central News Agency reported. KCNA photos showed Kim and top aides cutting a red ribbon to open the "the ideal town for the people" near the birthplace

Dec. 3, 2019

Holding nuke talks this month will affect N. Korea’s policymaking for next year: Minister

Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul on Monday urged the US and North Korea to hold a working-level meeting before the end of the month, as such a meeting could have far-reaching influence on Pyongyang’s strategic direction for next year. How North Korea will spend this month will be reflected in regime leader Kim Jong-un’s 2020 New Year’s address, a key indicator of the North’s policies. Once a new strategic direction is set by the ruler, it cannot be altered by lower

Dec. 2, 2019

NK defectors caught in Vietnam face risk of deportation

Seoul’s Foreign Ministry has come under fire for its handling of a case involving North Korean defectors who were caught while attempting to flee to South Korea via Vietnam and who possibly face deportation to North Korea. A human rights group has accused the Foreign Ministry of lack of action, but the ministry said it has been working on the case since it was reported.On Friday, about 10 North Korean defectors were caught for the second time by Vietnamese guards in Lang Son at the border

Dec. 2, 2019

[Feature] ‘Due process ignored in deporting North Korean fishermen’

“Deeply concerned,” the Washington-based Committee for Human Rights in North Korea said in a statement Nov. 7, when South Korea had deported North Koreans for the first time since the 1953 Korean War armistice. The two North Korean fishermen were suspected of fleeing to the South on a fishing boat after killing 16 of their colleagues. South Korea’s Unification Ministry cited safety concern for the public in its decision to expell the North Koreans. The government’s

Dec. 2, 2019