Koreas halt all 'hostile' military acts near border

The armed forces of South and North Korea are at the forefront of the peace process with the implementation of a bilateral confidence-building pact Thursday, the South's top military officer said.The two sides ceased all "hostile acts" against each other along the border -- land, sea and air -- as of the start of the day in accordance with the comprehensive military agreement, Army Gen. Park Han-ki, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters, as he toured Yeonpyeong Island, just south

Nov. 1, 2018

Pompeo to meet with NK counterpart next week

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo plans to meet with his North Korean counterpart next week in a bid to make progress on denuclearization and arrange a second summit between the two countries’ leaders.During an interview Wednesday on the conservative US radio program “The Laura Ingraham Show,” Pompeo said he would talk with his North Korean counterpart about plans to invite inspectors to the North’s nuclear and missile sites, as well as plans to hold the second US-North Korea summit early next y

Nov. 1, 2018

N. Korea says ties with Russia strengthening

North Korea said Wednesday that relations with Russia are "further strengthening" as the two countries mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties.Vice Foreign Minister Sin Hong-chol led a North Korean delegation to Moscow, where he had talks with his Russian counterpart, Igor Morgulov, on Tuesday, according to the Korean Central News Agency, the North's official mouthpiece.The two sides "agreed to further accelerate the development of the bilateral relations and

Oct. 31, 2018

N. Korea uses 600 bln won for luxury goods each year: spy agency

The North Korean regime spends about 600 billion won ($520 million) a year on purchases of luxury goods, the head of South Korea's state spy agency told lawmakers Wednesday.Suh Hoon, director of the National Intelligence Service, said the items include automobiles, fur and liquor, according to Rep. Lee Eun-jae of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party.Suh Hoon, director of South Korea`s National Intelligence Agency, in a file photo (Yonhap)Suh was speaking at a closed-door annual parliamentary

Oct. 31, 2018

October timeline for inter-Korean cooperation pushed back

The timeline for a chain of inter-Korean projects is being pushed back with meetings and events planned for October failing to take place, amid Washington’s apparent concerns that the Koreas’ ties may be outpacing its denuclearization talks with Pyongyang. In early October, the two Koreas held high-level talks and drew a rough timeline to carry out the key projects mentioned in the agreement reached between their leaders in September. Among them, a joint survey for cross-border railway and sport

Oct. 31, 2018

NK preparing for foreign inspectors' visit to nuclear test site: Seoul spy agency

North Korea is apparently preparing for a possible visit by outside inspectors to verify the shutdown of its nuclear test site in the northeast, Seoul's spy agency said Wednesday during a parliamentary audit.After his fourth visit to North Korea in October, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had promised to let foreign inspectors visit the Punggye-ri site as soon as logistics-related details are worked out. (AP)In May, the North demolished its nuclear tes

Oct. 31, 2018

N. Korea's carrier reduces flights on Pyongyang-Beijing route

North Korea's flag carrier Air Koryo has reduced the number of flights on its Pyongyang-Beijing route, apparently in anticipation of decrease in aviation demand in the winter, industry officials said Wednesday.The North's national airline shifted to its winter season timetable on the key air route between the two countries, effective Tuesday, they said. (Yonhap)Under the change, Air Koryo's weekly flights between the capital cities of the two countries decreased from five (Monday, Tuesday, Thurs

Oct. 31, 2018

Chinese artists' delegation to visit N. Korea Nov. 2: report

A Chinese artistic delegation is scheduled to visit North Korea in early November, Pyongyang's broadcaster said, amid a rapid improvement in the bilateral relationship.The Korean Central Broadcasting Station reported Tuesday that the artists led by a ranking culture and tourism ministry official will visit North Korea at the invitation of the Ministry of Culture, starting November 2. Song Tao, head of the international liaison department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party in China (

Oct. 31, 2018

N. Korea's media step up demand for Seoul to lift sanctions

North Korea's propaganda outlets stepped up their demand Wednesday for South Korea to lift sanctions imposed on Pyongyang for its 2010 deadly torpedo attack against a South Korean warship, calling them an "obstacle" to advancing inter-Korean relations."It is important to get rid of legal and institutional devices that stand in the way for improvement in inter-Korean relations," Uriminzokkiri, the North's external propaganda website, said. "It is so when we talk about the May 24 steps."It claimed

Oct. 31, 2018

S. Korean taekwondo demonstration team arrives in N. Korea for performances

PYONGYANG -- A South Korea-led World Taekwondo delegation has arrived in Pyongyang for performances and talks in the North Korean capital.The 49-member delegation, led by WT's South Korean President Choue Chung-won, arrived in Pyongyang via Beijing on Tuesday evening. They will stay in Pyongyang until Saturday.The delegation includes a demonstration team of 18 South Korean taekwondo practitioners and four coaching and supporting staff members. They will have a one-hour performance at Taekwondo H

Oct. 31, 2018

Seoul denies new bilateral working group on NK signals rift in alliance

South Korea and the US have agreed to launch a working group for coordinating on North Korea-related issues, sparking criticism from conservatives that it is evidence of a rift in the allies’ stance.On Tuesday, the US Department of State revealed that Seoul had agreed to form a working group during US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegen’s trip to Seoul.According to State Department Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino, the working group will “strengthen our close coordination o

Oct. 31, 2018

Pompeo likely to meet NK counterpart in New York next week: sources

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will likely meet with his North Korean counterpart in New York next week to continue discussions on a potential second summit between their leaders, sources said Tuesday.The high-level talks are being planned for around Nov. 9 after the US midterm elections and ahead of US President Donald Trump's trip to France, according to multiple diplomatic sources in Washington and Seoul.It's still unclear who the North Korean official would be, but the sources said Kim Yo

Oct. 31, 2018

N. Korean vice foreign minister meets Russian counterpart

A senior North Korean diplomat met his Russian counterpart on Tuesday amid speculation that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could visit Moscow for his first summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Sin Hong-chol met Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov in Moscow. The meeting lasted around three hours and 30 minutes. (Yonhap)Pundits said the two apparently discussed on various issues between Pyongyang and Moscow, including Kim’s possible visit to Ru

Oct. 30, 2018

Top US nuke envoy reaffirms allies’ shared objective of denuclearizing NK

The top US nuclear envoy reaffirmed that Washington and Seoul were on the same page on achieving the denuclearization of North Korea, amid concerns about possible discord between the allies over the pace of developments in inter-Korean relations. “We want the same thing for the Korean Peninsula -- peace and stability, primarily denuclearization of North Korea,” Stephen Biegun, US special representative for North Korea, said before entering a meeting with Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon.  Un

Oct. 30, 2018

N. Korea yet to answer Seoul's offer on art troupe performance in Oct.

North Korea has yet to respond to South Korea's offer of details regarding a North Korean art troupe's performance in Seoul, which their leaders have agreed to hold in October, a unification ministry official said Tuesday."We are now waiting (for North Korea's answer)," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity. "I want you to understand that consultations on schedules and others are currently under way." (Joint press / Yonhap)South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leade

Oct. 30, 2018

World Taekwondo delegation departs for performance in N. Korea

A World Taekwondo delegation left Seoul for Pyongyang on Tuesday to stage a taekwondo demonstration performance and discuss issues of cooperation with North Koreans. The 49-member delegation, led by WT President Choue Chung-won, will arrive in Pyongyang via Beijing. The delegation will stay in Pyongyang until Saturday after receiving an invitation from the North Korean-led International Taekwondo Federation. The delegation includes a demonstration team that is comprised of 18 South Korean taekwo

Oct. 30, 2018

NK leader inspects construction site, first reported activity in 19 days

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has inspected a construction site in the country's northern region in his first reported public activity in 19 days, according to the North's state media Tuesday.Kim visited Samjiyon County of Ryanggang Province bordering China in a "field guidance" to inspect houses, facilities and other buildings under construction, the Korean Central News Agency reported. (Yonhap)"He said with great appreciation that when he came there in August, framework construction was unde

Oct. 30, 2018

Human rights a test of Kim's intent to denuclearize: ex-CIA analyst

WASHINGTON -- An effort to address North Korea's human rights situation would be a clear signal of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's seriousness to dismantle the country's nuclear weapons program, a former CIA analyst said Monday.Jung Pak, now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank, made the remark at a forum in Washington on the human rights challenges in negotiations with the North.She identified "human rights violations" and the nuclear weapons programs as the "two pillars" o

Oct. 30, 2018

Pompeo likely to meet NK counterpart in US next week: source

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is likely to meet with his North Korean counterpart in the US next week, a South Korean diplomatic source said Monday, as the two sides push to arrange a second summit between their leaders.Pompeo said in an Oct. 19 interview with the Voice of America that he hoped to have talks with his North Korean counterpart "in the next week and a half or so" to continue discussions on the North's denuclearization and the potential summit.(Yonhap)"At the time of Secretary P

Oct. 30, 2018

Economist: NK eying Swiss, Singaporean-style success

North Korea is exploring a grand plan to become a regional transportation hub, inspired in part by the successes of Singapore and Switzerland, and would be open to joining world financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund if current member states give up their “hostile” policies toward it, a senior government economist has told The Associated Press. Ri Ki Song, a senior researcher with the Economic Institute of the North's Academy of Social Sciences, said that although sanctio

Oct. 29, 2018