UN adopts guidelines to ease humanitarian aid to N. Korea: reports

WASHINGTON -- The United Nations Security Council on Monday adopted guidelines to ease the provision of humanitarian aid to North Korea in the face of crippling sanctions against the regime, news reports said.The guidelines were proposed by the United States last month as international aid groups complained of bureaucratic obstacles caused by the sanctions over North Korea's development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, the AFP reported.(Yonhap)A Security Council committee that monitors

Aug. 7, 2018

[Herald Interview] ‘North Korean defectors can serve as a bridge for unified Korea’

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of articles featuring inter-Korean relations to mark the paper’s 65th anniversary that falls on Aug. 15. Following is the third installment. -- EdAfter 65 years of division of the two Koreas, uniting with North Korea is nothing more than a far-fetched dream for many young South Koreans, who remain indifferent to the reclusive country -- if not fearful or hateful toward it for its nuclear and missile provocations. Unlike the older generation that views the

Aug. 6, 2018

9 suspected NK coal shipments under investigation: official

Nine suspected North Korean coal shipments are under investigation on allegations of having entered South Korean ports in violation of UN Security Council sanctions, a Foreign Ministry official said Monday.Concerns have flared recently that South Korean entities could face US sanctions following reports that vessels carrying North Korean coal entered South Korean ports in breach of a UN ban on exports of coal from the communist nation. (AFP)Media reports said Monday that the United States is tak

Aug. 6, 2018

Opening of liaison office faces obstacles

The opening of a South-North joint liaison office may be facing obstacles, with the latest reports of North Korea’s sanctions violations apparently heightening the US’ sensitivity toward the issue. Seoul has been asking for US cooperation in granting an exemption for the establishment of the liaison office in the border town of Kaesong, which was a clause in the agreement reached between the leaders of the two Koreas in April, as part of efforts to foster cross-border communication and cooperati

Aug. 6, 2018

Seoul tells N. Korea to speed up denuclearization, US to faithfully keep promises

South Korea called on North Korea on Monday to further accelerate its denuclearization process while asking the United States to faithfully implement its promises of rewarding the communist nation.“We are asking North Korea to speed up its denuclearization process. And to the US, we are asking that it show sincere efforts about corresponding measures that North Korea is demanding,” Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told reporters when asked what his government thought about a possible impass

Aug. 6, 2018

US not 'starry-eyed' about North Korea nuclear deal: Bolton

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- As North Korea reportedly continues to build missiles and produce plutonium, a top aide to US President Donald Trump said Sunday that "there's nobody in his administration starry-eyed about the prospects of North Korea actually denuclearising."National Security Advisor John Bolton said that the "point may well come" when the US concludes that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is not serious about his promises to denuclearise.But Bolton, speaking on "Fox News Sunday," said Trump

Aug. 6, 2018

[Feature] Unified dictionary aims to reduce 70-year language gap between two Koreas

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of articles featuring inter-Korean relations to mark the paper’s 65th anniversary that falls on Aug. 15. Following is the second installment. -- Ed As the two Koreas strive to improve relations, a stalled project to bridge the linguistic gap between them could be revived. While Korean is the official language of the two Koreas, the forms of the language spoken by South and North Koreans have drifted apart as a result of the differing cultures and social sy

Aug. 5, 2018

Seoul seeks talks with Pyongyang at Asian Games later this month

SINGAPORE -- Seoul seeks to hold senior-level talks with Pyongyang on the sidelines of the Asian Games later this month, after failing to have an official meeting with the North Korean foreign minister at the ASEAN Regional Forum in Singapore.Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha told reporters that they were “reviewing various opportunities” as Jakarta has invited President Moon Jae-in to the opening ceremony of the Asian Games on Aug. 18.“All chances can be an opportunity (for inter-Korean talks),”

Aug. 5, 2018

NK’s sanctions violations could further delay denuclearization talks

Growing reports of North Korea’s sanctions violations are fueling concerns that there may be a further delay in ongoing negotiations on denuclearization between Washington and Pyongyang. Media reports released late Saturday, citing a confidential UN report, said that North Korea has in fact not halted its nuclear and missile programs and actively continued illicit ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum products and coal in 2018. It also states that the North has been cooperating militarily with Syr

Aug. 5, 2018

N. Korea leader revs up economic reconstruction push

North Korea's media on Sunday reported leader Kim Jong-un's aggressive on-site inspections of key sites for economic reconstruction amid lackluster progress in denuclearization talks with the United States.The Rodong Sinmun, the daily of the North's ruling Workers' Party, said that since late June, Kim has traveled to some 20 sites in North Pyongan Province, Yanggang Province, North Hamgyong Province and Gangwon Province. (Yonhap)"It is a story of his love for the people despite the heat wave,"

Aug. 5, 2018

N. Korea criticizes recent extension of US-Japan nuclear pact

A committee of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party denounced the recent extension of a US-Japan nuclear pact Sunday, arguing that Tokyo has a large stockpile of plutonium in pursuit of nuclear armament.In the Rodong Sinmun, the daily of the ruling party, the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee published a white paper titled "Revelations on the black curtain of the tacit move by the US and Japan to extend the nuclear agreement."Last month, the 1988 nuclear agreement was extended automatically as n

Aug. 5, 2018

Koreas exchange names of separated families ahead of reunions

South and North Korea have exchanged the final lists of their people who will take part in the planned family reunions later this month, the unification ministry said Saturday. The two Koreas exchanged the lists with each other at the border village of Panmunjom. They earlier agreed to hold the event involving 100 people from each side, but the final numbers were not immediately available.  In this photo taken Aug. 4, 2018, officials from the Korean Red Cross leave for the border village of Panm

Aug. 4, 2018

US yet to confirm no. of war dead remains returned from N. Korea

WASHINGTON -- The United States has yet to confirm how many sets of war dead remains are contained in the 55 boxes repatriated by North Korea last week, the Pentagon has said.North Korea returned what is believed to be the remains of American soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War as part of an agreement reached by its leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump at their historic summit in June. Vice President Mike Pence and Admiral Phil Davidson, US Indo-Pacific Commander, honor the rem

Aug. 4, 2018

US sanctions Russian bank over NK activity

WASHINGTON -- The United States on Friday sanctioned a Russian bank for allegedly helping a North Korean individual linked to the regime's weapons of mass destruction programs.The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control said it is also sanctioning a North Korean businessman based in Moscow and two firms working as front companies for a North Korean bank. US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin (Yonhap)"The United States will continue to enforce UN and US sanctions and shut down illicit revenue s

Aug. 4, 2018

N. Korea’s top diplomat rejects meeting with S. Korean counterpart

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho turned down a request for a formal bilateral meeting with her South Korean counterpart Kang Kyung-wha on the sidelines of an annual regional forum in Singapore on Friday, a South Korean government official said. 　 North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho returns to his hotel in Singapore Friday night after attending bilateral talks on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum. A handful journalists, mostly Japanese, waited for Ri to arrive at his hotel. (

Aug. 4, 2018

Seoul says reopening of Kaesong complex should wait until sanctions lifted

South Korea reiterated its stance Friday that resuming the operation of an inter-Korean industrial complex should be considered in light of progress in denuclearization talks and wait until sanctions are lifted."The government's stance remains unchanged when it comes to the issue of the resumption of the Kaesong Industrial Complex," Lee Eugene, a deputy spokesperson of the unification ministry, told reporters during a regular press briefing. (Yonhap)"The stance has not been changed either that t

Aug. 3, 2018

N. Korean foreign minister in Singapore for regional forum

SINGAPORE -- North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho began his trip to Singapore on Friday to attend an annual forum hosted by a group of Southeast Asian countries amid speculation about whether he will meet bilaterally with his South Korean and US counterparts.Ri flew from Beijing on an Air China plane. Entering his hotel in Singapore, wearing a black suit and a purple tie, he didn't take reporters' questions about his activity here.(Yonhap)The minister and his entourage stayed at the hotel th

Aug. 3, 2018

US open to 2nd Trump-Kim summit, but none planned: White House

WASHINGTON -- The United States is open to discussions about a second meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but nothing has been planned yet, the White House said Thursday.Trump and Kim held their first summit in Singapore in June and agreed to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in exchange for security guarantees from the US. (Yonhap)Trump tweeted early Thursday that he looked forward to seeing Kim soon as he thanked the North Korean lead

Aug. 3, 2018

Trump receives letter from NK leader: White House

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump received a letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this week, the White House said Thursday, in the latest sign of top-level diplomacy on Pyongyang's denuclearization."A letter to President Trump from Chairman Kim was received on August 1," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. "The ongoing correspondence between the two leaders is aimed at following up on their meeting in Singapore and advancing the commitments made in the US-

Aug. 3, 2018

Economic exchange to lay foundation for constitutional law of reunified Korea

With a recent detente between South and North Korea fueling hopes for reunification, the South’s legal community believes that drawing up a strong legal framework for inter-Korean economic projects will lay the groundwork for the constitutional law of a reunified peninsula. Studies seeking a legal system that could support peaceful reunification are being done in the South, in the hopes of designing a legal framework that could bridge the political and economic gaps between the two Koreas.  A gr

Aug. 2, 2018