Pompeo in Pyongyang to flesh out summit deal

WASHINGTON/SEOUL -- US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in North Korea Friday, a foreign news report said, as Washington hopes to maintain the momentum of a Singapore summit deal on improving bilateral ties and denuclearizing the communist nation.Pompeo landed in Pyongyang for his third visit as Washington's top diplomat, according to Agence France-Presse. This visit to North Korea is his first since President Donald Trump had a historic meeting with the North's leader Kim Jong-un in Singa

July 6, 2018

Trump voices hope in Kim's commitment to denuclearize

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump expressed hope Thursday that North Korea will take the path to denuclearization, saying he believes leader Kim Jong-un wants a different future for his country.Trump spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to a Montana rally as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was flying to Pyongyang to hammer out details of a nuclear disarmament deal struck by Trump and Kim last month."Under the Obama administration, they were launching missiles, they were testi

July 6, 2018

S. Korean coach says result secondary in inter-Korean hoops friendly

PYONGYANG/SEOUL, (Joint Press Corps-Yonhap) -- South Korean men's basketball head coach Hur Jae said Thursday losing to North Korea in a friendly game didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things.North Korea defeated South Korea 82-70 to cap off a two-day exhibition series at Ryugyong Chung Ju-yung Gymnasium in Pyongyang, where the Koreas met on a basketball court for the first time in 15 years. In this Joint Press Corps photo, South Korean players Park Chan-hee (left) and Lee Seung-hyun (righ

July 5, 2018

Hope for peace, reconciliation found through inter-Korean basketball games: Seoul official

PYONGYANG/SEOUL, (Joint Press Corps-Yonhap) -- South Korea's unification minister said Thursday that he has found hope for peace and reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula through inter-Korean friendly basketball matches held in Pyongyang this week.Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon added that the door has been opened wide for more active sports exchanges going forward thanks to the success of the two-day basketball event. Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon (Yonhap)Cho made the remarks at a

July 5, 2018

Unified Korean women's hoops team grouped with four opponents in Asian Games

The unified Korean women's basketball team will face Taiwan, Kazakhstan, Indonesia and India in this year's Asian Games.The draw was held on Thursday in Jakarta, a co-host city of the Aug. 18-Sept. 2 Asian Games along with Palembang.The Korean team and the other four nations will be in Group X. The Group Y teams are China, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Mongolia. This will be the first joint Korean basketball team in Asian Games history.In this Joint Press Corps photo, Ro Suk-yong of North Korea

July 5, 2018

S. Korea, N. Korea split hoops friendlies

PYONGYANG/SEOUL, (Joint Press Corps-Yonhap) -- South Korea and North Korea split their basketball friendly matches in Pyongyang on Thursday, with the South Korean women winning 81-74 and the North Korean men prevailing 82-70.In the women's game, guard Kim Han-byul led the balanced South Korean attack with 16 points at Ryugyong Chung Ju-yung Gymnasium, with the youngest member of the team, high school star Park Ji-hyun, chipping in 12 points. In this Joint Press Corps photo, South Korea's Choi Eu

July 5, 2018

N. Korea to compete at table tennis tournament in S. Korea

North Korea will compete at an international table tennis competition in South Korea later this month, the sport's international governing body said Thursday.The International Table Tennis Federation announced that North Korea will cross the border to play at the ITTF World Tour Platinum Korean Open in Daejeon, 160 kilometers south of Seoul, from July 17-22.North Korean table tennis players have previously competed in South Korea at the 2002 and 2014 Asian Games in Busan and Incheon, respectivel

July 5, 2018

Two Koreas paired together in women's handball at Asian Games

South Korea and North Korea have been drawn in the same group in women's handball at this year's Asian Games in Indonesia.In a draw held Thursday, South Korea, the defending champion, ended up in Group A with North Korea, Kazakhstan, China and India. The Aug. 18-Sept. 2 Asian Games will be co-hosted by Jakarta and Palembang.The Group B nations are Japan, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Thailand and Malaysia. (Yonhap)North Korea will make its first Asian Games appearance in women's handball since 2010. The

July 5, 2018

Challenges loom large for Pompeo in Pyongyang

　With US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo heading to Pyongyang to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, how much progress they can make on denuclearization remains the most pressing question amid persistent doubts over Kim’s pledge to completely abandon the country’s nuclear program.　Pompeo was set to arrive in Pyongyang on Friday and continue ongoing denuclearization negotiations with North Korea. It is Pompeo’s third known trip to North Korea and the first one since last month’s US-North Ko

July 5, 2018

[Newsmaker] Basketball kicks off inter-Korean sports exchange

The inter-Korean basketball event held in Pyongyang is fueling hopes for further sports exchanges between the two Koreas. Basketball was chosen as the first inter-Korean sporting event since the April 27 summit due to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s love of the sport.  South Korean and North Korean basketball players during Wednesday`s match. YonhapFollowing the summit, Cheong Wa Dae revealed that Kim suggested beginning inter-Korean sporting events with basketball rather than soccer during th

July 5, 2018

NK leader Kim unlikely to attend inter-Korean basketball event

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is unlikely to attend inter-Korean friendly basketball matches scheduled for Thursday, a senior Pyongyang official said. "The chairman is currently giving on-site guidance, so it is likely that he might not attend today's matches," United Front Department head Kim Yong-chol said in a brief meeting in Pyongyang with South Korea's Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon. "He asked me to go instead to meet (you)."Kim Jong-un was expected to take part in the two-day even

July 5, 2018

N. Korea's media report on inter-Korean basketball matches, forestry talks

North Korea's state media Thursday reported on friendly inter-Korean basketball games held in Pyongyang, an event that the two Koreas organized for the first time in some 15 years.The Korean Central News Agency reported that South and North Korean basketball players held two friendly games at the Ryugyong Chung Ju-yung Gymnasium on Wednesday. They were matches between teams made up of a mixture of North and South Korean players. Two more games will be played Thursday.(Yonhap)Spectators included

July 5, 2018

Naturalized basketball player gets 'story to tell' after playing with N. Koreans in Pyongyang

US-born basketball player Ricardo Ratliffe, who recently earned South Korean citizenship, said Wednesday he had "a story to tell" after playing with North Koreans in Pyongyang.Ratliffe is one of the players from Seoul who went to Pyongyang to play in a two-day friendly basketball event with North Koreans.On the first day, the South and the North formed two mixed teams -- named "Team Peace" and "Team Prosperity" -- and played a match at Ryugyong Chung Ju-yung Gymnasium.Ratliffe (left), Kim Guk-su

July 5, 2018

South Koreans welcome inter-Korean reconciliation for reasons besides just peace

Most South Koreans welcome the ongoing rapprochement between the two Koreas, highlighted by the two historic summits between their leaders, but for many reasons besides just the peace it may bring.Many, of course, are simply glad to finally see some sort of detente between the two Koreas following a series of nuclear and missile provocations by the communist North in recent years. (Yonhap)"It is a relief just to know that North Korea will not stage any provocations, at least for some time," said

July 5, 2018

North Korea’s ‘Spring Fragrance’ face balm catches Chinese eyes

A product from a cosmetics factory in Sinuiju, where North Korean leader Kim Jong-un recently visited, is attracting a lot of attention in China. The “Kaesong Koryo Ginseng” balm cream, made by the “Spring Fragrance” (direct translation) company in North Korea, is currently being sold at 12 shops at China’s decentralized shopping platform Taobao, with user reviews of the cream coming up on Chinese lifestyle social media Xiaohongshu. The product, according to the Chinese purchasers, is cheap, abs

July 4, 2018

Two Koreas square off in friendly basketball matches in Pyongyang

South and North Korean basketball players played two friendly matches in Pyongyang on Wednesday as part of inter-Korean sports exchanges fulfilled in the spirit of the April 27 Panmunjeom Declaration.　The games -- part of four matches scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday -- were played at Ryugyong Chung Ju-yung Gymnasium in the afternoon, contested between “peace” teams and “prosperity” teams made up of players from the two Koreas.Chung Ju-yung is the late founder of the Hyundai Group that ran a

July 4, 2018

Experts see risks in US plan to dismantle N. Korea’s nukes

WASHINGTON -- As Secretary of State Mike Pompeo prepares to travel this week to North Korea, experts cautioned that the Trump administration’s plan to dismantle the North’s nuclear weapons and missiles in a year is both unrealistic and risky.The State Department said Pompeo would arrive Friday on his third visit to Pyongyang in three months. It will be the first visit by a senior US official since President Donald Trump’s historic meeting with Kim Jong-un on June 12 in Singapore, where the North

July 4, 2018

S. Korea launches process to confirm whether N. Koreans' families remain alive

South Korea has launched a process to confirm whether the families that North Korean people are trying to find are alive as the two prepare for temporary reunions of war-separated families, a Red Cross official said Wednesday.Earlier, the two Koreas exchanged the lists of people who want to reunite with their family member on the other side. North Korea sent a list of 200 people, along with information on those individuals and the families they are searching for. “We have started a process to co

July 4, 2018

Koreas agree to cooperate to protect forestry against blight, insects

The two Koreas agreed Wednesday to cooperate on protecting their forests along the inter-Korean border and other areas from damage caused by blight and harmful insects.They also agreed to conduct on-site inspections of those areas together in mid-July while at the same time exchanging the technology and know-how needed to grow and protect their forests.The agreements were reached after marathon inter-Korean working-level talks held on the southern side of the truce village of Panmunjom to discus

July 4, 2018

Hacker group sends out e-mails disguised as S. Korean govt.

A hacking group is sending out e-mails disguised as a South Korean governmental agency carrying out research on separated families of the two Koreas, a local security firm said Wednesday, claiming computer users should be extra cautious.ESTsecurity Corp. said a hacker group, presumed to be "Geumseong121," is carrying out advanced persistent threat attacks by sending e-mails pretending to be official research. The word "security" is misspelled in an image included in the cyberattack e-mail target

July 4, 2018