Ruling party to seek parliamentary special committee on inter-Korean economic cooperation

The ruling Democratic Party said Tuesday that it will push to set up a parliamentary special committee on inter-Korean ties to support economic cooperation between the two Koreas.Recent rapprochement on the Korean Peninsula is raising the prospect that the Koreas will promote economic cooperation if there is progress on the North's denuclearization."The core of inter-Korean economic cooperation is to establish transportation infrastructure," Hong Young-pyo, the party's floor leader, told a forum

June 19, 2018

S. Korea's team crosses into N. Korean border town to prepare for liaison office

South Korean officials and private businesses visited North Korea on Tuesday to prepare for the renovation of key facilities for the opening of a joint liaison office in the North’s border city of Kaesong.  Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung (center) answers reporters at the South and North Korean customs, immigration and quarantine office, June 8, before leaving for Kaesong to inspect facilities for a planned inter-Korean liaison office. (Yonhap)Setting up a joint liaison office was an agr

June 19, 2018

NK leader makes third trip to China

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Tuesday arrived in Beijing, where he is expected to discuss with Chinese leaders his future moves in dealing with the US. According to China’s state-run China Central Television, Kim arrived in Beijing on a two-day official visit. He is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. While details of the trip remain undisclosed, Kim is widely expected to discuss his recent meeting with US President Donald Trump and other outstanding issues, including sancti

June 19, 2018

White House says it is 'not aware' of Trump-Kim phone call

WASHINGTON -- The White House said Monday it is "not aware" that US President Donald Trump called North Korean leader Kim Jong-un over the weekend as he earlier suggested.Trump said last week after his historic meeting with Kim in Singapore that he would make a phone call to the North Korean leader on Sunday."I know the president has spoken with a number of administration officials that are working on the details following the North Korean summit, and we'll keep you posted on those details," Whi

June 19, 2018

N. Korea's nominal head of state returns from Moscow trip

North Korea's nominal head of state Kim Yong-nam has returned from his trip to Russia, where he attended the opening ceremony of the World Cup soccer finals, the North's state media reported Tuesday.Kim returned home on Monday after his stay in Moscow where he joined the opening ceremony of the quadrennial soccer competition on Thursday, according to the Korean Central News Agency.  Kim Yong-nam (Bloomberg)During his four-day trip, Kim met Russian President Vladimir Putin and delivered North Kor

June 19, 2018

Pompeo likely to visit N. Korea 'before too terribly long'

WASHINGTON -- US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday he will probably travel to North Korea "before too terribly long" to follow up on last week's historic nuclear summit between the two countries' leaders.Speaking at an event in Detroit, Michigan, the top US diplomat said a lot of work remains to be done to flesh out the details of an agreement signed by US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un."There's a lot of work between here and there," he said, referring to the

June 19, 2018

N. Korean leader Kim begins two-day visit to China

SEOUL/BEIJING -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Tuesday began a two-day visit in China that may include a summit with President Xi Jinping, according to sources.Kim's third visit to China in three months follows his summit meeting with US President Donald Trump in Singapore on June 12 in which Kim affirmed his commitment to complete denuclearization in return for security guarantees and a new relationship with the US.After an Air Koryo flight carrying Kim arrived at Beijing's Capital Interna

June 19, 2018

No daylight between S. Korea, US on NK sanctions: Seoul official

WASHINGTON -- South Korea and the United States are united in keeping sanctions on North Korea until the regime makes "substantial" progress toward denuclearization, a top Seoul diplomat said Monday.First Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam was speaking at a forum assessing last week's historic summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, which produced an agreement to pursue complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in return for security guarantees for t

June 19, 2018

S. Korea kicks off military drill to defend Dokdo

South Korea on Monday kicked off a military exercise designed to defend its easternmost islets of Dokdo, prompting Japan to protest against the maneuver as it continues to claim sovereignty over Dokdo.Taking place in the waters near Dokdo, the two-day exercise involves six naval vessels and seven aircrafts, according to the Navy and the Marine Corps. The exercise includes a landing drill where a marine squad sets foot on the islets.  Dokdo in the East Sea (Herald DB)The military said the exercis

June 18, 2018

Trump misrepresents North Korea’s actions

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump is falsely crediting his Singapore summit with the destruction of missile launch sites in North Korea. No such action has been announced by the North Koreans.Trump tweeted Sunday in response to criticisms last week from Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Senate Democratic leader, that the summit was all show, no substance, or as the Democrat put it in Senate remarks, “what the Texans call all cattle, no hat.” He meant all hat, no cattle.The president counter

June 18, 2018

[Breaking] Minister: S. Korea 'flexible' on timing, format of ending Korean War

South Korea's top diplomat said Monday her government aims to formally end the Korean War by the end of this year and that the leaders of North Korea and the United States have discussed the issue.Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha stressed, however, South Korea is flexible on the specific timing and format of the envisioned, largely symbolic declaration."(We) are in close consultations with the US on this field. And I know that there was (relevant) discussion at the North Korea-US summit level," s

June 18, 2018

N. Korea's Kim walked away with great deal: top Democratic senator

WASHINGTON -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un got a "great deal" out of his historic meeting with US President Donald Trump last week, a top Democratic senator said Sunday, contradicting the president on his purported achievements.Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said it was "preposterous" of Trump to claim that he largely resolved the threat of North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs at Tuesday's summit in Singapore."North Kore

June 18, 2018

Trump says suspending 'war games' was his idea

United States President Donald Trump said Sunday it was his idea to suspend joint military exercises by South Korea and the US to foster favorable conditions for denuclearization talks with North Korea, adding that the military drills will immediately start back up if the talks collapse."Holding back the 'war games' during the negotiations was my request because they are very expensive and set a bad light during a good faith negotiation," the US president wrote in a Twitter message, also calling

June 18, 2018

Is Trump going to call Kim Jong-un?

US President Donald Trump on Friday hinted that he would personally talk to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Sunday (US time) via direct phone call, but questions remain on whether the exchange will be made in such a manner. “I‘m going to be actually calling North Korea,” Trump told Fox News in an interview when asked what he planned to do on Father’s Day, without elaborating who he would be speaking to. The US president also said during an impromptu news conference at the White House that he

June 17, 2018

Invest in North Korea: money pit or golden opportunity?

PYONGYANG (AFP) - Donald Trump dangled the carrot of foreign investment in front of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at their nuclear summit, but analysts say few will want to put money into one of the highest-risk business environments in the world.　The US president showed Kim a movie of bright lights, high-speed trains and soaring tower blocks -- pitching a future that could be possible if Pyongyang gives up its weapons.　Optimists say that with mineral wealth, cheap labour, and a helpful geogra

June 17, 2018

Inter-Korean sports exchanges expected to boost ties

With the two Koreas set to hold talks on sports Monday, expectations are growing that cross-border sports exchanges would lead to improved inter-Korean ties. Plans surrounding the joint entrance and teams for the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games in August are expected to be discussed, as South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed to jointly participate in the games during the inter-Korean summit on April 27. (Yonhap)“Sports diplomacy” has often been successfu

June 17, 2018

Xi asked Kim to demand halt to US-South Korea military drills: report

 Chinese leader Xi Jinping had asked North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to demand a halt to South Korea-US joint military exercises, a Japanese newspaper reported Sunday, countering US President Trump’s claim that he had been the first to make such a proposal to North Korea. 　Citing a Chinese diplomatic source, Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun reported that Xi proposed the idea to Kim during their summit in Dalian, China, from May 7-8. It was the second time that the two countries’ leaders had met sinc

June 17, 2018

Defense Ministry denies proposing NK withdraw long-range artillery along DMZ

　The South Korean government Sunday denied the report that the two Koreas discussed withdrawing North Korea’s long-range artilleries, but speculation persists that the idea would be discussed at future inter-Korean military talks. 　The Ministry of National Defense said that the idea of pulling back the long-range artillery along the border with North Korea was never brought up during the inter-Korean military talks held on Thursday. 　“Neither South Korea nor North Korea proposed the idea of pull

June 17, 2018

Four of 5 NK sailors repatriated last week: source

Four of the five North Korean sailors rescued last week by South Korea's Coast Guard in the East Sea have returned home while one decided to defect, a government source said Sunday.The South Korean authorities repatriated the four on Friday, four days after the Coast Guard rescued their ship, which was spotted floating adrift due to an engine problem in waters off the eastern coastal city of Sokcho on Monday. (Yonhap)"Of the five rescued North Koreans, we returned four based on their free will,"

June 17, 2018

NK media underscore 'sovereignty, mutual respect' in international relations

North Korea's state media on Sunday stressed principles of mutual respect and sovereignty in international relations, following its agreement with the United States last week to build "new" ties.The Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the North's ruling Workers' Party, carried an editorial in which it said that "unilateral demands" based on military and economic superiority undermine the sound development of international relations, without specifically mentioning the US."All countries and ethnic gr

June 17, 2018