N. Korea's nominal head leaves Russia after trip to attend World Cup opening ceremony

North Korea's nominal head of state Kim Yong-nam left Russia on Friday (local time), wrapping up a four-day visit to attend the opening ceremony of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. North Korea's nominal head of state Kim Yong-nam (L), Russian President Vladimir Putin (Yonhap)Kim, president of the Presidium of the North's Supreme People's Assembly, headed for Beijing aboard a Chinese flight at Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport at about 11:30 p.m. to return home.After arriving in Moscow via Beij

June 16, 2018

NK leader sends letter to Chinese president on his birthday: state media

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has sent a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulating him on his birthday, the North's state media reported Friday, in a friendly diplomatic gesture reflecting their restored relations.  Korean Central Television reported that Kim sent a letter and a basket of flowers to Xi to celebrate the leader of the North's major ally.    Kim Jong-un (Yonhap)It is the first time Kim sent a congratulatory message to Xi for his birthday since 2013.   Their relations

June 16, 2018

Koreas announce delegations for talks on sports cooperation

South and North Korea have each formed delegations for next week's planned talks for sports exchanges, including joint participation in the upcoming Asian Games in Indonesia, Seoul's unification ministry said Friday.The delegation from the South will be led by Jeon Choong-ryul, incumbent secretary general of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, who will be accompanied by two officials from the unification and culture ministries, it said. (Yonhap)Their North Korean counterparts will include Vice

June 15, 2018

S. Korean students propose talks with students of top N. Korean school on exchanges

A student committee at Seoul National University on Friday proposed holding talks with its counterpart at Kim Il Sung University, North Korea's most prestigious school of higher learning, in Pyongyang this year to promote exchanges between students of the two schools.The committee seeking inter-Korean exchanges in cooperation with the university's general student council said during a ceremony at the school to mark the 18th anniversary of the historic first inter-Korean summit in 2000 that it em

June 15, 2018

NK urges South Korea to halt joint exercise with US

Panmunjeom – North Korea urged South Korea Thursday to suspend its joint military exercise with the United States during rare military talks as US President Donald Trump floated the idea of halting what he described as a “provocative, expensive” war game. According to the Ministry of National Defense, North Korean delegates demanded their South Korean counterpart halt the joint military exercise in the spirit of the Panmunjeom agreement, where the two Koreas leaders pledged to cease cross-border

June 14, 2018

Two Koreas agree to completely restore military communication lines

PANMUNJOM, Korea, June 14 (Joint Press Corps-Yonhap) -- The two Koreas agreed Thursday to completely restore their military communication lines during their first general-grade military talks in more than a decade, their joint statement showed. YonhapDuring the talks, they also exchanged opinions on demilitarizing the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom on a trial basis, it said.   They held the talks at Tongilgak, a North Korea-controlled building at the village, in line with the April 27 i

June 14, 2018

US likely to take ‘front-loaded’ approach toward NK: think tank

The US hinted at adopting a “front-loaded” model in the early stage of North Korea’s denuclearization at the recent US-North Korea summit, a think tank affiliated with the South Korean spy agency said Thursday, which requires the North to swiftly transfer all its nuclear arsenal to the US. US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reached an agreement on the North’s denuclearization at Tuesday’s historic summit in Singapore, in which Kim pledged to work toward denuclearizatio

June 14, 2018

NK urges South Korea to halt joint exercise with US

PANMUNJEOM -- North Korea urged South Korea Thursday to suspend its joint military exercise with the United States during rare military talks as US President Donald Trump floated the idea of halting what he described as a “provocative, expensive” war game. According to the Ministry of National Defense, North Korean delegates demanded their South Korean counterpart halt the joint military exercise in the spirit of the Panmunjeom agreement, where the two Koreas leaders pledged to cease cross-borde

June 14, 2018

Moon says US-N. Korea summit moved world back from brink of war

South Korean President Moon Jae-in welcomed the outcome of the recent US-North Korea summit Thursday, calling it a great success that moved the entire world away from the possibility of a war."There are many different views on the outcome of that summit, but what is most important is the fact that it has allowed the entire world, including American, Japanese and Chinese people, to escape from threats of a nuclear war and long-range missiles," Moon said while meeting with US Secretary of State Mi

June 14, 2018

Seoul closes office for delayed NK rights foundation

South Korea’s Unification Ministry said Thursday that it has closed the office for a state-run foundation for North Korea’s human rights, whose launch had been delayed for nearly two years amid political differences. The ministry, which handles inter-Korean relations, said that it would terminate the lease contract for the office in Seoul this month to prevent further waste of government funds, estimated at around 63 million won ($58,120) every month. The office has been vacant since it was firs

June 14, 2018

NK news outlet reports Kim’s return from Trump summit

North Korea’s state media said Thursday that its leader Kim Jong-un has returned to Pyongyang after “successfully” completing his landmark summit with US President Donald Trump in Singapore.Kim and Trump held their first-ever summit meeting on Singapore’s island of Sentosa on Tuesday and signed a joint statement in which they vowed to build “new” relations, and Kim committed to work toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.  (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistri

June 14, 2018

No sanctions relief until NK’s complete denuclearization

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday that there will be no sanctions relief for North Korea until it completely denuclearizes and that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un understands denuclearization must happen “quickly.”　Speaking after the meeting with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts in Seoul, Pompeo also confirmed their shared commitment to North Korea’s “complete, verifiable and irreversible” denuclearization. 　“The sequence will be different this time,” the top US diplomat

June 14, 2018

N. Korean leader arrives in Pyongyang after Trump summit: reports

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un returned to Pyongyang Wednesday morning after a historic summit with US President Donald Trump in Singapore, state media reported.    A Chinese plane with Kim on board touched down at Pyongyang International Airport at 7 a.m., according to Korean Central Television and Pyongyang Broadcasting Station. His arrival was unveiled 12 hours later.   Senior officials paid "enthusiastic and passionate" greetings in a ceremony.    The reports hailed Kim for "steering the ge

June 13, 2018

NK hails summit as a success

The agreement reached between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore is receiving mixed reactions, but Pyongyang sees it as a win. North Korea’s state media outlets, the Korean Central News Agency and Rodong Sinmun, each reported the results of the summit on Wednesday, including the full text of the agreement. Rodong Sinmun dedicated four pages of its Wednesday edition to the summit, including 33 color photos.  North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (left) and US Pre

June 13, 2018

[Newsmaker] Verification key to testing denuclearization promise

With North Korea and the US having wrapped up a historic summit with a vague promise to work toward “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” how far North Korea accepts verification will be the barometer for Pyongyang’s willingness to denuclearize, analysts say.　In the agreement signed by US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at Tuesday’s summit in Singapore, there was no mention of how irreversibly and verifiably Pyongyang will dismantle its nuclear weapons p

June 13, 2018

Experts divided on US-NK agreement

The governments of the US and the two Koreas are hailing Tuesday’s US-North Korea agreement as a historic step, but experts are divided on the issue. The agreement signed by US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un states that the two countries will work together for denuclearization, and the US will provide security guarantees for the North.  US President Donald Trump walks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore on Tuesday.

June 13, 2018

Cheong Wa Dae hints at halting joint wargame with US

South Korea’s presidential office Wednesday hinted at the possibility of suspending the country‘s joint military drills with the United States, raising the prospect of halting the upcoming Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise scheduled for August.　Cheong Wa Dae said Wednesday while it needs more time to figure out the meaning and intention of Trump’s remark, the government can consider “various options” to build trust with North Korea to foster the denuclearization process.　“When there is serious tal

June 13, 2018

[US-NK Summit] After summit, China likely to remind N. Korea of close ties

BEIJING -- The outcome of the Singapore summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was good news for one absent but key player: China.China has emerged a big winner at the summit after Trump made surprising pledges to suspend war games with South Korea and eventually pull US troops from there. Beijing dislikes the US military presence in South Korea and Japan and has urged Washington to suspend the drills that Pyongyang claims are rehearsals for invasion, in return

June 13, 2018

[US-NK Summit] Nuclear risk-taker Trump gambles all in talks with Kim

WASHINGTON -- If Donald Trump’s high-stakes, long-odds bet on building peace with North Korea pays off, it will be because he confidently dismissed all expert advice, moral qualms and diplomatic norms.Only a president like Trump could celebrate a ruthless autocrat like Kim Jong-un as a man who “loves his country,” but then maybe only a Trump could kick-start such a peace process.Less than a year ago, Kim’s accelerating pursuit of a nuclear-armed long-range missile provoked the US president into

June 13, 2018

[US-NK Summit] Check out my ride: Trump shows off ‘The Beast’ to Kim

One of the notable spectacles of Tuesday’s US-NK summit was the “tremendous” relationship the two leaders forged. All eyes were on Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un on Tuesday as the two leaders surprisingly displayed warm body language and shared laughs throughout the day on the resort island of Sentosa, Singapore. President Donald Trump shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un the Cadillac One presidential limo during their walk near Capella Hotel on the resort island of Sentosa, Singapore Tuesday. (Y

June 13, 2018