[Graphic News] Who joined Trump, Kim at summit table?

　The first session of the summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was joined by only the two leaders’ respective translators, but they were joined by their aides at the expanded bilateral meeting. 　 Trump was flanked by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, chief of staff John Kelly and national security adviser John Bolton, as previously announced by the White House. 　Sitting across the table from the US team were North Korean leader Kim, Kim Yong-chol, first v

June 12, 2018

Korea approves SNU students' exchanges with North

The Unification Ministry on Tuesday gave the green light for students of Seoul National University to contact students of Kim Il Sung University, North Korea's most prestigious school of higher learning, to discuss academic exchanges, the South Korean university's students said.The approval, coming amid increasingly warming ties between the two Koreas, could pave the way for the school's first student exchanges with a North Korean university since its foundation in 1946. (Yonhap)The SNU students

June 12, 2018

[US-NK Summit] Trump says he will stop 'war games' with S. Korea

SINGAPORE -- US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he will stop "provocative and expensive" war games with South Korea in a surprise reference to the joint military exercises Pyongyang has criticized as a rehearsal of invasion.Trump made the remarks during a press conference that followed his historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on the Singaporean resort island of Sentosa."War games are very expensive," he said, raising the issue of their cost. "I think it is very provocati

June 12, 2018

[Newsmaker] South Koreans hope Trump-Kim meeting brings lasting peace

With the world watching US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un hold a historic summit in Singapore on Tuesday, the eyes and ears of South Koreans were fixed to the live TV footage.Watching a summit thought unimaginable just months ago, South Koreans raised both hope and concerns for future relations with the “brethren” North, which has been separated from the South since the 1950-53 Korean War.At Seoul Station in the morning, busy passers-by stopped to watch the two leader

June 12, 2018

[US-NK Summit] NK’s denuclearization will start ‘very quickly’: Trump

　US President Donald Trump said Tuesday denuclearization of North Korea will start “very quickly” after signing an agreement with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un at a historic summit in Singapore.　“We‘re starting that process,“ Trump said in response to a question about denuclearization of North Korea after meeting with Kim at the resort island of Sentosa in Singapore. The process would start ”very quickly,” he added. 　The remark came after the first-ever US-North Korea summit aimed at resolvin

June 12, 2018

[US-NK Summit] Speculations rise on Kim’s first words to Trump

Speculations are rising on whether North Korean leader Kim Jong-un greeted US President Donald Trump in English, upon meeting for their summit Tuesday at around 9 a.m. in Singapore.According to initial reports from the White House joint press, Kim said in English, “Nice to meet you, Mr. President,” while shaking hands with President Trump at the Capella Hotel on the island of Sentosa in Singapore. A reporter from Politico claimed to have heard Kim say those words, reporting from a short distance

June 12, 2018

[US-NK Summit] Pompeo briefs S. Korean minister on summit results

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday he had phone talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha on the outcome of a historic Singapore summit with North Korea.He also spoke with his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono over the phone.In a Twitter message posted shortly after the meeting between President Donald Trump and the North's leader Kim Jong-un, the secretary said he "just spoke with FM Kono & FM Kang to provide a brief readout of today's meeting btw @POTUS & Chairman Kim at

June 12, 2018

[US-NK Summit] US, NK bury the hatchet, open new era of detente

SINGAPORE -- US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Tuesday agreed on denuclearization and providing North Korea with a security guarantee. These and other agreements are stipulated in a US-North Korea agreement signed by the two, which Trump described as a “very comprehensive” and impressive document. Speaking at the ceremony to sign the bilateral agreement after his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Trump said that the meeting has borne results that are “b

June 12, 2018

[US-NK Summit] Alone time: Trump, Kim Jong-un ditch aides to meet 1 on 1

As the world waited, Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un sat by themselves for the better part of an hour, alone but for a pair of interpreters who became the sole witnesses to history's first face-to-face conversation between an American president and a North Korean leader.The scores of aides, bodyguards and diplomats who accompanied the leaders from Washington and Pyongyang waited elsewhere for the roughly 40-minute one-on-one meeting in Singapore. To some national security veterans, it raised concer

June 12, 2018

[US-NK Summit] Kim displays grip on military by having defense chief attend lunch

SINGAPORE -- The presence of North Korea's top military officer in leader Kim Jong-un's working lunch with US President Trump in Singapore on Tuesday had analysts puzzling over the motive for the move.No Kwang-chol, North Korea's minister of the People's Armed Forces, drew media attention even before the start of the historic summit as the sole uniformed official in the entourages of either leader. The US delegation has no military figure.No was promoted to minister from vice minister at the Nor

June 12, 2018

[US-NK Summit] Coca-Cola touts ‘peace, hope and understanding’

Coca-Cola has launched limited-edition cans, commemorating Tuesday’s historic summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore. Marking the unprecedented meeting between the two leaders, the cans display a hopeful message, written in both English and Korean: “Here’s to peace, hope and understanding.” Coca-cola’s limited-edition cans read, “Here’s to peace, hope and understanding.” (Coca-Cola Facebook)Working with Dentsu Merdeka LHS Malaysia, the company s

June 12, 2018

[US-NK Summit] Full text of the Trump-Kim joint statement

Joint Statement of President Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and Chairman Kim Jong-un of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea at the Singapore Summit.President Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and Chairman Kim Jong-un of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) held a first, historic summit in Singapore on June 12, 2018.President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong-un conducted a comprehensive, in

June 12, 2018

[US-NK Summit] Trump, Kim formed 'special bond' in historic meeting

Donald Trump has formed a "special bond" with North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, he said Tuesday at the end of a historic meeting during which the two former foes pledged to meet again.The pair signed what Trump called a "pretty comprehensive" and "very important" document, which spoke of "new US-DPRK relations" and committed Washington to "security guarantees".However, asked about denuclearisation -- the crux of the summit, Trump said "we're starting that process", adding that it would begin "ve

June 12, 2018

[US-NK Summit] The only woman in the room: Trump’s interpreter

Two key figures rendered the historic US-NK summit possible Tuesday, breaching the language barrier between the US and North Korean leaders: the interpreters.The pair have attracted much attention as the only people privy to the full content of the private meeting between the two leaders.Kim Jong-un’s interpreter has been identified by the White House as Kim Ju-song from the North Korean Foreign Ministry. Accompanying US President Donald Trump is Lee Yun-hyang, 61, division chief of Interpreting

June 12, 2018

[US-NK Summit] A ‘very comprehensive’ document signed: Trump

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he and the North Korean leader had reached a significant agreement, and that a “very comprehensive” and impressive document was signed. Speaking at the ceremony to sign a bilateral agreement after his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Trump said the meeting has borne results that are “better than anyone could have expected.”At the signing, Trump said they were signing a “very important document, a pretty comprehensive document.” Donald T

June 12, 2018

[US-NK Summit] S. Korea hails Trump-Kim summit as 'talks of the century'

South Koreans erupted in applause Tuesday as Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un met for what local media billed as the "talks of the century".As the historic first meeting between a sitting US president and North Korean leader began in Singapore, images of Trump and Kim exchanging handshakes and warm words drew jubilant reactions in Seoul and hopes for a new beginning with Pyongyang. "We hope the summit will be a success and bring us a complete denuclearisation, peace and a new era" in relations betwe

June 12, 2018

[US-NK Summit] What Kim Jong-un’s nighttime tour in Singapore means

For North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the historic summit with US President Donald Trump in Singapore was more than just negotiating over the North’s nuclear weapons programs in return for a security guarantee. 　Traveling to the thriving capitalist island nation, having a one-on-one meeting with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and touring key attractions of the city-state may have been instrumental in expanding his diplomatic horizons, experts say. (Yonhap)Kim’s nighttime stroll on the

June 12, 2018

[US-NK Summit] Swift NK media reports on Kim's Singapore itinerary unusual, yet strategic

North Korea’s state media have been delivering swift updates of Kim Jong-un’s itinerary in Singapore, which experts and officials have noted as “unusual,” yet “strategic.” The North’s Korean Central News Agency on Tuesday reported that Kim took a surprise overnight tour of Singapore and learned about “social and economic development, merely hours after the North Korean leader wrapped-up the tour. The Rodong Sinmun, the North Korean ruling party’s official newspaper, also reported on the tour. (K

June 12, 2018

[US-NK Summit] Korean celebrities hope for successful US-N. Korea summit

Renowned Korean celebrities expressed their hopes for a successful US-North Korea summit in Singapore via Instagram on Tuesday. Yoon Jong-shin’s InstagramA South Korean singer Yoon Jong-shin posted a picture of US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un shaking hands on his Instagram account with a caption saying, “Oh…(they’ve) met.” Shin Seung-hun’s InstagramShin Seung-hun, another famous Korean ballad singer, also posted a picture of them locking hands and another with South

June 12, 2018

[US-NK Summit] N. Korea media herald Kim's Singapore stroll

North Korea's state media lauded Singapore Tuesday as they highlighted Kim Jong-un's visit to some of its top tourist attractions.A few hours ahead of his historic summit with Donald Trump -- the first encounter between a leader of the isolated, nuclear-armed North and a sitting US president -- Kim took a break from preparations for a waterfront stroll.He was accompanied by the city-state's foreign and education ministers -- with whom he posed for selfies -- and surrounded by officials as police

June 12, 2018