NK party officials visit China

Senior officials of North Korea’s ruling party are visiting China, Pyongyang’s state media said Tuesday, in what appears to be a trip to inspect China’s economic development following recent summits between the countries’ leaders.“A friendship visiting group of the Workers’ Party of Korea led by Pak Thae-song, member of the Political Bureau and vice chairman of its Central Committee, left Pyongyang on Monday to visit the People’s Republic of China,” the Korean Central News Agency said.Pak is kno

May 15, 2018

N. Korea has started dismantling nuclear test site: 38 North

WASHINGTON -- Satellite imagery shows that North Korea has begun dismantling its nuclear test site in line with its promise, a US website monitoring the reclusive regime said Monday.According to 38 North, the imagery from May 7 provides "definitive evidence" that dismantlement of the Punggye-ri test site is "well underway."North Korea said last month that it would close its nuclear test site and halt nuclear weapons and ballistic missile tests ahead of a planned meeting between its leader Kim Jo

May 15, 2018

N. Korea officials visit China ahead of summit with US

BEIJING -- A delegation of North Korean officials visited China on Monday in what appears to be a trip aimed at discussing follow-up measures to a recent summit between their leaders and cooperation on the upcoming US-North Korea summit talks, sources said. Cars apparently transporting North Korean officials, including a high-ranking person, are seen in Beijing on May 14. (Yonhap)A group of officials, including Ryu Myong-son, department director of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Pa

May 14, 2018

Seoul welcomes US hints at private sector involvement in denuclearized NK

US private sector investment in North Korea following complete denuclearization would be a welcome development, a top Cheong Wa Dae official said Monday.Speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, a Cheong Wa Dae official said that measures to allow US private sector investment in the North would be the “sooner the better,” in relation to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s television interview. On Sunday, Pompeo hinted that Washington would allow private sector investment in the North afte

May 14, 2018

[Video] What people in Korea think about Kim Jong-un

Amid an ongoing series of diplomatic moves, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appears to be lifting the veil that has surrounded him and the North Korean regime long before he took over as the country’s leader in 2012. South Koreans’ responses to media exposure of Kim, in particular the historic April 27 inter-Korean summit held in the border village of Panmunjeom, ranged from skepticism to amusement and surprise. During the daylong summit, South Koreans were able to witness, via live broadcast, s

May 14, 2018

Gyeonggi plans to restart reforestation project for NK

EUIJEONGBU -- South Korea's Gyeonggi Province said Monday that it plans to reopen its suspended seedling breeding center in North Korea if the upcoming talks between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Trump go well and UN sanctions on the North are subsequently lifted.The province launched a four-year project to build the nursery on a 6-hectare lot as a reforestation aid project at Kaepung Village in the North Korean western border town of Kaesong in 2007, with the nursery capable

May 14, 2018

High-level Inter-Korean meeting expected this week

South and North Korea are expected to hold high-level talks this week to discuss the implementation of agreements reached by their leaders last month, the South’s Ministry of Unification said Monday.“Consultations between the two Koreas are still under way. It is expected that we will have the meeting this week,” ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun told a regular press briefing.President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed to halt all hostile acts against each other’s country and

May 14, 2018

Koreans in Singapore voice high expectations for June 12 summit

An association of South Korean residents and students in Singapore on Monday expressed hope that the June 12 summit between leaders of North Korea and the United States in the city-state will lead to permanent peace and a trade boom on the Korean Peninsula.Noh Chong-hyun, chairman of the Korean Association in Singapore, which represents over 20,000 South Korean nationals there, said he and other association members have high expectations for a lasting peace regime on the Korean Peninsula followi

May 14, 2018

WFP chief to visit Seoul after his recent Pyongyang trip

The chief of the World Food Programme, who visited Pyongyang last week to discuss food security, will visit Seoul this week, the unification ministry said Monday, WFP Executive Director David Beasley will meet Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon on Tuesday."They are expected to discuss issues of mutual concern," ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun told reporters in response to a question as to whether a resumption of humanitarian assistance to the North will be discussed. In this Nov. 6, 2017 file

May 14, 2018

S. Korea, China need to help N. Korea set up policy bank if Pyongyang opens economy

South Korea and China need to help North Korea set up a policy bank if Pyongyang agrees to give up its nuclear weapons and eventually open the North's economy to the outside world, a report showed Monday.Hopes have been raised as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un vowed a "complete denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula, with Kim and US President Donald Trump set to hold an unprecedented summit in Singapore next month. This file photo shows North Korea`s central bank. (Yonhap)The report, publish

May 14, 2018

Bolton rules out benefits to N. Korea before full denuclearization

WASHINGTON -- US National Security Adviser John Bolton said Sunday there will be no benefits to North Korea before it fully dismantles all elements of its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are set to meet in Singapore next month to discuss the issue of the North's denuclearization.The US will be putting on the table the dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear weapons and equipment, as well as its ballistic missile program and chem

May 14, 2018

Pompeo: US may allow private investment in N. Korea if it denuclearizes

WASHINGTON -- US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday offered to allow the American private sector to invest in North Korea if the regime agrees to fully dismantle its nuclear weapons program.Pompeo returned from a trip to Pyongyang last week, where he met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to prepare for the June 12 summit between US President Donald Trump and Kim."This will be Americans coming in -- private sector Americans, not the US taxpayer -- private sector Americans coming in to he

May 14, 2018

Trump welcomes N. Korea plan to blow up nuke-site tunnels

　SEOUL, South Korea (AP) --  North Korea said Saturday that it will dismantle its nuclear test site in less than two weeks, in a dramatic event that would set up leader Kim Jong Un‘s summit with President Donald Trump next month. Trump welcomed the “gracious gesture.”　 　In a statement carried by state media, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said all of the tunnels at the country‘s northeastern testing ground will be destroyed by explosion, and observation and research facilities and ground-based g

May 13, 2018

NK decision on nuclear site receives mixed reactions

North Korea’s decision to close down its Punggye-ri nuclear weapons testing site is being met with mixed reactions from the South Korean political arena. On Saturday, North Korea announced that the site would be shut down between May 23 and 25, and media outlets from South Korea, China, Russia, the UK and the US would be invited to witness the event. Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom holds a briefing on North Korea’s decision to disable its Punggye-ri nuclear facility, in Seoul on Sunday. Yo

May 13, 2018

North Korean state media assails Japan for emphasis on abductees

North Korea’s state news agency slammed Japan for insisting on the return of abductees as a condition of normalizing ties, accusing its neighbor of going “against the trend” toward the “building of a bright future” in the run-up to an unprecedented summit between US President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un.“The reactionaries of Japan are hyping the ‘issue of abduction’ which had already been settled,” KCNA said in a commentary published Saturday. “This is just a mean and foolish behavior to stem t

May 13, 2018

N. Korean state media outlets widely report nuclear test site dismantlement plan

North Korean state media outlets on Sunday widely reported the country's decision to dismantle its nuclear test site, a move seen as underscoring its seriousness about denuclearization.The Rodong Sinmun, the North's main newspaper, carried the full text of a statement the foreign ministry released the previous night that the country will demolish its Punggye-ri nuclear test site between May 23 and 25. Punggye-ri nuclear test site (Yonhap)The Korean Central Broadcasting Station, a radio station f

May 13, 2018

Cheong Wa Dae welcomes N. Korea's pledge to dismantle nuclear test site

South Korea's presidential office on Sunday welcomed North Korea's announcement of its plan to dismantle the country's nuclear test site, saying the move will be helpful in building trust between the United States and the North ahead of their upcoming summit.The North's foreign ministry announced Saturday night that it will dismantle its Punggye-ri nuclear test site between May 23 and 25, and will invite journalists from South Korea, China, Russia, the United States and Britain to cover the dism

May 13, 2018

NK restaurant in Dubai becomes haunt for S. Koreans

A North Korean restaurant specializing in "Pyongyang naengmyeon" bustles with South Koreans even at late lunchtime, with most of them ordering the dish that originated in the North's capital. "The taste of our naengmyeon is different from that at other restaurants as we use buckwheat, the raw material for naengmyeon, directly brought from Pyongyang," bragged a North Korean waitress at Okryugwan, located on the first floor of Ascot Hotel in Dubai. Pyongyang naengmyeon is a bowl of cold noodles an

May 13, 2018

Ruling party welcomes, opposition party downplays NK's pledge to dismantle nuclear test site

The ruling Democratic Party on Sunday welcomed North Korea's announcement of a detailed plan to dismantle its nuclear test site as a first step toward complete denuclearization, while the main opposition Liberty Korea Party downplayed it as nothing new.The North's foreign ministry announced Saturday night that it will dismantle its Punggye-ri nuclear test site between May 23 and 25, and will invite journalists from South Korea, China, Russia, the United States and Britain to cover the dismantlin

May 13, 2018

Trump welcomes N. Korea plan to blow up nuke-site tunnels

North Korea said Saturday that it will dismantle its nuclear test site in less than two weeks, in a dramatic event that would set up leader Kim Jong Un's summit with President Donald Trump next month. Trump welcomed the "gracious gesture."In a statement carried by state media, North Korea's Foreign Ministry said all of the tunnels at the country's northeastern testing ground will be destroyed by explosion, and observation and research facilities and ground-based guard units will also be removed.

May 13, 2018