American prisoners released by N.Korea land in Washington

WASHINGTON -- A plane carrying three US prisoners released by North Korea landed near Washington D.C. on Thursday to be met by President Donald Trump, clearing a major obstacle to a planned summit between him and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.The prisoners, freed after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo travelled to the North Korean capital, landed at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington, where a giant US flag was suspended between ladders of two fire trucks on the edge of the taxiway.One of t

May 10, 2018

N. Korea, China strengthen aviation cooperation

BEIJING -- North Korea and China are moving to expand direct flight routes between Pyongyang and major Chinese cities on the back of growing improvements in their bilateral relationship, tourism officials said Thursday.Following North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's visit to Beijing in late March, the two countries began preparations for the launch of a direct air route linking Pyongyang with China's southwestern city of Chengdu, they said.According to local tourism officials, a group of 10 travel a

May 10, 2018

[Newsmaker] CIA seen engaging in behind-the-scenes coordination for Trump-Kim summit

The US Central Intelligence Agency appeared to be making last-minute behind-the-scenes efforts to finalize details of the summit between the US and North Korean leaders, with its Korea center chief playing a key ancillary role, observers here said Thursday.On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a former CIA director, made another visit to Pyongyang to put the finishing touch on the preparations for the talks between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, as well as

May 10, 2018

S. Korea proposes holding high-level inter-Korean talks next week: official

South Korea has proposed holding high-level talks with North Korea next week to discuss follow-up measures on agreements reached by their leaders during their recent summit, a unification ministry official said Thursday.Seoul's unification ministry made the proposal earlier this week and is currently awaiting the North's answer, the official told reporters on condition of anonymity."We are making arrangements with the North for the high-level meeting, and when the date is determined, we will let

May 10, 2018

Kim says Trump meeting will be positive for Koreas

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said that his upcoming meeting with US President Donald Trump will be a positive development in light of recent tensions on the Korean Peninsula.Kim made the remark to visiting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday, the North's state media reported. Pompeo was in Pyongyang, a second visit to the reclusive country in more than a month."He said that the coming DPRK-US summit would be a historic meeting for the excellent first step toward promotion of th

May 10, 2018

Trump to greet Americans freed by North Korea

US President Donald Trump will greet three Americans released by North Korea at an airbase near Washington Thursday, underscoring a much needed diplomatic win and a stepping stone to a historic summit with Kim Jong-un.Trump will make the short helicopter ride from the White House to Joint Base Andrews to meet Kim Hak-song, Tony Kim and Kim Dong-chul in person, after their release on from North Korea on Wednesday.The North Korean regime granted the three men "amnesty," a US official said, removin

May 10, 2018

Trump preps Singapore meeting with N. Korean leader: news report

US officials are making preparations for a meeting in Singapore between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, a news report said Thursday.Trump instructed his aide to get ready for his summit talks with Kim in the Southeast Asian city-state, according to CNN, which cited "two people familiar with the plans."The White House earlier said the date and site for the unprecedented meeting between the leaders of the two sides had been set. Kim and Trump originally agreed to meet e

May 10, 2018

Release of hostages positive for US-NK summit: Trump

North Korea’s release of US citizens will have “positive effect” on the upcoming US-North Korea summit, US President Donald Trump said Wednesday. Trump, however, revealed no information on the time and location of the meeting, again saying that the information will be revealed “soon,” according to Cheong Wa Dae.  President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump. YonhapAccording to Seoul’s presidential office, the comments came in the comments came in a late night telephone conversation with P

May 10, 2018

Seoul welcomes release of US detainees

Seoul’s presidential office on Wednesday welcomed the release of US citizens held captive by North Korea, saying it is a positive development ahead of the US-North Korea summit. On Wednesday three US citizens were released and handed to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who arrived in Pyongyang earlier in the day to discuss issues concerning the summit. The hostages released are Kim Hak-song, Kim Sang-duk, and Kim Dong-chul. Kim Hak-song and Kim Sang-duk had been held since last year, while Kim

May 9, 2018

Trump: Pompeo returning from NK with 3 American detainees

US President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that three American detainees have been released from North Korea and that the time and venue of his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have been set.“I am pleased to inform you that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in the air and on his way back from North Korea with the 3 wonderful gentlemen that everyone is looking so forward to meeting.They seem to be in good health,” Trump tweeted.“Also, good meeting with Kim Jong Un. Date & Place set,

May 9, 2018

US committed to cooperating with NK to achieve peace on peninsula: Pompeo

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday that Washington is committed to cooperating with North Korea to achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula, according to news reports. He made the remarks in a lunch meeting with Kim Yong-chol, head of the North's United Front Department handling inter-Korean relations. Pompeo earlier arrived in Pyongyang to discuss details of a summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump.Pompeo meets Kim Jong-un during his trip to Nort

May 9, 2018

Who are the three US citizens held by North Korea?

Three Korean-Americans held by nuclear-armed North Korea are expected to be released Wednesday during a visit by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.Despite years of hostility between Washington and Pyongyang, hundreds of Americans visited North Korea every year until the US State Department finally issued a travel ban on the country last September.Americans made the journey to North Korea for a range of reasons, from holidays and business trips to humanitarian work and missionary purposes.Seoul i

May 9, 2018

[Feature] Korean War survivors hopeful of seeing families in NK one last time

For Choi Ki-hong, the 1950-53 Korean War that divided the peninsula in half also stripped his whole family away from him. When Choi left his hometown of Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province -- a battlefield during the war and now located just south of the demilitarized zone -- as a clueless five-year-old, he didn’t realize he would never see his family again. Now 73 years old, Choi visited the Korean Red Cross’ main service center in central Seoul last week, hoping that he might be able to meet his long

May 9, 2018

Six S. Koreans remain imprisoned in NK

With US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to Pyongyang fueling hopes of the possible return of three detained US citizens, speculations about the status of South Koreans detained by the North are rising.At present, six South Korean nationals are known to be kept by the North Korean regime.According to Seoul’s Ministry of Unification, three are Christian missionaries accused of espionage and subversion against the communist nation. South Korean missionaries Kim Kuk-gi (left) and Choe Chun-gi

May 9, 2018

Trump’s Iran deal pullout has little impact on US-NK nuclear talks: analysts

With US President Donald Trump announcing his country’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, debates have emerged over how the move would impact future negotiations with the nuclear-armed North Korea. 　Denouncing the nuclear pact with Iran as a “horrible, one-sided” deal, Trump stressed that the withdrawal would send a strong signal to North Korea, which, unlike Iran, boasts full-fledged nuclear capabilities with dozens of nuclear warheads for intercontinental ballistic missiles. 　But Seoul-ba

May 9, 2018

Expert sees existing NK nuclear bombs as hurdle in talks with US

North Korea's stockpile of around 20 nuclear bombs will be the key hurdle in its ongoing denuclearization negotiations with the United States, a South Korean expert argued on Wednesday.Prof. Kim Joon-hyung of Handong University made the forecast in his research paper presented to a Seoul academic forum marking the first anniversary of the inauguration of President Moon Jae-in."It is widely believed that the US and North Korea have narrowed views on the freeze, inspection and verification of the

May 9, 2018

S. Korea's nuclear envoy to visit DC for talks on N. Korea

South Korea's top nuclear envoy headed to the US on Wednesday for consultations on North Korea ahead of back-to-back summit talks among the countries that will likely redefine regional security conditions.The trip by Lee Do-hoon, representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs at the foreign ministry, is part of hectic diplomacy on Pyongyang's nuclear program and efforts to bring a permanent peace to the peninsula.While in Washington DC he plans to meet key players in the Donald T

May 9, 2018

E. Asian powers call for de-nuked N. Korea

South Korea, China and Japan on Wednesday issued a joint statement supporting the Panmunjeom Declaration, at their first trilateral summit held in more than two years. At the summit, held in Tokyo, the three countries also called for cooperation in the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, closer ties and resumption of regular trilateral meetings. “We share the view that complete denuclearization and establishment of lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula is very important to peace and prospe

May 9, 2018

N. Korea cautions US not to hurt dialogue atmosphere

North Korea on Wednesday called on the United Sates to show sincerity and restrain from words and acts that could ruin the atmosphere for dialogue ahead of an unprecedented summit between the two countries.“The US should know that it will be better off to restrain from words and acts that could undermine the rarely created atmosphere for talks,” the Rodong Sinmun, the ruling Workers’ Party’s official newspaper, said in a commentary.“Also, it should make efforts to show sincere and genuine attitu

May 9, 2018

N. Korea to release 3 US captives: Cheong Wa Dae official

North Korea is soon expected to release three US citizens held in the communist state, an official from Seoul's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Wednesday, in an apparent goodwill gesture ahead of a historic meeting between its leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump.The official said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was expected to return with the exact time of the Trump-Kim summit, along with the three US captives in North Korea."We expect him to bring the date, time and the ca

May 9, 2018