[2018 Inter-Korean summit] Kim Jong-un, Ri Sol-ju ‘fascinated’ with mini-hammer

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju appeared to be fascinated with the novel method of eating dessert served at the summit banquet, according to local media outlets. Mango mousse was the choice of dessert to be served to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, his wife Kim Jung-sook, Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju. Due to the hard exterior, the dessert could not be eaten with a fork or spoon.President Moon reportedly showed Kim Jong-un how to eat the seemingly complex dessert.

April 29, 2018

Moon ramps up cooperation with US, Japanese leaders in inter-Korean summit follow up

President Moon Jae-in is stepping up efforts for US and Japan collaborations on North Korean issues, in the follow up to his summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. According to Cheong Wa Dae, Moon spoke with US President Donald Trump late Saturday, and with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday.  President Moon Jae-in (left), US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Cheong Wa DaeIn the Moon-Trump conversation, which lasted from 9:15 p.m. to 10:30 p.m

April 29, 2018

[Newsmaker] Connecting railways: precursor for broader economic cooperation

　With the two Koreas’ leaders pledging to restore now-defunct railways and roads during the summit, hopes are high that the initiative will prompt cross-border cooperation in the economy and logistics. 　President Moon Jae-in and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un agreed to adopt “practical measures” to connect and modernize the Gyeongui Line and East Coast Line. The former is between Seoul and Sinuiju, while the latter had connected the South’s coastal city of Busan and Wonsan of the North. 　The a

April 29, 2018

Transportation ministry to review measures for inter-Korean economic projects

South Korea's transportation ministry said Sunday it is reviewing a set of measures to prepare a potentially full-fledged implementation of cross-border economic projects.Last Friday, at the historic inter-Korean summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the two Koreas agreed to push forward a slew of economic projects agreed upon by late South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 2007 for balanced growth and joint

April 29, 2018

[2018 Inter-Korean summit] Ri Sol-ju becomes ‘fashion muse’ for North Koreans

Ri Sol-ju, the wife of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, upheld an overwhelming presence on the carpet leading to the Peace House in the South’s side of the truce village of Panmunjeom on Friday.Friday’s historic summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean counterpart Kim marked not only the first time the two leaders met, but also the first meeting for the two first ladies.Ri arrived at the Peace House in Panmunjeom on Friday for the banquet in an apricot two-piece dress w

April 29, 2018

Abe says Moon addressed abduction of Japanese by North during summit with Kim

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed his gratitude to President Moon Jae-in on Sunday for addressing the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by the North during last week's inter-Korean summit.Moon and Abe had telephone talks earlier in the day to discuss the result of the summit between Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held Friday at the border truce village of Panmunjom. "President Moon talked about North Korea's abduction of Japanese people and the relations between Japan and

April 29, 2018

Seoul and US defense, foreign affairs chiefs stress close cooperation

The South Korean and US defense and foreign affairs chiefs reaffirmed the need for close cooperation between the two countries in resolving North Korean nuclear issues. According to Seoul’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held their first telephone conversation on Saturday.In the conversation, Kang briefed Pompeo on the results of the inter-Korean summit, and discussed plans for a South Korea-US summit meeting in the near future.

April 29, 2018

Pyongyang to shut down nuke facility in May, allow inspection

North Korea will shut down its nuclear weapons testing facility in May, and allow inspection by South Korean and US experts and media, Cheong Wa Dae revealed Sunday. “(North Korean leader Kim Jong-un) said during the summit talks with President Moon Jae-in that the shutdown of the facility in the north of the country will be carried out in May,” Cheong Wa Dae senior public relations secretary Yoon Young-chan said. Senior presidential public relations secretary Yoon Young-chan speaks at a press b

April 29, 2018

[2018 Inter-Korean summit] AP reporter views swing in Korean relations with wary hope

At the height of North Korea’s torrid run of nuclear and missile tests last year, I was constantly joking with my Associated Press colleague Kim Hyung-jin about how we could be writing about something entirely different once the calendar turns to 2018.North Korea was being unusually provocative, and its nuclear threats had become genuine. There was also a new president in Washington who seemed serious about using military force against the North, even at the risk of triggering a full-blown war.E

April 29, 2018

[Breaking] N. Korea offers to close nuclear test site next month: Cheong Wa Dae

South Korean presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Sunday that North Korea has offered to close down its nuclear test site in Punggye-ri in May.During a live broadcast delivered by President Moon Jae-in's chief press secretary Yoon Young-chan, he said Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un also agreed to make public when North Korea dismantles the northern test site.Kim said he would invite security experts and journalists to the North."Some say that we are terminating facilities that are not

April 29, 2018

Pompeo: N. Korean leader 'prepared' to 'help us achieve' denuclearization

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he had a "good conversation" with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on the "hardest issues that face our two countries," during an interview with ABC News.Appearing on the network's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," Pompeo said the North Korean leader is "prepared" to "lay out a map that would help us achieve that objective," referring to complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization.The extracts of the interview were made available Saturday pr

April 29, 2018

Analysis: Korea summit puts nuclear ball in Trump’s court

After a summit high on theatrics, emotional displays of Korean reconciliation and some important but familiar sounding plans to boost bilateral relations, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has safely returned to Pyongyang and South Korean President Moon Jae-in to his official residence in Seoul.But is buyer’s remorse about to set in?Despite its feel-good emphasis on relationship-building, the first inter-Korean summit in more than a decade left a lot of question marks around the biggest and most c

April 29, 2018

Moon, Trump vow efforts to ensure US, NK agree on concrete denuclearization measures

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump have agreed to push for an early summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and closely coordinate to ensure the upcoming summit leads to an agreement on concrete measures to denuclearize North Korea, Seoul officials said Sunday.The two leaders had a phone conversation late Saturday to discuss the outcome of Moon's summit with Kim.Trump hailed the historic summit for moving forward inter-Korean ties and welcomed thei

April 29, 2018

Trump says North Korean meeting could happen in three-four weeks

WASHINGTON, Michigan -- US President Donald Trump said on Saturday a meeting with North Korea could happen over the next three to four weeks."I think we will have a meeting over the next three or four weeks," Trump said at a campaign rally in Washington, Michigan."It's going be a very important meeting, the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." (Reuters) US President Donald Trump speaks during a rally at Total Sports Park in Washington, Michigan on April 28, 2018 (local time). (AFP-Yonhap)

April 29, 2018

Moon, Trump discuss North Korea

President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump held a telephone conversation on Saturday, Cheong Wa Dae said. Seoul’s presidential office did not elaborate on the conversation, which lasted from 9:15 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. (Korea time).A file photograph from Feb. 15 shows President Moon Jae-in having a telephone conversation. Cheong Wa DaeTrump, however, hinted that the conversation was about North Korea. Shortly after the telephone conversation, Trump commented that related developments were “

April 29, 2018

[Newsmaker] ‘Instant bond’ between first ladies of two Koreas grabs attention

Among the many spectacles Friday’s inter-Korean summit offered was the two Korea’s first ladies’ first-ever meeting with one another, and the seemingly instant bond they formed.Ri Sol-ju, the wife of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, made her much-anticipated appearance at Panmunjeom at 6:18 p.m. on Friday. She did not accompany her husband when he came for talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in earlier in the day, and her attendance at the summit dinner remained unconfirmed until afternoo

April 29, 2018

N. Korea's official newspaper gives special coverage to inter-Korean summit

The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of North Korea's Workers' Party, gave extensive coverage of Friday's inter-Korean summit, carrying as many as 61 photos of South Korean President Moon Jae-in meeting with the North's leader Kim Jong-un at the border peace village of Panmunjom.In an unusual move, the daily newspaper published in Pyongyang filled four of its Saturday edition's six pages with news and photos related to the summit talks. It carried detailed reports of the entire summit outco

April 28, 2018

Can North Korea's 'treasured sword' be bargained away?

Despite Friday‘s cross-border summit affirming the shared goal of complete denuclearization, skepticism lingers over whether North Korea will forgo its nuclear arsenal, a quintessential source of national pride and “treasured sword of justice.”　　Despite crippling sanctions and global excoriations, the North has gamely pushed to advance its nuclear program not in a haphazard way but systematically with apparent operational purposes, strategic planning, and not least a long-term vision.　　Despite i

April 28, 2018

Young defectors from N. Korea struggle to adapt to S. Korean schools

The number of North Korean defectors attending South Korea‘s elementary and secondary schools stood at 2,538 as of April 2017, marking a 270 percent increase from 687 in 2007, figures from the education ministry showed Saturday.　Of the total, 1,027 defector students, or 40.5 percent, were attending elementary schools, while 785 students, or 30.9 percent, were enrolled in middle schools and 726 students, or 28.6 percent, in high schools, the figures showed. The remaining 226 students were enrolle

April 28, 2018

Pompeo says Kim is serious about denuclearization talks

New U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday he senses North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is “serious” about the upcoming talks with the United States over its denuclearization. 　He met with Kim in his secret visit to Pyongyang from March 30-April 1 to prepare for a summit between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump in May or early June. 　“I did get a sense that he was serious,” he was quoted as saying in a news conference in Brussels, when asked if he thinks Kim is serious about denucleariz

April 28, 2018