US will achieve NK denuclearization 'one way or another': top diplomat

The United States will achieve the denuclearization of North Korea "one way or another" even though it prefers a diplomatic solution, a top US diplomat said Thursday.Susan Thornton, nominee for assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, made the remark at her confirmation hearing, appearing to reaffirm that Washington will use military options to counter the nuclear threat if necessary.(Yonhap)"The Trump administration has mobilized the entire international community, throu

Feb. 16, 2018

N. Korea says US to pay dear price for raising human rights issue

North Korea has warned that the United States will pay dearly for bringing up the topic of its human rights record.North Korea accused the US of kicking up a defamation campaign against Pyongyang by attributing the death of Otto Warmbier to North Korea.(Yonhap)Warmbier, a US college student, was detained in North Korea and died shortly after being sent home in a coma last year.Warmbier's father accompanied US Vice President Mike Pence on his visit to South Korea to attend the PyeongChang Winter

Feb. 16, 2018

[PyeongChang 2018] North Korean figure skating pairs team sets personal best to finish 13th at PyeongChang

GANGNEUNG, Gangwon Province -- North Korean figure skating pairs team of Ryom Tae-ok and Kim Ju-sik on Thursday established new personal best scores at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.　In the free skating held at the Gangneung Ice Arena, Ryom and Kim earned 124.23 points to break their previous personal high of 119.9 points. With a personal best 69.40 points in the short program on the previous day, they earned 193.63 points overall, the highest total of their career, to finish 13th. It‘s the hi

Feb. 15, 2018

[PyeongChang 2018] NK taekwondo team heads back home after four shows

North Korean taekwondo performers returned home on Thursday, wrapping up their nine-day trip to South Korea.The 28-member group crossed the inter-Korean border to the North via Dorasan Customs, Immigration and Quarantine office in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, near the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas. North Korean taekwondo performers and officials return to the North via western land route. (Yonhap)The North Korean-led International Taekwon-Do Federation team led by chief Pak Yong-chil pa

Feb. 15, 2018

[PyeongChang 2018] Over 60 pct of S. Koreans support proposed inter-Korean summit: poll

　Six out of ten South Koreans think the two Koreas should hold another round of bilateral summit talks, a poll showed Thursday, amid an inter-Korean rapprochement driven by the Olympic Games currently under way in PyeongChang.　According to the Realmeter survey of 500 adults nationwide, 61.5 percent were in favor of a meeting between President Moon Jae-in and his northern counterpart Kim Jong-un.North Korea`s female cheerleading squad stages a performance in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, on the si

Feb. 15, 2018

Japan reports suspected North Korea sanctions violation

TOKYO -- Japan has reported a new suspected sanctions violation by North Korea to the UN Security Council after spotting an apparent cargo transfer between a Belize-registered tanker and a North Korean one. YonhapJapan's foreign ministry said a military patrol plane observed the apparent transfer in the East China Sea early Tuesday.   "Following a comprehensive assessment, the Government of Japan strongly suspects that they conducted ship-to-ship transfers banned" by UN Security Council resoluti

Feb. 15, 2018

NK leader fears US preventative strike: defector

WASHINGTON -- Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been reaching out to South Korea out of fear the United States will launch a preventative strike on his country, a North Korean defector who worked for the regime said Wednesday. YonhapRi Jong-ho, a former ruling party official, was referring to Kim's recent willingness to engage with South Korea over his country's participation in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. Last week the North Korean leader sent his smiling younger sister, Yo-jong, to attend the

Feb. 15, 2018

Pence draws line between talks, negotiations with NK

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday drew the line between talks and negotiations with North Korea, saying President Donald Trump "believes in" the former. YonhapIn an interview with Axios, Pence said Trump "always believes in talking (with North Korea), but talking is not negotiating."His remark appears to leave open the possibility of a preliminary dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang that would set the tone for any future negotiations over the communist regime's nucl

Feb. 15, 2018

LKP leader: Ex-President Lee rejected NK summit proposal

Late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il proposed holding a summit with then-South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on condition that the South recognize the North's nuclear weapons, but Lee rejected the proposal, the leader of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party said Wednesday.Hong Joon-pyo disclosed the alleged proposal, which was not mentioned even in Lee's memoir, published in January 2015, as part of efforts to underscore his point that President Moon Jae-in should not pursue a summit with th

Feb. 14, 2018

Latvian bank faces US sanctions for dealing with NK

The US Treasury Department proposed sanctions against a Latvian bank, saying it helped process illicit transactions for entities including those with ties to North Korea’s ballistic missiles program.The US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) designated Latvia’s ABLV Bank as a primary money laundering concern, and proposed to ban it from the US financial system. China’s Bank of Dandong, which was blacklisted by the US in June last year for laundering money for Nort

Feb. 14, 2018

NK prepares for modest celebration of late leader's birthday this week: Seoul

North Korea appears to be preparing modest celebratory events for late leader Kim Jong-il's birthday this week, the unification ministry said Wednesday."Without any peculiarity, North Korea is having (commemorative) events at the previous year's scale," Unification Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun said in a press briefing.North Korea marks the anniversary of the birth of Kim on Feb. 16, dubbed "Day of the Shining Star" in North Korea. The late leader, father of sitting leader Kim Jong-un, was bo

Feb. 14, 2018

NK cheerleaders make trip to alpine venue in PyeongChang

North Korean cheerleaders on Wednesday made their way to an alpine skiing venue at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in South Korea, though they didn't get to watch their compatriot's performance due to the event being rescheduled.Tens of members of a North Korean cheering squad showed up at Yongpyong Alpine Centre in PyeongChang, 180 kilometers east of Seoul, where alpine technical events -- slalom and giant slalom -- are being staged during the Olympics.The North Koreans, wearing red uniforms, w

Feb. 14, 2018

Seoul approves fund to pay N. Korea's Olympic bills

South Korea on Wednesday approved a plan to use a government fund to support North Korea's participation in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, officials said.The South and North Exchange and Cooperation Promotion Council passed $2.86 billion (2.64 million won) in spending from the government budget for inter-Korean cooperation to pay the Olympic bills for Pyongyang.The fund will cover the costs of hundreds of North Korean art performers, cheerleaders and taekwondo demonstration team members who ca

Feb. 14, 2018

US intel chief says decision time on NK 'ever closer'

WASHINGTON -- US intelligence chief Dan Coats said Tuesday that the time for a decision on Washington's response to North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs is drawing "ever closer."The director of national intelligence made the remark at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, saying the regime poses a potentially "significant" threat to the US."I agree with you that the decision time is becoming ever closer, in terms of how we respond to this," Coats said in response to a question

Feb. 14, 2018

Unification Ministry talks with top envoys of China, Japan

Seoul’s Unification Ministry has scheduled meetings with Japan and China’s top envoys to South Korea to discuss inter-Korean issues and results of North Korean high-level delegation’s recent visit to the South, officials said Tuesday. Japanese Ambassador to South Korea Yasumasa Nagamine meets with Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung on Tuesday. (Yonhap)Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung held a closed door meeting with the Japanese ambassador on Tuesday and is scheduled to hold another c

Feb. 13, 2018

‘Trump should give talk with North Korea a chance’

With US President Donald Trump’s administration raising the prospect for direct talks with North Korea amid an inter-Korean Olympics detente, the US should pursue dialogue if Pyongyang continues to suspend nuclear and missile tests until after the Olympics, Washington-based security scholars said.　In an email interview with The Korea Herald, the analysts noted such initial talks without preconditions are necessary to determine North Korea’s nuclear capabilities and their intentions before it bec

Feb. 13, 2018

Kim Jong-un calls for continued reconciliation with S. Korea

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for continued reconciliatory efforts with South Korea as he received a report from his high-level delegation about their trip to the South, the North’s state-run news agency said Tuesday.“It is important to continue making good results by further livening up the warm climate of reconciliation and dialogue created by the strong desire and common will of the North and the South with the Winter Olympics as a momentum,” Kim was quoted in English by the Korean C

Feb. 13, 2018

[PyeongChang 2018] Seoul to review plan to bankroll NK Olympic participation

South Korea will this week review a motion to bankroll North Korea's ongoing participation in the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games, the unification ministry said Tuesday.The South and North Exchange and Cooperation Promotion Council will convene on Wednesday morning to deliberate on the motion to pay about 2.9 billion won ($2.7 million) worth of Olympic bills for Pyongyang, the ministry said. Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon will chair the council meeting. (Yonhap)If it is approved, the

Feb. 13, 2018

Ruling party calls for reunions of separated families amid warming inter-Korean ties

The floor leader of the ruling Democratic Party called Tuesday for reunions of separated families between South Korea and North Korea, saying it is the most urgent issue to address in expanding cooperation and exchanges between the two sides.Rep. Woo Won-shik made the appeal as inter-Korean relations have shown signs of warming in the wake of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's charm offensive toward the South, such as the country's participation in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics and the dispatch

Feb. 13, 2018

N. Korea's summit offer builds pressure on Moon

WASHINGTON -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's surprise invitation to South Korean President Moon Jae-in to visit Pyongyang has created additional pressure for the South to be tough with the provocative regime.Moon responded cautiously, saying that the two sides should build the conditions for a future summit. The liberal leader has long embraced a policy of engagement with Pyongyang to peacefully end the impasse over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.The United States, meanwhile, has

Feb. 13, 2018