N. Korean official visits Chinese port city amid talk of possible trip by Kim

A senior North Korean foreign ministry official recently visited the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian, informed sources here said Wednesday, amid speculation that leader Kim Jong-un may soon hold another summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.Vice Foreign Minister Ri Gil-song visited Beijing last Thursday, when Kim's two-day talks with US President Donald Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam, finished without a deal. (Yonhap)He then traveled unexpectedly to Dalian the following day, according to the sou

March 6, 2019

Where is NK’s covert uranium enrichment site?

Speculation is running rampant as to the locations of the additional weapons-grade uranium-producing sites in North Korea that US President Donald Trump demanded be dismantled, met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s refusal, during their second summit in Vietnam last week. In Hanoi, Pyongyang offered to destroy its Yongbyon facilities that produce the two key materials used in making nuclear weapons -- plutonium and highly enriched uranium -- but Washington demanded an additional step beyond

March 5, 2019

Kim Jong-un arrives home as NK refrains from criticizing US over Hanoi summit

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un returned to Pyongyang early Tuesday via train through China after a trip to Vietnam. The North’s state-run Korea Central News Agency reported that Kim had arrived at the Pyongyang station at 3 a.m. Tuesday after wrapping up his official visit to Vietnam and the second North Korea-US summit last week.  (Yonhap)The KCNA’s English news service, however, did not mention Kim’s summit with US President Donald Trump.North Korean state-run media have so far refrained from

March 5, 2019

Pompeo tells teenagers about N. Korea summit

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was in Iowa Monday to discuss trade with farmers but also to engage teenagers on his job as America's top diplomat, including his work on last week's summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.Speaking at Johnston High School in Johnston, Iowa, Pompeo asked the students whether they had watched Trump on TV during his meeting with Kim in Hanoi, Vietnam.Trump, the top US diplomat said, was "working to try and get the nuclear weapons

March 5, 2019

Seoul calls for three-way talks after Trump-Kim collapse

SEOUL (AP) -- South Korea has proposed semiofficial three-way talks with the United States and North Korea as it struggles to put nuclear diplomacy back on track after the collapse of a summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.　 　The proposal for the talks came during a National Security Council meeting on Monday led by South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who said it was Seoul’s “outmost priority” to prevent nuclear negotiations between the US and North Korea fro

March 4, 2019

Moon calls for all-out efforts to support US-NK dialogue

President Moon Jae-in on Monday called on the government to facilitate US-North Korea dialogue while stressing that the recent summit was not without results.Speaking at the first National Security Council meeting he had presided over in eight months, Moon said the result of the US-North Korea summit was less than hoped for, but the Feb. 27-28 summit in Hanoi served to highlight important advances in denuclearization talks. President Moon Jae-in speaks at the National Security Council meeting on

March 4, 2019

Ministry denies reports of UN sanctions waiver for video reunions of inter-Korean families

South Korea’s Unification Ministry denied Monday news reports that the United Nations had granted a sanctions exemption to enable video reunions of families separated by the Korean War. “It is not true that the United Nations Security Council recently made a decision (to approve) a sanctions exemption regarding video reunions between South and North Korea,” Unification Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun said at a regular press briefing.  (Yonhap)Earlier in the day, a number of Korean news outlets

March 4, 2019

N. Korean leader's train heads north without stopping in Beijing

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's special train passed the northeastern Chinese port city of Tianjin on Monday, sources said, apparently heading directly back to Pyongyang after a trip to Hanoi for a summit with US President Donald Trump.Kim left Dong Dang station in Vietnam on Saturday after a two-day summit with Trump and an official visit to the Southeast Asian nation.(Yonhap)His train passed through Tianjin around 7 a.m., according to the sources, apparently taking the same route as when he

March 4, 2019

[Analysis] US-NK dynamics remain little changed despite unexpected summit outcome

Denuclearization of North Korea is once again in question, with the US-North Korea summit in Hanoi being cut short without reaching an agreement. While the developments at the summit took the world by surprise, the underlying reasons that led to the outcome are unchanged -- the North wanting more for less, and the US wanting Pyongyang to give up more, quickly. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends a wreath laying ceremony at Monument to War Heroes and Martyrs in Hanoi, Vietnam Saturday. (AP-Yo

March 3, 2019

[News focus] South Korea should go back to basics to resolve N. Korea nuke issues: experts

The South Korean government needs to go back to basics to resolve the complex issue of North Korea’s denuclearization in the aftermath of the summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that ended without a deal last week, experts said. Following the breakdown of the talks, Seoul’s hopes that its push for economic engagement with Pyongyang would gain traction with substantial results from the summit were thwarted, as US-led sanctions will continue to remain, effe

March 3, 2019

N. Korean leader passing through China by train: source

A special train carrying North Korean leader Km Jong-un passed through a train station in central China Sunday morning, as he was apparently en route to Pyongyang, informed sources here said.Kim left Dong Dang station in Vietnam by train on Saturday after a two-day summit with US President Donald Trump in Hanoi and an official visit to the Southeast Asian nation.(Yonhap)His train passed through Changsha, the capital of central China's Hunan province, at around 9 a.m. (local time), according to t

March 3, 2019

S. Korean, US nuclear envoys to discuss post-summit steps on N. Korea

South Korea's chief nuclear envoy will soon head to the United States for consultations on the next steps toward North Korea following the summit breakdown in Hanoi last week, a diplomatic source here said Sunday.Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs, plans to meet with his American counterpart, Stephen Biegun, in Washington DC this week, but they have yet to fix an exact schedule, the source said.(Yonhap)Lee sought to meet Biegun in the Vietnamese c

March 3, 2019

Kim departs Vietnam after fruitless summit with Trump

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un left Vietnam by train on Saturday after failing to produce a deal in his much-anticipated nuclear talks with US President Donald Trump.A train carrying Kim and his entourage departed the station in the Vietnamese border town of Dong Dang around 12:40 p.m. to cross into China. He was seen off by a group of high-ranking Vietnamese officials.The train was seen later passing through the station in the Chinese border town of Pingxiang.It remains to be seen how he will

March 2, 2019

NK official reaffirms Pyongyang proposed giving up entire Yongbyon complex

A senior North Korean official reaffirmed Saturday that North Korea proposed giving up its entire main Yongbyon nuclear complex during this week’s summit talks between leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump.North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui made the remarks in response to questions related to comments by USSecretary of Mike Pompeo who said that Pyongyang did not provide clarity regarding what it is prepared to offer on dismantling the Yongbyon nuclear facility.  (Yonhap)“

March 2, 2019

N. Korean leader hopes for improvement in relations with Vietnam in all areas: KCNA

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has expressed hope for stepped-up cooperation and exchanges with Vietnam in all areas, and for improving bilateral relations to a new level, Pyongyang’s official news agency said Saturday.The Korean Central News Agency reported on Kim’s official visit to Hanoi this week that started right after his fruitless nuclear summit talks with US President Donald Trump. (Yonhap)“Through active party-to-party and country-to-country contacts, we should normalize cooperation a

March 2, 2019

Trump holds out hope for deal with N. Korea

US President Donald Trump has voiced hope that a nuclear deal with North Korea will be reached in the future.Trump held his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday, but they failed to bridge their gaps on the issue of dismantling the North’s nuclear weapons program and removing sanctions on the regime.(Yonhap)“I wasn’t satisfied and perhaps he wasn’t satisfied,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News on Thursday. “Good relationship, but I decided t

March 2, 2019

N. Korea forced to rethink nuclear talks with U.S.: top official

A senior North Korean diplomat on Friday questioned the need to continue denuclearization talks with the United States, saying leader Kim Jong-un appears to be changing his mind as well.In an interview with Yonhap News Agency and a few other South Korean news outlets here, Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui claimed that her country should be rewarded adequately for more than a year of halts to nuclear and long-range missile testing: with the lifting of at least some U.N. sanctions. (Yonhap)A day

March 1, 2019

Kim to leave Hanoi earlier than scheduled: sources

HANOI, Vietnam -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will depart from Hanoi earlier than scheduled, sources said Friday, following his summit with US President Donald Trump that ended with no deal. Kim began a two-day official visit to Hanoi on Friday. He is scheduled to meet with Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong, who is also the general secretary of the ruling Communist Party. He will also meet Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan. He

March 1, 2019

N. Korean leader begins official visit to Vietnam

HANOI, Vietnam -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Friday began a two-day official visit to Vietnam, the first to the country by a leader from the regime in 55 years. The last visit was made in 1964 by the late Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-un’s grandfather and the founding leader of North Korea. On Friday, Kim Jong-un began his official schedule with the Vietnamese government. The North Korean leader is set to meet President Nguyen Phu Trong, who is also general-secretary of Vietnam’s ruling Communis

March 1, 2019

[Newsmaker] Group claims establishment of NK provisional government

Free Joseon announced Friday that it has established a provisional government for North Korea in an effort to fight against the regime’s abuse of human rights. The group previously claimed it had protected the son of the late Kim Jong-nam, the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, from possible assassination.  (Yonhap)Formerly known as Cheollima Civil Defense, the group said it will rise against the North Korean regime for committing crimes against humanity for decades. “We indict thi

March 1, 2019