N. Korea warns US could miss 'rare historic opportunity' if swayed by skeptics

North Korea's official news agency on Sunday warned the United States of missing a "rare historic opportunity" if it fails to achieve a positive outcome in the ongoing nuclear talks, three days ahead of a second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.Denouncing US Democrats and other skeptics for disrupting the negotiations on "groundless stories and misinformation," the Korean Central News Agency said in a commentary that the Trump administration should not

Feb. 24, 2019

UN grants sanctions waivers for WHO, NGOs' humanitarian aid to N. Korea

The UN Security Council has granted sanctions exemptions to the World Health Organization (WHO) and two nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to provide North Korea with humanitarian assistance, including aid for food security and access to clean water. A UN committee handling sanctions on North Korea granted the waivers for the WHO as well as for the Irish NGO Concern Worldwide and the German NGO Deutsche Welthungerhilfe earlier this month, according to the committee's website.The list of items

Feb. 24, 2019

Defectors skeptical of North Korea’s denuclearization move

North Korean defectors living in South Korea hope that the second summit between Washington and Pyongyang this week will bring about a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula, but doubts remain regarding Kim Jong-un’s commitment to departing from the Kim family playbook. “Denuclearization is not just about giving up nuclear weapons, he (Kim Jong-un) has to put down all the power he has. We know as soon as the nuclear arsenal is gone, the dictatorial regime will face an imminent collapse,” Kim Hyeong-soo,

Feb. 24, 2019

US, NK ready for second summit

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un set out for Hanoi by train Saturday, North Korean media reported Sunday. North Korean state media reported in the early hours of Sunday that Kim left Pyongyang by train to attend the summit with US President Donald Trump. On the trip, which is expected to take approximately 60 hours, Kim is accompanied by a number of top officials including his sister Kim Yo-jong and top aide Kim Yong-chol. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un waves from the train bound for Hanoi at a

Feb. 24, 2019

NK media reports on Kim's departure for Trump summit in Hanoi

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has departed by train for Hanoi to hold a second summit with US President Donald Trump later this week, Pyongyang's state media reported Sunday.Kim left Pyongyang Railway Station on Saturday afternoon and was accompanied by senior officials, including his sister Kim Yo-jong and top aide Kim Yong-chol, the Korean Central News Agency reported. (Yonhap)But there was no mention of Kim's wife, Ri Sol-ju, in the list of those accompanying the leader.Kim is to hold his s

Feb. 24, 2019

Inter-Korean forestry cooperation could make progress 'faster': PM

South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon said Friday that inter-Korean cooperation in the forestry sector could make progress faster than any other joint economic project.He made the remarks while visiting a farming association corporation in Buyeo, South Chungcheong Province."As North Korea needs to produce food and reforest its territory at the same time, the fruit trees that we have improved could play a useful role," Lee said. Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon looks around a food processing factory

Feb. 22, 2019

N. Korean, US envoys hold additional talks on summit agenda

Senior North Korean and US envoys held hourslong talks in Hanoi on Friday as part of home-stretch preparations for another summit between the leaders of the Korean War foes.The negotiations on the summit agenda came as Washington said that freezing all of Pyongyang's weapons of mass destruction programs and delivery systems will be a priority at the second summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump, slated for Feb. 27-28.Kim Hyok-chol, Pyongyang's special represent

Feb. 22, 2019

Seoul's top nuclear envoy due in Hanoi for summit-related consultations

South Korea's chief nuclear envoy headed to Hanoi on Friday for consultations on next week's summit between North Korea and the United States.Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs, plans to meet with Stephen Biegun, Washington's envoy for Pyongyang, there to discuss a negotiation strategy, a government source said. Lee Do-hoon (Yonhap)Biegun is leading the working-level bargaining with North Korea on the agenda items of the two-day talks between lead

Feb. 22, 2019

Sanctions could ease with greatly reduced North Korea threat

WASHINGTON (AP) - The US will not move to ease economic sanctions on North Korea until it is confident that the nuclear weapons threat from Pyongyang has been "substantially reduced,'' Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday.Pompeo didn't elaborate, but his comment seemed to leave open the possibility that sanctions relief was possible short of complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.(Yonhap)Pompeo told NBC's "Today'' that he hopes North Korean leader Kim Jong Un

Feb. 22, 2019

US seeks to denuclearize N. Korea in 'big bites': official

The United States is seeking to move quickly and with "very big bites" to denuclearize North Korea and offer a brighter future for its people, a senior US administration official said Thursday.The two countries are engaged in negotiations ahead of next week's second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un."I think we need to move quickly and with very big bites. We are not looking to have incremental steps as a key driver of this process," the official told r

Feb. 22, 2019

Value of Yongbyon nuclear site underestimated: think tank

Dismantling the Yongbyon Nuclear Complex could be a meaningful step in North Korea’s denuclearization, as it is key to the country’s nuclear weapons program, a South Korean think tank said Thursday. “While the Yongbyong nuclear facility has emerged as a primary target for the first phase of the denuclearization process, there are opinions that denigrate or belittle the value of the possible dismantlement,” said Hong Min, director of the North Korean research division of the Korea Institute for N

Feb. 21, 2019

Bolton due in Seoul to discuss US-NK summit: report

US national security adviser John Bolton will travel to Seoul later this week to discuss matters regarding the US-North Korea summit, CNN reported Wednesday. US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are set to hold their second summit in Hanoi, Vietnam. Details of the meeting’s schedule have not been released, but the US has announced that the summit will be held on Feb. 27 and 28. John Bolton. YonhapAccording to a CNN report citing two Trump administration officials, Bolton

Feb. 21, 2019

N. Korea turns down S. Korea's offer to hold joint celebration for independence uprising

North Korea on Thursday turned down South Korea's offer to hold joint events celebrating the upcoming centennial of the March 1 Independence Movement against Japan's colonial rule, the unification ministry said."We have been in consultations to make the event take place as best we could, but the North officially notified us today that it would be difficult to jointly celebrate the March 1 Independence Movement," the ministry said.The North explained that circumstances do not allow it to arrange

Feb. 21, 2019

[Newsmaker] Italy confirms daughter of missing N.Korea diplomat returned home

ROME (Reuters) - North Korea informed Italy last year that the daughter of its acting ambassador had asked to return home after her father left his post in Rome, the Italian foreign ministry said on Wednesday.North Korean diplomat Jo Song Gil and his wife went missing in November, and a South Korean newspaper has reported that they have applied for asylum in an unspecified Western country.Thae Yong Ho, a former deputy North Korean ambassador to Britain who defected to South Korea in 2016, said o

Feb. 21, 2019

N. Korean envoy on US in Hanoi for pre-summit talks

HANOI/BEIJING (Yonhap) -- North Korea's point man on the United States landed in the Vietnamese capital on Wednesday for talks on the agenda of a summit between the two sides next week.Kim Hyok-chol, special representative for US affairs of the State Affairs Commission, arrived in Hanoi at around 6:20 p.m. on a plane from Beijing. North Korean working-level delegates arrive at a Vietnamese government guesthouse in Hanoi on Wednesday. YonhapHe walked out of the Hanoi international airport along w

Feb. 20, 2019

Under sanctions, N. Korea’s cyber activities shifting toward financial gain: report

North Korea’s cyber operations against South Korea are increasingly carried out for financial gain, whereas its espionage attacks have become more subtle and sophisticated, a report said Wednesday.“The Evolution of North Korean Cyber Threats” by the Asan Institute for Policy Studies said the North’s illegal cyber activities had shifted toward theft in the past decade. (Yonhap)Describing the trends from 2009 to 2018, the report said Pyongyang had focused on Distributed Denial of Services attacks

Feb. 20, 2019

‘No rush’ on NK denuclearization, Trump says

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he had no strict timeline for North Korea’s ultimate denuclearization as negotiators from the two countries head to Vietnam for last-minute talks ahead of a second summit next week. “I’m in no rush. There’s no testing. As long as there is no testing, I’m in no rush,” Trump told reporters at the White House after a phone conversation with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. In this June 12, 2018, file photo, US President Donald Trump, right, meets wi

Feb. 20, 2019

NK leader to travel to Vietnam by train: report

North Korea leader Kim Jong-un is expected to travel to Vietnam by train for his second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, slated for next week, a news report said Wednesday.(Yonhap)Kim is expected to leave Pyongyang later this week for his planned arrival in the Southeast Asian nation on Monday, as it could take him at least two and a half days to travel through China, Reuters reported, citing sources with direct knowledge of security and logistics planning.Trump and Kim are set to hold t

Feb. 20, 2019

North Korea ranks 2nd in cyberattack speed: report

North Korean hackers ranked second in cyberattack capabilities in terms of the speed in breaking into targeted networks, a report by a US cybersecurity firm said Wednesday.According to the Global Threat Report by CrowdStrike, North Korea was second in “breakout time” at 2 hours and 20 minutes, coming behind Russia, which recorded 18 minutes and 47 seconds. (123rf)Breakout time refers to the window of time from when the attacker first compromises the endpoint machine -- any device that has the ca

Feb. 20, 2019

NK leader could visit China next month after summit with Trump: source

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could visit China next month after his second summit with US President Donald Trump, a source said Wednesday. A week after the first summit with Trump, in June last year, Kim visited Beijing to brief Chinese President Xi Jinping on the results of the talks with Trump in Singapore. Kim also visited China in May before the first summit.The same pattern could repeat this time, the source said. Kim visited Beijing last month and could travel to the neighboring ally ag

Feb. 20, 2019