N. Korea's media report on inter-Korean talks on forestry cooperation

North Korea's state media Tuesday reported on inter-Korean talks held a day earlier, saying that they discussed "practical" issues and "step-by-step" measures for forestry cooperation.The two Koreas held the meeting Monday at their joint liaison office in the North's border town of Kaesong and agreed to work together in combating pine tree pests until March and modernizing North Korean tree nurseries in phases. (Yonhap)"Inter-Korean talks for cooperation in forestry took place at the north-south

Oct. 23, 2018

Koreas agree to jointly fight pine tree pests until March

SEOUL/KAESONG -- South and North Korea agreed Monday to jointly combat pine tree pests and other tree diseases until March next year as part of efforts to intensify their forestry cooperation.The agreement was made during talks held at their joint liaison office in the North's border town of Kaesong.Officials from the two Koreas shake hands at the meeting held in Kaesong, North Korea on Monday. Yonhap"The South agreed to provide necessary drugs to combat pine tree pests in the middle of November

Oct. 22, 2018

N. Korean newspaper highlights growing feuds between US, China

North Korea's official newspaper again ran an article on the escalating conflict between the United States and China on Monday, citing expert opinions critical of Washington.The Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, said in a commentary that confrontations between Washington and Beijing, which were caused by the imposition of retaliatory tariffs on each other, have been spreading to various other areas.The newspaper then said that US Vice President Mike Pence's open cri

Oct. 22, 2018

Koreas hold talks on forestry cooperation

South and North Korea held talks on Monday to discuss cross-border forestry cooperation and reforestation of North Korea’s woodlands.The meeting kicked off at around 10 a.m. at the recently established joint liaison office in the North’s border town of Kaesong. Park Chong-ho, deputy minister of the Korea Forest Service, led the three-member South Korean delegation while North Korea also sent a three-member team led by Kim Song-jun, a senior official of the North‘s ministry of environmental prote

Oct. 22, 2018

Moon’s Europe trip yields mixed results

　President Moon Jae-in returned to South Korea on Sunday from a visit to Europe aimed at rallying support for easing sanctions on North Korea amid lingering skepticism about Pyongyang’s denuclearization.　During his nine-day trip to Paris, Rome, Vatican City, Brussels and Copenhagen, Moon argued that greater engagement with North Korea could speed up the country’s abandoning of its nuclear program. 　While the possibility of Pope Francis’ visit to North Korea was heightened and Moon promoted openi

Oct. 21, 2018

Joint inspection of cross-border railways to start as early as this week

The two Koreas are likely to start a joint inspection of cross-border railways as early as this week, government officials said Sunday, in an effort to implement the agreement reached between their leaders in April. The two Koreas agreed to revive on-site surveys of the Gyeongui railway, which runs along the peninsula’s west coast, in late October and the Donghae railway along its east coast in November, at high-level talks last week held in the truce village of Panmunjom.  A section of Gyeongui

Oct. 21, 2018

Pompeo’s remarks on next meeting with NK official fuel speculation

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s recent remarks, indicating that he hopes to meet with his North Korean counterpart “in the next week and a half or so,” without revealing details, is fueling speculation about the details of this potential meeting. “We’re working on finding dates and times and places that will work for each of the two leaders,” Pompeo told the Voice of America on Friday. “I’m very hopeful we’ll have senior leader meetings here in the next week and a half or so between myself a

Oct. 21, 2018

No-fly zone: Prudent trust-building step or reckless concession?

　Controversy continues to grow over South Korea’s plan to establish a no-fly zone along the border with North Korea, prompting debate over the question of building trust with Pyongyang without compromising the military’s reconnaissance capabilities.  　The two Koreas’ defense chiefs agreed last month to ban aircraft flights over the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone and the surrounding area. The agreement was signed following a summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim J

Oct. 21, 2018

S. Korea's nuke envoy heads to US over NK nuclear issue

South Korea's top nuclear envoy left for the United States on Sunday to coordinate North Korea policy with Washington, Seoul's foreign ministry said.Lee Do-hoon, the country's representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, will visit Washington DC from Sunday to Tuesday to meet with his US counterpart, Stephen Biegun.They are expected to discuss the progress of negotiations between the United States and North Korea, including preparations for a second summit between President Do

Oct. 21, 2018

US official: Trump likely to meet with Kim early next year

President Donald Trump will likely have his second meeting with Kim Jong -un early next year to continue charting a way for the North Korean leader to give up his nuclear weapons in a verifiable way.    A senior administration official told White House reporters Friday that a meeting is "likely sometime after the first of the year.''    The official spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the meeting have not been finalized.    US President Donald Trump. Yonhap   Earlier this month, S

Oct. 20, 2018

Two Koreas' demining operations in Joint Security Area near end

The two Koreas are wrapping up their demining operations in part of the Demilitarized Zone to carry out their plan to disarm the Joint Security Area in the buffer zone separating them, a government source here said Friday.The South Korean military has almost completed its demining work, while the North Korean military is expected to finish its work on Saturday in line with the two sides' recent agreement aimed at reducing border tensions and preventing accidental clashes.According to the agreeme

Oct. 19, 2018

Ruling party expects pope's visit to NK to speed up denuclearization

The ruling Democratic Party on Friday expressed hope that Pope Francis' potential visit to North Korea will help speed up denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.The pope effectively accepted an invitation to visit North Korea Thursday when President Moon Jae-in relayed North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's verbal invitation. Pope Francis said if the North sends an official invitation, he will "certainly" respond to it. (Yonhap)"The pope's possible visit to North Korea indicates the international c

Oct. 19, 2018

S. Korea's top nuclear envoy arrives in Beijing for talks on N. Korea

South Korea's top nuclear envoy arrived in Beijing on Thursday to discuss North Korean denuclearization issues with his Chinese counterpart.    Lee Do-hoon, South Korea's representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, is scheduled to meet Kong Xuanyou, China's point man on the Korean peninsula affairs, in Beijing on Friday.     Both Lee and Kong are chief delegates to the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program. The forum also involves the United States, Russia and Japa

Oct. 18, 2018

Pope Francis says may visit Pyongyang following official invitation

 Pope Francis expressed his willingness Thursday to visit North Korea if officially invited, also saying he will "certainly" respond to such an invitation from the communist state.   The remarks came in a meeting with South Korean president Moon Jae-in, who paid a courtesy call on the pope to deliver a verbal invitation from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for the pope to visit Pyongyang.   "The pope said '(I) will unconditionally give an answer if an (official) invitation arrives and I can go',

Oct. 18, 2018

N. Korean newspaper calls on Japan to atone for its wartime crimes

North Korea's official newspaper on Thursday called on Japan to abstain from insulting the victims of Japanese wartime sexual slavery and sincerely atone for its past wrongdoing.In a commentary written by an unidentified person, the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North's ruling party, lambasted what it described as Japan's shamelessness, citing a recent episode in which a Japanese person appeared to kick a statue symbolizing its wartime sexual slavery victims in Taiwan. (Yonhap)Las

Oct. 18, 2018

South proposes liaison office meeting with North this week

The two Koreas are likely to hold a meeting at their joint liaison office in the North‘s border town of Kaesong this week to discuss follow-up steps on last month’s summit agreement, a unification ministry official said Thursday.South Korea has proposed holding a meeting on Friday between Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung and his North Korean counterpart, Jon Jong-su, who are serving co-heads of the liaison office.“We are waiting for the North‘s response,” the ministry official told report

Oct. 18, 2018

US-NK working-level talks expected to start soon: ambassador

WASHINGTON -- The United States and North Korea are expected to meet soon to hammer out the details of a planned summit on the regime's denuclearization, Seoul's top envoy to Washington said Wednesday.The US appears confident that the working-level negotiations will take place in line with an agreement reached by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un earlier this month, Amb. Cho Yoon-je said during a regular press briefing."I expect the North Korea-US working-leve

Oct. 18, 2018

Trump says US unlikely as venue of 2nd NK summit

US President Donald Trump said his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is unlikely to be held in the United States, although it may happen in the future.Trump reaffirmed in an interview with the AP Tuesday that the meeting will take place after the US midterm elections on Nov. 6.He said he wanted to first "help people get elected.""No, I don't think so," he replied, when asked if the summit could be held in the US "I mean, we haven't set it up yet, but I would think not yet. At so

Oct. 18, 2018

President Moon preaches Korean peace at Vatican

 VATICAN (Yonhap) -- President Moon Jae-in summoned the Christian love for humanity and the European spirit of unity to inspire peace on the divided Korean Peninsula Wednesday, as the South Korean leader preached his policy to engage and denuclearize the rival North at the Vatican.Moon attended a rare special mass for Korean peace at the Basilica of St. Peter, presided over by Cardinal State Secretary Pietro Parolin. President Moon Jae-in gives a speech at Basilica of St. Peter in Rome on Wednes

Oct. 18, 2018

Unification Minister considers meeting with NK defectors amid controversy

South Korea’s unification minister is mulling a meeting with a North Korean defector group, a ministry official said Wednesday. The move is being seen as an effort to quell criticism over the minister’s decision to block a journalist who defected from the North from covering a high-level inter-Korean meeting held Monday.  South Korea's Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon(Yonhap)“A review (for the meeting) is under way among relevant offices,” ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun told a regular pres

Oct. 17, 2018