Singaporean company director charged with supplying luxury items to North Korea

SINGAPORE - A Singaporean company director was hauled to court on Thursday (July 19) for allegedly supplying luxury items such as musical instruments, wines and perfumes to North Korea.Ng Kheng Wah, 55, is said to have engaged in a conspiracy with general wholesale trade company T Specialist International and two others - Sherly Muliawan and Li Ik - to commit the offences.There were no details on Muliawan and Li in court documents. The Friendship bridge connecting the North Korean town of Sinuij

July 20, 2018

FM Kang says NK leader to stay on dialogue track

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un won't likely reverse the course of dialogue, South Korea's top diplomat has said, adding he apparently cares about "domestic management of messages."Speaking at Chatham House, a local institute of international affairs, in London on Thursday (local time), Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha dismissed concerns about the slower-than-expected denuclearization process."I think that what is clear is that there is the political will that was not there in any previous negoti

July 20, 2018

S. Korean officials visit N. Korea to jointly inspect railways

SEOUL/GOSEONG -- A group of South Korean officials left for North Korea on Friday to jointly inspect railways as part of efforts to modernize and connect rail links over the inter-Korean border.The 15-member team led by Hwang Sung-gyu, a senior transportation ministry official, crossed into the North at around 8:30 a.m. by using the eastern cross-border route.  (Yonhap)The one-day trip is intended to jointly conduct inspections with North Korea on railways running along the east coast of the Kor

July 20, 2018

Pompeo put 3 items on table in meeting with N. Koreans: lawmaker

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo put three items on the table in his latest nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea, but received no response, a South Korean lawmaker said Thursday.Pompeo was in Pyongyang earlier this month to flesh out a deal reached by US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at their historic summit in Singapore in June.According to Rep. Roh Hoe-chan, floor leader of the minor opposition Justice Party, the top US diplomat proposed that the two sides d

July 20, 2018

Trump says looks forward to next meeting with Putin on N. Korea, other issues

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said Thursday that he looks forward to meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin a second time to continue their work on North Korea and other global issues.Trump and Putin held their first summit in Helsinki this week amid tensions over alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election. Trump has drawn flak for appearing to side with Putin over US intelligence agencies' assessment that implies Russia tried to sway the vote in his favor.(Yo

July 20, 2018

Family reunions could be negatively affected if restaurant workers not returned: NK media

North Korea’s media on Friday called on South Korea to swiftly repatriate a group of restaurant workers and warned that a delay in the process could negatively impact inter-Korean ties, along with the upcoming reunion of families separated by the Korea War.North Korea has been ramping up its demand that Seoul return 12 North Korean women who came to South Korea in April 2016 after the restaurant manager who came with the women told a local broadcaster in May that the South’s intelligence agency

July 20, 2018

Koreas to conduct joint inspection on railways

South and North Korea plan to conduct joint inspections of railways this week as part of efforts to modernize and connect rail links over the inter-Korean border, the unification ministry said Thursday.　The field inspection will be carried out on the railways running along the eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula on Friday, which will be followed by similar work on the railways in the western region Tuesday, according to the ministry.　The move is to follow up on the two Koreas‘ agreement made d

July 19, 2018

Global report singles out North Korea on slavery

LONDON (AP) -- A new report has singled out North Korea as the country with the highest prevalence of modern slavery.　 　The Global Slavery Index shows one in 10 people in North Korea live in slavery, with most forced to work for the state. It cites the nation‘s coal exports as the area of greatest concern.　 　The report estimates that 40.3 million people were living in modern slavery in 2016 and highlights the role of repressive regimes where "populations are put to work to prop up the government

July 19, 2018

N. Korea summons ambassadors to Pyongyang: reports

Local media on Thursday said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un summoned his ambassadors and heads of overseas missions back to Pyongyang, amid a shift in the atmosphere surrounding Kim’s diplomacy. Earlier in the day, the South’s media outlets reported that the heads of the North’s embassies and other missions were called in for what is “presumed to be an ambassadorial meeting,” citing unnamed sources.  North Korean leader Kim Jong-un prepares to take a photo with officials, when he recalled

July 19, 2018

S. Korean doubles team beats unified Korean pair at int'l ping pong tourney

A South Korean mixed doubles team defeated a unified Korean pair at an international table tennis tournament here on Thursday.South Korea's Lee Sang-su and Jeon Ji-hee defeated Choe Il (North Korea) and Yoo Eun-chong (South Korea) 3-1 (11-5, 9-11, 11-7, 13-11) in the round of 16 at the International Table Tennis Federation World Tour Platinum Korea Open in Daejeon, 160 kilometers south of Seoul.Against the third-seeded South Korean pair at Chungmu Sports Arena, the unified team played a surprisi

July 19, 2018

N. Korean defector arrested for suspected espionage

A North Korean defector has been arrested for selling classified intelligence about the South Korean military to a foreign agent, prosecutors said Wednesday. The suspect, only identified by the surname Lee, was charged with violating the Military Secret Protection Act, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said. Lee allegedly obtained the highly sensitive information from former ranking officials at the Korea Defense Intelligence Command under the Ministry of National Defense, and hande

July 19, 2018

N. Korean leader calls in overseas mission chiefs to Pyongyang

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called in his ambassadors and heads of other overseas missions to Pyongyang, sources said Thursday.The heads of the North's embassies and other missions were brought in for what is presumed to be an ambassadorial meeting, according to the sources. It has not been confirmed yet whether the meeting is an annual event or a specially arranged one, the sources said.North Korea leader Kim Jong-un inspects Chunghung farm in Samjiyon County in this undated photo relea

July 19, 2018

Pompeo: NK nuclear deal 'may take some time'

WASHINGTON -- Negotiations to dismantle North Korea's nuclear weapons program "may take some time," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday.Pompeo's assessment comes about a month after US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed at their summit in Singapore that Pyongyang would work towards the "complete denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula in exchange for security guarantees from the US.(Yonhap)"There's a lot of work to do. It may take some time to get wh

July 19, 2018

S. Korea's nuke envoy meets British delegation over N. Korea

South Korea's top nuclear envoy had a meeting here Thursday with Jonathan Nicholas Powell, a former senior British official who just finished a trip to North Korea, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Powell met with Ri Su-yong, vice chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea and director of the communist party's international affairs department while on a visit to Pyongyang from Saturday to Tuesday as the head of a British delegation. Ri is in charge of the North's diplomatic affairs. Pow

July 18, 2018

Int'l charity bodies visit N. Korea over humanitarian aid

The German Caritas Association and other international charity bodies have recently visited North Korea to expand their humanitarian assistance projects in the North's poverty-stricken rural areas, Radio Free Asia said Wednesday.According to the radio broadcast, officials of Germany's Caritas visited two of 10 greenhouses now under construction in the North with financial support from the German association.(Yonhap)The German association, which has been involved in the cultivation of vegetables

July 18, 2018

S. Korea to provide W3.2b for cross-border family reunions

South Korea will tap into a state fund to help cover the costs to reunite families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, scheduled for next month, the Ministry of Unification said Wednesday.  Following a series of panel meetings held from July 11-16, the Seoul government decided to offer about 3.2 billion won ($2.83 million) to cover costs for the Aug. 20-26 reunions, according to the ministry. Event preparations will receive support of about 2 billion won, while 1 billion won will go to repairin

July 18, 2018

Unified Korean team to face S. Koreans at int'l ping pong event

DAEJEON -- A unified Korean mixed doubles team will take on a South Korean tandem at an international table tennis competition here this week.Choe Il (North Korea) and Yoo Eun-chong (South Korea) will play the third-seeded South Korean duo of Lee Sang-su and Jeon Ji-hee in Thursday's round of 16 match at the International Table Tennis Federation World Tour Platinum Korea Open in Daejeon, 160 kilometers south of Seoul. (Yonhap)Choe and Yoo defeated Alvaro Robles and Galia Dvorak of Spain 3-2 (8-1

July 18, 2018

Trump: No time limit on N. Korea's denuclearization

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that there is "no time limit" on dismantling North Korea's nuclear weapons program, appearing to take a step back from earlier demands for immediate denuclearization.Trump's remarks came a month after his historic summit with Kim Jong-un, during which the North Korean leader committed to work toward the "complete denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula in exchange for security guarantees from the United States."We have no time limit. We have

July 18, 2018

N. Korea to return remains of up to 55 Americans killed in Korean War: report

North Korea has agreed to return up to 55 sets of remains believed to be of American soldiers killed during the Korean War, a report said Tuesday.Citing an anonymous United States official, Stars & Stripes, a US military newspaper, also said North Korea has agreed to allow the United States to fly these remains out of the country next week.According to the report, these details emerged after US and North Korean officials held working-level talks on Monday in the truce village of Panmunjom. (Yonh

July 17, 2018

S. Korea’s military intelligence agency allegedly orchestrated defection of NK waitresses

 　South Korea’s military intelligence organization orchestrated the defection of North Korean waitresses from a restaurant in China in 2016, a local news agency has reported, disputing the restaurant manager’s claim their defection to South Korea was led by the country’s top spy agency.　According to Yonhap News Agency on Tuesday, a source familiar with the issue said the defection was initially led by the Defense Intelligence Command, whose agents convinced the manager to leave with the 12 waitr

July 17, 2018