Cheong Wa Dae: FM to meet with Pompeo in Tokyo after his trip to N. Korea

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-hwa will meet with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Tokyo after the top American diplomat's upcoming trip to North Korea, the presidential spokesman said Wednesday.Pompeo is scheduled to visit Pyongyang from Thursday to Saturday for the first high-level talks between the two countries since the historic summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un last month. (Yonhap)It would be Pompeo's third trip to Pyongyang. The two sides are ex

July 4, 2018

NK holds welcoming dinner for S. Korean basketball players, officials

PYONGYANG/SEOUL -- North Korea held a welcoming dinner Tuesday for a delegation of South Korean athletes and government officials visiting Pyongyang for inter-Korean friendly basketball matches.The 100-strong delegation including coaches and journalists arrived at Pyongyang's Sunan airport earlier in the day on two military planes.North Korea held the welcoming dinner at Pyongyang's Okryugwan restaurant, which is famous for cold noodles, called "naengmyeon" in Korean. (Yonhap)North Korean Sports

July 4, 2018

Trump says talks with N. Korea going well

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that talks with North Korea are going well following his historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un."Many good conversations with North Korea - it is going well!" he tweeted without elaborating on the talks' substance. (Yonhap)Trump and Kim met in Singapore last month and agreed that North Korea would work towards "complete denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula in exchange for security guarantees from the United States.Senior offi

July 4, 2018

State Department declines to provide timeline for NK denuclearization

The US State Department on Tuesday declined to specify a time frame for dismantling Pyongyang’s nuclear program as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is scheduled to travel to Pyongyang to discuss the communist state’s denuclearization later this week.“I know some individuals have given timelines. We’re not going to provide a timeline for that,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said at a regular press briefing.US national security adviser John Bolton said in a media interview Sunday that

July 4, 2018

Senior N. Korean ruling party official departs for Cuba

SEOUL/MOSCOW -- A senior official of North Korea‘s ruling Workers’ Party departed Tuesday for Cuba, Pyongyang‘s state media reported without elaborating on the purpose of his trip.Ri Su-yong, a vice chairman of the ruling party’s Central Committee, is leading the North‘s delegation, the Korean Central News Agency said. (Yonhap/For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution)Ri was spotted at an airport in Moscow en route to Cuba. A diplomatic source said that Ri would visit from Thursda

July 3, 2018

S. Korean guard looking to build harmony with N. Koreans in hoops friendlies

PYONGYANG/SEOUL -- South Korean guard Park Hye-jin said Tuesday she’s looking forward to the feeling of being one with North Koreans during the upcoming inter-Korean exhibition games.Park and the rest of the South Korean women’s national team, along with the men’s squad, arrived in Pyongyang earlier in the day for two days of exhibition games at Ryugyong Chung Ju-yung Gymnasium. The two Koreas will swap players for mixed games on Wednesday, and then the respective national teams will face each o

July 3, 2018

[Herald Interview] Neither N. Korea nor US leaders can be trusted: Nobel laureate

At the historic summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore on June 12, the two promised to work together for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Yet neither of the leaders can be trusted, according to Nobel Peace laureate Ira Helfand.“Certainly, we are in a better position than a few months ago when they were hurling nuclear threats at each other,” Helfand told The Korea Herald in an email interview after attending a conference ma

July 3, 2018

Koreas exchange lists of candidate families ahead of reunions

South and North Korea exchanged the lists of people wishing to meet their families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War in a bid to confirm whether their loved ones are alive and able to join reunions next month, a Red Cross official here said Tuesday. South and North Korea held Red Cross talks last month and agreed to hold family reunions from Aug. 20-26. They will be held at a Mount Kumgang resort on the North's east coast, involving 100 families from each side.  (Yonhap)South Korea's Red Cross

July 3, 2018

Koreas resume basketball event after 15-year hiatus

South Korea‘s delegation for the inter-Korean basketball event arrived in Pyongyang on Tuesday, reviving the inter-Korean sporting event after a 15-year hiatus. The South Korean delegation is led by Minister of Unification Cho Myoung-gyon, marking the first visit by a unification minister to the North in 11 years. Minister of Unification Cho Myoung-gyon and members of the South Korean delegation sit aboard a military aircraft bound for North Korea on Tuesday. YonhapAlong with Cho, three governme

July 3, 2018

Ex-US defense secretary sees hope in N. Korea's behavior

WASHINGTON - Former US Defense Secretary William Perry said Monday that he is hopeful about North Korea's promise to dismantle its nuclear weapons program following its recent efforts to engage.Perry, who served as defense secretary during the Clinton administration, made the case in a contribution to Politico magazine while noting the difficulties that lie ahead.He acknowledged the skepticism that remains, especially following an NBC report that North Korea continues to enrich uranium for nucle

July 3, 2018

Pompeo to travel to N. Korea Thursday: White House

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will head to North Korea this week to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and discuss detailed steps for North Korea’s denuclearization, three weeks after the historic US-North Korea summit, the White House said.   　Pompeo will fly to North Korea on Thursday “to continue consultations and implement the forward progress” made by US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at their Singapore meeting, the State Department added in a statemen

July 3, 2018

S. Korean Red Cross sets list for family reunions with North

The South Korean Red Cross said Monday it has finalized its list of separated families ahead of joint events to reunite families separated by the 70-year-old division of the two Koreas. (Yonhap)The South Korean list of 250 separated families was selected from 500 randomly picked candidates based on their health and willingness for a reunion with their family members in the North, according to the Red Cross here.The list will be delivered to the North Korean Red Cross on Tuesday to start a proces

July 2, 2018

S. Korean officials, athletes to leave for N. Korea for inter-Korean basketball matches

(Yonhap)A delegation of South Korean officials, athletes and media people will leave for North Korea this week to participate in inter-Korean basketball matches in Pyongyang, a unification ministry official said Monday.The 100-member delegation will depart for North Korea at 10 a.m. on Tuesday on two military airplanes flying from an airport in Seongnam, south of Seoul, according to the official. The delegation will be led by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon and will consist of around 50 bas

July 2, 2018

China may slow pace of tourism cooperation with N. Korea after US protest

BEIJING - China appears to be slowing the pace of its tourism sector cooperation with North Korea, apparently in the face of complaints from the United States, industry sources said Monday.The North's flag carrier Air Koryo was to launch a charter flight service between Pyongyang and Chengdu in northwestern China on June 28 but canceled the plan on the same day, the sources said, adding that any rescheduling plan has yet to be announced.The sudden flight cancellation has embarrassed Chinese tour

July 2, 2018

Koreas to push in earnest for peace, prosperity in autumn summit: Seoul official

South and North Korea will focus on fostering peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and preparing a framework for sustainable development in their bilateral ties when their leaders meet in the autumn summit, Seoul's unification minister said Monday.Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said that the South Korean government will make continued efforts to significantly upgrade the inter-Korean relations by accelerating the implementation of the agreement reached by President Moon Jae-in and

July 2, 2018

UN’s role needed on N. Korea’s human rights violation: envoy 　

A United Nations expert on North Korea’s human rights on Monday welcomed a thaw in inter-Korean relations and voiced hope for the global agency’s role in addressing the communist nation’s human rights record, according to South Korea’s Foreign Ministry.Tomas Ojea Quintana, UN special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea, delivered the position in a meeting with Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun.He arrived here earlier in the day for a weeklong trip meant to collect information for a report to

July 2, 2018

S. Korea sends workers to N. Korea to repair liaison office facilities

A group of South Korean officials and civilians left for North Korea's border town of Kaesong Monday to carry out repair work on facilities to be used for an inter-Korean liaison office, the unification ministry said.The 26-member team departed for Kaesong early in the day by using the western land border, according to the ministry. The move came after recent on-site inspections for candidate facilities for the liaison office found that some require repair to accommodate the liaison office and r

July 2, 2018

Bolton unveils plan to denuclearize N. Korea in 1 year

WASHINGTON -- US National Security Adviser John Bolton said Sunday that the Trump administration plans to push for dismantling North Korea's nuclear weapons program within a year.Bolton unveiled the plan during an interview with CBS, saying US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will take the lead on the issue."We have developed a program. I'm sure that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will be discussing with the North Koreans in the near future about really how to dismantle all of their WMD and ballis

July 2, 2018

Trump: N. Korea 'very serious' about denuclearization

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump has said he believes North Korea is "very serious" about dismantling its nuclear weapons program as skepticism persists over whether the regime will follow through on its denuclearization pledge.Trump told Fox News in an interview aired Sunday that he believes North Korean leader Kim Jong-un meant it when he committed to denuclearization at their historic meeting in Singapore earlier this month."Oh, I think they're very serious about it," Trump said. "I ma

July 2, 2018

NK leader Kim visits textile plants, chastens workers for not working hard

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has chastened workers for not working hard enough during his recent trip to textile factories in a northwestern border town, its state media reported Monday.Kim made the on-site inspections of two textile plants located in Sinuiju, accompanied by senior officials of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, according to the Korean Central News Agency.(Yonhap)On his trip to the Sinuiju Textile Mill built in the late 1950s, Kim said that the factory has contributed to pro

July 2, 2018