Japan mulls sending nuclear experts to NK: reports

The Japanese government is considering plans for dispatching experts to North Korea to take part in denuclearization process, Japanese media reported Sunday. Japan’s Yomiuri Shinbum on Sunday reported that Tokyo is reviewing such plans, citing a number of government officials. According to the report, if realized, the plan will see a number of civilian Japanese experts on dismantling nuclear facilities taking part in scrapping Pyongyang’s nuclear program, as agreed by North Korean leader Kim Jon

June 24, 2018

Trump, Pompeo defend latest deal with NK

US President Donald Trump and his top diplomat on Saturday reiterated their assessment that denuclearization of North Korea is an obtainable goal moving along on solid grounds. US President Donald Trump speaks at a Republican Party event in Las Vegas on Saturday. YonhapSpeaking after a rally in Las Vegas for US Sen. Dean Heller’s campaign, Trump said that his peace initiative with North Korea was already paying off despite criticism that his Singapore summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un

June 24, 2018

Pyongyang media call for S. Korea to scrap N. Korean human rights act, foundation

North Korea's state media on Sunday demanded the abolishment of South Korea's human rights act and a foundation dedicated to its enforcement, arguing they only hamper efforts to improve cross-border ties.The call came weeks after Seoul closed the office for the state-run foundation due to a yearslong delay in its official launch, which was caused by political hurdles. The government, however, pledged continued efforts for the launch. This file photo shows the office of the North Korean Human Rig

June 24, 2018

NK media call for faithful implementation of Trump-Kim summit agreement

North Korea's media called Sunday for the faithful implementation of this month's summit agreement with the United States, as the communist state appears set to repatriate the remains of American troops killed during the 1950-53 Korean War.The repatriation is part of the June 12 agreement between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, which also included establishing "new" bilateral relations and making joint efforts to build a "lasting and stable" peace regime on the pen

June 24, 2018

US sends wooden cases to inter-Korean border for return of soldiers' remains

The US military moved 100 wooden "temporary transit cases" to the inter-Korean border on Saturday in preparation to receive the remains of soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War.The cases in storage at the truce village of Panmunjom, or the Joint Security Area, will likely be sent to North Korea in a few days for use to carry the remains "in a dignified manner.""We are also moving United Nations Command flags to the JSA and also trestles on which the boxes can stand as we prep them ready to m

June 23, 2018

N. Korea media reports on family reunion agreement with South

North Korean state media on Saturday reported on an agreement with South Korea to hold reunions of families separated by the Korean War but didn‘t provide dates and other details.　On Friday, Red Cross officials of the two sides agreed to hold family reunions from Aug. 20-26 at the North’s Mount Kumgang on the east coast. The reunions will involve 100 families from each side. (Yonhap)　The agreement was the latest reconciliatory move between the two countries.　On Saturday, the North‘s official Kor

June 23, 2018

Reunion of separated families to be held in August

The two Koreas agreed, as result of their Red Cross talks held Friday, to hold the long-stalled reunion of the Korean War-separated families next month, marking the first of such case since October 2015.The event will be held from Aug. 20-26 at Mt. Kumgang on the North's east coast, with 100 members of families attending from each side, according to officials."The South and the North agreed to hold a reunion of separated families at Mount Kumgang, marking the Aug. 15 Liberati

June 22, 2018

Trump’s remark on US war remains fuels confusion

　US President Donald Trump’s remark over the remains of US service members fueled confusion in South Korea, despite the president’s apparent attempt to correct his previous suggestion that the remains have been sent back from North Korea to the US. 　During his meeting with cabinet members Thursday, Trump said the remains of US troops missing in the Korean War were in the process of being returned to the US from North Korea. The president said Wednesday that the remains have been sent back. 　Trum

June 22, 2018

Pompeo to meet with N. Koreans at earliest possible date: State Department

WASHINGTON -- US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will meet with North Korean officials at the "earliest possible date" to follow up on last week's nuclear deal between the countries' leaders, the State Department said Thursday.Pompeo is expected to travel to North Korea within days to flesh out the agreement signed by US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at their summit in Singapore."Secretary Pompeo will be meeting with them and talking with them at the earliest possible

June 22, 2018

Koreas holding Red Cross talks to discuss family reunion, humanitarian issues

MOUNT KUMGANG, North Korea -- The two Koreas are holding Red Cross talks on Friday to discuss organizing a reunion of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War and other humanitarian issues.The talks started at around 10 a.m. at a hotel on Mount Kumgang on the North's scenic east coast, according to the unification ministry. South Korea's four-member delegation is led by Park Kyung-seo, head of the Korean Red Cross. The North sent a three-member delegation headed by Pak Yong-il, vice chairman

June 22, 2018

Trump: N. Korea has blown up 4 test sites

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said Thursday that North Korea has already destroyed four of its big test sites on the road to "total denuclearization."Trump was speaking at a Cabinet meeting following his historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore last week.The two leaders agreed then that Kim would commit to "complete denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula, while Trump committed to provide security guarantees to the regime."They've stopped the sending of miss

June 22, 2018

Moon vows to enhance trilateral economic cooperation with North Korea and Russia

South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in on Thursday pledged to enhance trilateral cooperation between the two Koreas and Russia, expressing hopes that the Trans-Siberian Railway will link to the southern tip of South Korea.During his speech at the Russian parliament in Moscow, Moon said if the two Koreas replace the current armistice agreement with a peace treaty, the Northeast Asia region will be able to establish its own “collective security system.” “I have always hoped for permanent peace and co

June 21, 2018

Easy as A, B, Xi: China gives economic lessons to North Korea

Chinese President Xi Jinping has coached his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Un on high-stakes diplomacy. Now he seems poised to give the young autocrat another lesson: how to reform a state-controlled economy while keeping an iron grip on power.   Beijing has long pushed for Pyongyang to adopt similar measures to those that fuelled China's dizzying ascent from a communist backwater to one of the world's largest trading powers.   But while the highly secretive, nuclear-armed North has been qui

June 21, 2018

North Korean airline plans new route to China's Xian

North Korea's national airline Air Koryo plans to open a new route linking Pyongyang and Xian in China, a staff member said Thursday, in the latest sign of the nuclear-armed state's possible emergence from isolation.   An Air Koryo representative told AFP "there is a plan" for flights to the central Chinese city, a major tourist destination famous for its ancient Terracotta Warriors.   But the staffer said he "did not know" whether the route would begin in July, as reported by the Xian Evening N

June 21, 2018

S. Korean detainees unlikely to be dealt at Red Cross talks

The release of six South Korean detainees in North Korea is unlikely to be discussed at Friday’s inter-Korean Red Cross talks, as the reunion of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War is set to be at the top of the agenda. Friday’s talks are expected to address a clause inked in the agreement reached at the summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on April 27, when both vowed “to swiftly resolve the humanitarian issues that resulted from the div

June 21, 2018

North Korean summits bring sense of peace along DMZ border

PANMUNJEOM, North Korea -- Lt. Col. Hwang Myong Jin has been a guide on the northern side of the Demilitarized Zone that divides the two Koreas for five years. He says it’s gotten quieter here since the summits between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and the presidents of South Korea and the United States, in perhaps the last place on earth where the Cold War still burns hot."A lot of things have changed. Listen to how quiet it is," he said as he stood on the balcony of a large building overlook

June 21, 2018

China set to loosen sanctions on N. Korea after Kim's visit

BEIJING -- China is apparently moving to ease sanctions on North Korea and strengthen bilateral economic cooperation, following the North's leader Kim Jong-un's most recent visit to Beijing.Signs of loosening sanctions are particularly noticeable in the fields of aviation and tourism.According to sources here on Thursday, the authorities of Xian, the capital of Shaanxi Province, have recently decided to open a direct aviation route to Pyongyang, the North's capital, in July this year. (Yonhap)Th

June 21, 2018

Spy agency warns of fraud schemes involving old N. Korean money

South Korea's spy agency on Thursday alerted the public to overseas fraud schemes selling defunct North Korean money, taking advantage of the country's recent move to reach out to the international community.The National Intelligence Service said crime rings in China and Southeast Asia have secured massive amounts of old North Korean bills and attempted to sell them on the premise that their value will jump once North Korea denuclearizes and its economy develops.  Old North Korean currency bills

June 21, 2018

Trump: N. Korea has sent back remains of 200 US soldiers

WASHINGTON/SEOUL -- US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that North Korea has sent back the remains of 200 American soldiers who were killed in the 1950-53 Korean War.The repatriation is part of an agreement Trump signed with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at their historic summit in Singapore last week."Our great fallen heroes, the remains, in fact today already 200 have been sent back," Trump said at a rally in Duluth, Minnesota, noting that he had "great chemistry" and "got along really

June 21, 2018

Discussions on lifting NK sanctions should wait until denuclearization: Seoul official

Discussions on easing sanctions on North Korea can take shape only when progress in its denuclearization materializes, a senior unification ministry official here said Thursday."I know that there are many people expecting (increased inter-Korean exchanges) but the reality is that I cannot talk only about good things," Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung told a forum in Seoul."Still, there are sanctions in place imposed by the international community, including the United States, against the

June 21, 2018