Seoul reviews inter-Korean accords to prepare for resumption of cooperation with North

South Korea's government has begun legal preparations in anticipation of the possible resumption of economic cooperation with North Korea, officials at the Ministry of Justice said Tuesday.The ministry has launched a review of major inter-Korean agreements on economic exchanges to revise them in a way that protects the property rights of South Korean companies and strengthens the security of South Korean people staying in the North, they said.Through the review, the ministry will also analyze th

June 5, 2018

[US-NK Summit] Seoul expresses hope for success of Trump-Kim summit

South Korea's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae welcomed the upcoming summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Tuesday, saying it sincerely hopes for the success of the historic meeting."Our government hopes for the success of the North Korea-US summit," Cheong Wa Dae said in a short statement released hours after the White House announced the first US-North Korea summit ever will start at 9 a.m. (local time) next Tuesday in Singapore.Trump earlier called o

June 5, 2018

S. Korea asks N. Korea to grant immunity to officials at liaison office to open in North

South Korea has asked North Korea to grant immunity to South Korean officials to be stationed in a liaison office the two Koreas recently agreed to establish in the North's border city of Kaesong, sources said Tuesday.The two Koreas agreed last week to open a liaison office in the city "at an early date" at high-level talks to discuss steps for implementing promises made by their leaders in the historic April and May summits.South Korea plans to station its officials there in order to keep commu

June 5, 2018

[US-NK Summit] Trump, Kim set to meet at 9 a.m. June 12

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are set to meet at 9 a.m. on June 12 in Singapore, the White House said Monday.In announcing the time of the historic summit, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said logistical preparations are being finalized by an advance team in Singapore.She also said a separate US delegation led by Amb. Sung Kim has had "very positive" diplomatic negotiations with North Korean officials at the Demilitarized Zone straddling th

June 5, 2018

[US-NK Summit] Anti-nuclear group offers to foot summit bill for N. Korea’s Kim

TOKYO (AFP) -- A Nobel Prize-winning anti-nuclear group offered Monday to pay for next week’s historic summit between the US and North Korea -- including the delicate issue of Kim Jong-un’s hotel bill.Who will cough up for lodgings at the five-star Fullerton Hotel, believed to be the North Korean leader’s preferred option, is one of many reported logistical and protocol headaches surrounding this month’s meeting between Kim and US President Donald Trump.A view of the Fullerton Hotel in Singapore

June 4, 2018

[US-NK Summit] Speculations rise over cost of denuclearization

With the US-North Korea summit set for June 12, questions over who will shoulder the cost of denuclearization are rising. Publicly, the cost of dismantling North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, and who will cover it, has yet to be discussed by the concerned countries. According to one estimate, the cost of dismantling North Korea’s nuclear weapons program could be at least five times higher than that of Ukraine. This pool photo shows the demolition of North Korea`s Punggye-ri nuclear test site

June 4, 2018

[US-NK Summit] Senior NK official departs for Pyongyang from China after high-stakes visit to US

BEIJING -- A senior North Korean official departed for Pyongyang through a Beijing airport on Monday, after a high-stakes visit to the United States to prepare for a summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.Kim Yong-chol, a vice chairman of the North's ruling Workers' Party's central committee, and other North Korean delegates boarded a plane of the North's flag carrier Air Koryo at Beijing Capital International Airport at around noon.While walking towards a d

June 4, 2018

Syria’s Assad to meet Kim in North Korea: KCNA

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he plans to visit North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, Pyongyang’s state media reported Sunday, potentially becoming the first head of state to meet Kim inside the isolated country.“I am going to visit the DPRK and meet ... Kim Jong-un,” Assad said, the North’s state-run KCNA news agency reported, using the abbreviated version of the country’s official name. The announcement came as anticipation mounts for a historic nuclear summit between Kim and US President

June 4, 2018

[US-NK Summit] Top diplomats of S. Korea, Singapore hold talks over Trump-Kim summit

The top diplomats of South Korea and Singapore had a phone conversation on Monday over preparations for the upcoming summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Seoul's foreign ministry said.Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and her Singaporean counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan agreed to work together to ensure the success of the summit slated to take place in the city state on June 12, based on the shared understanding that the meeting will be a crucial opportunity

June 4, 2018

Discussion over end to Korean War to be start point for permanent peace: Choo

The two Koreas and the United States' move to discuss an end to the 1950-53 Korean War will be a starting point for bringing a permanent peace to the Korean Peninsula, the chief of the ruling party said Monday.After meeting a senior North Korean official in Washington last week, US President Donald Trump raised the possibility of discussing a formal end to the war when he meets North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on June 12 in Singapore. Choo Mi-ae (Yonhap)"Discussions over an end to the war will be

June 4, 2018

[US-NK Summit] S. Korea, US top diplomats hold phone talks over Trump-Kim summit

The top diplomats of South Korea and the United States held phone talks Monday over the upcoming summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Seoul's foreign ministry said.During the 15-minute talks, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and her US counterpart Mike Pompeo discussed recent developments in preparations for the summit slated to take place next Tuesday in Singapore. South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, left, and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (

June 4, 2018

Two Koreas face maritime border, other tricky issues in upcoming military talks

The two Koreas will face a set of tricky issues, including the maritime demarcation line, in their first general-grade military meeting in more than a decade to be held next week, observers here said Monday.The talks are set to take place on June 14 in Tongilgak, a North Korea-controlled building at the truce village of Panmunjom, in line with the April 27 inter-Korean summit declaration that calls for joint efforts to alleviate military tensions and "practically eliminate the danger of war."The

June 4, 2018

Asian traditional medicine association to invite N. Korea to meeting

An association of Asian doctors performing traditional medicine said Monday that they have decided to invite their colleagues from North Korea to a international meeting slated for 2019.The members of the Global University Network of Traditional Medicine agreed during a meeting held in Beijing last month to ask Pyongyang Medical University to take part in the gathering in Hong Kong. Under the proposal, the GUNTM members plan to ask Pyongyang Medical University to send non-member representatives

June 4, 2018

[US-NK Summit] No decision yet on whether Moon will travel to Singapore: official

South Korea is still watching how negotiations between the United States and North Korea are going to determine whether President Moon Jae-in should fly to Singapore to join US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in declaring an end to the Korean War, an official said Monday.The possibility of Moon traveling to the Southeast Asian nation gained traction after Trump said last week following a meeting with senior North Korean official Kim Yong-chol that his June 12 summit wi

June 4, 2018

[Newsmaker] White House official: N. Korea's denuclearization will be 'process'

WASHINGTON -- A senior White House official acknowledged Sunday that it will take time to dismantle North Korea's nuclear weapons program even if the United States would like to see immediate denuclearization.Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, made the remark on Fox News as the two countries prepare for a high-stakes nuclear summit in Singapore June 12."I think at the end of that process, that's the goal, unilateral denuclearization, disarming them and so forth," Kudlow sai

June 4, 2018

Senior N. Korean official arrives in Beijing on way back home from US

A senior North Korean official arrived in Beijing on Sunday on his way back home from a rare trip to the United States that included a meeting with US President Donald Trump.Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of the central committee of the North's ruling Workers' Party, landed at Beijing's Capital International Airport around 8 p.m. on an Air China flight from New York.Kim is expected to spend the night at the North's Embassy in Beijing before heading home on Monday. This Associated Press photo shows

June 3, 2018

US man built deadly secret tunnels over 'N.Korea' fear

A US millionaire is to appear in court on Friday charged in the murder of a man recruited to build tunnels at his home near the US capital for protection against North Korea, reports say.Daniel Beckwitt, a conspiracy theorist and millionaire stock trader, has posted a $100,000 bond and will be released from detention on Monday morning, WRC-TV said. An undated handout photo made available by the Montgomery County Police on 02 June 2018 shows a booking photo of Bethesda man Daniel Lewis Beckwitt,

June 3, 2018

North Korea state media says Syria's Assad wants to meet Kim

North Korea's state-run news agency reported Sunday that Syria's President Bashar Assad is interested in visiting North Korea and meeting leader Kim Jong-un.North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (Yonhap)The KCNA report said Assad made the comments May 30 while receiving the credentials for the North Korean ambassador."I am going to visit the DPRK and meet HE Kim Jong-un," Assad was quoted saying, using the acronym for the North's official name.There was no indication that such a trip had been planned.

June 3, 2018

N. Korea beefs up demands for repatriation of restaurant workers

Urging the United Nations to take appropriate action, North Korea stepped up its demand for the repatriation of North Korean restaurant workers who defected to South Korea in 2016 despite an ongoing inter-Korean detente. North Korea’s permanent mission to the UN Office and other international organizations in Geneva demanded South Korea send back the North Korean defectors to “show the will to improve the inter-Korean relations” through a press release, according to the North’s state-run Korean

June 3, 2018

'Trump-Kim summit can immediately be followed by declaration of end to Korean War'

 　With US President Donald Trump floating the idea of declaring an end to the Korean War following his summit with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, a Seoul-based security expert said the deal could be reached as soon as the day after their meeting on June 12. 　Cho Seong-ryoul, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Strategy and a member of advisory group for President Moon Jae-in, said Moon could travel to Singapore in time for the Trump-Kim summit and join the two leaders i

June 3, 2018