S. Korea, US to avoid hype for joint defense drills

SINGAPORE -- South Korea and the United States plan to keep their regular combined military exercises low-key in a bid to help maintain the peace mood, a Ministry of National Defense official said Sunday.Defense Minister Song Young-moo and the Pentagon chief, Jim Mattis, made the resolution in their talks in Singapore a day earlier as part of a "strategic communication" strategy to reflect new security conditions involving North Korea, the official told reporters, requesting anonymity.It's an ap

June 3, 2018

[Newsmaker] NK newspaper slams S. Korean participation in military exercises

North Korea on Sunday slammed South Korea's participation in joint multinational exercises, saying it ran counter to an inter-Korean declaration reached at a summit earlier in the year.The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, took shots at South Korea's plans to take part in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise and the Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercises.The RIMPAC is scheduled to run from June 27 to Aug. 2 and will involve 20 countries, while the UFG, bringing to

June 3, 2018

Mattis: No relief to sanctions on N. Korea until denuclearization

SINGAPORE -- US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said there should be "no relief" to UN-led sanctions on North Korea until its full denucelarization, citing an expected "bumpy road" to negotiations."We can anticipate, at best, a bumpy road to the negotiations," he said at the opening of trilateral talks with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts -- Song Yong-moo and Itsunori Onodera -- held on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue, a security forum under way in Singapore.The meeting came

June 3, 2018

N. Korea brings in moderate as new defense minister: report

TOKYO -- North Korea has brought in a more moderate defense minister ahead of a summit with the United States, a report in Tokyo claimed Sunday.Citing a source with knowledge of North Korean affairs, the Asahi Shimbun said Pak Yong-sik has been replaced as the minister of Pyongyang's armed forces with No Kwang-chol, head of the second economic committee at the Workers' Party and former deputy chief of the general staff of the Korean People's Army.The paper also said Ri Myong-su, chief of the KPA

June 3, 2018

US delegation holds 3rd round of summit prep talks with N. Korea

The United States delegation to summit preparation talks held a third round of talks with North Korea's team in the border village of Panmunjom earlier in the day, sources said Saturday.The US delegation, led by Sung Kim, US ambassador to the Philippines, held talks with the North's team, led by Pyongyang's Vice Foreign Minister, Choe Son-hui, at the same place on Sunday and Wednesday.Saturday's talks were known to have taken place from 10:00 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to the sources. South Korea

June 3, 2018

[Newsmaker] S. Korean defense chief says N. Korea different from past

SINGAPORE -- South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo voiced optimism Saturday that the upcoming North Korea-US summit will be fruitful, saying Pyongyang, with its young leader, is apparently different now from how it was in the past.He was responding to a skeptical view publicly presented by Japan's defense chief, Itsunori Onodera, as they attended a plenary session at the Shangri-La Dialogue on "De-escalating the North Korea Crisis." It was joined by Canadian Defense Minister Harjit Singh

June 2, 2018

N. Korea urges faithful implementation of agreements from inter-Korean summit

North Korea on Saturday stressed the need to implement the agreements from the latest inter-Korean summit regardless of changes in conditions, an apparent call for South Korea to improve its ties with the communist state even if its ongoing denuclearization talks fail."Fundamentally improving the North-South relations and achieving peace and prosperity of the Korean Peninsula by thoroughly implementing the historic Panmunjom Declaration is becoming an important task," the North's Korean Central

June 2, 2018

Mattis: US troops in Korea not issue to discuss with N. Korea

SINGAPORE -- The Pentagon chief made it clear Saturday that his country is not negotiating with North Korea on the future of American troops stationed on the peninsula, as the leaders of the two sides will soon meet here each other.Speaking at a security forum, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis stressed that the fate of the 28,500-strong US Forces Korea is not an issue to discuss with North Korea."That issue is not on the table here in Singapore on the 12th (of June), nor should it be," he said af

June 2, 2018

Seoul welcomes revival of Trump-Kim summit

South Korea welcomed the apparent revival of the historic U.S.-North Korea summit Saturday, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said he will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as scheduled."It seems as if the road to a North Korea-U.S. summit has become enhanced and expanded," said Kim Eui-kyeom, a spokesman for Seoul's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae."We will excitedly but calmly look forward to the historic meeting to be held in Singapore," he said in a short released statement.The sta

June 2, 2018

Trump puts N. Korea summit back on for June 12

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- US President Donald Trump on Friday put a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un back on for June 12 following weeks of uncertainty over whether it would take place.Trump said after meeting with a senior North Korean official at the White House that the summit will go ahead in Singapore to discuss the dismantlement of the North's nuclear weapons program.US President Donald Trump speaks with Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of the central committee of North Korea`s ruling

June 2, 2018

N. Korean official due to meet Trump, deliver letter from Kim

A senior North Korean official was due to visit the White House Friday to deliver a letter from his leader Kim Jong-un to U.S. President Donald Trump.Kim Yong-chol, known as a close aide to Kim Jong-un, was headed to Washington from New York, where he held two days of meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on a possible summit between their leaders.Pompeo said after the meetings that "real progress" was made toward "setting the conditions" for a summit, but he also said there remains

June 2, 2018

Koreas agree to hold military talks, Red Cross meeting this month

PANMUNJEOM -- South Korea and North Korea agreed Friday to hold general-level military talks on June 14 as part of efforts to ease tensions between the two countries.They also agreed to hold a Red Cross meeting on June 22 to discuss holding a reunion of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, as agreed upon by their leaders in a April 27 summit. This photo, taken by the Joint Press Corps, shows South Korea`s chief delegate Cho Myoung-gyon (left) and his North Korean counterpart Ri Son-gwon

June 1, 2018

[US-NK Summit] Singapore testing security measures before N. Korea-US summit

SINGAPORE -- North Korean Embassy cars were on standby at the underground parking lot of a Singapore hotel throughout Friday.Reporters, mostly from South Korea and Japan, continued to stake out roads near the Fullerton Hotel, where North Korea's summit preparation team is staying, and its lobby.On a request to put through a call to the room of Kim Chang-son, a senior North Korean official leading the delegation, a receptionist said there's no guest with that name. It suggests he either booked th

June 1, 2018

[US-NK Summit] S. Korea, US foreign ministers hold talks over meetings with NK official

The top diplomats of South Korea and the United States held phone talks on Friday about this week’s meetings in New York to prepare for a possible Washington-Pyongyang summit, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said.During the 25-minute talks, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo explained to his South Korean counterpart Kang Kyung-wha the outcome of his talks with Kim Yong-chol, a vice central committee chairman of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party.South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha (Yonhap)Pompeo

June 1, 2018

Koreas agree to hold military, Red Cross talks, open Kaesong liaison office

The two Koreas on Friday agreed to hold military and Red Cross talks this month and open a liaison office in the North Korean border city of Kaesong, according to a joint statement released by the South’s Ministry of Unification.The statement came as a result of the high-level meeting held the same day at the truce village of Panmunjeom at the border. The talks aimed to bring about the swift implementation of agreements reached at the summit on April 27. Both sides will continue to cooperate in

June 1, 2018

NK leader Kim stresses he is committed to denuclearization of Korean Peninsula

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has reaffirmed that he is committed to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and expressed hope for a phased process in resolving the issue.Kim made the remark in talks with visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Pyongyang on Thursday, according to the Korean Central News Agency.Kim Jong-un (Yonhap)"The DPRK's will for denuclearization of the Korean peninsula still remains unchanged and consistent and fixed," the KCNA quoted Kim as saying. "And

June 1, 2018

Pompeo cites 'real progress' toward US-N. Korea summit

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON -- The United States and North Korea have made "real progress" toward a fruitful summit between their leaders on dismantling the North's nuclear weapons program, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday.Pompeo held two days of meetings with a senior North Korean official in New York as both sides push to salvage a June 12 summit in Singapore between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo greets North Korea`s Kim

June 1, 2018

Trump: N. Korean delegation to bring letter from Kim Friday

US President Donald Trump said a North Korean delegation in New York is expected to bring him a letter from leader Kim Jong-un on Friday.Trump told reporters Thursday before leaving for Texas that meetings to prepare for his potential summit with Kim have been "very positive." The two sides are pushing for a June 12 summit in Singapore to discuss dismantling North Korea's nuclear weapons program."I believe they'll be coming down to Washington on Friday and a letter is going to be delivered to me

May 31, 2018

Pompeo, N. Korean official open summit prep talks

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a senior North Korean official began talks in New York Thursday to try to salvage a highly anticipated summit between their leaders.Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of the central committee of the North's ruling Workers' Party, arrived a day earlier, becoming the highest-ranking North Korean to visit the US in 18 years.The two sides are expected to determine whether they have enough common ground to go ahead with a June 12 nuclear summit in Singapore between US

May 31, 2018

Kim Jong-un complains of US ‘hegemonism’ as summit nears

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un complained of “U.S. hegemonism” to Russia’s visiting foreign minister on Thursday, a comment likely to complicate ties with the United States as plans proceed for Kim’s expected summit with President Donald Trump in Singapore next month.Kim told Sergey Lavrov that he hopes to boost cooperation with Russia, which has remained largely on the sidelines in recent months as Kim has made a major diplomatic outreach to the United States as well as to South Korea and Chin

May 31, 2018