N. Korea's ruling party member appointed to head of military's political bureau

A member of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) has been appointed to the head of the powerful General Political Bureau of North Korea's armed forces, raising speculation that it might be aimed at strengthening the ruling party's grip on the military.   While reporting Kim Jong-un's on-the-spot inspection at a construction site in Wonsan, an eastern coastal city of the North, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said Army Gen. Kim Su-gil was among those who greeted the leader, referring to him

May 26, 2018

Moon's office welcomes renewed hope for US-NK summit

The office of President Moon Jae-in Saturday welcomed the resumption of talks between the United States and North Korea for discussions on a bilateral summit.   Moon's spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said that South Korea regards the renewed hope for a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as a "fortunate" development.   "It's a fortunate thing that the possibility of the North Korea-U.S. dialogue is still alive without being terminated," Kim said in a message to

May 26, 2018

Trump calls N. Korea's statement 'warm' and 'productive'

U.S. President Donald Trump called North Korea's response to his cancellation of the June 12 Singapore summit with the North's leader Kim Jong-un "warm" and "productive." Donald Trump twitterHe wrote on his Twitter account on Friday night (Seoul Time), "Very good news to receive the warm and productive statement from North Korea. We will soon see where it will lead, hopefully to long and enduring prosperity and peace. Only time (and talent) will tell!"Earlier in the day, North Korea said it was

May 25, 2018

N. Korea cancels joint taekwondo demonstration in Vatican

A planned demonstration of the Korean martial art taekwondo by a joint Korean team has been unilaterally canceled by the North, according to sources Friday.  North Korean Taekwondo team. YonhapThe International Taekwondo Federation (ITF), an international organization led by the North, notified the South Korean-led World Taekwondo (WT) of the cancellation on Thursday.In the brief letter, the North Korean taekwondo federation reportedly cited the Max Thunder military exercise between South Korea

May 25, 2018

Trump’s ‘gamesmanship’ to blame for collapse of US-North Korea summit: experts

　With the US President Donald Trump abruptly calling off the much-anticipated summit with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, speculation is rampant over why Trump made such a decision and whether there is any chance for the summit to be rescheduled. 　In an interview with The Korea Herald, experts said the decision to pull out of the summit is mostly attributable to Trump’s trademark “gamesmanship” -- a maneuver designed to increase his leverage for the denuclearization talks in the event that he

May 25, 2018

Summit collapse likely to hit inter-Korean ties

United States President Donald Trump’s cancellation of a planned summit with North Korea is likely to deal a heavy blow to inter-Korean ties, which have already been strained over the North’s recent belligerent rhetoric.Trump on Thursday called off what was expected to be an unprecedented summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un scheduled for next month, citing the North’s “open hostility.” The surprise announcement apparently shook the Moon Jae-in administration, prompting it to convene a cr

May 25, 2018

[Newsmaker] Mixed reactions in Singapore to Trump-Kim summit cancellation

SINGAPORE -- US President Donald Trump’s cancellation of his June 12 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore threw cold water on civil servants and people in the hotel industry here who had been preparing for the historic event. Singapore had already begun press accreditation to register foreign journalists wishing to cover the summit.Hotels which had blocked off or taken back rooms that were allocated to tour agencies in anticipation of a hike in visitors around the summit peri

May 25, 2018

Opportunity for Trump-Kim summit is ‘just delayed’: USFK commander

Top US commander in South Korea on Friday downplayed jitters following the cancellation of the summit between the US and North Korea, saying that the opportunity for the much-anticipated meeting is “just delayed.” Gen. Vincent Brooks, the commander of US Forces in South Korea, said while he was disappointed by the fact that the summit did not pan out as planned on June 12, he still considers that the opportunity remains for a diplomatic breakthrough on the Korean Peninsula. “We all had high expe

May 25, 2018

Ruling party cautiously hopeful despite Trump's cancellation of summit with Kim

The ruling Democratic Party said Friday that peace hopes are still alive as North Korea announced its openness for talks with the United States anytime in response to Washington's cancellation of a planned summit with Pyongyang.Choo Mi-ae, the chief of the ruling party, said it is not the time to be discouraged at US President Donald Trump's cancellation of talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un scheduled for June 12 in Singapore."Though North Korea's provocative statements led to (Trump's)

May 25, 2018

NK says open to talks with US despite Trump's cancellation of summit

A senior North Korean official said Friday his country is still willing to talk with the US, in response to President Donald Trump's abrupt decision to pull out of his planned summit with the North's leader."We would like to make known to the US side once again that we have the intent to sit with the US side to solve problem regardless of ways at any time," Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan said in a statement carried by the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency. It came hours after Trum

May 25, 2018

Moon expresses regret over cancellation of US-NK summit

President Moon Jae-in on Friday morning expressed regret over the cancellation of a scheduled summit between the US and North Korea, calling for the two countries’ leaders to communicate directly to rekindle the momentum for denuclearization talks. “I am very perplexed and regretful that the North Korea-US summit will not be held,” presidential spokesperson Yoon Young-chan quoted Moon as saying during an emergency meeting convened after US President Donald Trump called off his meeting with North

May 25, 2018

[Newsmaker] Pompeo says dialogue efforts to continue: Seoul ministry

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday his country remains committed to dialogue with North Korea despite President Donald Trump's decision to call off his summit talks with the communist nation's leader next month, according to Seoul's foreign ministry.Pompeo made the remarks in his phone conversation with Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha to exchange views on related situations and coordinate a strategy.The secretary briefing Kang in detail on the background of Trump's move and also stres

May 25, 2018

South Korea vows to faithfully implement summit agreement with NK

Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said Friday that the government will do its part to faithfully implement the agreement reached by the leaders of the two Koreas last month, despite the US decision to cancel the highly anticipated summit with the North."Our government will do its part in carrying out the Panmunjom Declaration," Cho told reporters, referring to the agreement President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reached during their April 27 meeting."It appears that (the No

May 25, 2018

[Breaking] N. Korea willing to talk with the US ‘anytime’

North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-kwan on Friday said that his country is willing to talk with the US anytime. (Yonhap)He also said that US President Donald Trump’s decision to call off the summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in June does not meet the world’s desire.(khnews@heraldcorp.com)

May 25, 2018

Trump scraps North Korea summit, warns Kim that military ready

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump on Thursday called off a historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un scheduled for next month, citing Pyongyang’s “open hostility,” and warned that the US military was ready in the event of any reckless acts by North Korea. Trump wrote a letter to Kim to announce his abrupt withdrawal from what would have been a first-ever meeting between a serving US president and a North Korean leader in Singapore on June 12.  (Yonhap)“Sadly, based on the tremen

May 25, 2018

[Breaking] Trump calls off US-NK summit

US President Donald Trump on Thursday called off the planned meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, citing hostilities displayed by North Korea.The cancellation comes less than a day after President Moon Jae-in returned from Washington DC after a summit meeting with Trump. At the meeting, Trump hinted that the schedule of the meeting, planned for June 12 in Singapore, could be changed. (Yonhap)At 11:30 p.m., Moon summoned his top national security and foreign affairs officials including N

May 24, 2018

[Breaking] Trump cancels North Korean summit, citing 'tremendous anger'

WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump is canceling the planned June 12 summit with North Korea's Kim Jong-un, citing the "tremendous anger and open hostility'' in a recent statement from North Korea. (AP file photo)Trump says in a letter to Kim released Thursday by the White House that based on the statement, he felt it was "inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting.''The president says the North Koreans talk about their nuclear capabilities, "but ours are so massive and power

May 24, 2018

N. Korea says it 'completely' dismantled nuclear test site

North Korea said Thursday that it "completely" dismantled its only known nuclear test site, calling the move an important process toward global nuclear disarmament.In a statement carried by the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency, the North's nuclear research institute said the dismantlement led to the collapse of all the tunnels at the Punggye-ri site and the closure of their entrances. South Korean citizens watch dismantling the nuclear test site in Punggye-ri in North Korea on Thursd

May 24, 2018

North Korea demolishes nuke test site with series of blasts

PUNGGYE-RI, North Korea -- North Korea carried out what it said is the demolition of its nuclear test site Thursday, setting off a series of explosions over several hours in the presence of foreign journalists.The explosions at the nuclear test site deep in the mountains of the North's sparsely populated northeast were centered on three tunnels into the underground site and a number of observation towers in the surrounding area.The planned closing was previously announced by leader Kim Jong Un a

May 24, 2018

[Video] NK dismantles nuclear test site

North Korea destroyed its Punggye-ri test site in front of international journalists Thursday, pool reports said, in what Seoul officials said appears to be a step toward denuclearization ahead of a planned summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in June. (Source: Joint Press Corps)The North dynamited the northern underground tunnel in Punggye-ri, a northeastern remote area, around 11 a.m., according to a brief pool report.The western and southern tunnels wer

May 24, 2018