S. Korea could propose reconvening canceled talks with N. Korea: official

South Korea could propose reconvening the high-level talks with North Korea that were unilaterally called off at the last minute by the communist nation last week, a Cheong Wa Dae official said Thursday.The two Koreas had planned to hold the talks on May 16 to discuss follow-up measures after their historic summit on April 27. But Pyongyang called off the talks just hours before the meeting, citing joint air exercises between South Korea and the United States as the reason.A key official at Cheo

May 24, 2018

Evidence will outlast explosion at NK nuclear site: experts

Experts who have tracked North Korea’s nuclear tests refuted media reports that the country’s dismantling of its nuclear site is nothing more than the destruction of evidence.“Despite whatever actions may be taken in the next couple of days at the nuclear test site, the forensic evidence will outlast any explosions that may be used to collapse or seal the test tunnels,” experts including Frank Pabian wrote in a commentary for 38 North, a North Korea analysis website run by the US-Korea Institute

May 24, 2018

N. Korean defector resigns from spy agency think tank

Thae Yong-ho, a high-profile North Korean defector, has offered to quit a think tank affiliated with South Korea's spy agency, its official said Thursday. The former London-based diplomat who defected to the South in 2016 expressed an intent to resign from an advisory post at the Institute for National Security Strategy late Wednesday, according to the official. He has worked for the institute since January 2017. Thae Yong-ho (Yonhap)Thae made the decision voluntarily in consideration of the cur

May 24, 2018

UN clears N. Koreans' travel to Singapore summit: reports

NEW YORK -- A United Nations panel on Wednesday granted temporary exemptions from sanctions for North Korean officials traveling to Singapore for a US-North Korea summit.A UN Security Council committee monitoring sanctions on North Korea was asked by Singapore last week to issue a blanket waiver for the North Korean delegation headed to the June 12 meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, news reports said.Singapore's letter did not identify the officials, a

May 24, 2018

N. Korea likely to demolish nuclear test site soon

North Korea looks set to destroy its only known nuclear test site in front of international journalists probably later Thursday, given their itinerary and local weather conditions.A group of reporters and television crews from South Korea, the United States, China, Russia and Britain are apparently still on their way to the remote northeastern area of Punggye-ri after leaving Wonsan, an eastern port city, by train Wednesday evening.The train left Wonsan at around 7 p.m. for a journey expected to

May 24, 2018

Trump says will know next week if N. Korea summit still on

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he will know next week whether his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will happen as planned.The June 12 meeting in Singapore was thrown into doubt last week when North Korea threatened to pull out over US demands for "unilateral" denuclearization."On Singapore, we're going to see. And it could happen. It could very well happen," Trump told reporters before departing the White House. "But whatever it is, it is. We will know next we

May 24, 2018

Pompeo says he raised human rights issue with Kim

WASHINGTON -- US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday that he raised the issue of North Korea's human rights abuses when he met leader Kim Jong-un.Pompeo traveled to Pyongyang twice -- once in April and again in May -- to lay the groundwork for a June 12 meeting in Singapore between US President Donald Trump and Kim.The focus of that summit would be the dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear weapons program, but many also see it as an opportunity to address grave human rights abuses pur

May 24, 2018

N. Korea ups the ante ahead of Trump-Kim summit

North Korea on Thursday renewed its threats against the US, saying it would reconsider the scheduled summit between their leaders next month based on US decision and behavior. “Whether the US will meet us at a meeting room or encounter us at nuclear-to-nuclear showdown is entirely dependent upon the decision and behavior of the United States,” Choe Son-hui, North Korea‘s vice foreign minister, said in a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency. Choe threatened to make a sugg

May 24, 2018

NK official: Nuke-test site demolition may be possible on Thursday

WONSAN/SEOUL (Joint Press Corps-Yonhap) -- A North Korean official said Wednesday that, weather permitting, the country will soon dismantle its nuclear test facilities."If the weather conditions are good tomorrow, (we) can do (the work)," the official told visiting South Korean journalists.The eight reporters and members of television crews, selected for pool coverage of the Punggye-ri event, arrived in the North's eastern city of Wonsan earlier in the day.The North said in mid-May that it would

May 23, 2018

Moon-Trump summit feeds speculations of ‘Trump model’ of denuclearization

US President Donald Trump’s indication of some flexibility in the timetable for dismantling North Korea’s nuclear program is fueling speculations that a “Trump model” of denuclearization might be taking shape. In his meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Washington, Trump noted that “all- in-one would be nice” in North Korean denuclearization, but hinted at some leeway on the matter.  North Korea test-launched the Hwasong-15 missile in November 2017. (KCNA-Yonhap)“I don’t think I wa

May 23, 2018

Novel laureate Maguire, female activists to lead peace march near DMZ

Mairead Maguire, the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and dozens of other female activists from around the world will march toward the Demilitarized Zone this week in a campaign to call for lasting peace with North Korea."We demand the summit (between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un) to be held, not pass," the Nobel laureate from Northern Ireland said in a press conference for the DMZ event slated for Saturday."Why we demand the summit to be held is that the world n

May 23, 2018

[Video] South Korean reporters depart for Wonsan for Punggye-ri’s dismantling

South Korean pool reporters, who were initially invited but excluded from the flight to the North from Beijing a day earlier, left for North Korea on a state-owned plane on Wednesday to witness the dismantling of the North’s Punggye-ri nuclear site. The plane carrying a total of eight reporters took off from Seongnam Airport at 12:30 p.m. The plane is expected to arrive in the North’s eastern city of Wonsan, where a press center is located, at around 2 p.m.“As we are reporting on denuclearizatio

May 23, 2018

Elderly North Korean spies trapped in South yearn for home

GWANGJU —- He’s spent nearly six decades trapped on enemy soil, surviving 29 years in a prison where he was tortured by South Korean guards before being released to a life of poverty and police surveillance. Now, 89 years old and bedridden with illness, former North Korean spy Seo Ok-yeol just wants to go home.“People have a need to die in a place where they are respected,” Seo said, though he worries it could be too late to finally be reunited with the wife and children he left behind. Seo is a

May 23, 2018

Pompeo vows best efforts for success of US-N. Korea summit

WASHINGTON -- The United States will do everything necessary for the success of an upcoming meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the top US diplomat said Tuesday.Trump and Kim are set to meet in Singapore on June 12, although the North Korean regime threatened last week to pull out."We will do what it takes to make sure that this is a successful meeting," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at a press briefing at his department, after coming out of a

May 23, 2018

[Video] S. Korean reporters in NK to cover dismantling of nuclear test site

Eight South Korean reporters on Wednesday took a train to Punggye-ri, North Korea, to watch the dismantling of the major nuclear test site, after the regime accepted them into the country at the last minute. North Korean guides on a bus carrying South Korean reporters at the Kalma Airport, Wonsan, Wednesday. (Joint Press Corps)The special train departed from Wonsan for Punggye-ri at around 7 p.m., carrying reporters from South Korea, the US, China, Russia and the UK. The closing of the nuclear s

May 23, 2018

Moon, Trump vow NK safety and prosperity for denuclearization

Leaders of South Korea and the US on Tuesday reaffirmed their commitment to denuclearization of North Korea and a guarantee of the Kim Jong-un regime’s safety in return for complete denuclearization. At the summit held in Washington on Tuesday (US time), President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump agreed to collaborate closely in the run-up to US-North Korea talks. At the start of the meeting, Moon tried to downplay skepticism on denuclearization of North Korea, saying that circumstances

May 23, 2018

Trump hints talks with NK leader open to changes

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (US time) said that his meeting with North Korean leader may not happen as scheduled. Speaking ahead of his meeting with President Moon Jae-in at the White House, Trump said that the scheduled meeting may not take place. President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump responds to questions from the media at the White House on Tuesday. Yonhap“It may not Work out for June 12,” Trump said, saying “you will know soon” when asked about his conditions for the m

May 23, 2018

Moon urges top US officials to stay on course on NK talks

President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday met with top US security and foreign affairs officials and asked for their support in matters surrounding North Korea. At the meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor John Bolton, Moon requested their support for the upcoming US-North Korea summit. The summit is set to be held in Singapore on June 12. President Moon Jae-in speaks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor John Bolton in Washington DC

May 23, 2018

As summit looms, North Korean media return to angry tone

North Korean media stepped up their rhetorical attacks on South Korea and joint military exercises with the United States, warning Tuesday that a budding detente could be in danger.An article published by North Korea's state-run Korea Central News Agency. (Yonhap)State media unleashed three strongly worded commentaries slamming Seoul and Washington for the maneuvers and demanding Seoul take action against defectors it claimed were sending anti-North Korea propaganda leaflets across the border.Th

May 22, 2018

Top diplomats of China, Japan to visit Washington

Top diplomats of China and Japan will visit Washington on Wednesday, media outlets reported Tuesday, ahead of a US-North Korea summit in June.  Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi greets North Korean officials in Pyongyang on May 2. (Yonhap)Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will discuss issues concerning both the US and China with US ranking officials in Washington on Wednesday, a local media outlet reported, citing an unnamed source. North Korea’s denuclearization, which is the main agenda item of

May 22, 2018