N. Korea to publicly dismantle nuclear test site between May 23-25

North Korea announced Saturday it will publicly dismantle its northern nuclear test site in a ceremony scheduled for between May 23 and 25, adding it is taking "technical measures" to that end.The announcement by the North's foreign ministry moves the communist country closer to honoring an offer made by its leader Kim Jong-un during the inter-Korean summit last month.In an English-language statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency, the foreign ministry detailed the country's

May 13, 2018

N. Korea's denuclearization may proceed speedily

Moves to denuclearize North Korea are expected to proceed speedily this time, due to a determination by the leaders of the two Koreas and the United States to achieve that goal, a ranking South Korean government official said Friday.The official told Korean reporters here that the dismantling of North Korea's nuclear weapons program will likely proceed at a speed far faster than under any other similar nuclear accords of the past.This file photo from February of 2017 shows a map marking the loca

May 12, 2018

N. Korean defector group sends anti-Pyongyang leaflets to North

A group of North Korea defectors scattered leaflets critical of the North Korean regime across the border to the North on Saturday despite the government's recommendation not to.Six members of the Fighters for a Free North Korea flew five big plastic balloons at around 12:30 a.m. from the border city of Paju, Gyeonggi Province. The balloons sent across the border to the North Korean side were carrying 150,000 leaflets criticizing North Korea, as well as other gifts like United States dollar bill

May 12, 2018

Trump thanks Singapore leader for hosting N. Korea summit

US President Donald Trump thanked Singapore’s leader Friday for hosting his upcoming meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the city-state, the White House said.Trump and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke by phone a day after the US president announced the date and location for his historic summit with Kim.  (AFP-Yonhap)“President Trump thanked Prime Minister Lee for his willingness to host President Trump’s June 12 meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un,” the White H

May 12, 2018

US offers to help N. Korea’s economy if it ‘quickly’ denuclearizes

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo offered Friday to help boost North Korea’s economy if the regime swiftly dismantles its nuclear weapons program.Pompeo spoke after coming out of talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha.South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-hwa (left) and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo“If North Korea takes bold action to quickly denuclearize, the United States is prepared to work with North Korea to achieve prosperity on par with our South Korean friends,” h

May 12, 2018

N. Korea downsizes annual tank firing contest: officials

North Korea is said to have sharply scaled down an annual firing contest for its armored units, apparently reflecting the rising detente on the peninsula, government officials in Seoul said Saturday.North Korea’s major armored units hold a tank mobilization and firing competition in the first six months of the year.The North’s leader Kim Jong-un observed the contest in 2016 and 2017 in person, but didn’t show up at this year’s event, according to the Seoul officials. (Yonhap)In addition to Kim’s

May 12, 2018

Trump shows interest in three-way summit with two Koreas: Cheong Wa Dae

US President Donald Trump showed “interest” in holding a three-way summit with the two Koreas after next month’s meeting with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, South Korea’s presidential office said Friday. 　During the meeting with reporters, a senior Cheong Wa Dae official said South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in stressed the need for holding a three-way summit during his phone call with Trump on April 28, a day after the inter-Korean summit.　“President Moon talked about the idea of a meeting o

May 11, 2018

Singapore chosen as Trump-Kim summit venue for neutrality, security

US President Donald Trump announced Singapore as the location for his unprecedented meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un next month, raising speculations over why he chose the Southeast Asian city state over other symbolic venues. White House Spokesman Raj Shah said Friday that the island nation was chosen because it could ensure the security of both leaders and provide neutrality. US President Donald Trump (left) and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (right). (Yonhap)Experts also picked “

May 11, 2018

Seoul to re-examine arrival of N. Korean restaurant workers

South Korea said Friday it will look closer into the circumstances surrounding the arrival of a dozen North Korean restaurant workers in 2016 after a television report suggested some of the women might have been brought to the South against their will. Unification Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun did not provide a clear answer on whether the women could be returned to North Korea if it‘s confirmed they didn’t want to come to South Korea. Seoul had previously said it sufficiently confirmed the wo

May 11, 2018

Trump to be flexible on N. Korea denuclearization deadline: expert

US President Donald Trump appears open to lowering the bar for a big deal in denuclearization talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, though he's not considering moving the goal post itself, a well-known pundit here said Friday.In their summit to be held in Singapore on June 12, Trump apparently believes sticking to an agreement and attaining a nuclear-free peninsula is more important than setting a tight deadline, according to Jun Bong-geun, chief of security and unification studies at the

May 11, 2018

[Newsmaker] Singapore excited about Trump-Kim summit

SINGAPORE – News that Singapore will host the historic summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un next month made top headlines here, drawing attention to where on the island the two leaders will meet.Local experts say the most likely venue would be the Shangri-La Hotel, which has hosted the annual high-level Shangri-La security dialogue among 28 Asia Pacific states since 2002. The historic meeting between China’s President Xi Jinping and Taiwan’s President Ma Y

May 11, 2018

Moon vows continued, increased exchanges with N. Korea

President Moon Jae-in vowed to expand cross-border exchanges with North Korea on Friday, saying an increase in exchanges may eventually lead to the unification of the divided Koreas."Should the exchanges that were launched by South and North Korean art performance groups continue and should the South and the North meet more frequently," the president said while meeting a group of South Korean artists over lunch at his office Cheong Wa Dae. "I believe the people may freely come and go between the

May 11, 2018

N. Korea vows to halt unannounced missile tests

North Korea has promised to not carry out unannounced missile tests and to abstain from other activities hazardous to commercial aviation in a recent meeting with officials of the International Civil Aviation Organization, an American media report said Friday.North Korean authorities recently delivered such promises to visiting officials of the international aviation body while disclosing they have completed their nuclear weapons program, Voice of America reported, citing ICAO spokesman William

May 11, 2018

N. Korea silent about June summit with US in Singapore

North Korea's state-controlled media on Friday kept mum about the date and location of a historic meeting between leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump despite a lot of hype outside the communist nation.Trump broke the news via his Twitter account Thursday night (Seoul time) that his "highly anticipated" talks with Kim will be held in Singapore on June 12."We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!" he wrote.The message sparked a flood of reports by internation

May 11, 2018

[Newsmaker] Trump-Kim meeting expected to deliver initial results

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump's announcement Thursday of a date and location for his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un renewed cautious optimism for a deal to dismantle the North's nuclear weapons program.The key, however, will be whether the terms are implemented after the two leaders come out of their historic June 12 meeting in Singapore."Trump and Kim wouldn't meet unless certain things have already been agreed to," Frank Aum, senior expert on North Korea at the US Insti

May 11, 2018

Moon likely to call N. Korean leader before N. Korea-US summit: official

South Korean President Moon Jae-in will likely hold a telephone conversation with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the near future, before the upcoming US-North Korea summit set to be held next month, an official from Moon's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Friday. The call will be made over the new hotline installed between the offices of the leaders of the two divided Koreas, the official noted, while speaking on condition of anonymity."The call will be made in the near future," the of

May 11, 2018

Trump: North Korea summit to take place in Singapore June 12

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump announced Thursday that his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will take place in Singapore June 12."The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th," Trump tweeted. "We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!"Trump's tweet came just hours after three American citizens were brought home from imprisonment in the communist country.Their release cleared a major obstacle

May 11, 2018

N. Korea says 'satisfactory consensus' reached with the US

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has reached a “satisfactory consensus” with a top US official, North Korean media reported Thursday, prompting speculations that the two countries may be narrowing the gap over denuclearization. According to Korean Central News Agency, Kim and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed “the acute situation of the Korean Peninsula,” and reached a satisfactory consensus on the issues discussed, without elaborating on the details.  North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (c

May 10, 2018

N. Korea sends out new signal by releasing Americans on leader's amnesty

The unprecedented formalities behind North Korea's release of three Americans have drawn attention, as Pyongyang's media said Thursday that they were all set free by an amnesty granted by the chairman of the North's State Affairs Commission.Reporting on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Pyongyang on Wednesday, the Korean Central News Agency said that Kim issued an order as chairman of the State Affairs Commission on granting amnesty to the Americ

May 10, 2018

[Newsmaker] Shutting down NK nuclear test site presents numerous challenges

With North Korea pledging to close down its nuclear test site as a part of its own denuclearization efforts, the focus is on how the shutdown process will unfold. During his summit with South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in last month, The North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said he would invite experts and journalists from South Korea and the US to watch the dismantling of the Punggye-ri facility in North Hamgyong Province. But the condition of the site makes the shutdown a complicated task, analysts

May 10, 2018