Senior US diplomat to visit S. Korea ahead of NK summits

WASHINGTON/SEOUL -- A senior US diplomat will visit South Korea next week for further coordination ahead of both countries' summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.Susan Thornton, acting assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, will travel to Seoul Sunday to Tuesday and then Tokyo Tuesday to Friday, the State Department said in a press release. Susan Thornton (Xinhua-Yonhap)"During her visits to our treaty allies in Northeast Asia she will reaffirm US alliance commit

April 19, 2018

NK's ruling party set for meeting on key policy decisions

North Korea will hold a plenary session of its ruling communist party this week to make key policy decisions, local media said Thursday, as it's preparing for summit talks with South Korea and the United States.The central committee of the Workers' Party of Korea will convene the meeting Friday, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency.It's meant to "discuss and decide the policy issues of a new stage in line with the demand of the important historic period of the developing

April 19, 2018

[Breaking] Trump vows efforts for successful summit, threatens to boycott meeting if not 'fruitful'

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he is doing everything possible to have a "very successful" meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but added he will walk away from the summit if it is unlikely to bear fruit."I hope to have a very successful meeting," he said in a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Florida. "If I think it's a meeting that is not going to be fruitful, we are not going to go. If the meeting, when I'm there is not fruitful

April 19, 2018

Trump: Pompeo met N. Korean leader, formed 'good relationship'

US President Donald Trump confirmed Wednesday that his new secretary of state nominee met with North Korea's leader last week, saying the two formed a "good relationship.""Mike Pompeo met with Kim Jong Un in North Korea last week," he tweeted. "Meeting went very smoothly and a good relationship was formed."The Washington Post reported earlier that Pompeo, the current director of the Central Intelligence Agency, flew to North Korea over the Easter weekend to meet with Kim and discuss preparations

April 18, 2018

Two Koreas agree to live broadcast key events in inter-Korean summit

The two Koreas on Wednesday agreed to live broadcast key events of the upcoming inter-Korean summit, South Korea’s presidential office said. According to Kwun Hyuk-ki, a member of South Korea’s delegation in Wednesday’s working level talks, the two sides are largely in agreement over issues concerning media coverage and protection for the two leaders. (Yonhap)“(The two Koreas) agreed to live broadcast key events and actions starting from the first hand shake in the inter-Korean talks,” Kwun said

April 18, 2018

Koreas meet to hammer out details for upcoming summit

The two Koreas held working-level talks on Wednesday in an effort to finalize preparations for the upcoming summit between their leaders next week. The talks kicked off 10 a.m. sharp at the Joint Security Area of the truce village of Panmunjeom near the border, which will also serve as a venue for the summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un slated for next Friday. It lasted for nearly five hours without any breaks, according to the South’s presidenti

April 18, 2018

S. Korea seeking to end armistice, establish permanent peace

South Korea is seeking to end an armistice left by the 1950-53 Korean War and build a permanent peace regime on the Korean Peninsula, Seoul's unification ministry said Wednesday.US President Donald Trump on Tuesday extended his "blessing" to the Koreas, which appear to be discussing a peace treaty to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War when their leaders meet for a summit next Friday."The two Koreas discussed the issue of ending the armistice at a summit in October 2007," Baik Tae-hyun, a minist

April 18, 2018

[2018 Inter-Korean summit] Blue House hints at hopes for peace treaty with NK

South Korea is weighing its options in concluding a peace treaty through the upcoming summits involving North Korea, a high-level official said Wednesday.Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official, who has been closely involved in the developments surrounding inter-Korean and US-North Korea talks, said that a number of possibilities for achieving a permanent peace on the peninsula are under review. South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in is set to meet North Korea’s Kim Jong-un on the South’s

April 18, 2018

Koreas to hold second working-level talks on upcoming summit

Officials from South Korea and North Korea were set to hold a second round of talks Wednesday to discuss details of a summit to be held between their leaders next week.The working-level talks were set to take place at the joint security area of Panmunjom inside the demilitarized zone, also the venue for the summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un slated for next Friday.Wednesday's meeting seeks to discuss protocols and security measures for the leade

April 18, 2018

CIA Director Mike Pompeo secretly met with Kim Jong-un

Mike Pompeo, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, recently travelled to North Korea to meet with its leader Kim Jong-un, US media reported Wednesday, boosting prospects for the upcoming North Korea-US summit. Pompeo, nominated to be the next US secretary of state, made the secret trip as an envoy of President Donald Trump over the Easter holiday, the Washington Post reported, quoting two people with direct knowledge of the trip. Pompeo’s trip, which was the highest-level meeting between

April 18, 2018

NK leader meets Chinese official again, discusses improving ties

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has met with a visiting senior Chinese official again to discuss ways to boost strategic cooperation between the two nations, state media said Wednesday.Kim told Song Tao, a ranking Chinese party official, on Tuesday that a Chinese art troupe's trip to Pyongyang helped strengthen the two countries' ties and set a model for cultural exchanges, according to the Korean Central News Agency."He exchanged with Song Tao in-depth views on several matters for activating ex

April 18, 2018

Kazakh president vows to support Korea on issues surrounding peninsula: Seoul

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev said Tuesday the Central Asian country will continue to support South Korea on issues related to the Korean Peninsula, as the leaders of two Koreas are set to hold a rare summit next week, Seoul's foreign ministry said.Nazarbaev also expressed hopes that the North's nuclear issue will be resolved through the upcoming inter-Korean meeting and the following summit between Washington and Pyongyang.The president made the remarks during his meeting with South Kore

April 18, 2018

Trump-Kim meeting should focus on denuclearization: Lippert

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump should focus on ways to denuclearize North Korea when he meets with Kim Jong-un, before addressing other issues, such as human rights, a former US ambassador to South Korea said Tuesday."If it were me, I would be on the denuclearization track," Mark Lippert, Washington's top envoy to Seoul from 2014-2017, said at the US Institute of Peace. "It's the most, I think, dangerous. It's the most imminent in terms of just how big the (nuclear) program is."Trump an

April 18, 2018

Trump: Koreas have my 'blessing' to end war

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump on Tuesday offered his "blessing" to the Koreas to end their decades-long war.Trump appeared to speak to reports the two Koreas could discuss a peace treaty to formally end the 1953-53 Korean War when their leaders meet for a summit next week."They do have my blessing to discuss the end to the war," he said at a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. "People don't realize the Korean War has not ended. It's goin

April 18, 2018

US-N. Korea talks 'at highest levels' but not Trump-Kim: WH

PALM BEACH, Fla. -- President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the United States is engaged in direct talks at “extremely high levels” with North Korea to try to set up a summit between him and its leader, Kim Jong-un.Trump made the comment as he and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe opened two days of talks at the president’s Mar-a-Lago retreat in Palm Beach, Florida, meetings that are to include a round of golf.Trump said he believed there was a lot of good will in the diplomatic push, but also s

April 18, 2018

Seoul hints at possibility of sending envoys to NK ahead of summit 　

South Korea could send special envoys to Pyongyang ahead of the April 27 inter-Korean summit, presidential chief of staff Im Jong-seok said Tuesday. Im, who serves as the chief of the inter-Korean summit preparation committee, said that National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong, or National Intelligence Service Director Suh Hoon, could be sent if necessary. “Communication (with North Korea) is always open on the level of the NIS. If necessary, it is possible that Chung or Suh could visit Pyo

April 17, 2018

Border truce village set to greet Koreas' leaders for summit

The border truce village of Panmunjom, a site symbolizing inter-Korean division, is expected to become a venue for reconciliation as the leaders of the two Koreas are set to hold a rare summit there next week.Panmunjom, some 52 kilometers north of Seoul, is the place where the armistice agreement that ended the 1950-53 Korean War was signed. The two Koreas remain technically at war as the conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.President Moon Jae-in will meet with North Korean leader Kim J

April 17, 2018

China releases 30 N. Korean defectors: report

China has released 30 North Korean defectors who some feared would be forcibly sent back to the reclusive state, Radio Free Asia reported Tuesday, citing a defector who has taken asylum in South Korea.The defector told the US-funded broadcaster the previous day that the Chinese government freed them as it is concerned about criticism in the international community that Beijing deports North Korean defectors back to their home country, where they face severe punishment. (Yonhap)He alleged that Ch

April 17, 2018

NK leader says Chinese artists' visit will help strengthen ties

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said that a Chinese art troupe's visit to the North will significantly help consolidate ties between Pyongyang and Beijing, state media reported Tuesday.The North's leader and his wife Ri Sol-ju on Monday watched a ballet choreodrama of "Red Women Company" by the Chinese art troupe, which is visiting the North to take part in an art festival as part of cultural exchange programs, the Korean Central News Agency said. The trip came in a thawing sign of the two c

April 17, 2018

Koreas hold more summit preparation talks this week

With an inter-Korean summit scheduled to take place on April 27, the two Koreas are expected to hold what is likely to be the final round of preparation talks this week. The two sides will hold working-level talks at the Tongilgak administrative building in the truce village of Panmunjeom on Wednesday, which will be closely followed by high-level talks, according to the South’s presidential Cheong Wa Dae, to build a solid foundation for the fast-approaching summit. The exact date for the high-le

April 16, 2018