SINGAPORE -- The summit meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un kicked off at about 9:00 a.m. Monday at the Capella Resort, Singapore. Kim entered the conference room at about 8:54 a.m., carrying a folder on his left hand. Trump arrived at the site at 9 a.m. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other officials entered the venue through a different entrance not covered by cameras at about 9:01 a.m.Trump and Kim are scheduled to hold a short one-on-one meetin

North Korea June 12, 2018

With the leaders of the US and North Korea set to meet on Tuesday, a significant change in the Korean Peninsula’s security situation may be in store. Throughout the convoluted process that led to the unprecedented summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, President Moon Jae-in of South Korea has played the role of mediator. The monthslong process of arranging the summit was kick-started after Moon sent special envoys to Pyongyang in March. Upon their return, t

North Korea June 11, 2018

A South Korean journalist of the state-run broadcaster KBS has allegedly been detained by North Korean officials in Singapore, a local online media reported Thursday. According to a local online business newspaper, a KBS reporter was detained by North Korean officials at a North Korean government facility in Singapore.  North Korean embassy in Singapore. YonhapAccording to the report, the reporter was knocking on the door of the North Korean facility at about 3:52 p.m. The reporter is said to ha

North Korea June 7, 2018

The US may be considering the possibility of applying the Nunn-Lugar program to North Korea’s denuclearization in the run up to the US-North Korea summit. US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are set to meet in Singapore on June 12, the agenda of which is being negotiated by working-level officials.The Nunn-Lugar program refers to the Cooperative Threat Reduction program the US implemented in handling weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, of the former

North Korea June 7, 2018

The White House on Wednesday confirmed the venue of the US-North Korea summit in Singapore. In a Twitter post, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders revealed that the meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will take place at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island. A day earlier, Sanders told reporters that the meeting will start at 9 a.m. (Singapore time) on June 12.An undated handout photo of Capella hotel on Sentosa island, Singapore. YonhapWhile the sum

North Korea June 6, 2018

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will meet in Singapore on June 12, with the meeting kicking off at 9 a.m., the White House confirmed Tuesday. “I can tell you the president has been receiving daily briefings on North Korea from his national security team,” White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders said. “And I can also tell you the schedule, tentatively, for that first meeting will be on June 12 at 9 a.m. Singapore time.”According to Sanders, US-North Korea negotiations

North Korea June 5, 2018

With the US-North Korea summit set for June 12, questions over who will shoulder the cost of denuclearization are rising. Publicly, the cost of dismantling North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, and who will cover it, has yet to be discussed by the concerned countries. According to one estimate, the cost of dismantling North Korea’s nuclear weapons program could be at least five times higher than that of Ukraine. This pool photo shows the demolition of North Korea`s Punggye-ri nuclear test site

North Korea June 4, 2018

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

North Korea June 2, 2018

In a heavily urbanized country where five-day week was introduced less than two decades ago, camping has only been a common leisure activity since the late 2000s.However, when something takes off in Korea, it takes off. The number of people enjoying camping has increased dramatically over the years. According to a Statistics Korea estimates, the number of Korean campers broke the 5 million mark in 2016. In comparison, the country’s population came to just over 51 million in the same year. Along

Social Affairs June 1, 2018

With Kim Yong-chol set to meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in New York, expectations are rising that the conclusion of the talks on arranging a US-North Korea summit is in sight. The role Kim is playing in inter-Korean and Pyongyang-Washington talks in recent months is in stark contrast to the role he has played in the past. Kim, vice chairman of the Central Committee of the North Korean Workers’ Party, has been central to the inter-Korean developments of recent months. Pyongyang was rep

North Korea May 30, 2018

North Korea’s Kim Yong-chol and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are to set to meet in New York, adding to speculation that arrangements for the US-North Korea summit may be in their final stages. On Wednesday, Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of the Central Committee and director of the committee’s United Front Department, left for New York aboard a China Air flight from Beijing. The flight is scheduled to arrive at the John F. Kennedy International Airport at 2:20 p.m. on Wednesday.According to t

North Korea May 30, 2018

North Korean spymaster Kim Yong-chol was confirmed to be headed for the US, adding another dimension to ongoing summit negotiations between the two countries. Kim, vice chairman of the North’s ruling party, arrived in Beijing on Tuesday, and his name was confirmed to be on the manifest of a New York-bound flight scheduled for Wednesday. US President Donald Trump later confirmed in a Twitter post that Kim was on his way to New York to discuss the summit, describing Kim's trip as "solid response t

North Korea May 29, 2018

Declaring an end to the Korean War is central to ongoing negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington, a top South Korean official said Monday as North Korea and the US scramble to arrange the US-North Korea summit. “Ultimately, denuclearization and guaranteeing the North Korean regime can be considered the axis of the agenda (for the US-North Korea summit),” a high-level Cheong Wa Dae official said on the condition of anonymity. “The South-North-US trilateral declaration of the end of war that

North Korea May 28, 2018

South Korea’s ruling party on Sunday welcomed President Moon Jae-in’s second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, lauding it for rekindling peace-building efforts on the peninsula. The secretly arranged summit was held on the northern side of the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjeom on Saturday afternoon at the suggestion of the North Korean leader. Kim reaffirmed his determination to give up the country’s nuclear weapons program and hold the summit with US President Donald Trump sch

Politics May 27, 2018

President Moon Jae-in on Sunday said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has “firm will” for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. He also said that he hopes to follow up the US-North Korea summit with a Seoul-Pyongyang-Washington summit to discuss declaring the end of the Korean War. The two Koreas are technically still at war, with the 1950-53 Korean War having ended in an armistice. “Following up from the Panmunjeom Declaration, Chairman Kim again stated his will for complete denucleariz

North Korea May 27, 2018