The US is fine-tuning the details of a second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un amid media reports naming Vietnam as a possible site for talks. Asked when the two leaders will hold their summit, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on TV that the administration is “working out the details,” without further elaboration. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (Yonhap)His remark is being taken as a positive sign for an imminent summit, as Trump said negotiati

North Korea Jan. 14, 2019

Negotiations to resume two inter-Korean economic cooperation projects are possible but there need to be ways to prevent the flow of “bulk cash” into North Korea, a high-ranking Foreign Ministry official said Thursday on condition of anonymity. In his New Year speech Tuesday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said he is willing to reopen the South-North joint industrial park in the North’s border town of Kaesong and resume the suspended tourism program to Mount Kumgang without any preconditions.“(I

North Korea Jan. 11, 2019

South Korea will continue to push for signing with North Korea a declaration to formally end the Korean War this year amid concerns over slow progress, a government official said on condition of anonymity Thursday. The government’s willingness to sign the declaration remains unchanged although the timeline has been delayed from what it had expected – by the end of last year, the official said. “We still believe that the agreement should be pushed ahead.” (Yonhap)This echoes President Moon Jae-in

North Korea Jan. 11, 2019

Vietnam and Singapore are likely to be shortlisted to host a second summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and the US President Donald Trump, Foreign Affairs Ministry officials said on condition of anonymity Thursday. “(The venues you should pay attention to) are those mentioned by media including Vietnam, Singapore and Hawaii,” one ministry official said. “But Hawaii is said to be an unrealistic location as it doesn’t have a North Korean embassy there,” another official added. (AP)The s

North Korea Jan. 11, 2019

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wrapped up his four-day visit to China on Wednesday after holding talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and touring an economic zone, while the US maintains its silence over the two leaders’ meeting. Kim’s train departed from a train station in Beijing at around 2 p.m. after Kim and Xi had lunch together, according to Yonhap News Agency. In this June 19, 2018, file photo provided by China's Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping(left) and North Korean

North Korea Jan. 9, 2019

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday afternoon, according to media outlets of the two countries, apparently to discuss a second summit with US President Donald Trump concerning denuclearization. Kim arrived by train at the Beijing station at 10:55 a.m. Tuesday, which happens to be his birthday, at the invitation of the Chinese leader, North Korea’s state-run Rodong Sinmun and China’s Xinhua News Agency reported.  In this June 19, 2018, file phot

North Korea Jan. 8, 2019

US President Donald Trump confirmed Sunday talks for the location of a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are underway, after the two said last week they are ready to meet to further discuss Pyongyang’s denuclearization. “We’re negotiating a location. It will be announced probably in the not-too-distant future,” Trump told reporters before boarding a helicopter for a presidential retreat to Camp David, Maryland.  US President Donald Trump speaks on the South Lawn of the White Hou

North Korea Jan. 7, 2019

President Moon Jae-in will hold a New Year’s meeting with reporters on Thursday to explain his administration’s key policy objectives, marking his third televised press conference since he took office in 2017, Cheong Wa Dae said Sunday. The event will kick off at 10 a.m. with the president’s 20-minute keynote speech, followed by a question-and-answer session with reporters, which is expected to run for 80 minutes.  President Moon Jae-in (center)  (Yonhap)This is Moon’s third press conference wit

Politics Jan. 6, 2019

A former senior North Korean diplomat who defected to the South in 2016 on Saturday urged a former colleague who has gone into hiding before ending his term in Italy to come to Seoul, as opposed to the US where he is reportedly seeking asylum. Thae Yong-ho, who was the deputy ambassador in London and the most recent senior diplomat to defect, wrote an open letter to Jo Song-gil, 44, until recently North Korea’s acting ambassador to Italy, who fled the Rome embassy with his wife in early November

North Korea Jan. 6, 2019

Opposition parties have criticized the government’s decision to withdraw its plan to relocate the presidential office to Gwanghwamun, one of President Moon Jae-in’s key election pledges stressing the importance of daily encounters with the people and working-level officials. “It is right to apologize and explain the reason to the people if the president is not able to keep his word. Unlike other pledges, the (relocation) plan was about delivering on his commitment to communicate with the people,

Politics Jan. 6, 2019

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s comment about nuclear weapons in his New Year’s speech has evoked mixed responses from experts here.“We declared at home and abroad that we would neither make and test nuclear weapons any longer nor use and proliferate them, and we have taken various practical measures,” Kim said in a televised address on Tuesday. Thae Yong-ho, a former North Korean diplomat, said Kim’s speech shows there is no change in Kim’s stance on clinging to nuclear weapons.   “His 2019 p

North Korea Jan. 3, 2019

Future denuclearization talks should pay attention to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s comments on the possible development of nuclear energy to tackle the country’s electricity shortage, according to Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon.In a television show Tuesday night, Cho said the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes was guaranteed in exchange for the development of a resolution of the nuclear weapon issue in the agreement of the six-party talks, in which South Korea, the United Sta

North Korea Jan. 2, 2019

The Unification Ministry said Wednesday that close consultation with the international community is required in considering the resumption of a South-North industrial complex and tour program, following North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s call for the restart of inter-Korean projects.“As agreed before, it is necessary at this moment for us to focus on creating the conditions,” Unification Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun told reporters Wednesday. “Also, it is a matter that should be pursued in con

North Korea Jan. 2, 2019