Just two months after North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un succeeded his father Kim Jong-il in late February 2012, a glimmer of hope emerged in Washington that the young leader would end the nuclear standoff. 　In what was dubbed the “leap day” deal, the North agreed on Feb. 29 that year to suspend nuclear tests, long-range missile launches and uranium enrichment. It also allowed international inspectors to monitor activities at its main nuclear complex.　“Today’s announcement represents a modest fir

North Korea March 14, 2018

　The United States’ top diplomat said that North Korea has not contacted Washington directly since its acceptance of a bilateral summit last week, as Pyongyang keeps mum over what will become of a diplomatic breakthrough for the reclusive regime.　US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Monday the US had not heard anything directly from North Korea since President Donald Trump accepted Thursday the invitation from the North’s leader Kim Jong-un’s for a meeting to be held by May. 　“It‘s very earl

North Korea March 13, 2018

The Defense Ministry on Monday pledged to reinvestigate past sexual assault cases, accelerating its efforts to eradicate the past wrongdoings amid the #MeToo campaign sweeping across the nation. The ministry said the investigation will focus on the cases in the last ten years involving general officers, including those committed by female officers. The ministry said it would consider establishing an independent organization to oversee sexual assaults in the military. However, the impact of the i

Defense March 12, 2018

With North Korea and the United States agreeing to hold a historic summit on North Korea‘s nuclear program, South Korea is campaigning to rally regional stakeholders’ support for what it sees as an ultimate opportunity to resolve the decadeslong security challenge. 　National Security advisor Chung Eui-yong and National Intelligence Service chief Suh Hoon returned home Sunday after wrapping up their two-day visit to Washington, DC, during which they relayed North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s messa

Foreign Affairs March 11, 2018

Joint South Korea-US military drills will be held on a scale “consistent” with the previous ones, a top US Navy commander stressed, downplaying speculations surrounding the resumption of the annual drills postponed until after the Paralympics here.US Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. Scott Swift. Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald.In an interview with The Korea Herald on Thursday, US Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. Scott Swift also noted that there was “no indication” from the South Korean military to chang

Defense March 8, 2018

 스콧 스위프트 미 태평양함대사령관(해군 대장)은 8일 코리아 헤럴드와의 인터뷰에서 ‘확장억제전력을 전개하지 않아도 된다’는 송영무 국방장관의 언급을 “농담조의 발언(ribbing)이라고 밝혔다. 다만 오는 한미연습은 예전과 같은 규모로 실시될 것이라고 시종일관 강조했다.　스위프트 사령관은 인터뷰에서 “송 장관이 그렇게(확장 억제 및 원자력 잠수함 전개 불필요 발언) 말한 것처럼 보이지만, 나는 그렇게 받아 들이지 않았다”며 “전직 퇴역 해군 장성으로서 송장관은 내 밑에 부속된 해군 전력이 해야할 일에 대해 언급했다고 생각한다” 말했다. 또 송장관의 발언이 현재 한미가 한미연습 실시와 관련해 일관성(consistency) 과 해군 전력가용의 유연성(flexibility)을 강조하는 상황에서 나왔다고 부연했다.　스위프트 사령관은 평창패럴림픽　이후 진행될 한미연합 군사훈련인 독수리ㆍ키리졸브 훈련이 예년 규모와　범위에서 진행될 것이라고 밝혔다. 스위프트 사령관은 “지속되는 훈련에서의 자산

한국어판 March 8, 2018

With North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un expressing willingness to denuclearize during his meeting with the South Korea‘s special envoys, focus is now on whether this time around the North will deliver its promise that has never been fulfilled in the past negotiations.　Following its two-day visit to the North, the South Korean delegation announced Tuesday that North Korea had expressed a willingness to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and vowed to suspend all nuclear and missile tests while such t

North Korea March 7, 2018

Following is an unofficial translation of the statement issued by South Korea’s special envoys to the North on their return from a two-day visit to Pyongyang, during which they met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Chung Eui-yong, chief of the National Security Office (Yonhap)1. The two Koreas agreed to convene the third inter-Korean summit at the Peace House of Panmunjeom in late April. To achieve this, the two parties agreed to hold working-level consultations. 2. In order to ease military conf

North Korea March 6, 2018

With President Moon Jae-in announcing his plan to send a special envoy to North Korea, attention is now on who will carry the president’s message amid Seoul’s efforts to open up direct dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington. 　During his 30-minute telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump late Thursday, Moon said he would send an envoy “soon” in return for the visit by Kim Yo-jung, younger sister of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, who invited Moon for a summit in Pyeongyang, the

North Korea March 2, 2018

With criticism mounting over a visit by North Korea’s former spymaster suspected of having orchestrated attacks on South Korea, Seoul’s defense chief confirmed Wednesday that Kim Yong-chol’s organization was behind the sinking of a South Korean warship in 2010. During a meeting with lawmakers Wednesday, Defense Minister Song Young-moo said South Korea’s Cheonan warship was torpedoed by North Korea’s Yeono-class midget submarine belonging to that country’s top intelligence agency Reconnaissance G

North Korea Feb. 28, 2018

South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s special adviser has called for “maximum prudence” in dealing with North Korea’s nuclear program, warning Washington’s maximum pressure campaign would only worsen the military standoff between the US and North Korea. Presidential foreign affairs and unification adviser Moon Chung-in also urged the Trump administration to separate the North’s nuclear issue from its human rights issues, asserting that such an approach could help Pyongyang return to denuclearizat

North Korea Feb. 28, 2018

After he was promoted to a four-star general in 2005, Kim Kwan-jin hung pictures of the North Korean military leadership in his office -- a practice that continued until Kim became the defense minister in 2010 and presidential security adviser four years later.　The practice earned him popularity among conservatives at a time when cross-border tensions escalated following the North’s sinking of the South Korean Cheonan warship and an artillery strike on the border island of Yeonpyeong.　The decora

Defense Feb. 27, 2018

The United States will resume military exercises with South Korea after the Paralympic Games in March, the Japanese media reported Monday, citing a US defense official. Randall Schriver, US assistant secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs, told Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera that the joint drills would kick off after the Paralympics end on March 18, according to the Japanese Kyodo News Agency. Highlighting that there is no indication that North Korea would give u

North Korea Feb. 26, 2018

North Korea’s high-level delegation arrived Sunday to attend the closing ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics amid mounting criticism that the visit is led by a combative general accused of orchestrating attacks on South Korea. Vice Chairman of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party Kim Yong-chol crossed the border at around 9:50 a.m. via a land route, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said. Accompanying Kim was Ri Son-gwon, chairman of the Committee for Peaceful Reunification, and six other member

North Korea Feb. 25, 2018

Led by Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party, North Korea’s high-level delegates arrived at South Korea on Sunday to attend the closing ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. 　Kim, who also served as the head of the ruling party’s United Front Department, and his support staff crossed the border via a land route at around 9:50 a.m, according to Seoul’s Unification Ministry.　Accompanying Kim was Ri Son-gwon, chairman of the Committee for Peaceful Reunification, a

North Korea Feb. 25, 2018