Kim Jong-un - Page 19

The Chinese Foreign Ministry dismissed concerns that Beijing had influenced North Korea to be more antagonistic towards the United States in remarks Monday, stating it “does not make any sense” for China to prompt “inconsistent” responses to Washington’s diplomacy.

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un sent a letter and exchanged “wholehearted greetings” with Cuban leader Raúl Castro as the regime seeks to bolster relations with its traditional communist allies, state media announced on Monday.

President Donald Trump interjected on Monday in the debate about the state of recent Korean peninsula denuclearization negotiations between the U.S. and North Korea, pointing again to China’s influence.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo responded on Sunday to an extensive diatribe published against him in North Korea’s official state media, asserting that his demand for complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization (CVID) was not “gangster-like,” but reflective of the world’s hopes for the nation.

North Korean officials said on Friday they expect Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit Pyongyang on September 9, which will mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the communist state.

American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has landed in Pyongyang, North Korea, for discussions on filling in details deliberately left vague in the declaration U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un signed following their first meeting in Singapore.

The conservative South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported Monday that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo landed in Pyongyang Friday carrying two gifts for dictator Kim Jong-un: a private letter from President Donald Trump and a copy of Elton John’s Rocket Man CD.

North Korean state media suddenly began depicting dictator Kim Jong-un covered in dirt this week, in a comically obvious bid to make the notoriously delicate leader appear hard-working and deeply in touch with working people.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo boarded a plane to North Korea early Thursday for his first overnight stay in the rogue communist regime. He is scheduled to hold discussions with high-ranking officials in the country on how to begin defining specifics necessary to implement a plan to end Pyongyang’s illegal nuclear weapons program.

State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert told reporters Tuesday that North Korea can expect “no surprises” in U.S. policy as delivered by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during his upcoming visit this week.

North Korea’s state media confirmed that communist dictator Kim Jong-un sent a high-ranking delegation to Havana, Cuba, Tuesday for their first meeting with figurehead President Miguel Díaz-Canel since he assumed the title, and to discuss affairs of mutual interest with the actual leader of the island, dictator Raúl Castro.

The South Korean news outlet Yonhap reports Monday that the United States has successfully pressured China out of investing heavily into North Korea – at least for now.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders announced during Monday’s press briefing that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would be heading back to North Korea on Thursday, July 5 for meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Sunday the U.S. has a plan to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear, biological, chemical, and ballistic missile programs within a year if Pyongyang is serious about meeting its commitment to denuclearize.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will make his third visit to North Korea next week to continue ongoing negotiations over the regime’s plans to denuclearize, according to a report from the Financial Times. 

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told lawmakers on Wednesday that the United States has “not yet” received the remains of American service members killed in the Korean War more than six decades ago that Kim Jong-un has vowed to repatriate as part of a deal with the United States.

Human rights groups are protesting that the South Korean government is stifling their criticism of North Korea, and even interfering with their operations, to prevent them from alienating the regime in Pyongyang as delicate negotiations continue.

An analysis of satellite imagery by watchdog group 38 North published on Tuesday concluded that “improvements to the infrastructure at North Korea’s Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center are continuing at a rapid pace,” even as North Korea ostensibly negotiates a denuclearization agreement.

Not only has North Korea canceled its annual month of anti-American rage this year (or at least toned it down quite a bit), but visitors tell reporters this week that America-bashing merchandise is disappearing from souvenir shops despite their status as perennial bestsellers.

Both North and South Korea agreed on Tuesday to improve and construct railway lines linking the two countries together, the South’s unification ministry has announced.

North Korean propaganda sites and publications in South Korea have begun agitating against the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization (CVID) of the communist Kim Jong-un regime. South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported Tuesday that one such outlet called any North Korean supporting denuclearization a “traitor.”

President Trump expressed optimism on diplomacy with North Korea at a rally in South Carolina for Gov. Henry McMaster Monday evening. 

The South Korean outlet Yonhap reported on Monday that closed North Korean restaurants near the border in China have begun renovations, a sign that they are preparing for sanctions to lift on the country as part of an ongoing dialogue with the United States.

The Associated Press reported on Monday that North Korea has canceled the biggest anti-American rally on its calendar: the annual “Victory in the Fatherland Liberation War” event that celebrates the defeat of “American imperialism” in the Korean War.

The U.S. military announced it moved 100 caskets to the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea on Saturday in anticipation of North Korea’s release of the remains of U.S. service members who went missing during the Korean War in the 1950s.

South Korea’s Yonhap News reported on Friday that North Korea’s major international trade fair was bigger than ever this year, and Chinese companies made up 70 percent of the attendees, anticipating that China will move more quickly than any other country to remove economic sanctions if Pyongyang cooperates with denuclearization.

Reports in South Korean media, citing a Korean lawmaker speaking on national radio, reported Thursday that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo could be visiting North Korea again as soon as this weekend.

President Donald Trump announced at a rally in Duluth, Minnesota on Wednesday that North Korea has returned the remains of 200 U.S. troops who went missing during the Korean War between 1950 and 1953.

Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping used the opportunity of meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un Wednesday to promote the “Chinese dream,” the Marxist alternative to the American Dream, and announce that “people of all ethnic groups” are striving to build this dream.

According to a tour group based in Beijing, North Korea has decided to hold its “Mass Games” event for the first time in five years. The North Korean government has never explained why the games were halted in 2013 after a big show to commemorate the Korean War armistice, or why they are being relaunched now, but the obvious inference is that Pyongyang wishes to appear more open to the West and welcoming to tourists as diplomacy with the United States unfolds.

Kim Jong-un departed China on Wednesday after an extensive meeting and lavish banquet with Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, who, according to North Korean state media, congratulated Kim for “steering” the conversation during his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump this month.

North Korean products and workers reportedly began flowing into China at an accelerated rate following dictator Kim Jong-un’s meeting with American President Donald Trump last week, and China has apparently begun lifting a ban on Chinese tourism to the fellow communist regime Tuesday – indications that China expects sanctions on North Korea to soon lift.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry announced on Tuesday that the annual “Ulchi Freedom Guardian” joint military exercise with U.S. troops has been suspended as part of ongoing negotiations with North Korea.

Kim Jong-un made his third trip to China this year, and since assuming the position of supreme dictator of North Korea, on Tuesday, meeting Communist Party leader Xi Jinping and briefing senior Chinese officials on his meeting last week with U.S. President Donald Trump.

North Korea’s state newspaper Rodong Sinmun and its Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) condemned the West’s “reptile media” on Monday for promoting capitalism, which the propaganda outlets described as “a corrupt society rushing headlong into its doom.”

South Korea’s foreign minister told reporters Monday that Seoul hopes to see an official end to the Korean War by the end of the year, which would require all the parties who signed the 1953 armistice – the two Koreas, China, and the United States – to agree to a peace treaty.