PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) – Dozens of South Korean basketball players arrived in North Korea’s capital on Tuesday for a series of games the two Koreas hope will foster a spirit of detente generated by the recent North-South summit meetings.
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.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that analysis of satellite images by a private-sector watchdog group suggests North Korea recently completed expanding one of its most important missile manufacturing plants, a development that casts some doubt on Pyongyang’s enthusiasm for dismantling its nuclear and missile programs
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.
Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis became the highest-ranking Trump administration official to visit Japan on Friday, offering reassurances that America’s commitment to regional security remains firm and promising that Japanese kidnapping victims will not be forgotten during negotiations with North Korea.
China’s state-run Global Times newspaper warned Chinese corporations on Thursday that they should “temper their enthusiasm” and “be cautious” when investing in North Korea – not because North Korea is an unreliable communist rogue regime, but because the United States may sanction them.
A pro-unification South Korean group called the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation (KCRC) announced on Thursday that it will send a delegation to North Korea on July 16 to work on recovering the remains of Koreans forced to work for Imperial Japan as slaves during the World War II era.
Korean defector and founder of Free North Korea Radio Kim Seong Min was on Capitol Hill recently to speak to lawmakers and staff about the ongoing effort to help people in North Korea learn about the outside world and offer hope for their futures.
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.
A senior defense official giving a background briefing to reporters on Sunday stated that the Trump administration will soon present North Korea with a “specific timeline” for denuclearization filled with “specific asks,” and will judge Pyongyang’s degree of “good faith” by how well the timeline is received.
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.
In a speech at the Heritage Foundation on May 21, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo outlined a list of 12 conditions Iran must meet to reach a new nuclear agreement with the United States. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif, one of the lead architects of the nuclear deal Tehran struck with former President Barack Obama, responded this week by lashing out at Pompeo, dismissing his demands as “insulting,” and accusing President Donald Trump of “erratic behavior.”
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.
South Korea’s spy agency warned people on Thursday of a rise in scammers selling defunct North Korean currency that they claim will rise in value as the country edges closer to a fully fledged peace agreement with its traditional enemies.
President Moon Jae-in gave the first-ever address to the Russian legislature by a South Korean leader on Thursday, asking Russia to become deeply involved in denuclearization, the peace process, and the future of a more stable Korean Peninsula.
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.
Many North Koreans will be pulling for South Korea’s World Cup success since the tournament is one of the few sports events from outside North Korea that is approved for broadcast on the secluded nation’s government-controlled television stations.
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.
The United States and North Korea are scheduled to begin discussing the details of denuclearization this week. According to President Donald Trump, he will handle some of these discussions directly with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un by telephone.
North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un sent Chinese President Xi Jinping a floral basket on Friday to congratulate him on his 65th birthday, as relations between the two nations continue to warm following Kim’s pledge to pursue nuclear disarmament.
In the wake of his Singapore summit, President Trump is #Gaining in public opinion. For instance, a June 14 poll from Monmouth University offers Trump plenty of good news.
On Friday’s “PBS NewsHour,” New York Times columnist David Brooks said President Trump did “do a good thing” with North Korea by settling tensions, but did so “in the worst possible way” by ignoring North Korea’s human rights abuses. Brooks stated, “I
