North Korean leader Kim Jong-un should decide whether he will seize the opportunity to advance nuclear negotiations with Washington. US Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris said Monday while emphasizing the US’ commitment to “final, fully verified denuclearization.”Harris said US President Donald Trump took the right course of action by opting for no agreement during his summit with Kim in February as the negotiation was a choice between “no deal” or a “very bad deal,” in a press briefing sess

Foreign Affairs April 22, 2019

North Korea’s demand for removal of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo from future nuclear talks may escalate into a war of nerves between Pyongyang and Washington before the two sides enter a fresh round of denuclearization negotiations, experts here said Friday. The US State Department did not directly respond to North Korean Foreign Ministry’s call for replacing Pompeo, Washington’s top negotiator, with someone who is more “careful and mature.”  In this Feb. 27, 2019, file photo, US President

North Korea April 19, 2019

North Korea’s propaganda outlets on Thursday criticized the South Korean government for conducting military exercises with the US, which it called “provocative actions” that destroy peace on the Korean Peninsula. The state-run online publication Uriminzokkiri denounced Seoul for lacking willingness to implement the military agreement signed by the two Koreas last year, as the South Korean military carried out a landing drill near Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, on April 3 and another exercise

North Korea April 18, 2019

US envoy Stephen Biegun will visit Moscow this week ahead of a planned summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, which could take place as soon as next week. Biegun, special representative for North Korea, will meet with Russian officials Wednesday and Thursday to discuss efforts to advance the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea, the US State Department said in a statement Tuesday. Russia's President Vladimir Putin (Yonhap)Biegun’s Mo

Foreign Affairs April 17, 2019

The United Nations Development Program’s Seoul Policy Center held a workshop for South Korean companies to help them contribute to and benefit from global sustainable development initiatives in more strategic ways. The conference, titled “Private Sector: Business as SDG Accelerator Workshop” and co-hosted by the center and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, took place Friday in Seoul.  (UNDP`s Seoul Policy Center Facebook)The sustainable development goals, or SDGs, are targets set and adopted by a

Diplomatic Circuit April 15, 2019

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is likely to hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time next week, amid a stalemate in nuclear talks with the US. The two leaders’ meeting may take place in the far eastern region of Russia, which borders the northeastern part of North Korea, on April 24 before Putin travels to Beijing for an international forum. The “One Belt, One Road” forum is scheduled for April 26-27, Yonhap News Agency said Monday, citing an unidentified diplomati

North Korea April 15, 2019

President Moon Jae-in may be relieved to see positive signs of another round of US-North Korea talks over denuclearization, but challenges remain for him, as Seoul has very little leverage with Pyongyang. Last week, US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un openly reiterated their interest in holding a third summit to resume nuclear negotiations that have been stalled since the their meeting that ended abruptly with no deal in Hanoi, Vietnam, in late February.The North Korean

North Korea April 14, 2019

North Korea convened the first session of its 14th Supreme People’s Assembly on Thursday to address its policy priorities and unveil key figures in the second phase of Kim Jong-un’s rule. Prior to this, the country held two party-level sessions this week that reaffirmed the regime’s commitment to ramping up its struggling economy and its people’s standard of living through self-reliance.  North Korean officials participate in a plenary session of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party held

North Korea April 11, 2019

North Korea held a plenary session of the ruling party’s central committee on Wednesday to discuss the country’s “new orientation,” following a smaller politburo meeting that stressed the country’s economic development and self-reliance. More than 230 party officials gathered for Wednesday’s meeting “in order to discuss and decide the new orientation and ways of struggle in line with the need of the prevailing revolutionary situation,” the Korean Central News Agency said.North Korean leader Kim

North Korea April 10, 2019

The Foreign Ministry is looking to increase its workforce dealing with the implementation of UN Security Council sanctions resolutions as part of its revamp plan, ministry officials said Tuesday.The Sanctions and Export Control Team of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is expected to be raised to the status of division by the end of May.  (Yonhap)With the boost, an undisclosed number of staff will join the group that currently has three regular officers and two members on temporary loan from anoth

Foreign Affairs April 9, 2019

Leila Rachadi (fifth from left), the spouse of the Moroccan ambassador, Chafik Rachadi (sixth from left), the Moroccan ambassador, and CICI President Choi Jung-wha (seventh from left) pose for a photo after a lecture titled the “Present and Future of K-movies and the Story of Food Scenes in Movies” at the residence of the Moroccan ambassador to Korea on April 2. (Corea Image Communication Institute)

Diplomatic Circuit April 8, 2019

President Moon Jae-in approved Monday the appointment of two new ministers, respectively in charge of unification matters and small and medium-sized enterprises, in a decision that split the political world sharply along party lines.Kim Yeon-chul, a former president of the Korea Institute for National Unification, a government-funded think tank, was appointed unification minister. Park Young-sun, an incumbent lawmaker with the ruling Democratic Party, will lead the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

Politics April 8, 2019

China’s Guangdong Province officials presented Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon with a portrait of another politician, much to both sides’ embarrassment. Mayor Park met with a delegation from Guangdong, including Gov. Ma Xingrui, to sign an agreement on economic cooperation at Seoul City Hall on Friday. Following the signing ceremony, the two sides exchanged gifts.  (Yonhap)While Seoul presented artistic handicrafts and promotional images of Seoul city to Ma, the Chinese side presented a portrait of Gy

Social Affairs April 5, 2019

A number of Swedish officials have visited North Korea’s science institution to take part in discussions on renewable energy research, an area of focus for the communist country in recent years, according to the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang on Monday. “EU visit to the State Academy of Sciences’ Institute for Natural Energy. Discussion on renewable energy research and solar panel production. Presentation of the Unjong Development Zone,” the embassy said on Twitter along with three images showing

North Korea April 4, 2019

An incorrect geographic term used by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs triggered a complaint from the Latvian Embassy in Seoul last month, in what appears to be the latest in a string of diplomatic blunders. In an English version of its press release published on March 19, the ministry incorrectly referred to the three Baltic States --the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania and the Republic of Estonia – as “the Balkan states.” Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha (Yonhap)The ministry did not

Foreign Affairs April 3, 2019