North Korea may not be ready to bring its intercontinental ballistic missiles and the idea of transferring its nuclear arsenal to China to the negotiating table as bargaining chips in talks with the US, analysts here said Thursday. “Moving ICBMs out of North Korea is what the US has been demanding but there’s no evidence that the North has accepted the proposal,” Handong University professor Park Won-gon said. Washington’s simultaneous incentives and building of mutual trust must first take plac

North Korea Jan. 24, 2019

South Korea’s struggle to reach an agreement with the US for the cost of maintaining US troops here intensified when the gap between the total amount of Seoul’s contributions demanded by the US and that which Seoul was able to accept, as well as differences over the contract period, widened in December as a result of instructions from the very top in Washington, sources said Wednesday. Through a diplomatic channel, the US demanded in late December that South Korea pay $1.2 billion for costs rela

Foreign Affairs Jan. 23, 2019

The Foreign Ministry confirmed Tuesday that the US ambassador to South Korea visited Cheong Wa Dae last month, but declined to comment on a news report that the top envoy’s visit was designed to pressure Seoul to pay more for the US troops stationed here. “Our government is making efforts to reach a reasonable agreement, mutually acceptable, as early as possible on the basis of mutual respect and understanding (with the US ally),” ministry spokesperson Noh Kyu-duk said at a regular press briefin

Foreign Affairs Jan. 22, 2019

Gangwon Province Gov. Choi Moon-Soon said Tuesday that North Korea will get sanctions relief for the resumption of two key inter-Korean economic projects -- the Kaesong industrial complex and Kumgangsan tours -- as its nuclear talks with the US are making progress. “After the Olympics, I visited North Korea three times, and I’m quite convinced now that North Korea will become a sole and successful case of denuclearization in the world,” he told reporters during a press conference in Seoul.  Choi

North Korea Jan. 22, 2019

US President Donald Trump identified his nuclear talks with North Korea as among his greatest achievements in the first half of his first term, amid hopes for substantial results from the second summit between Pyongyang and Washington next month. In the “historic results of President Donald Trump’s first two years in office,” issued by the White House on Sunday, the US administration said he brought the beginning of peace and denuclearization to the Korean Peninsula by holding a historic summit

North Korea Jan. 21, 2019

US President Donald Trump said Saturday that the US and North Korea have made progress in their denuclearization talks, while officials from the two countries have begun negotiations to craft details of agreement for a second summit next month.“We have made a lot of progress as far as denuclearization is concerned and we’re talking about a lot of different things,” Trump said after a 90 minute meeting with North Korean nuclear envoy Kim Yong-chol at the White House on Friday.  (Yonhap)Trump said

Foreign Affairs Jan. 20, 2019

Working-level officials from South Korea and the US agreed on Thursday that a sanctions exemption was needed to enable the two Koreas to carry out joint projects and said they would ask the United Nations Security Council to waive related restrictions. According to the Foreign Ministry, the two countries reached consensus during a videoconference that it was necessary to bring electronic devices into North Korea for two inter-Korean projects -- surveys to prepare for the reconnection of cross-bo

North Korea Jan. 17, 2019

North Korea’s chief negotiator in US-North Korea talks, Kim Yong-chol, is expected to deliver a letter to US President Donald Trump during his visit to Washington this weekend, according to media reports Thursday. Kim, vice chairman of the ruling Workers’ Party Central Committee, is expected to arrive in the US capital on Thursday. He will meet Trump at the White House, following a meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday. North Korean senior official Kim Yong-chol (Yonhap)The se

North Korea Jan. 17, 2019

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-hwa reaffirmed Wednesday that the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is a shared goal of South Korea and the US, stressing close cooperation between the two countries. “Denuclearization talks will begin in earnest based on strategies that have been mediated between South Korea and the US. … I expect there will be great progress in denuclearization, inter-Korean relations and lasting peace settlement if a second North Korea-US summit and North Korean lea

Foreign Affairs Jan. 16, 2019

North Korea cannot afford to be slapped with additional international sanctions over the development of nuclear weapons, experts here said Tuesday, following a media report that the country might have produced material for more atomic bombs in 2018. Citing satellite-imagery analysis and leaked US intelligence, Bloomberg on Monday reported that Pyongyang has been strengthening its nuclear arsenal by churning out rockets and warheads as well as adding several intercontinental ballistic missiles an

North Korea Jan. 15, 2019

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