Seoul denied Wednesday that North Korea‘s capital was raised as a US-North Korea summit venue in recent talks with Washington. Earlier reports speculated that Pyongyang was a strong candidate venue for the upcoming summit. Late South Korean President Kim Dae-jung met with then North Koraen leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang for the first inter-Korean summit held in 2000. (Yonhap)“When President Moon Jae-in and President Donald Trump discussed two or three candidate venues (via phone) on April 28, P

North Korea May 2, 2018

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un seems to understand that the “inspection and verification” process is mandatory in the path leading to the North’s denuclearization, a ranking government official said Wednesday. “It is not sensible to seek a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula without going through the process of inspection and verification -- it seems the North’s leader has sufficient understanding of the matter,” a senior official from Seoul’s Ministry of Unification told reporters.  In this file pho

North Korea May 2, 2018

With a summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as close as three weeks away, assessing the most apt strategy for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is expected to be a key task lying ahead for the allies. US national security adviser John Bolton told Fox News on Sunday that the US has “very much in mind” the “Libya model” in handling the North’s nuclear program, reiterating the strategy he had floated in a previous interview shortly before taking his cu

North Korea April 30, 2018

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s wife crossed the border hours after her spouse to attend a banquet hosted by South Korea on Friday.Ri Sol-ju arrived at the Peace House in the South’s side of the truce village of Panmunjeom at 6:18 p.m., wearing a pink dress. The Peace House served as the venue for talks between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim earlier in the day. Although experts were expecting Ri to accompany Kim on his cross-border trip, her attendance at the ba

North Korea April 27, 2018

The leaders of the two Koreas on Friday jointly participated in special events embodying hopes for peace on the Korean Peninsula, adding to the sentiment of a thaw in inter-Korean relations.An array of ceremonies, mostly reflecting traditional Korean culture or the integration of elements of the divided Koreas, were held throughout the day. After North Korean leader Kim Jong-un crossed the border, the traditional folk tune of “Arirang” kicked off the first ceremony of the day as President Moon J

North Korea April 27, 2018

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s wife crossed the border hours after her spouse to attend a banquet hosted by South Korea on Friday.Ri Sol-ju arrived at the Peace House in the South’s side of the truce village of Panmunjeom at 6:18 p.m., wearing a pink dress. The Peace House served as the venue for talks between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim earlier in the day. Although experts were expecting Ri to accompany Kim on his cross-border trip, her attendance at the ba

North Korea April 27, 2018

The leaders of the two Koreas on Friday jointly participated in special events embodying hopes of peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula, which laced the summit with sentiment of a thaw in inter-Korean relations.An array of ceremonies, mostly reflecting the traditional Korean culture or integration of elements of the divided Koreas, were scheduled for throughout the day.  (Cheong Wa Dae)After Kim crossed the border, the traditional folk tune of “Arirang” kicked off the first ceremony of th

North Korea April 27, 2018

North Korea leader Kim Jong-un crossed the inter-Korean border early Friday, for the first sit-down meeting between the two at the truce village of Panmunjeom early Friday.With a smile on his face, Kim shook hands with South Korean President Moon after stepping out of Panmungak, a North Korean building that houses its liaison office to arrive in front of the military demarcation line. He crossed the border after shaking hands and exchanging a brief greeting with Moon. But instead of heading stra

North Korea April 27, 2018

[2018 Inter-Korean summit] All eyes on PanmunjeomWith the inter-Korean summit on Friday forecast to pave the way for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the event is being keenly watched by all those seeking to sit down at the negotiating table with North Korea. For the participants of the now-defunct six-party talks -- including the United States, China, Japan and Russia -- the meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could serve as a guide an

Foreign Affairs April 26, 2018

As the world‘s eyes descend on the truce village of Panmunjeom, the venue of Friday’s inter-Korean summit, another border town seeks to benefit from the talks. In February 2016, Seoul shuttered an industrial park jointly operated by the two Koreas in the North Korean border town of Kaesong in retaliation for the North’s nuclear test and missile launch. The incident forced more than 120 South Korean businessmen to leave behind their properties, including key facilities and raw materials. Kaesong

North Korea April 26, 2018

An itinerary outline for the upcoming inter-Korean summit has been unveiled, with the leaders of South and North Korea set to have dinner together over the course of the meeting, Seoul’s presidential office said Monday. The announcement came as the results of the third working-level talks held earlier in the day to lay the foundations for the inter-Korean summit scheduled later this week.  From left: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in (Yonhap)“The South and th

North Korea April 23, 2018

Officials from South Korea and North Korea met for the third working-level talks Monday to lay out the foundation for the inter-Korean summit scheduled later this week. The meeting kicked off at 10 a.m., and lasted for nearly four hours at the joint security area of Panmunjeom inside the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone, Cheong Wa Dae said. The JSA will serve as the venue for the summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un slated for Friday.  Panmunj

North Korea April 23, 2018

North Korea stressed the need to “fully implement” its economic policy integrating market-oriented reforms, the country’s state-run newspaper said Monday, following its leader’s decision to pivot away from nuclear testing and toward the economy. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visits a store selling dinnerware in Pyongyang. (Yonhap)North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced on Saturday his country’s nuclear and missile tests coupled with a key nuclear test site will be scrapped with the completio

North Korea April 23, 2018

In what is generally seen as a bold pre-emptive move, North Korea on Saturday announced its decision to halt nuclear and missile tests and shut down its main nuclear test site -- and instead focus on economic development. The move took by surprise those who believed the North would slowly and cautiously play out such steps towards denuclearization as a bargaining chip for regime survival, through the two landmark summits planned between South Korea and the United States.  The United Nations Secu

North Korea April 22, 2018

North Korea will hold a plenary session of its ruling party‘s central committee on Friday, the country’s state media said Thursday, ahead of its planned summits with South Korea and the United States. The Workers’ Party of Korea meeting which will be convened Friday will “discuss and decide the policy issues of a new stage in line with the demand of the important historic period of the developing Korean revolution,” the North’s Korean Central News Agency said.The policy issues were not specified

North Korea April 19, 2018