With US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreeing to return to the negotiating table, South Korea’s behind-the-scenes diplomacy is expected to continue to ensure that the nuclear talks get back on track. Breaking a four-month stalemate was a near-impromptu meeting in the truce village of Panmunjom, inside the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas on Sunday, which came after Trump tweeted an invitation to Kim on Saturday from Japan where he was attending

North Korea July 1, 2019

Stalled denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington gained new momentum after US President Donald Trump set foot in North Korea Sunday. Following a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at Peace House in Panmunjom, Trump said that he had invited Kim to Washington. “Anytime he wants to do it. I think we want to take this down to the next step, let’s see what happens,” he told reporters. Trump and Kim also agreed to resume working-level talks on denucleari

North Korea June 30, 2019

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-hwa and White House adviser Ivanka Trump on Sunday shared outcomes of the two country’s measures aimed at enhancing women’s participation in economic development and the challenges ahead.Some 60 female civic workers and government officials and businesswomen attended the meeting, titled “The ROK-US Women’s Empowerment Forum,” at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in downtown Seoul.  Ivanka accompanied her father, US President Donald Trump, who wa

Foreign Affairs June 30, 2019

Messages from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un relayed by Chinese President Xi Jinping invited mixed interpretations in Seoul.During a summit with President Moon Jae-in in Japan on Thursday, Xi briefed him on the results of his two-day state visit to Pyongyang June 20-21.  While stressing the North Korean regime’s unwavering commitment to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through dialogue with the US, Xi said that Kim is willing to do what it can to address the regime’s &l

North Korea June 28, 2019

A South Korean woman who was part of a government delegation to Spain died Thursday at a Barcelona hospital after being treated for head injuries she suffered during an attempted robbery there, according to news reports. The deceased woman, who served on a government advisory committee, was injured Sunday night while trying to avoid a motorcyclist who attempted to steal her purse. “As a result of the robbery, the victim suffered serious injuries and was taken to a hospital where she d

Social Affairs June 28, 2019

The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, or Ithra, kicked off an event to promote Saudi Arabia’s culture in Seoul this week. The event has been held across the world to promote Saudi culture and history and expand cultural exchanges with other countries. In Asia, South Korea is the first to hold the event, titled “Bridges to Seoul,” which will run until Wednesday at Grand Hilton Seoul. “I am very pleased to promote the history and culture of Saudi Arabia to Korea

Diplomatic Circuit June 27, 2019

Ahead of his trip to Japan and South Korea, US President Donald Trump confirmed Wednesday that he would not meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. “I’ll be meeting with a lot of other people. Not … him,” he was quoted by Reuters as saying as he departed the White House for his flight to Asia. While ruling out the possibility of a one-on-one meeting with Kim, Trump hinted that there could be an interaction. “But I may be speaking with him in a different for

North Korea June 27, 2019

President Moon Jae-in said Wednesday it that North Korea can be considered to have entered an irreversible stage of denuclearization process when it dismantles a nuclear complex in Yongbyon. “If all the nuclear facilities in the complex, including the plutonium reprocessing facilities and the uranium enrichment facilities, are completely demolished and verified, it would be possible to say that the denuclearization of North Korea has entered an irreversible stage,” he said in a joint

North Korea June 26, 2019

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday a fresh summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may have been mentioned in letters he exchanged with Kim and they will meet “at some point” ahead of his visit to Seoul this weekend. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said his recent letter to Kim was a “nice” response to Kim’s birthday message to him. Trump turned 73 on June 14. Asked if a summit was mentioned in the exchange of letters with Kim, he said,

North Korea June 26, 2019

A South Korean woman, who was on an official government trip to Spain, was injured after trying to avoid robbery on a street in Barcelona, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.  The woman, who is known to be an official of a Korean government advisory committee, was sent to a hospital after she injured her head when she fell down on Sunday night. The unconscious woman was treated at the scene, according to Spanish media. After failing to snatch the victim’s belongings, the su

Foreign Affairs June 26, 2019

Positive signals sent back and forth between the US and North Korea are feeding hopes for a swift resumption of nuclear negotiations that have been at a standstill since the last summit between the two countries ended without results in late February. Within the past two weeks, US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un each disclosed that they had received letters from each other, with both expressing satisfaction and hinting that the letters might be a sign of positive devel

North Korea June 24, 2019

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and Seoul-based foreign diplomats visited a new hiking trail on the eastern coast portion of the Demilitarized Zone on Saturday.Kang, ambassadors and representatives from 52 countries traveled to the DMZ Peace Trails in Goseong, Gangwon Province, which the government opened to the public on April 27 to mark the first anniversary of the Panmunjom Declaration signed by President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Kang said while hiking the course

Diplomatic Circuit June 24, 2019

US President Donald Trump is likely to visit the Demilitarized Zone between South and North Korea during his planned state visit to Seoul later this week, Japanese media reported Sunday. Following a summit with President Moon Jae-in at Cheong Wa Dae on Sunday, Trump is expected to travel to the zone about 50 kilometers north of Seoul by helicopter. The DMZ has divided the country since the Korean War was halted in an armistice in 1953. The US president will pay a two-day state visit to the South

North Korea June 23, 2019

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un received a letter with “excellent content” from US President Donald Trump, according to the Korean Central News Agency on Sunday. Pyongyang’s official mouthpiece said that Kim expressed his satisfaction with the letter after reading it. “Appreciating the political judging faculty and extraordinary courage of President Trump, Kim Jong-un said that he would seriously contemplate the interesting content,” the KCNA said in a three-sentenc

North Korea June 23, 2019

The US Treasury Department slapped sanctions on a Russian financial company Wednesday for allegedly assisting North Korea evade sanctions, while Washington’s top nuclear negotiator called for dialogue with Pyongyang with no conditions attached. The Russian Financial Society is accused of opening multiple bank accounts since at least 2017 on behalf of Dandong Zhongsheng Industry & Trade, a company owned and controlled by the North Korean Foreign Trade Bank, Pyongyang’s primary for

North Korea June 20, 2019