US envoy for North Korea to visit Seoul for talks on end-of-war declaration U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Sung Kim speaks after a meeting with South Korea's Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Noh Kyu-duk, back right, Oct. 18, at the U.S. State Department in Washington. AP-YonhapU.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy Sung Kim will visit Seoul this week for talks on ways to restart dialogue with the reclusive North, including an end-of-war declaration, the U.S. diplomat said Monday.Kim's trip to Seoul will follow his meeting with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts, Noh Kyu-duk and Takehiro Funakoshi, respectively, here in Washington this week."Special Representative Noh and I also discussed the end of war proposal, and I look forward to continuing those discussions and other issues of mutual concern when I'm in Seoul later this week," the U.S. diplomat said of his meeting with Noh at the State Department."Special Representative Noh and I had an excellent meeting this afternoon in advance of tomorrow's trilateral meeting with Japanese Director-General Funakoshi," he added.South Korean PresideOct 19, 2021
Is discussion of end-of-war declaration gaining momentum? Barricades are set up in front of Tongil Bridge in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, in this Sept. 24 photo. YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooA series of moves regarding North Korea are raising speculation that talks for a declaration to officially end the Korean War are gaining momentum. According to sources, Park Jie-won, head of South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS), sat down for talks in Seoul, Monday, with Avril Haines, the U.S. director of national intelligence.Although details of their discussion were not made public, they were said to have talked about President Moon Jae-in's proposal for a declaration to formally end the war, and a subsequent push by Seoul and Washington to bring Pyongyang back to denuclearization talks. The two Koreas are still technically at war, as the 1950-53 conflict ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty, and Moon suggested once again in his United Nations speech in September that the two Koreas and the United States, probably joined by China, declare a formal end to the war.In addition, the chief nuclear negotiators of the three countries are set to holOct 18, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
Top nuke envoys of S. Korea, U.S., Japan likely to discuss Pyongyang's hostile acts By Kang Seung-wooThe chief nuclear negotiators of South Korea, the United States and Japan are expected to discuss ways to cope with North Korea's recent bellicosity, according to Pyongyang watchers.Noh Kyu-duk / YonhapThe Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced, Friday, that Noh Kyu-duk, Seoul's top nuclear envoy, and his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Sung Kim and Takehiro Funakoshi, will hold a trilateral meeting next week in Washington, D.C. Noh and Kim are expected to meet bilaterally on Monday and join a trilateral meeting with Funakoshi the following day. Noh is also likely to hold two-way talks with Funakoshi on Tuesday. The three-way talks last took place in September in Tokyo, where the parties explored ways to encourage Pyongyang's return to dialogue, including humanitarian and other incentives.“As North Korea has repeatedly test-fired missiles, they are expected to share opinions on how to deal with its recent hostile moves,” said Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification.The Kim Jong-un regime launched missiles on four occasOct 15, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
US needs to reassure allies against North Korean threats: US expert In this image captured from the website of the Center for Strategic and International Studies,Ivo Daalder, former U.S. Ambassador to NATO, speaks during a webinar hosted by the Washington-based think tank, Oct. 14.The United States must reassure its allies of American commitment to help defend them against possible North Korean attacks to prevent key strategic alliances from falling apart, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO said Thursday.Ivo Daalder, currently serving as president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, an independent global affairs think tank, also argued U.S. failure to do so may encourage its allies to consider having nuclear capabilities themselves."So one of the things that's really important is that folks in Washington need to understand that this situation requires alliance management, at least as much as focusing on deterrence," he said in a webinar hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank based in Washington."Reassuring allies that we will be there when necessary, particularly for their nuclear defense, that needs to become Oct 15, 2021
US awaits North Korean response to US proposals for dialogue: State Department In this Aug. 18 file photo, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price speaks at the State Department in Washington, DC, U.S. Reuters-YonhapThe United States continues to be prepared to meet with North Korea without preconditions as it awaits the North's response to its "specific proposals," a State Department spokesperson said Thursday.Ned Price also stressed that the U.S. remains actively engaged in diplomacy with its allies to discuss ways to enhance their collective security."We do stand prepared to meet with the DPRK without preconditions. We have made, in fact, specific proposals to the DPRK and we will await a response. We will await outreach from the DPRK," the spokesperson said in a daily press briefing.DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.Price did not directly comment on whether the U.S. proposals to the North included the reduction or removal of sanctions on the impoverished North when asked.Many U.S. officials have noted the U.S. may be prepared to discuss such issues with the North if the reclusive country returns to the Oct 15, 2021
Defectors sue North Korea's Kim Jong-un in Tokyo over repatriations Plaintiffs and their supporters walk toward the Tokyo District Court in Tokyo, Oct. 14. The court is hearing five ethnic Korean residents of Japan and a Japanese national demanding the North Korean government pay compensation over their human rights abuses in that country after joining a resettlement program there that promised a “paradise on Earth,” but without the presence of a defendant ― the North's leader. AP-YonhapNorth Korean defectors in Tokyo symbolically summoned Kim Jong Un to court on Thursday over a repatriation program they describe as "state kidnapping".The unusual case is a bid to hold Pyongyang responsible for a scheme that saw more than 90,000 people move to North Korea from Japan between 1959 and 1984.The program mainly targeted ethnic Koreans but also their Japanese spouses, lured by fantastical propaganda promising a "paradise on Earth".Five participants in the repatriation scheme who later escaped from North Korea are demanding 100 million yen ($880,000) each in damages as they make their case in the Tokyo District Court.They have accused Pyongyang oOct 14, 2021
US, South Korea working to restart dialogue with North Korea: Ambassador Lee South Korean Ambassador to the United States Lee Soo-hyuck, at podium, delivers his opening remarks at the start of an annual parliamentary audit at the South Korean Embassy in Washington, Oct. 13. YonhapSouth Korea and the United States are working closely together to restart the Korean Peninsula peace process, South Korea's ambassador to the U.S., Lee Soo-hyuck, said Wednesday.Lee said the countries are also discussing ways to bring North Korea back to the dialogue table that may include the provision of humanitarian assistance to the impoverished North."(We) are discussing various ways to build trust such as the provision of humanitarian assistance to create a favorable condition for talks with North Korea," the South Korean diplomat said in a parliamentary audit."South Korea and the United States are also closely discussing ways to restart the peace process for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and establishment of peace," he added.Amb. Lee also said the U.S. understands what he called the rational purposefulness of seeking a formal end to the Korean War."I beOct 14, 2021
UN investigator: North Korea kids and elderly risk starving A North Korean village is seen from Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Oct. 12. YonhapNorth Koreans living under strict pandemic restrictions are facing a growing food crisis and the most vulnerable children and elderly people in the isolated Asian nation are at risk of starvation, a U.N. investigator said in a report released Wednesday.Tomas Ojea Quintana said in the report to the U.N. General Assembly that North Korea's agriculture sector appears to be facing multiple challenges due to a drop in imports of fertilizer and other agricultural items from neighboring China, the impact of U.N. and international sanctions stemming from its nuclear program, and an outbreak of African swine fever.He said prolonged and strict pandemic measures since January 2020 have resulted in ``severe economic hardship and increased vulnerability to human rights violations among the general population.'' The measures include a full-scale border shutdown, travel restrictions between cities and regions, and restricted imports of non-essential supplies including humanitarian goods.Before thOct 14, 2021
T-shirt with portrait of Kim Jong-un appears at North Korea's event This image, captured from North Korea's official Korean Central TV Broadcasting Station, shows an orchestra conductor wearing a T-shirt printed with the portrait of the North's leader Kim Jong-un during a defense expo in Pyongyang, Oct. 11. YonhapA T-shirt with a printed portrait of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was spotted during a public event in Pyongyang for the first time, state media showed, amid the reclusive regime's push to rev up an image of being a "normal state." According to footage released by the North's official Korean Central TV Broadcasting Station on Tuesday, an orchestra conductor was clad in the white T-shirt with Kim's face printed in black and white on the front at a defense expo the previous day. North Koreans are hardly seen wearing such clothes, which could get dirty, as the Kim family is deified as sacred figures in the North with their portraits treated as a subject of worship.In 2019, the North's main newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, ran a story praising a ship engineer for his "heroic act" of saving the portraits of Kim and the country's two late leaders Oct 13, 2021
North Korean soldier in blue generate buzz on social media In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, poses for a group photo with fighter pilots who made the demonstration flight at the opening of an exhibition of weapons systems in Pyongyang, Oct. 11. AP-YonhapA North Korean soldier clad in a super-tight blue outfit in a state media photo has generated a buzz on social media, with some calling him ``a superhero,'' ``a captain DPRK,'' or ``a rocket man.``He was among nearly 30 soldiers who posed for a photo with leader Kim Jong-un during an exhibition of weapons systems on Monday. North Korea published photos of the event the following day. They all mostly wore olive green uniforms, the most common color for North Korean military uniforms. Only two of them wore different colors ― the one in the blue outfit and the other in a navy-blue uniform, which isn't that unusual. Kim put on a dark suit.Some Twitter users in South Korea, the U.S. and elsewhere joked about his appearance, saying he looks like a ``human cannon ball,'' or the North Korean equivalent of Captain America.Others called him Oct 13, 2021
