Minor quake in North Korea; presumed to be natural Captured from KMA websiteBy Park Si-soo A minor 2.1-magnitude earthquake hit North Korea's Haejoo area, the Korea Meteorological Administration said on Tuesday. It is presumed to be a natural earthquake, KMA officials said. The seismic activity was recorded at 4 p.m. The epicenter was about 25 kilometers west of Haejoo, South Hwanghae Province, with the quake occurring 11 kilometers underground. There is no known underground nuclear test site in the province. “It's presumed to be natural,” a KMA official said. It was the 84th earthquake of 2.0 magnitude or more on the Korean Peninsula this year. Dec 17, 2019
US envoy fails to meet North Korea's senior diplomat U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun, right, chats with his South Korean counterpart Lee Do-hoon upon arriving at Gimpo International Airport, Tuesday afternoon, for his departure to Tokyo, Japan. Biegun failed to meet North Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui during his three-day stay in South Korea. YonhapChina, Russia propose lifting a portion of UNSC sanctions By Kim Yoo-chulU.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun failed to meet a senior North Korean diplomat at the North's side of the Joint Security Area, also known as Panmunjeom, despite his open request for the high-profile meeting to resume stalled denuclearization talks.“Efforts by intelligence officials between South Korea and the United States to make Biegun's direct encounter with North Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui actually happen at Panmunjeom went in vain as Pyongyang didn't respond to the request,” a senior South Korean intelligence official told The Korea Times by telephone, Tuesday.After wrapping up his three-day visit to Seoul, theDec 17, 2019By Kim Yoo-chul
North Korea tests likely if they 'don't feel satisfied:' Pentagon chief United States Secretary of Defense Mark Esper leaves the podium after delivering a speech during a ceremony to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge at the Luxembourg American Cemetery in Hamm, Luxembourg, Monday, Dec. 16, 2019. APU.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Monday that North Korea's rhetoric was concerning and Pyongyang would likely carry out tests if they "don't feel satisfied," amid fears the two countries could return to the collision course they had been on before launching diplomacy."We have seen talk of tests. I think that they will be likely if they don't feel satisfied," Esper told reporters traveling with him from Luxembourg back to Washington. He did not provide details on what type of tests may be likely."I've been watching the Korean Peninsula for maybe a quarter of a century now. So I'm familiar with their tactics, with their bluster and I think we need to get serious and sit down and have discussions about a political agreement that denuclearizes the Peninsula," Esper said. (Reuters)Dec 17, 2019
Trump says US is watching North Korea closely North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, visits the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun where his late father's body is enshrined to commemorate the eighth anniversary of his father's death in Pyongyang, the Korean Central News Agency reported Tuesday. YonhapU.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that he would be disappointed if something was "in the works" in North Korea and that the United States is watching the regime closely.Tensions between the two nations have escalated ahead of a year-end deadline set by the North, after which the regime has hinted at resuming nuclear or long-range missile tests.Trump's comments come after North Korea on Friday carried out a second presumed engine test in less than a week at its Sohae satellite launching facility."I'd be disappointed if something would be in the works, and if it is, we'll take care of it," Trump told reporters at a meeting with governors at the White House. "We're watching it very closely."Trump's envoy for negotiations with North Korea, Stephen Biegun, has been in Seoul since Sunday and on Monday he publicly offered to meet with the Dec 17, 2019
US to N. Korea: 'no deadline for nuke talks' President Moon Jae-in, right, talks with Stephen Biegun, fourth from left, U.S. Special Representative for North Korea, at Cheong Wa Dae, Monday. YonhapU.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun said Monday that Washington will not give up on nuclear negotiations with North Korea, emphatically offering to hold talks with the communist nation while he is in the region.Biegun also stressed the United States has no deadline, as the communist regime has been ratcheting up tensions to get Washington to make concessions in the deadlocked negotiations before its self-imposed year-end deadline."The U.S. does not have a deadline. We have a goal to fulfill the commitments the two leaders made during their meeting," he told reporters, referring to last year's summit in Singapore between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un."It is time for us to do our jobs. Let's get this done. We are here, and you know how to reach us," he added.The U.S. and the North last held working-level nuclear talks in Sweden in October. But the talks yielded little progress, wiDec 16, 2019
Biegun visits Korea amid rising tension with North Korea U.S. special envoy for North Korea Stephen Biegun attends as U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Korea's President Moon Jae-in in New York, Sept. 23. Reuters-YonhapBy Do Je-hae U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun arrived in Seoul, Sunday afternoon, amid escalating tension on the Korean Peninsula for "close allied coordination on North Korea," according to the U.S. State Department. Cheong Wa Dae announced Sunday that President Moon Jae-in will be meeting with the nominee for the U.S. deputy secretary today. It is the first time for Moon to meet with Biegun since their last meeting on Sept. 11, 2018, ahead of an inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang. Moon has remained silent about North Korea's couple of "important tests" recently. It remains to be seen whether the South Korean leader will have a message toward North Korea, which has threatened to take a "new path" if there is no progress in the denuclearization talks with the U.S. by the end of the year. During previous visits to Cheong Wa Dae, Biegun has met with key members of the presidential National SecurityDec 15, 2019By Do Je-hae
North Korea conducts 'crucial test' at Sohae launch site In this June 30, 2019, file photo, U.S. President Donald Trump, left, meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the North Korean side of the border at the village of Panmunjom in Demilitarized Zone, Dec. 14, 2019, North Korea says it conducted another "crucial test" at its long-range rocket facility. APNorth Korea has conducted another "crucial test" at its Sohae satellite launch site, state media reported, as nuclear negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington remain stalled with a deadline approaching.The announcement Saturday comes one day before US Special Envoy on North Korea Stephen Biegun is set to arrive in Seoul for a three-day visit, and after the United States tested a medium-range ballistic missile over the Pacific Ocean on Thursday.North Korea's Chief of the General Staff Pak Jon Chon said his country was using recent tests to develop new technologies and strategic weapons.In a case of "acute confrontation", the United States "and other hostile forces will spend the year-end in peace only when they hold off any words and deeds rattling us", he said in a statement cDec 15, 2019
N. Korea conducts 'another crucial test' North Korea said Saturday it has successfully carried out "another crucial test" at its satellite launch site in a possible sign of further provocations unless its year-end deadline is met.North Korea has pressed the U.S. to come up with a new proposal by the year's end, warning that otherwise, it could give up on negotiations with the U.S. and take a "new way."North Korea did not elaborate on its seven-minute test on Friday night at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground, better known as the Dongchang-ri site on the west coast.The test came six days after North Korea conducted what it called a "very important test" at Dongchang-ri. South Korea has confirmed that the North tested a rocket engine last week."The research successes being registered by us in defense science one after another recently will be applied to further bolstering up the reliable strategic nuclear deterrent of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," the North's official Korean Central News Agency said, referring to the North by its official name.North Korea has increased pressure on the U.S. to come up with a neDec 14, 2019
US to be 'tested soon' on nuclear talks with North Korea U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Friday he believes the United States will be "tested soon" on bringing North Korea back to the negotiating table to discuss its nuclear weapons program.Esper, speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, said the U.S. is trying hard to resume the negotiations because the threat of North Korea's nuclear and missile programs can only be resolved through a diplomatic agreement."War on the peninsula would be horrible. Nobody wants to see that," he said at the council, in live online footage. "I think we're going to be tested here soon -- test in the sense of this next stage, trying to get them back to the negotiating table, and hopefully not back on the other path."Esper made the comments as he recalled the high tensions between Washington and Pyongyang when he took office as secretary of the Army in the fall of 2017, saying, "We were on the path toward conflict, because we were preparing for it."Tensions between the sides have renewed in recent weeks as North Korea has ramped up pressure on the U.S. to come up with a solution to their Dec 14, 2019
Russia provides 1,355 tons of refined oil to N. Korea in Oct. Russia provided 1,355 tons of refined oil to North Korea in October, the Voice of America (VOA) reported Saturday.The figure is far much less than the 2,136 tons Moscow reported it shipped to the communist state the previous month.According to the U.N. Security Council website, Russia has provided a cumulative 25,057 tons of refined oil in the January-October period.The U.N. began asking member countries to report the supply, sale and transfer of all refined petroleum products to North Korea in 2017 under a resolution adopted following the North's long-range missile launch.Resolution 2397 put a ceiling on the annual amount of refined oil that can be exported to North Korea at 500,000 barrels, which is equivalent to some 60,000-65,000 tons. (Yonhap)Dec 14, 2019
