Anniversary 'Stockholm talks should be first of many meetings' North Korean negotiator Kim Miyong-gil, center, reads a statement outside the North Korean Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, in this Oct. 5, 2019, file photo. Kim said discussions with the U.S. on Pyongyang's nuclear program had broken down, but Washington said the two sides had "good discussions." YonhapBy Jung Da-min Recent North Korean media reports have shown the country's apparent dissatisfaction with the results of working level talks held with the United States in Stockholm earlier this month.The North's raction was unfortunate but predictable, said Ambassador Joseph Detrani, former U.S. special envoy for the six-party talks with North Korea, during a recent interview with The Korea Times. He said the two countries should continue to hold such working level talks to achieve the bigger goals they agreed upon at the Singapore summit in June 2018. Courtesy of Joseph Detrani“This was the first working level meeting, thus it would be unrealistic to think all issues would be resolved to the satisfaction of both countries,” Detrani said. “At a minimum, this should be thOct 31, 2019
Seoul struggles to find 'creative solutions' for Mount Geumgang resort The South Korean government struggles to tackle issues on the suspended tour project to Mount Geumgang in North Korea after leader Kim Jong-un, center, ordered demolition of South Korean facilities in the mountain resort, Oct. 23. / YonhapBy Yi Whan-wooA series of hurdles linked to methods of cross-border communication, South Korean properties in North Korea, U.N. sanctions on Pyongyang and denuclearization dialogue is challenging the Seoul government to find “creative solutions” for issues on the suspended tourism to Mount Geumgang in the North.On Oct. 25, the North notified the South in a letter that they should discuss through an exchange of documents, rather than person-to-person contacts, how to remove the South Korean facilities at the Mount Geumgang resort.The notification was in line with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's order on Oct. 23 for a makeover of the resort and demolition of all “unpleasant-looking” South Korean facilities.The South Korean authorities, according to sources familiar with the matter, are perplexed by Pyongyang's Oct. 25 move.ThOct 27, 2019By Yi Whan-woo
N. Korea to US: 'don't ignore year-end deadline on Trump-Kim friendship' In this June 30, 2019, file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, and U.S. President Donald Trump prepare to shake hands at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone, South Korea. North Korea said it's running out of patience with the United States over what it described as hostile policies and unilateral disarmament demands. It's warning that a close personal relationship between their leaders alone wouldn't be enough to prevent nuclear diplomacy from derailing. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)North Korea said on Sunday there has been no progress in the North Korea-United States relations, and hostilities that could lead to an exchange of fire have continued, according to North Korea's state news agency KCNA. In a statement under the name of Chairman of the Korea-Asia Pacific Peace Committee Kim Yong Chol, KCNA said that it would be mistaken for the United States to ignore a year-end deadline on U.S. President Donald Trump's and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's "close personal relations." Kim Jong Un has set an end-of-the-year deadline for denuclearisation talkOct 27, 2019
PHOTOS Kim Jong-un inspects 'socialist' spa resort in Yangdok North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju visit the Yangdok County Hot Spring Resort, North Korea, in this undated picture released by North Korea's Central News Agency (KCNA). YonhapNorth Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited a spa resort under construction in the country's South Pyongan Province, and expressed “great satisfaction” at the development, praising its “socialist” architecture, state media reported Friday.The Yangdok County Hot Spring Resort, located in a mountainous area east of the North Korean capital Pyongyang, will feature therapeutic hot springs and spas, ski slopes and a hotel. The resort has been touted in the North's media for several months as a key development project.“[Kim Jong Un] expressed his great satisfaction over the fact that the resort is being successfully completed though it has been just over 50 days since he last inspected the construction site late in August,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.Kim added that the resort would be a model for developing other “cultural and touOct 26, 2019
N. Korea wants discussions on removing S. Korean facilities at Mt. Geumgang A portrait of North Korean leaders Kim Jong-il and Kim Il-sung is seen at Mount Kumgang resort in Kumgang September 1, 2011. ReutersNorth Korea formally proposed discussions over the possible demolition of South Korean-made hotels and other tourist facilities at the North's Mount Geumgang (diamond) Resort that leader Kim Jong Un called “shabby” and “unpleasant looking,” according to officials in Seoul. Pyongyang has been frustrated at the South's refusal to defy U.S.-led international sanctions and resume tours to the site. Ministry of Unification spokesman Lee Sang-min said North Korea sent letters addressed to the government and the Hyundai business group Friday demanding that they send representatives to Mount Geumgan at an agreed upon date to clear out the facilities. The letters, sent through an inter-Korean liaison office in the North's border town of Gaesong, said the Koreas should work out the details through document exchanges, rather than face-to-face meetings.While protecting South Korean companies' property rights is the top priority of the governmOct 26, 2019
'Act wisely': North Korea warns US of tough talks as year-end deadline nears North Korea leader Kim Jong-un. YonhapNorth Korea on Thursday accused U.S. officials of maintaining hostility against Pyongyang despite a ``special'' relationship between leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump and urged Washington to act ``wisely'' through the end of the year. The statement issued by Foreign Ministry adviser Kim Kye Gwan was clearly referring to an end-of-year deadline set by Kim Jong Un for the Trump administration to offer mutually acceptable terms for a deal to salvage their diplomacy.``Contrary to the political judgment and intention of President Trump, Washington political circles and DPRK policy makers of the U.S. administration are hostile to the DPRK for no reason, preoccupied with the Cold War mentality and ideological prejudice,'' Kim Kye Gwan said in the statement, referring to North Korea by its formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. ``We want to see how wisely the U.S. will pass the end of the year.''Nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang have faltered after the collapse of a February summit between Kim Jong Un and Oct 24, 2019
Kim Jong-un's wife appears in state media after 4-month absence Ri Sol-ju is seen in this photo released on Wednesday by the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) accompanying Kim Jong-un on his "field guidance" trip to the Mount Kumgang resort on the country's scenic east coast. YonhapThe wife of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has appeared in state media reports following an approximate four-month absence from public view.Ri Sol-ju was seen in photos released on Wednesday by the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) accompanying Kim on his "field guidance" trip to the Mount Kumgang resort on the country's scenic east coast.It was her first reported public activity since June, though her name was not mentioned among those who followed Kim on his trip to the mountain.She was last seen in public when Chinese President Xi Jinping made his first visit to Pyongyang on June 20 and 21. After that, she disappeared from state media reports for 122 days, her husband making public appearances without her.Ri's relatively long disappearance from state media was considered unusual. Since state media began referring to her as "first lOct 23, 2019
Kim orders demolition of 'unpleasant-looking' South Korean tourist facilities at Mt. Geumgang North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, inspects the Mount Gumgang resort on the east coast once jointly run by the two Koreas, Pyongyang's state media reported Wednesday. YonhapNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un criticized his late father's policy of depending on South Korea for the development of the Mount Kumgang resort on the east coast once jointly run by the two Koreas, Pyongyang's state media reported Wednesday.During "field guidance" to the mountain, Kim also ordered the removal of "all the unpleasant-looking facilities" built by South Korea and construction of the country's own "modern service facilities," according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)."The mountain was left uncared for more than ten years to leave a flaw and the land is worthy of better cause. He made a sharp criticism of the very wrong, dependent policy of the predecessors who were going to rely on others when the country was not strong enough," the Korean Central News Agency said in English."He instructed to remove all the unpleasant-looking facilities of the south side with an agreement with the relevaOct 23, 2019
Trump says 'lot of things going on' regarding North Korea U.S. President Donald J. Trump speaks during a Cabinet Meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, Oct. 21, 2019. EPA-YonhapU.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that "a lot of things are going on" regarding North Korea, as doubts over the regime's will to denuclearize rose after the breakdown of nuclear talks with Pyongyang earlier this month. During a Cabinet meeting, Trump also mentioned the prospects of a "major rebuild" while touting his engagement with the North, with a renewed claim that if somebody else became president, "you'd, right now, be in a big war.""Something is going to be happening with North Korea too," Trump said, according to a transcript from the White House."There's some very interesting information on North Korea. A lot of things are going on. And that's going to be a major rebuild at a certain point," he added.His remarks came amid skepticism over diplomacy with the recalcitrant North, which deepened due to the absence of progress in working-level negotiations that Washington and Pyongyang resumed in Sweden on Oct. 5 after a monthslong pause.The NortOct 22, 2019
North Korea continues to face tightest sanctions for money laundering gettyimagesbankBy Lee Kyung-min North Korea will continue to remain under the “tightest” targeted sanctions over possible money-laundering and terrorism-financing risks, a global standard-setting body said Sunday.According to the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) called on its members Oct. 18 (local time) to apply effective counter-measures and sanctions in accordance with applicable United Nations Security Council resolutions. Founded in 1989, the FATF is an intergovernmental organization established on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money laundering. It identifies jurisdictions that have strategic deficiencies posing a risk to the international financial system and encourages greater compliance with international anti-money-laundering standards. “The FATF urges all jurisdictions to apply effective countermeasures, and targeted financial sanctions to protect their financial sectors from money laundering, financing of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) proliferation financing risks emanatOct 20, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
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