Trump fires Bolton, citing strong disagreements In this Nov. 27, 2018, file photo, U.S. National security adviser John Bolton speaks to reporters during the daily press briefing in the Brady press briefing room at the White House in Washington. President Donald Trump said he fired Bolton, saying they 'disagreed strongly' on many issues. APU.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he has fired National Security Adviser John Bolton due to strong disagreements and will name a replacement next week.The announcement comes after months of rumors that Trump and Bolton clashed on policy, including on how to denuclearize North Korea.Some of their disagreements were exposed in public, with Trump playing down North Korea's short-range ballistic missile tests but Bolton calling them out as violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions."I informed John Bolton last night that his services are no longer needed at the White House," Trump wrote on Twitter. "I disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions, as did others in the Administration, and therefore I asked John for his resignation, which was given to me this morning. I thank John veSep 11, 2019
North Korea tested super-large multiple rocket launcher under Kim's guidance This Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2019, photo shows a test-firing from a multiple rocket launcher at an undisclosed location in North Korea. Korean Central News Agency reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited the site. APNorth Korea said Wednesday that it tested a super-large multiple rocket launcher the previous day under the guidance of leader Kim Jong-un.On Tuesday, South Korea's military said that the North fired two short-range projectiles from its western region toward the east, saying both flew about 330 kilometers.Kim "gave field guidance to the test-fire of super-large multiple rocket launcher again on Tuesday," according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).Kim also said that the latest test has finally verified the aspects related to its combat operation, characteristics of trajectory, accuracy and precise homing functions, adding the remaining step is to run a fire test "which is most vivid character in terms of the power of multiple rocket launcher."The KCNA, however, did not mention whether the test was a success.Tuesday's firings marked the 10th weapons test NorSep 11, 2019
Dennis Rodman, who hangs with Trump and Kim, says Korea peace deal 'could still work' Former NBA player Dennis Rodman poses for a portrait in Los Angeles, California, U.S., Sept. 9, 2019. ReutersFormer U.S. basketball star Dennis Rodman, one of a handful of Westerners to have met North Korean head of state Kim Jong Un, and a friend of U.S. President Donald Trump, said on Monday he thought the two leaders could work out a deal."I think that it could still work. I just think that we need to stay on the right path to make it work," said Rodman, who was at the June 2018 Singapore summit between Kim and Trump - the first between leaders of the two states who have been technically at war since the of the Korean War in 1953."So, I think that people should not give up on the U.S. trying to engage with North Korea in a good, safe manner," Rodman told Reuters television in an interview.North Korea said on Monday it was willing to restart nuclear talks with the United States in late September, but warned that chances of a deal could end unless Washington takes a fresh approach."I think Kim Jong Un wants peace. I know him very well, I think he wants peace. I think ... people don'Sep 10, 2019
Trump: Meetings are good thing after North Korea offers nuke talks U.S. President Donald Trump holds a campaign rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina, U.S., Sept. 9, 2019. ReutersU.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that meetings are a good thing and he'll see what happens, after North Korea proposed denuclearization talks this month.Trump made the comment to reporters at the White House shortly after North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui made the offer in a statement carried by the country's official media.Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed to resume denuclearization talks within several weeks when they met at the inter-Korean border on June 30, but the talks have yet to take place."Well, I saw a statement was just put out having to do with North Korea, and that'll be interesting," Trump said. "We'll see what happens, but I always say having meetings is a good thing, not a bad thing."Earlier, Choe said the North was willing to have "comprehensive discussions of the issues we have so far taken up at the time and place to be agreed late in September."She noted that in a speech in April, Kim had urged the U.S. to come up witSep 10, 2019
North Korea fires unidentified projectiles toward East Sea North Korea fired unidentified projectiles twice from a western region toward the East Sea on Tuesday, South Korea's military said. AFPNorth Korea fired unidentified projectiles twice from a western region toward the East Sea on Tuesday, South Korea's military said, just hours after the communist nation offered to resume nuclear talks with the United States.The projectiles were launched in an easterly direction from an inland area in the South Pyongan Province, the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said without providing further details, such as the type of the projectiles, flight range and maximum altitude."Our military is monitoring the situation in case of additional launches and maintaining a readiness posture," the JCS said in a release.The firings came just hours after the North's First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui expressed a willingness to resume denuclearization talks with the U.S. in late September and demanded that Washington come up with a new proposal acceptable to Pyongyang.Tuesday's launches could be designed to strengthen Pyongyang's negotiating hand ahead of Sep 10, 2019
North Korea reports five deaths, damage in typhoon This image obtained from NASA Earth Observatory shows Typhoon Lingling on Sept. 6, 2019. AFPNorth Korean state media said Sunday five people had been killed in a powerful typhoon that destroyed farmland and damaged hundreds of buildings.Typhoon Lingling, called Typhoon-13 in North Korea, hit the reclusive nuclear-armed state on Saturday afternoon, reported the official KCNA news service.The impoverished and isolated country is vulnerable to natural disasters, especially floods, due in part to deforestation and poor infrastructure."According to data available from the State Emergency Disaster Committee, five persons were dead and three persons injured. The injured persons are now under treatment at hospitals," KCNA said.More than 460 houses and at least a dozen public buildings were "completely or partly destroyed or inundated" by the typhoon, it said.Crops were wiped out or damaged in 46,000 hectares (110,000 acres) of farmland ― roughly the area of the small European country of Andorra ― the report said, adding that recovery efforts were underway.It came after South Korea's disasterSep 8, 2019
US envoy calls on North Korea to return to talks U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Beigun at the complex of South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in central Seoul, Aug. 21 during his four-day visit to Seoul from Aug. 20 to 23. Korea Times fileBy Jung Da-minNorth Korea should return to the negotiating table with the United States by resuming working-level denuclearization talks, Stephen Biegun, the U.S. special representative for North Korea, said during a speech last Friday (local time) at the University of Michigan. “We (the U.S.) have made clear to North Korea that we are prepared to engage as soon as we hear from them. We are ready, but we cannot do this by ourselves,” Biegun said. U.S.-North Korea working-level talks were supposed to take place around mid-July after the latest summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but have been delayed with North Korea conducting a series of missile tests that included short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs). Biegun's visit to Seoul last month raised speculations that there could be a possible meeting with North Korean oSep 8, 2019
Pompeo acknowledges North Korea's right to defend itself Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gives a speech at the London Lecture series at Kansas State University Friday, Sept. 6, 2019, in Manhattan, Kan. AP-Yonhap U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo acknowledged Friday that North Korea has the right to defend itself and assured Pyongyang of Washington's security guarantees should the regime dismantle its nuclear weapons program.In an interview with KCMO radio in Kansas City, Missouri, Pompeo said the U.S. was committed to continuing denuclearization negotiations with North Korea and hopes the regime will return to the table as agreed during a June meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un."I'm very committed to working with the North Korean team to negotiate a set of outcomes that will be good for both the United States and the world in terms of reducing the nuclear threat that emanates from the Korean Peninsula, but also ensuring that security and peace and prosperity can come to North Sep 7, 2019
US envoy calls on North Korea to halt hostility, return to talks U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun, right, talks with South Korea's Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Lee Do-hoon during their meeting at the foreign ministry in Seoul on May 10, 2019. Reuters-YonhapU.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun called on the reclusive state, Friday, to halt its demonstrations of hostility and return to denuclearization talks. In a speech at the University of Michigan, the top U.S. envoy in negotiations with Pyongyang said both countries must work together to ensure progress on denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula.His remarks came as denuclearization dialogue has stalled despite an agreement between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, June 30, to resume talks within several weeks."At this moment, to achieve further progress, the most important step we can take is for the United States and North Korea to work together to overcome the policies and demonstrations of hostility that compromise the simple ability of our diplomats to talk, andSep 7, 2019
Danish aid group sends W280 million-worth of food aid to North Korea In this March 13, 2019, photo, a worker walks among stacks of food at Kumkhop Trading Co. food factory in Pyongyang, North Korea. AP-Yonhap An aid group from Denmark recently provided more than 600 tons of food in humanitarian aid to North Korea, according to a report, Saturday.Mission East sent 636 tons of corn and beans, worth 280 million won (US$234,000), to the impoverished North, Radio Free Asia reported.The aid was delivered by truck via China.The report said the aid was designated to feed 33,000 children in the country's northwestern Pyongan Province. (Yonhap)Sep 7, 2019
