China supplies 1,536 tons of refined oil to N. Korea in May: report China exported 1,536 tons of refined oil to North Korea in May, according to its monthly report to a U.N. sanctions committee Thursday.The May figure brought China's cumulative supply of refined oil products to the North to 5,730 tons this year, the report posted on the website of the sanctions committee on North Korea showed. The cumulative figure is almost on a par with the 5,920 tons that China supplied to the North during the same period a year earlier.The amount represents about one-fourth of the 22,183 tons of refined oil Russia had supplied to the North during the January-May period.Adopted in 2017 following the North's launch of a long-range missile, the U.N. Security Council's Resolution 2397 put a ceiling on the annual amount of refined oil that could be offered or sold to North Korea at 500,000 barrels, which is the equivalent of some 60,000-65,000 tons. (Yonhap)Jul 18, 2019
US-North Korea working-level talks likely to be delayed U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un pose during their third summit in the Demilitarized Zone on June 30. YonhapBy Jung Da-minWorking-level denuclearization talks between the United States and North Korea are likely to be delayed.U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday (local time) during a meeting that he is in no hurry to make progress in the denuclearization talks and time is “not of the essence.” Trump had said the working-level talks would be resumed in the next few weeks, when he met North's leader Kim Jong-un in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on June 30.“And at some point ― I'm in absolutely no hurry ― but at some point, I think we can probably do something that would be very good for them and very good everybody and for the world,” Trump said. “And, again, time is not of the essence, but I think good things will ultimately happen.”North Korea has not responded to Trump's remarks. The North's foreign ministry, however, issued a statement on the same day, hours before the U.S. Cabinet meeting, against the planned U.Jul 17, 2019
Pentagon: Seoul, Washington preparing joint exercise despite Pyongyang's warning In this file photo taken on April 02, 2017 South Korean Marines take position on a beach as amphibious assault vehicles fire smoke shells during a joint landing operation by the U.S. and South Korean Marines in the southeastern port of Pohang. AFP-YonhapSouth Korea and the United States are preparing to stage a joint military exercise this fall, the Pentagon said Tuesday, after North Korea warned the drill will affect the prospects of working-level nuclear talks between the two countries.The North's foreign ministry issued the warning Tuesday, arguing that the "19-2 Dong Maeng" exercise, slated for around August, runs counter to the commitment that U.S. President Donald Trump made when he held a surprise meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on June 30."If the military exercise really goes ahead, it would affect the DPRK-U.S. working-level talks," the North said. "We will formulate our decision on the opening of the DPRK-U.S. working-level talks, while keeping watch over the U.S. move hereafter."Asked about the U.S. stance, Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Dave Eastburn said the exJul 17, 2019
Pompeo hopes US, North Korea can be 'more creative' in nuclear talks U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at the Christians United for Israel's annual summit, July 8, in Washington DC. APU.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday he hoped both North Korea and the United States could "be a little more creative" as the two sides push to restart talks aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear program.Pompeo did not say when the negotiations would begin.President Donald Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last month. During the meeting, Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to cross into North Korea and the pair agreed to restart talks.Trump and Kim have met three times and held two summits over the nuclear issue. Talks in Hanoi in February collapsed without agreement between the two leaders, as the United States insisted North Korea completely denuclearize and North Korea pushed for relief from sanctions."I hope the North Koreans will come to the table with ideas that they didn't have the first time. We hope we can we be a little more creative too," Pompeo said in a radio interview on "The Sean Hannity Show""The president's misJul 16, 2019
North Korea to launch tour program to Mt. Geumgang Rocky peaks on Mount Geumgang. Korea Times fileBy Park Si-sooNorth Korea will launch a tour program to Mount Geumgang this month in an apparent effort to bolster its sagging economy amid international sanctions.The North's propaganda outlet DPRK Today said Sunday the four-day program would begin in late July and run until the end of November. The program ― believed to be for foreigners ― includes hiking, fishing and spa treatments. In April last year, the Kumgangsan International Travel Co. promoted a similar tour program through one of the North's newspapers. North Korea has touted Mount Geumgang, along with the ancient border city of Gaeseong, as one of the country's most outstanding tourist destinations.However, inter-Korean tour programs to Mount Geumgang and Gaeseong targeting South Koreans have been suspended for more than a decade after a South Korean tourist was shot dead near the resort for allegedly trespassing in an off-limits area in 2008.Jul 15, 2019
North Korea presses South to overlook US on cross-border relations By Yi Whan-wooNorth Korea pressed the South over the weekend to pursue cross-border agreements egardless of relations between Washington and Pyongyang. The North's propaganda websites Uriminzokkiri and Meari said Pyongyang was disappointed at Seoul's attempt to resume inter-Korean talks in accordance with possible U.S.-North Korea denuclearization negotiations.The move challenges the optimism that the North may be open to talks with the South again after the leaders of the three countries met at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on June 30, according to observers.The DMZ meeting came after the breakdown of a summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump in February, and Pyongyang's repeated complaints about President Moon Jae-in playing a “mediating” role.Sources familiar with Pyongyang speculated that the rhetoric is aimed at resuming cross-border economic cooperation amid prolonged U.S. sanctions on the regime.“The South Korean authorities' stance is casting a shadow of disappointment over the Korean people's faces thJul 14, 2019By Yi Whan-woo
N. Korean newspaper slams Japan for export curbs on S. Korea Portraits of late North Korean leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il are seen on the facade of a government building in Pyongyang, North Korea, Sep. 10, 2018. ReutersNorth Korea's official newspaper on Sunday denounced Japan's export restrictions against South Korea as an "unacceptable political provocation," as Tokyo raised accusations the South leaked sensitive industrial materials to the communist nation to justify the export curbs."What we cannot put up with is that the Japanese reactionary forces are trying to justify the economic retaliatory measure against South Korea by raising accusations against us," the Rodong Sinmun said. "This measure by Japanese authorities are obviously an unacceptable political provocation against us."On July 4, Japan imposed restrictions on exports to South Korea of key materials used in semiconductor memory chips and smartphones in an apparent move against last year's ruling by Seoul's top court ordering Tokyo to compensate Korean wartime forced laborers.Tokyo accused the South of violating U.N. sanctions on the North to justify the measure. Seoul flaJul 14, 2019
Japan exported prohibited items to North Korea: UN reports Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe / APJapan exported some strategic items and luxury goods to North Korea over the past several years in violation of international sanctions, U.N. reports have shown.According to 10 reports that the U.N. panel of experts wrote between 2010 and 2019, there have been multiple cases where restricted items, including sensitive equipment and luxury goods, have been shipped to North Korea from Japan despite U.N. sanctions.The revelation came at a time when Japan has accused the South of leaking sensitive industrial materials to the North in violation of sanctions, in an attempt to justify the export restrictions it imposed against the South over a row surrounding Japan's wartime forced labor.According to a 2016 report, commercial radar antennas made by a Japanese firm were acquired and adopted by North Korea for its naval vessels, and some of them were seen during the North's test-firing of an anti-ship missile publicized in February 2015 by the North's Rodong Sinmun.In a 2015 report, the U.N. panel determined that some prohibited parts manufactured by JapJul 14, 2019
Trump says NK leader was 'so happy' to see him U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at Derco Aerospace Inc., a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin, July 12, in Milwaukee. APU.S. President Donald Trump claimed Friday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was so happy to see him that the man of few expressions smiled.Trump was apparently referring to his latest meeting with Kim at the inter-Korean border on June 30, during which the young leader could be seen beaming."You don't have a man testing nuclear anymore," Trump told reporters at the White House. "You have a man that was so happy to see me. That's a good thing, not a bad thing. You have a man that doesn't smile a lot, but when he saw me, he smiled. He was happy."The U.S. president has often spoken fondly of the North Korean leader despite the lack of progress in negotiations to dismantle the regime's nuclear weapons program.At their meeting in the Demilitarized Zone, the two agreed to resume working-level talks within a few weeks from then. No date or venue has been announced yet."You have a man that when I came into office, all he was doing before, under Obama, was testing nuclear Jul 14, 2019
South Korean defects to North Korea Choe In-guk speaks at an airport in Pyongyang, Saturday. Courtesy of UriminzokkiriA South Korean son of Ryu Mi-yong, the late chairwoman of a North Korean minor political party, has arrived in Pyongyang to live in the communist country for good, a North Korean propaganda media outlet said Sunday.Ryu and her husband, Choe Tok-sin, who served as foreign minister in South Korea during the 1960s, emigrated to the United States in 1976 and defected to the North in 1986, leaving behind two sons and three daughters.In the North, Ryu served as chairwoman of the central committee of the Chondoist Chongu Party. She died of lung cancer at age 95 in November 2016.On Saturday, Uriminzokkiri, one of the North's propaganda websites, reported that Ryu's second son, Choe In-guk, arrived in Pyongyang on Saturday for "permanent residence."If confirmed, it would be a rare case of a South Korean national entering North Korea and publicly announcing a decision for permanent residence there.Upon arriving at a Pyongyang airport, Choe said he will devote his life to helping achieve the feat of national unifiJul 7, 2019
