Seoul's nuclear envoy to speak before EU Lee Do-hoon, front, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, departs for Russia and Belgium at Incheon International Airport, Mar. 18. YonhapSouth Korea's chief nuclear negotiator will visit the headquarters of the European Union on Wednesday for discussions on North Korea, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, plans to deliver a speech at the EU's Political and Security Committee in Brussels.He will have a luncheon meeting with Helga Schmid, secretary general of the European External Action Service, the following day.It's part of Seoul's efforts to strengthen partnerships with the international community on the North Korea issue. Concern has grown about the future of the fragile denuclearization and peace-building process since the second summit between Pyongyang and Washington in late February yielded no agreement.Helga Schmid, left, secretary general of the European External Action Service. Photo from WIKIDATAOn Tuesday, Lee had talks with his Russian counterpart, IgoMar 20, 2019
US intelligence chief in Seoul to discuss North Korea: source Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats testifies during a Senate Intelligence Committee Hearing on worldwide threats on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on Jan. 29. UPI-YonhapThe U.S. intelligence chief is in South Korea, a government source said Wednesday, on a visit seen as aimed at sharing information and assessment of North Korea following the breakdown of last month's summit between the two countries.Earlier, a local newspaper reported that U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats arrived at a U.S airbase in Osan, south of Seoul, Tuesday night for a three-day stay. The government source confirmed his arrival but declined to elaborate further.His detailed schedule in Seoul has yet to be confirmed but he is likely to meet his South Korean counterpart, National Intelligence Service Director Suh Hoon, and other senior officials.The trip came after North Korea repaired its Dongchang-ri long-range rocket launch site that had been partially dismantled last year. That led to concern that the rebuilding could be a sign Pyongyang may be preparing a missile launch.Last week, NorMar 20, 2019
Moon may send special envoy to North Korea next month North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho, right, speaks, as Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Choe Son-hui looks on during a press conference in Hanoi, March 1, following the failed U.S.-North Korea summit. AFP-YonhapBy Kim Yoo-chulPresident Moon Jae-in may send a special envoy to Pyongyang, possibly National Intelligence Service (NIS) chief Suh Hoon, as early as next month, sources said Tuesday.One source, asking not to be named, said this is one option Moon and his aides are considering to find a breakthrough in stalled denuclearization talks between North Korea and the United States.The special envoy would also discuss the possibility of another summit between Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, he said.Seoul is currently looking to end the impasse in nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang after the failure of the Hanoi summit last month. It is also trying to keep the momentum of nuclear negotiations alive with Moon taking an active role in facilitating future Trump-Kim meetings. “The envoy will also discuss advancing inter-Korean ties as well as detailed steps Mar 19, 2019By Kim Yoo-chul
US, North Korea trying to get 'sequencing' right in nuclear talks: Pompeo U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrives at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., March 15. EPASecretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that the United States and North Korea are trying to get the "sequencing" right in talks to end the regime's nuclear weapons program and open a brighter future for the country.Pompeo made the remark in an interview with KCMO, a radio station based in Mission, Kansas, his home state, in the wake of North Korea's threat to abandon the talks.Pompeo has rarely spoken of "sequencing," although he appeared to refer to the Trump administration's insistence that North Korea give up its nuclear arsenal upfront.The North has called for a step-by-step dismantlement of its nuclear program in exchange for U.S. concessions, including sanctions relief."I can't say much about the details of the negotiation as those are important private conversations," the top U.S. diplomat said, when asked about the failure to produce an agreement at last month's summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. "But it's clearly a range of issuesMar 19, 2019
North Korea strengthens ties with Russia amid stalled nuke talks with US North Korea and Russia earlier in March held the 9th Intergovernmental Committee (IGC) for Cooperation in Trade, Economics, Science, and Technology in Moscow. YonhapBy Jung Da-minNorth Korea is strengthening its strategic relations with Russia, while denuclearization talks with the U.S. have been stalled without progress for three weeks since the Hanoi summit.In a meeting between North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Im Chon-il and his Russian counterpart Igor Morgulov in Moscow on March 14, the two sides agreed to “bolster up mutual support and collaboration in tackling the issue of the Korean peninsula,” the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Sunday.This is to steadily develop the traditional and strategic North Korea-Russia relations, this year marking the 70th anniversary of the conclusion of the two sides' agreement on economic and cultural cooperation, KCNA added.Im and Morgulov signed a 2019-2020 plan of exchange between the two countries.North Korea has called for Russia's cooperation to “ensure the peace and security of the KoreanMar 18, 2019
Kim Jong-un likely to take position 'formally' representing North Korea: Thae Yong-ho North Korea's Kim Jong-un delivers his New Year speech in this January 2019 photo released by the country's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Kim Jong-un might hold a new position as a formal head of state through amending the constitution, former North Korean high-ranking official Thae Yong-ho said on Sunday. KCNA-YonhapBy Jung Da-minThae Yong-ho, a former diplomat who defected to the South. Yonhap fileNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un is likely to seek a constitutional amendment at a Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) meeting slated for early next month to become a formal head of state, Thae Yong-ho, a former North Korean diplomat who defected to the South, claimed Sunday.This, if comes true, will represent North Korea's efforts to become a “normal state,” Thae wrote on his blog."From the beginning of the year, North Korea has emphasized the concept of 'state,' promoting statism, its national flag, bird, flower and customs, which could be seen as part of a wider move to become a normal state," he said."In the same context, it seems likely Kim Jong-un would be recoMar 18, 2019
N. Korea believed to be desperate to win Russia's support North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Im Chon-il, right, enters the guesthouse of Russia's foreign ministry to meet with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov in Moscow, March 14. A group of Russian senators is visiting North Korea separately from March 14 to 21 to discuss issues on business, culture and other areas. / YonhapRussian senators visiting Pyongyang until March 21By Yi Whan-wooA group of Russian senators is visiting North Korea, the latest in a series of talks between the two countries following the collapse of the U.S.-North Korea summit in Hanoi, Vietnam.Sergei Kislyak, the first deputy chairman of the Russian Federation Council's Committee for Foreign Affairs and one of the Russian delegates, said the visit from March 16 to 21 will be “an absolutely natural, normal practice” to continue dialogue between the two countries.But speculation is rampant it results from Pyongyang's desperate bid to woo support from Moscow, following the collapse of talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.The failure of talks apparently cloMar 17, 2019By Yi Whan-woo
Pompeo: US hopeful about continuing talks with North Korea U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a news conference at the State Department in Washington, U.S., March 15. ReutersU.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday that he is hopeful nuclear negotiations with North Korea will continue, after Pyongyang reportedly said it may quit talks.The two countries came away empty handed from a second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Vietnam last month.“We are hopeful that we can continue to have conversation, negotiations,” Pompeo told reporters.He added that the United States has “every expectation” that Kim will honor his commitment to Trump and continue refraining from nuclear and missile tests.The summit ended without an agreement due to differences over the scope of the North's denuclearization and the potential sanctions relief from the U.S.In Pyongyang, Friday, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui said her regime had no interest in engaging in “negotiations of this kind,” criticizing the demands the U.S. had made at the summit, accordiMar 16, 2019
'Kim Jong-un will make announcement on nuke talks soon' In this Feb. 28 file photo, U.S President Donald Trump, right, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un take a walk after their first meeting at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi hotel, in Hanoi, Vietnam. AP-YonhapCheong Wa Dae says will continue efforts to resume dialogue By Kim Yoo-chulNorth Korea is considering dropping nuclear negotiations with the United States, the country's deputy foreign minister Choe Son-hui told a press conference in Pyongyang, Friday morning.“The United States lost the golden chance. North Korea has no intention to yield to U.S. demands in any types for concessions,” Choe said. Only a small number of foreign journalists and ambassadors were invited to the press conference.“North Korea will soon decide whether or not to keep talking with the U.S. or maintaining the continued halts on missile launches and nuclear tests,” the senior North Korean official said. She added the North's leader Kim Jong-un will soon announce the country's detailed action plans possibly to be taken by the regime after the summit.Regarding Choe's comments, Cheong Mar 15, 2019By Kim Yoo-chul
WT executive to share stories behind taekwondo unification efforts World Taekwondo Executive Deputy Secretary General Kim Eil-chul, center, smiles with North Korea's National Athletics Guidance Committee Chairman Choe Hwi, right, during a dinner at Okryugwan in Pyongyang on Nov. 2. Courtesy of World TaekwondoBy Jung Min-hoWorld Taekwondo (WT) Executive Deputy Secretary General Kim Eil-chul has many stories to tell when it comes to Korean unification.As leader of the global taekwondo governing body's taekwondo unification project, Kim has traveled around the world over the past five years to seek ideas and muster support for recovering the sport's original oneness ― after taekwondo was separated into two forms and each developed in its own way for decades.In November, he visited Pyongyang, where WT, under the leadership of South Korean Choue Chung-won and the International Taekwondo Federation, led by North Korean Ri Yong-son, agreed to create a joint organization to narrow their differences in governing the sport.Kim will share some of the interesting stories behind WT's peace efforts and his vision about Korean unification at Yonsei University's HeMar 15, 2019By Jung Min-ho
