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
North Korea official: Kim rethinking US talks, launch moratorium North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui / AFPNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un will soon make a decision on whether to continue diplomatic talks and maintain the country's moratorium on missile launches and nuclear tests, a senior North Korean official said, noting the U.S. threw away a golden opportunity at the recent summit between their leaders. Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, addressing an urgent meeting Friday of diplomats and foreign media in Pyongyang, including The Associated Press, said the North was deeply disappointed by the failure of the two sides to reach any agreements at the Hanoi summit between Kim and President Donald Trump. She said Pyongyang now has no intention of compromising or continuing talks unless the United States takes measures that are commensurate to the changes it has taken _ such as the 15-month moratorium on launches and tests _ and changes its ``political calculation.'' Choe, who attended the Feb. 27-28 talks in Hanoi, said Kim was puzzled by what she called the ``eccentric'' negotiation position of the U.S. She suggested that while TrumpMar 15, 2019
Madrid's North Korea embassy assailants linked to CIA: report North Korean embassy in Madrid. Screen capture from YouTubeAt least two of the 10 people who broke into Madrid's North Korean embassy in February, roughing up employees and robbing computers, are linked to the CIA, the El Pais daily said Wednesday.The mysterious incident took place on February 22 just five days before the start of a nuclear summit between North Korea and the United States attended, among others, by Pyongyang's former ambassador to Spain Kim Hyok Chol.According to investigators quoted by El Pais, they were specifically looking for information linked to Kim."At least two of the 10 assailants... have been identified and have ties with US secret services," the paper said, citing sources from the police and Spain's intelligence agency, the National Intelligence Centre (CNI).Inside CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, is shown the agency's logo. YonhapIt specifically identified the CIA.Contacted by AFP, the CNI refused to comment.According to El Pais, Spain asked for clarification from the CIA but the US spy agency denied any involvement.Spanish authorities however said Mar 14, 2019
Pyongyang media urges US to accept phased denuclearization U.S. President Donald Trump (R) and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un sit for a dinner at the Sofitel Legend Metropole hotel in Hanoi on Feb. 27. AFP-YonhapA North Korean media outlet urged the United States on Thursday to accept Pyongyang's offer to dismantle its Yongbyon nuclear facilities in exchange for partial sanctions relief, insisting it is the best-possible proposal at this point.The North put forward the proposal at last month's second summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump, but the U.S. turned it down, saying Pyongyang demanded the lifting of all key sanctions while offering to denuclearize Yongbyon only.The differences led to the Feb. 27-28 summit ending without an agreement."Our (proposed) denuclearization steps and demand for corresponding sanctions relief sufficiently reflected the U.S. government's stance and demand as well. There can be no better way than that," Uriminzokkiri, a North Korean propaganda website, said in an article. Uriminzokkiri also said that the Hanoi summit was a chance for North Korea to demonstrate its deterMar 14, 2019
UN grants 5 sanctions exemptions for Pyongyang humanitarian outreach This October 2015 photo, taken by a World Food Programme official, shows North Korean children at a nursery. Photo captured from WFP websiteThe U.N. Security Council has granted sanctions exemptions this week to allow five proposed humanitarian projects in North Korea to move forward, including providing nutritional and medical supplies, according to the U.N. website.The exemptions pave the way for sanctioned items to be brought into North Korea for a children's nutrition project by French NGO Premiere Urgence Internationale and an elderly care project by another French NGO, Triangle Generation Humanitaire, while the U.N. Population Fund will be able to send emergency reproductive health kits.They also allowed the Canadian NGO First Steps Health Society and the international NGO Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders) to import soymilk processing systems and medical items, respectively, into the North.The approvals raised the total number of humanitarian exemptions related to North Korea currently in effect to 20. The exemptions are valid for six months. Humanitarian activMar 14, 2019
North Korea gives senior diplomats Supreme People's Assembly seats This April 2018 photo shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un preparing to write in a guestbook with his sister, Kim Yo-jong, in the Peace House at the Truce Village of Panmunjom inside the Demilitarized Zone. Korea Times fileBy Jung Da-minNorth Korea's major diplomatic figures have been elected as new parliamentary members, while its leader Kim Jong-un did not run in the election.The list of members elected to the 14th Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) was announced on the sate-run Korean Central Television broadcast, Tuesday afternoon, two days after a nationwide election. A total of 678 deputies have been elected, one from each constituency.Kim Yo-jong, Kim Jong-un's sister and first director of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), was elected to constituency No. 5 in the capital Pyongyang's Mangyongdae district, which is considered the home neighborhood of the country's founder, Kim Il-sung.Kim Yo-jong has been assisting her brother on the country's diplomatic stage with South Korea as well as with the U.S., receiving the spotlight for waiting on her brother hand and foot.The North's FMar 13, 2019
