Pompeo 'counting on' second Trump-Kim summit Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. AP-Yonhap (Korea Times file)U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says he is "counting on" a second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un despite an apparent stalemate in talks between the sides.Pompeo told National Public Radio on Thursday that there had been "some progress" in efforts to rid the North of its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.He said that while there was still a long way to go, the he had never expected the issue to be easy or resolved "like instant pudding.""It's been a great process,” he said. “They're not firing rockets. They're not conducting nuclear tests. We have a ways to go, and we will continue to work to achieve the president's agenda.”On a possible second summit, he said, "I'm counting on it."Trump said early this month that he expected to meet Kim in January or February.Pompeo has repeatedly voiced hope that a second summit will materialize even as the North Koreans have appeared reluctant.Last month a senior North Korean official was due to meet Pompeo Dec 22, 2018
Seoul, Washington agree to cooperate on inter-Korean event next week U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun, center left, speaks to the media with South Korea's Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Lee Do-hoon, center right, at Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 21, 2018. The Trump administration's special envoy for North Korea on Friday expressed optimism about the diplomatic push to resolve the nuclear crisis, a day after the North issued a surprisingly blunt statement saying it will never disarm unless the U.S. removes what it calls a nuclear threat. APSouth Korea and the United States agreed Friday that a highly symbolic inter-Korean event will be held in North Korea next week as scheduled, Seoul's top nuclear envoy said.After a "working group" meeting with Washington's special representative for North Korea, Stephen Biegun, Lee Do-hoon said the two Koreas will also proceed with their joint war remains recovery program under the Trump administration's agreement.The issue of providing North Korean residents with Tamiflu, an antiviral medication, has been also resolved, Lee toldDec 21, 2018
N. Korea says it won't denuclearize unless US removes threat North Korea said Thursday it will never unilaterally give up its nuclear weapons unless the United States first removes what Pyongyang called a nuclear threat. The surprisingly blunt statement jars with Seoul's rosier presentation of the North Korean position and could rattle the fragile trilateral diplomacy to defuse a nuclear crisis that last year had many fearing war.The latest from North Korea comes as the United States and North Korea struggle over the sequencing of the denuclearization that Washington wants and the removal of international sanctions desired by Pyongyang. The statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency also raises credibility problems for the liberal South Korean government, which has continuously claimed that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is genuinely interested in negotiating away his nuclear weapons as Seoul tries to sustain a positive atmosphere for dialogue.The North's comments may also be seen as proof of what outside skeptics have long said: that Kim will never voluntarily relinquish an arsenal he sees as a stronger guarantee ofDec 21, 2018
Pompeo: US still committed to North Korea denuclearization In this file photo taken on December 13, 2018 US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks to the press at the State Department in Washington, DC. - US officials hope that a second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un can be scheduled for early 2019, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said December 20, 2018. "We are hopeful that in the new year, President Trump and Chairman Kim will get together not too long after the first of the year and make even further progress on taking this (nuclear) threat to the United States away from us," Pompeo said in an interview with KNSS Radio. AFPThe United States is working to achieve North Korea's commitment to dismantle its nuclear weapons program, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday amid deadlocked negotiations.Pompeo also said in an interview with Kansas-based KNSS Radio that the two sides will continue to have meetings, including a possible second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un."We still are working through the execution of Chairman Kim's commitment to deDec 21, 2018
INTERVIEW Young North Korean defectors fall prey to human trafficking A young North Korean woman who was forced to work as a “webcam girl” in an apartment in China escapes on Oct. 27, with help from officials at the Durihana Mission, which has been assisting North Korean defectors since the 1990s. Courtesy of Durihana MissionBy Jung Da-minMany North Koreans who flee their country, especially young women, are trapped by brokers and sold into marriage to Chinese farmers or forced into sex work as cam girls or in brothels, according to the leader of a group that helps defectors.Pastor Chun Ki-won, of the Durihana Mission in Seoul, said the situation has worsened because of tighter border controls between the two countries and China's internal crackdown.Pastor Chun Ki-won of the Durihana Mission / Korea Times file“From the moment North Korean women defectors see the brokers pay North Korean soldiers on the crossing, they are at the mercy of the brokers, as they have to pay the money back,” says Chun, who has been helping North Korean defectors since the 1990s.“Whether they knew it or not, or whether they wanted it or not, theyDec 20, 2018
North Korea vows anti-corruption fight North Korean leader Kim Jong-un calls for the eradication of bureaucracy and corruption in an address to the first Conference of the Chairpersons of Primary Committees of Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in Pyongyang Dec. 23-25, 2016. Korea Times fileBy Jung Da-minNorth Korea has declared war on official corruption. The Workers' Party of Korea's (WPK) newspaper Rodong Sinmun published two editorials on Wednesday and Thursday criticizing the bureaucracy and improper power yielding by corrupted officials. On Dec. 10 it ran a front-page editorial on the issue."One of the most important reasons for the collapse of socialism in the Eastern European countries of the past was that the officials had improperly exerted authority in bureaucracy and indulged in privileges," Rodong Sinmun said Thursday. The title of the editorial was "Our party's ideal workers with sincerity." It continued: “Power yielding, bureaucracy and corruption are unacceptable enemies of our party that struggles to adhere to and maintain the status as a mother party in charge of the fate of the people."The strong warniDec 20, 2018
US willing to revitalize nuke talks through humanitarian aid U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun speaks to the media upon his arrival at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2018. AP-YonhapThe U.S. expression of a willingness to allow American citizens to travel to North Korea for aid delivery is seen as a joint effort with South Korea to find a way out of the impasse in the stalled denuclearization talks with Pyongyang.Stephen Biegun, the U.S. special representative on North Korea policy, expressed the willingness upon his arrival in South Korea on Wednesday for talks with his South Korean counterpart, saying Washington will reevaluate its ban on private and religious aid groups' trips to the impoverished country."We still prioritize the safety and security of Americans as we review the requests for travel, and we will continue to expect humanitarian aid organizations to be international standards for access in monitoring of their programs," he told reporters upon arrival at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul."However, we also believe conditions are right for us to reevaluDec 20, 2018
Otto Warmbier's parents demand $1.1 billion in compensation from North Korea Otto Frederick Warmbier. The Korea Times fileBy Lee Min-youngThe parents of Otto Warmbier, who died in a coma after being sent home from a North Korean labor prison, have demanded about $1.1 billion in compensation from Pyongyang. According to a Voice of America (VOA) report on Tuesday, the legal team for the Warmbiers has submitted a document to a court that specified the amount they were going to claim against the North Korean regime for their son's death. The calculation was based on a similar captivity case that led to the death of a missionary.The largest portion was made up of punitive damages ― $1.05 billion ― with $350 million each for Warmbier and his parents, Cindy and Fred.They also demanded compensation for financial losses and another $10 million for the psychological pain Warmbier had to go through and $15 million for each of his parents, which is based on the pain inflicted on the Warmbiers whenever they saw their son on North Korean television and when they had to make the heartbreaking decision to turn off his life support.The Warmbiers will attend their first hearinDec 18, 2018By Lee Min-young
UN condemns North Korean human rights violations Pyongyang residents prepare to bow before the statues of late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il during National Memorial Day on Mansu Hill in Pyongyang on Dec. 17. AFP-YonhapUNITED NATIONS (AFP) - The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution Monday condemning the "systematic, widespread and gross" human rights violations in North Korea.The non-binding resolution, which was passed by consensus without a vote, welcomes diplomatic efforts to end the crisis on the Korean peninsula. But it emphasizes that members are "deeply concerned at the grave human rights situation, the pervasive culture of impunity and the lack of accountability for human rights violations in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea."It also denounces the use of torture as well as "inhumane conditions of detention, rape, public executions, extrajudicial and arbitrary detention" and "the existence of an extensive system of political prison camps."Pyongyang's mission to the U.N. attacked the U.S.'s willingness to organize a Security Council meeting on human rights in North Korea.In early DeDec 18, 2018
Kim Jong-un marks 7th anniversary of father's death North Korean leader Kim Jong-un pays a visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where the bodies of his father Kim Jong-il and grandfather and Kim Il-sung are on display, on the seventh anniversary of Kim Jong-il's death, state-run media outlets reported Monday. / YonhapBy Park Ji-wonNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited the mausoleum of his late father Kim Jong-il to commemorate the seventh anniversary of his death, in his first public appearance in two weeks.Amid stalled denuclearization talks with Washington, Kim paid his respects at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where the bodies of his late father and grandfather Kim Il-sung are on display, “on the occasion of the biggest national memorial day,” according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and other North Korean media outlets Monday.“He paid highest tribute while looking up at statues of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il,” the KCNA said.The state-run media added that Kim Jong-un laid flowers at the statues of his father and grandfather.The day of Kim Jong-il's death is one of the North's most imporDec 17, 2018By Park Ji-won
