North Korea cancels joint taekwondo demonstration with South Korea A planned demonstration of the Korean martial art taekwondo by a joint Korean team has been unilaterally canceled by the North, according to sources Friday.The International Taekwondo Federation (ITF), an international organization led by the North, notified the South Korean-led World Taekwondo (WT) of the cancellation on Thursday.In the brief letter, the North Korean taekwondo federation reportedly cited the Max Thunder military exercise between South Korea and the U.S. as the major reason for the pullout from the planned demonstration.The joint team, comprising South and North Korean taekwondo practitioners, had planned to give the performance at St. Peter's Square in Vatican City on May 30 in front of dignitaries including Pope Francis.The joint event had been suggested by Vatican representatives when they visited South Korea for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in February. After the Olympics ended, the Vatican officially proposed the two organizations stage the performance in the run up to the WT's Taekwondo Grand Prix event slated for June 1-3 in Rome.The letter was sent before May 25, 2018
Doubts linger over 'demolition' of North Korea nuke site A controlled detonation destroys the second tunnel at North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear test site, Thursday. / Joint press corpsNK officials keep saying 'no radioactive contamination'By Choi Ha-young, Joint press corpsNorth Korea said it had totally destroyed all tunnels at its Punggye-ri nuclear test site, Thursday, but international reporters who witnessed the event said their lack of expertise in nuclear technology meant they couldn't verify the complete dismantlement. The group of reporters from South Korea, the United States, the United Kingdom, China and Russia observed the demolition following a briefing by a deputy director of the North Korean Nuclear Research Institute.“We had already discarded the first tunnel in the east, after the successful test in 2006. In the second one in the north, the country held five nuclear tests from 2009 to 2017,” the official, who refused to be named, was quoted as saying by the pool reporters. The research institute officials repeatedly said the third and fourth tunnels, which have not been used, have remained intact despite a seriMay 25, 2018
Moon's broker role faces setback President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump talk in their bilateral talks at the White House in Washington, D.C., Wednesday. Although they agreed on joint effort to make Trump's upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Trump cancelled it Thursday night. / YonhapBy Kim RahnThe sudden decision by the U.S. to cancel a planned June 12 summit with North Korea has caught President Moon Jae-in, who had been working as a broker between the adversaries for their talks over the North's denuclearization, off guard. It may have been more heartbreaking for Moon considering that the decision came less than 24 hours since he came back from bilateral talks with President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., over his then upcoming meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.He now needs a new strategy to mediate between Washington and Pyongyang to help the two countries build up trust again. It is expected he may soon talk with Kim via a hotline established between the leaders of the two Koreas.The cancellation was apparently unexpected by Cheong Wa Dae, as Moon's security chief May 25, 2018
Canceling Singapore meeting may not be as bad as it looks A mural depicting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un looms over a passerby near the Koreatown neighborhood in Los Angeles, Thursday. Earlier in the day, U.S. President Donald Trump canceled a planned summit with Kim Jong-un. / EPABy Oh Young-jinJust hours before U.S. President Donald Trump canceled the summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, I was thinking of writing a column about that very possibility.A colleague told me that only a writer with the “bold mind of yours” would try to write as such. Of course, it did not sound complimentary. I am not trying to boast of my prescience, because much more often than not I have been proven to lack the ability to look ahead and make the right forecast.But I have found a couple of interesting things in the behavior of Trump and Kim Jong-un's North Korea that tell us that we do not need to lose sleep over a recent chain of events and things will work out soon.First and foremost is Trump's letter in which he told the world that the Singapore meeting was off. Trump did not tweet this time, departing from his usual way of letting tMay 25, 2018
Dealmaker Trump takes page from own playbook and walks away U.S. President Donald Trump / APFor President Donald Trump, Kim Jong-un may be the deal that got away.Trump and his team weathered insults, tolerated unanswered phone calls and waited hours for negotiating partners who never showed up as they sought to keep the planned Singapore summit with Kim on track.With prospects dimming and aides increasingly skeptical, Trump at first clung to his plans to meet with the North Korean leader, seeking to pull off what the president saw as a history-making nuclear deal. A self-professed master negotiator, Trump could envision Nobel laurels in the offing of the unprecedented one-on-one meeting.Eager for a dramatic moment and a bold accomplishment, Trump agreed to Kim's March overture for a summit in less than an hour, ignoring the warnings of seasoned advisers who said it could backfire.But on Thursday morning, Trump determined that ― for now anyway ― the meeting was an unrequited diplomatic dream, his hopes appearing to dissolve in a tale of broken promises.Late Wednesday, Trump had been briefed on the latest round of increasingly belligerent May 25, 2018
North Korea urges US to revive summit Summit could be rearrangedBy Kim Bo-eunDespite U.S. President Donald Trump cancelling the June 12 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to discuss the regime’s denuclearization, it appears a meeting could take place not too far in the future, as both sides seem willing to engage in dialogue.North Korea, unlike its usual hard-line stance, expressed regret over the cancellation and said it is open to talks at anytime, so the ball is again in the U.S.'s court.After Trump’s announcement late Thursday, North Korea stated that it had a “willingness to resolve issues through dialogue, whenever and through whatever means.” The statement was made by North Korea’s First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan, reported by the Korean Central News Agency the following morning.The vice minister said the cancellation of the summit shows “the deep-rooted hostile relationship between the states and the importance of talks between the top leaders to improve relations.”“If things are taken step by step then relations (between North Korea and the U.S.) wMay 25, 2018
South Korean firms hold out hope for inter-Korean projects South Korea's Hyundai Group on Friday expressed disappointment over U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to cancel his planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but it vowed not to give up hope for the resumption of inter-Korean economic projects."It's a shame that the summit was called off, but we will make preparations in a cool and consistent manner," said the conglomerate, which has operated inter-Korean economic projects before.On Thursday, Trump canceled next month's summit with Kim in Singapore, citing Pyongyang's "tremendous anger and open hostility" displayed in its most recent statement.The planned summit had fueled guarded optimism among South Korean firms that improved ties between the United States and North Korea could eventually lead to the lifting of international sanctions imposed on Pyongyang, which in turn could jump-start their businesses in North Korea.Hyundai Group has recently created a task force to prepare for the possible resumption of a joint factory park in North Korea's border city of Kaesong and a joint tour program at Mount Kumgang, a sceniMay 25, 2018
Moon urges Trump, Kim to talk directly to resolve standoff President Moon Jae-in / YonhapSouth Korean President Moon Jae-in urged the leaders of the United States and North Korea to directly talk to each other Friday, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump called off his scheduled meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un."Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the establishment of permanent peace are historic tasks that can neither be abandoned nor delayed," the president said in an emergency meeting with his top security officials at his office, Cheong Wa Dae.The remarks came shortly after Trump called off the North Korea summit, citing what he called the North's "tremendous anger and open hostility" toward his country."I am very perplexed and it is very regrettable that the North Korea-U.S. summit will not be held on June 12 when it was scheduled to be held," Moon was quoted as saying at the meeting.The late night meeting, held at Moon's presidential residence, involved the foreign, unification and defense ministers, along with Moon's top security adviser, Chung Eui-yong, and Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok.Moon's top press secretarMay 25, 2018
Guterres urges US, North Korea to press on with 'nerves of steel' United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres presents his disarmament agenda at a public lecture at the University of Geneva, in Geneva, Switzerland, May 24. / EPA-Yonhap U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday that the parties to the North Korea talks should continue their diplomatic efforts with “nerves of steel” to work towards denuclearisation of the divided Korean peninsula.The United Nations chief, speaking at the University of Geneva after U.S. President Donald Trump canceled next month’s planned summit, said: “If I have a message to all the parties, what I ask for are nerves of steel so that one can put in place a process of dialogue capable of achieving our shared objective which must be peaceful denuclearisation and verified denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.”A spkesman for Guterres said in a statement it was "unfortunate" that no international experts were on hand when North Korea blew up tunnels at its nuclear test site on Thursday even as he welcomed Pyongyang’s reported action.“It is regrettableMay 25, 2018
South Korea vows to faithfully implement summit agreement with North Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon speaks to journalists as he arrives at Seoul Government Complex in Jongno-gu, Seoul, Friday. / YonhapUnification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said Friday that the government will do its part to faithfully implement the agreement reached by the leaders of the two Koreas last month, despite the U.S. decision to cancel the highly anticipated summit with the North."Our government will do its part in carrying out the Panmunjom Declaration," Cho told reporters, referring to the agreement President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reached during their April 27 meeting."It appears that (the North) remains sincere in implementing the agreement and making efforts on denuclearization and peace building," added the minister in charge of inter-Korean affairs.On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump said in a publicly disclosed letter to the North Korean leader that the cancellation of the planned June 12 summit with the North is due to the "tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement."In response, the North said FridaMay 25, 2018
