North Korea 'willing to speak with the US anytime' North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan / ReutersA top North Korean official said Friday his country is still willing to talk with the U.S., responding to President Donald Trump's abrupt decision to pull out of his planned summit with the North's leader.Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan issued a statement carried by the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). It came hours after Trump announced the surprise decision to withdraw from his summit with Kim Jong-un set for June 12."We express our willingness to sit down face-to-face with the U.S. and resolve issues anytime and in any format," he said in the statement.Kim said the U.S.' decision to cancel the upcoming talks demonstrates how serious the animosity between the North and the U.S. remains, which he said underlines the urgent need of a summit between the leaders of the two countries.He said that the North Korean leader has made all-out efforts to prepare for the summit with the U.S., saying his meeting with Trump will serve as a good start."Despite all of this, the U.S.' unilateral decision to scrap tMay 25, 2018
UN chief calls for dialogue after Trump cancels North Korea summit United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres / ReutersUnited Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres voiced deep disappointment on Thursday at the cancellation of the planned meeting next month between U.S.President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, announced earlier by the White House.Guterres, in remarks delivered at the University of Geneva, said: "I am deeply concerned by the cancellation of the planned meeting in Singapore between the President of the United States and the leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea."He urged the parties to continue their dialogue so as to "find a path to the peaceful and verifiable denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula." (Reuters)May 25, 2018
South Korea 'trying to figure out Trump's intention' Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom / YonhapSouth Korea's presidential office said Thursday it is seeking to figure out the background of U.S. President Donald Trump's abrupt cancellation of his agreed-upon summit with North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un."(We) are trying to figure out what President Trump's intention is and the exact meaning of it," Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told reporters. (Yonhap)May 25, 2018
FULL TEXT Trump's letter to Kim Jong-un Below is the full text of the letter U.S. President Donald Trump sent to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Dear Mr. Chairman:We greatly appreciate your time, patience, and effort with respect to our recent negotiations and discussions relative to a summit long sought by both parties, which was scheduled to take place on June 12 in Singapore. We were informed that the meeting was requested by North Korea, but that to us is totally irrelevant. I was very much looking forward to being there with you. Sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting. Therefore, please let this letter serve to represent that the Singapore summit, for the good of both parties, but to the detriment of the world, will not take place. You talk about your nuclear capabilities, but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used.I felt a wonderful dialogue was building up between you and me, and ultimately, it is only the dialogue that matters.May 24, 2018
Trump cancels summit with Kim Jong-un U.S. President Donald Trump / APIn a dramatic diplomatic turn, President Donald Trump canceled next month's summit with North Korea's Kim Jong-un Thursday, citing the ``tremendous anger and open hostility'' in a recent statement by the North.Trump said in a letter to Kim released by the White House that, based on the statement, he felt it was ``inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting.'' Adding his own threat, he said that while the North Koreans talk about their nuclear capabilities, ``ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used.''In the Korean statement that Trump cited, the North referred to Vice President Mike Pence as a ``political dummy'' for his comments on the North and said it was just as ready to meet in a nuclear confrontation as at the negotiating table.Trump said his letter: ``If you change your mind having to do with this most important summit, please do not hesitate to call me or write.''He said the world was losing a ``great opportunity for lasting peace and great prosperity and wealth'' now that theiMay 24, 2018
PHOTOS North Korea blows up Punggye-ri nuke site A controlled detonation destroys North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear test site, Thursday. / Press Pool Foreign journalists watch the dismantling of North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear test site. / Press Pool / Press Pool By Kim Bo-eun, Joint Press CorpsNorth Korea dismantled its Punggye-ri nuclear testing site, Thursday, in what it claims was its first step toward denuclearization. A media group invited from South Korea, the United States, the United Kingdom, China and Russia observed the destruction of the site surrounded by the Mount Mantap range in the northeastern part of the country.Three of the four tunnels at the site were blown up. The remaining one is deemed impossible for use. Other establishments including observatories, staff accommodation and military facilities were also destroyed.“The northern nuclear test site was completely shut down to transparently show the country’s suspension of nuclear tests,” the North’s nuclear arms research institute said in a statement.“The suspension of nuclear tests is an important process May 24, 2018
NK escalates tug-of-war with US ahead of summit Choe Son-hui, vice minister of North Korea's foreign ministry / Korea Times fileBy Park Ji-wonA senior North Korean diplomat said Thursday she would have to ask the country's leader Kim Jong-un to pull out of a planned meeting with President Donald Trump unless Washington stops “insulting” the regime.This came after Trump hinted at the possibility of delaying the summit, scheduled for June 12 in Singapore, while meeting President Moon Jae-in at the White House, Tuesday.Choe Son-hui, vice minister of the North's foreign ministry, was quoted by the country's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) as condemning U.S. Vice President Mike Pence for his remarks made in an interview with Fox News, Monday, that the removal of the North's nuclear weapons could end up like the Libya model of denuclearization unless the North makes a deal with the U.S.“It depends totally on the U.S. whether we will meet at the discussion venue or face each other in a nuclear war,” the KCNA quoted her as saying.“I, who am dealing with the U.S. affairs, am surprised that the U.S.May 24, 2018
Kim Jong-un's brother 'crazy about made-in-US guitar' Thae Yong-ho, right, escorts North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's elder brother, Kim Jong-chul, to an Eric Clapton concert in London in 2015. / Captured from Japanese TBS TVBy Park Si-soo North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has two living siblings ― elder brother Jong-chul and younger sister Yo-jong. His older half-brother, Jong-nam, was assassinated at Kuala Lumpur airport in February last year.Yo-jong revealed many personal details ― voice, appearance from head to toe and even facial blemishes ― through her media-hyped visit to Seoul during the PyeongChang Winter Olympics and visible roles in key diplomatic functions, including the April 27 inter-Korean summit. Yo-jong, presumed to be in her early 30s, is said to be playing an important role in preparing for the meeting between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump scheduled for June 12 in Singapore. But what about Jong-chul? His last public appearance was at Eric Clapton's concert at Royal Albert Hall in London in May 2015. He has since “vanished.” He is nowhere to be found on the list of the regime's policymakers, nor in photoMay 24, 2018
Trump, Kim wage intense tug-of-war ahead of summit / ReutersTrump: ‘We will know next week about Singapore’U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would know next week whether his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un would take place on June 12 in Singapore as scheduled, casting further doubt on plans for the unprecedented meeting.White House aides are preparing to travel to Singapore this weekend for a crucial meeting with North Korean officials to discuss the agenda and logistics for the summit, U.S. officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.Visiting Washington, Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi told Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that if the United States seeks peace with North Korea and wants to make history, "now is the time" for the two countries' leaders to hold their first-ever summit.The U.S. delegation, which includes White House Deputy Chief of Staff Joseph Hagin and deputy national security adviser Mira Ricardel, was being dispatched after Trump said on Tuesday there was a "substantial chance" the summit would be called off amid concerns Pyongyang is not prepared to give up its nuclear May 24, 2018
North Korean defector resigns from spy agency think tank Thae Yong-ho / Korea Times fileBy Choi Ha-youngThae Yong-ho, former North Korean diplomat who defected to the South in 2016, has quit his job at an institute affiliated with the nation's spy agency, the institute said Thursday. He had been serving as an advisory researcher. He offered to resign from the position at the Institute for National Security Strategy (INSS) under the National Intelligence Service (NIS), Wednesday, and the institute accepted his resignation immediately after, the INSS said. Thae's resignation came after North Korea called him “human trash” over his book “Password from the Third Floor” published May 14. While visiting the National Assembly that day, Thae claimed North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will never give up his regime's nuclear weapons, saying Kim is “impatient, impulsive and violent-tempered.”Following the North's accusation, Thae reportedly had thought over his role amid the mood for reconciliation between the two Koreas. “My decision would be judged in the future, as inter-Korean relations develoMay 24, 2018
