US senator: Trump wants to end North Korea crisis by 2021 U.S. President Donald Trump wants to end the North Korean nuclear crisis during his current term, and will likely use military means if diplomacy fails, an American senator said Sunday.Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) made the remark on Fox News, citing his conversation with the president three days earlier."He says he's going to end this conflict within his first term, that every other president has been played," Graham said. Trump's term ends in early 2021."President Trump told me three days ago that he wants to end this in a win-win way," the senator continued. "He thinks that's possible, but if they pull out, they play him, that we're going to end North Korea's threat to the American homeland in his first term and I'll let you surmise as to what that might look like."Trump and Kim are set to meet in Singapore on June 12 to discuss the dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear weapons program. But the North threatened to pull out of the summit last week, saying the U.S. is trying to force "unilateral" denuclearization.The senator on the Armed Services Committee warned that Trump will not tMay 21, 2018
ISSUE TODAY 'Moon, the mediator' seeks coordination before Kim-Trump summit By Kim RahnPresident Moon Jae-in is visiting the United States for talks with President Donald Trump before the Washington-Pyongyang summit slated for June 12.The summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will be the first meeting between leaders of the two countries, which have been adversaries to each other, and will be the critical one to decide whether the reclusive regime will give up its nuclear weapons and turn from a “rogue nation” to a “normal country.”Moon, for whom permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula is most important, has continuously tried to broker the denuclearization talks between Washington and Pyongyang. The result of his efforts began to appear at the start of this year ― the North participated in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, the two Koreas resumed talks and held the inter-Korean summit, Moon and Kim agreed to seek complete denuclearization of the peninsula and officially ending the 1950-53 Korean War, and Pyongyang and Washington agreed to finally hold the meeting between their leaders.Moon hoped the inter-KoreanMay 21, 2018
Pyongyang preps for Punggye-ri shutdown A screen captured from Chinese Xinhua News Agency about the planned nuclear site dismantlement slated between May 23 and 25. / YonhapUncertainties linger due to delay in visa process for reportersBy Choi Ha-youngNorth Korea is seemingly preparing to dismantle its nuclear test site in the northern village of Punggye-ri, scheduled for May 23 to 25, considering its presumed railroad repair work spotted by the government and construction seen in satellite images. However, uncertainties linger whether the regime will keep its promise, because Pyongyang on Friday refused to accept South Korean journalists' visa applications, which are a must for them to enter the country to cover the event. No updates were given as of Sunday evening. According to the U.S.-based website 38 North, satellite images showed North Korea was building a facility near the test site and cleaning up the site on May 15, possibly to provide a safe observation platform for journalists who will cover the event. Earlier on May 12, North Korea's foreign ministry said it would invite reporters from South Korea, China, RussiMay 20, 2018
NK defector issue re-emerging as snag in inter-Korean relations Members of North Korean defector groups hold a press conference opposing the repatriation of the 12 North Korean restaurant workers who defected from China, and call for government protection of defectors in front of the Seoul Government Complex on Saturday. / YonhapBy Kim Bo-eunThe issue of North Korean defectors to the South is again heightening tension between the Koreas, as the reconciliatory atmosphere has suddenly gone sour following the North's unilateral cancellation of high-level inter-Korean talks last week. North Korea said it would not return to the table until the South resolved defector issues.In the South there are around 30,000 people who have defected from the North. A high-profile case was the April 2016 defection of 12 North Korean workers from a Pyongyang-run restaurant in China.The South Korean government said the defection was made according to the workers' free will, but North Korea claimed the South abducted the workers.The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Saturday reported on North Korea's Red Cross calling for the workers to be sent back.“(The SoutMay 20, 2018
Moon, Trump vow to work together for successful US-North Korea summit South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump / YonhapSouth Korean President Moon Jae-in and President Donald Trump spoke by phone on Sunday and exchanged views on making the upcoming U.S.-North Korea summit a success, the presidential office said.The two leaders talked from 11:30 a.m. to 11:50 a.m. and agreed to work together closely on the historic meeting, Cheong Wa Dae said. Moon is scheduled to hold talks with the U.S. chief executive on Tuesday in Washington.He is set to head for Washington late Monday and return home early Thursday."The two leaders exchanged opinions on various actions taken by North Korea recently," Yoon Young-chan, the senior press secretary to President Moon Jae-in, said in a text message sent to the reporters.Sunday's call is the 15th phone conversation between the two leaders.The conversation comes amid the North's threats to call off the U.S.-North Korea meeting. North Korea earlier called the June 12 meeting into question when it slammed ongoing military exercises between South Korea and the U.S. as a provocation and an invasion rehMay 20, 2018
Two North Koreans defect to South at sensitive time Two North Koreans crossed the tense western sea border into South Korea on a small boat earlier Saturday, officials have said, the latest in a string of defections by North Koreans in recent years.Previously, the government said the pair was comprised of one soldier and one civilian, but corrected the statement in the afternoon, saying that both were civilian men in their 40s. There had been misunderstanding of one defector's identity, the government said.A South Korean Navy vessel spotted a small wooden boat carrying the two men in the waters north of South Korea's Baengnyeong Island near the western inter-Korean sea border, a Defense Ministry official said.The pair told the South Korean military that they were willing to defect to South Korea.The South Korean Coast Guard said its boat picked the two up after being notified by the military. The Coast Guard later handed the North Koreans over to South Korean intelligence officials in Incheon, a port city just west of Seoul, for questioning, a Coast Guard official said, without elaborating.Repeated calls to the National Intelligence SMay 19, 2018
North Korea refuses Punggyeri-bound reporters' roster North Korea has not responded to the Seoul government's list of journalists chosen to attend the ceremony for the dismantlement of its nuclear test site, the unification ministry said Friday."The government tried to notify (North Korea of the names of) our journalists who will cover the event for the nuclear test site dismantlement in Punggye-ri through the communication channel at Panmunjeom, but the North has not accepted this," a ministry official said. The North earlier invited four reporters each from a wire news agency or broadcasting company for the event to be held from Wednesday to Friday to shut down the Punggye-ri site, where the North carried out all six of its nuclear denotation tests.This comes after the North abruptly canceled high-level inter-Korean talks scheduled for Wednesday, taking issue with an ongoing joint air military drill between South Korea and the United States. It also threatened to call off a summit with the U.S. scheduled for June 12.Seoul expressed regret over the unilateral decision, urging the North to come out for talks as soon as possible to May 18, 2018
Trump's fresh approach for North Korea denuke: 'South Korean model' US president reaffirms security guarantee for N. Korea By Yi Whan-wooU.S. President Donald Trump said he pursues a “South Korean model,” not a “Libyan model,” for the denuclearization of North Korea.Speaking at the White House, Thursday, Trump also said North Korea will be “tremendously industrious” under the “South Korean model” and that Kim Jong-un will receive “very adequate protection” in return for his nation's possible denuclearization. His remark is seen as a bid to reassure the Kim regime's survival, ahead of their planned June 12 summit in Singapore.It also came as both the U.S. and North Korea are playing hardball with each other in a possible attempt to take the initiative before the summit.Pyongyang was apparently infuriated early this week over White House National Security Adviser John Bolton's suggestion of the “Libyan model” for U.S. policy on North Korea. Calling the suggestion an “awfully sinister move,” North Korea said it would even “reconsider” the summit with the U.SMay 18, 2018
Who sits where? what to eat?...Trump-Kim summit to-do list taking shape People pass by a TV screen showing file footage of U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, May 18, 2018. South Korea said Friday it believes North Korea remains committed to improving relations despite strongly criticizing Seoul over ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills and insisting it will not return to inter-Korean talks unless its grievances are resolved. / AP U.S. President Donald Trump and his team have a daunting to-do list to work through as they prepare for next month's expected summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.Trump's plan to meet with Kim may have come as a surprise decision, but his team hopes to leave nothing to chance when they come together in Singapore. They're gaming out policy plans, negotiating tactics, even menu items.With two unpredictable leaders, it's hard to anticipate every possibility. But White House aides are expecting hard-ball negotiating tactics _ already in evidence this week as the North Koreans cast fresh doubt on the May 18, 2018
Kim-Trump summit to be 'huge success or complete failure,' says behavior analyst North Korean leader Kim Jong-un grabs Chinese leader Xi Jinping's right hand with two hands ― one in the palm and the other at the wrist ― while shaking hands in this photo taken in Beijing on March 28. Such a handshake reflects Kim's personality trait of being macho, active, goal-oriented and ambitious, says behavior analyst Lim Moon-su. / YonhapBy Park Si-sooLim Moon-suAll eyes are on the June 12 summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore.What will be on the agenda? How will the talks unfold? What will be the outcome and how will it change the world?These are questions political pundits and analysts around the globe are tantalizingly storming their brains to find the answers.North Korea recently added a complexity to the conundrum by threatening to call off the meeting. And the unexpected threat has spawned another set of queries: What is the North's true intention behind the threat? Is this a tactic to ramp up negotiation leverage in the lead-up to the meeting? Has Kim determined to turn everything back to square one?As the summit dMay 18, 2018
