Pyongyang's denuclearization may proceed speedily: official The U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, right, escorts South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha to a joint press conference at the State Department in Washington, DC, May 11. / EPA-Yonhap Moves to denuclearize North Korea are expected to proceed speedily this time, due to a determination by the leaders of the two Koreas and the United States to achieve that goal, a ranking South Korean government official said Friday.The official told Korean reporters here that the dismantling of North Korea's nuclear weapons program will likely proceed at a speed far faster than under any other similar nuclear accords of the past."Implementation of a (denuclearization) agreement is expected to proceed swiftly if the leaders are committed to the deal," the official said.Regarding the upcoming North Korea-U.S. summit talks, the official said, "The goal is complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement. How to reach the destination will depend on an agreement between the North Korean and U.S. leaders."North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will hold a high-stakes summit with U.S. President DonaMay 12, 2018
US offers to help Pyongyang's economy if it 'quickly' denuclearizes Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrives at Pyonyang, North Korea airport on Wednesday, May 9, 2018. / AP-YonhapU.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo offered Friday to help boost North Korea's economy if the regime swiftly dismantles its nuclear weapons program.Pompeo spoke after coming out of talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha."If North Korea takes bold action to quickly denuclearize, the United States is prepared to work with North Korea to achieve prosperity on par with our South Korean friends," he told reporters.U.S. President Donald Trump is set to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore on June 12 to discuss the denuclearization of the regime.Pompeo traveled twice to Pyongyang in recent weeks to meet with Kim and prepare for the summit."I think there is complete agreement about what the ultimate objectives are," he said, after saying that the U.S. objective remains the permanent, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of North Korea. "We began to work through the modalities, how we would achieve that, but I'll leave conversations about thaMay 12, 2018
Singaporeans excited about hosting Trump-Kim summit A news vendor counts her money near a stack of newspapers with a photo of U.S. President Donald Trump, right, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un on its front page in Singapore, Friday. / AP People take photos of themselves at a tourist landmark overlooking the Marina Bay Sands casino in Singapore on March 4, 2014. / ReutersBy Kim Jae-kyoungSINGAPORE ― Most Singaporeans are excited about their country hosting the upcoming historic summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.They believe that the summit, slated for June 12, will put Singapore in the global spotlight again and help solidify its status as a reliable international state.The responses came after President Trump said Thursday he would meet Kim Jong-un on June 12 in the Southeast Asian country to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.“I'm very excited because it shows that Singapore has the international standing to host such important event,” Chua Boon Ping, chief executive officer of SPH (Singapore Press Holdings) Media Fund, told The Korea Times.“TMay 11, 2018
Optimism rises over NK-US summit By Kim Bo-eunAnalysts are cautiously forecasting that the upcoming Pyongyang-Washington summit could produce a big deal on denuclearization, after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo returned from Pyongyang with three Americans detained in North Korea and both of the nations showed satisfaction over the current process toward the summit. Pompeo brought back three U.S. prisoners, Thursday, who North Korea released a day earlier. This was a humanitarian issue Washington had consistently called for Pyongyang to resolve, and their release ahead of the summit is seen as an obstacle having been removed, raising prospects for real progress to be made on denuclearization.In addition, it seems Pompeo and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un came to terms over the denuclearization process, based on Pyongyang and Washington's satisfactory reactions to the ongoing talks toward the summit.“It appears North Korea and the U.S. have reached a certain level of agreement, considering the North's state media making an official announcement of the Pyongyang-Washington summit and Pompeo's visit to PyongMay 11, 2018
'Pacing, verification critical points of NK-US summit' John Delury, professor at Yonsei University's Graduate School of International Studies, speaks during an interview with The Korea Times in central Seoul. / Korea Times photo by Kim Bo-eunBy Kim Bo-eunWhile it appears North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is ready to negotiate with the United States on denuclearization, pacing and verification of the process will be two highly contentious facets of the process, according to a North Korea expert.“These are about how quickly both sides can do what they need to do, and how the opposing sides can have confidence that each are doing what they are saying,” said John Delury, professor at Yonsei University's Graduate School of International Studies, in an interview with The Korea Times.“Pacing will be hard, as the U.S. is posturing that denuclearization should be achieved as fast as possible while North Korea has been signaling the process should be phased. Verification will also be difficult given the reservoir of distrust that both sides have.”Skeptics doubt whether North Korea will give up its nuclear program which the reMay 11, 2018
Korean-American CIA official plays role for Trump-Kim summit By Choi Ha-youngAndrew Kim, head of the Korea Mission Center (KMC) under the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), appears to have played a leading role in coordinating the summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un slated for June 12. Kim accompanied Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in his meeting with Kim Jong-un, Wednesday, as seen in photos released by the North's state-controlled media. After the release of the photos, Seoul government officials confirmed the identity of the silver-haired man.He was sitting next to Pompeo, possibly to translate for him. Kim is fluent both in Korean and English. He retired from the CIA in early 2017 after serving as the chief of the CIA Seoul office. In May 2017, he was recruited by then CIA chief Pompeo, to lead the KMC. In a press release to announce the role of the KMC, Pompeo said the center aims to integrate and direct the CIA's efforts against serious threats from North Korea. The KMC is the first country-specific unit of the spy agency. In a foreign press photo, Kim was seen greeting Pompeo at the airport in PyongMay 11, 2018
Renewed hopes for reunion, visit to homeland Ko Young-beom, 81, right, sits with his wife Sim Young-sunon the sofa for a family photo shoot, along with a picture of the 2007 reunion with his siblings in North Korea. Separated from his family by the 1950-53 Korean War, Ko hopes to see his siblings once again, inspired by detente brought on by the April 27 Summit. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulBy Kim Ji-soo, Lee Suh-yoonKo Young-beom, 81, calls Ongjin County in North Korea’s western South Hwanghae Province his hometown. Since the April 27 Korea summit, he has been losing sleep.“It feels unreal. Ever since the summit, I feel so jittery that I cannot sleep at night,” he said in an interview with The Korea Times at his home in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. “As I watched Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un laugh together on TV, I felt almost confident that I could visit my hometown again before I die — maybe within the next five years.”Ko is among the some 130,000 people separated from family by the 1950-53 Korean War registered with a government-run system for separated families managed by the MinisMay 11, 2018
Ties with US, North Korea make Singapore optimum choice An evening view of the highly anticipated U.S.-North Korea summit site / ReutersWith the Demilitarized Zone on the Korean Peninsula out of contention, the small nation of Singapore is a natural choice for the historic summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, analysts say.Among the factors are its proximity to North Korea, the experience of its security forces, and the fact that Pyongyang has had diplomatic relations with the country since 1975.Trump announced in a tweet Thursday that the two leaders will meet in Singapore on June 12.The city is ``a great location'' for the summit, said Tom Plant, who specializes in nuclear and proliferation issues at London's Royal United Services Institute.``Kim will be on friendly territory, not hostile territory. But he wouldn't be on home turf,'' Plant said.Singapore is familiar ground for the reclusive communist country, which has its embassy in Singapore's central business district.Single-party rule since Singapore gained independence in 1965 has ensured stability and fostered a security state that is amonMay 11, 2018
Seoul to re-examine arrival of North Korean women Unification Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun / YonhapSouth Korea says it will look closer into the circumstances surrounding the arrival of a dozen North Korean restaurant workers in 2016 after a television report suggested some of the women might have been brought to the South against their will. Unification Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun on Friday did not provide a clear answer on whether the women could be sent back to the North if it's confirmed they didn't want to come to South Korea.Seoul had previously said it sufficiently confirmed the women's free will in escaping from the North and resettling in the South.North Korea has accused South Korea of abducting the 12 women who were working in China and demanded their return. (AP)May 11, 2018
Memories of hunger cloud North Korean refugee's hopes for Trump-Kim summit Photo released by the Korean Buddhist Sharing Movement showing North Korean refugee teen-agers hiding in a farm barn in China's Chang Bai on Oct. 19, 1997. / APWalking through the Korean War Memorial in Washington, Grace Jo remembers a pivotal point in her childhood in North Korea, what she calls "the almost dying moment."On the brink of starvation, she and her brother burned so hot with fever that they could only find relief on the cold concrete floor of their home in rural North Korea. Another time they were so hungry, Jo said, that they ate six newborn mice found under a stone.Memories like those keep the 26-year-old Jo from placing much faith in North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's bid for peace talks after years of threatening his neighbors and the United States with his nuclear arsenal.He will meet with President Donald Trump on June 12 in Singapore in the first-ever summit between a sitting U.S. president and North Korean leader."If the North Korean government doesn't drop the bombs around their other neighbor countries, that doesn't mean it's actual peace for North Korean peopleMay 11, 2018
