Flag signed by joint Korean table tennis team goes to museum Team Korea at Halmstad Arena in Halmstad, Sweden, Friday. / Courtesy of Korea Table Tennis Association Kim Song-i of North Korea signs the Korean Unification Flag after Team Korea's lost to Japan in the semifinals of the World Team Table Tennis Championships. / Courtesy of Korea Table Tennis AssociationThe Korean Unification Flag signed by members of the joint Korean women's table tennis team is headed to the international ping pong museum, a South Korean official said Sunday.South Korea and North Korea teamed up for a bronze medal at the World Team Table Tennis Championships in Halmstad, Sweden, last Friday. After their loss to Japan in the semifinals, five South Korean players and four North Korean players, along with South Korean coach An Jae-hyung and North Korean coach Kim Jin-myong, signed the flag, which shows a blue Korean Peninsula against a white background. It has represented Korea whenever the two sides have participated as one team in sports events.Ryu Seung-min, an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member from South Korea who engineered the May 6, 2018
PHOTOS Police foil anti-North Korea leaflet launch; activists cry foul Police officers detain a South Korean activist who opposes releasing anti-North Korea propaganda balloons to North Korea, during a rally in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Saturday, May 5, 2018. / APSouth Korean police on Saturday prevented activists from launching anti-Pyongyang leaflets to North Korea, citing an agreement reached at a historic inter-Korean summit last month.North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in agreed to restore peace and reconciliation and cease all hostile acts when they met at the border truce village of Panmunjom on April 27."Hostile acts" include broadcasting through loudspeakers installed along their tense border and distributing propaganda leaflets to each other's side.Accordingly, the two Koreas removed their propaganda loudspeakers this week.A South Korean activist, second from left, who opposes releasing anti-North Korea propaganda balloons to North Korea, scuffles with North Korean defectors during a rally in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Saturday, May 5, 2018. / APPolice officeMay 5, 2018
North Korea syncs clocks with South as part of peace effort North Korea on Saturday moved its clock forward 30 minutes, aligning its time zone with South Korea, the North's state media said.The change came a week after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un told South Korean President Moon Jae-in that he wanted to unify the time zones to promote inter-Korean reconciliation and unity.The decision took effect at 11:30 p.m. Friday, former Pyongyang time."Pyongyang time was reset and applied from May 5, according to a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK," the North's Korean Central News Agency said in an English dispatch, referring to the country's parliament. DPRK is the acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea."The time-resetting is the first practical step taken after the historic third north-south summit meeting to speed up the process for the north and the south to become one and turn their different and separated things into the same and single ones," the report added.The two leaders met last Friday inside the Demilitarized Zone dividing the Koreas. They agreed to pursue "cMay 5, 2018
Trump: date, place for summit with Kim set, to be announced shortly U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that a date and place have been set for his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, promising to reveal the details shortly.Trump has publicly suggested several locations in recent days for the potential meeting, including various third-party countries such as Singapore, as well as venues along the intra-Korean border.The White House said Trump will host South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Washington on May 22, the White House says.Trump and Moon are to continue their close coordination on developments on the Korean peninsula following the inter-Korean Summit last month.They are also to discuss Trump’s upcoming meeting with Kim. Trump also said on Friday that there were "substantive talks" with North Korea regarding the fate of three Americans detained there: "Stay tuned. I think you will be seeing very, very good things." (dpa)May 5, 2018
Two Koreas team up at table tennis worlds South Korea and North Korea have formed a joint team at the ongoing table tennis world championships, the sport's Seoul officials said Thursday.The Korea Table Tennis Association (KTTA) said the two Koreas agreed to join forces during the World Team Table Tennis Championships in Halmstad, Sweden. They were supposed to face each other in the quarterfinals later Thursday but have instead advanced to the semifinals without playing.This is the first joint Korean table tennis team since the 1991 World Table Tennis Championships in Chiba City, Japan, when the unified women's team, led by South Korean Olympic champion Hyun Jung-hwa and North Korean star Li Bun-hui, won the gold medal.The two have agreed not to cut any of the current five South Korean and four North Korean players for the semifinals. The South Korean players are: Jeon Ji-hee, Kim Ji-ho, Suh Hyo-won, Yang Ha-eun and Yoo Eun-chong. The North Koreans are: Cha Hyo-sim, Choe Hyon-hwa, Kim Nam-hae and Kim Song-i.The joint squad will be called Korea. Should the new team reach the podium, all nine players will receive a medal, and bMay 3, 2018
Gallucci: 'Lots of questions' over North Korea's denuclearization Robert Gallucci, former chief U.S. negotiator on the North Korean nuclear crisis, speaks during The Korea Forum 2018, Thursday. / Korea Times photo by Bae Woo-hanBy Park Si-soo Robert Gallucci, former chief U.S. negotiator on the North Korean nuclear crisis, on Thursday “welcomed” North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's commitment to denuclearization shown during his historic April 27 summit with President Moon Jae-in. But he remained cautious about Kim's definition of denuclearization, saying there are “still lots of questions” left unanswered. “I welcome North Korea's change ... right now we are in the right first step,” said Gallucci, who is chairman of the U.S.-Korea Institute at John Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).“I don't want to downplay the deal struck between the two Koreas. But I'm not sure about denuclearization... what does denuclearization mean, what should we expect... still there are lots of questions.” He made the remarks during a panel discussion at The Korea Forum 2018, co-hosted by The May 3, 2018
Unification minister calls for regularizing inter-Korea summits Participants celebrate the opening of the Korea Forum 2018 at The Shilla Hotel Seoul, Thursday. From left at the head table are Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon; Bareunmirae Party co-leader Yoo Seung-min; Democratic Party of Korea Chairwoman Rep. Choo Mi-ae; The Korea Times Chairman Seung Myung-ho; National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun; Hankook Ilbo President-Publisher Lee Jun-hee; Liberty Korea Party Chairman Hong Joon-pyo; and the Party for Democracy and Peace Chairwoman Cho Bae-sook. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul'Denuclearization may take long time'By Lee Min-hyungThe leaders of the two Koreas need to meet regularly so rapprochement can lead to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said Thursday.“I would say the most noteworthy outcome from last week's inter-Korean summit was the agreement to hold regular meetings between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un,” Cho said in a keynote speech at The Korea Forum 2018 co-hosted by The Korea Times and its sister paper the Hankook Ilbo in SeoMay 3, 2018
PHOTOS Korea Forum 2018 Korea Times and Hankook Ilbo Chairman Seung Myung-ho delivers a welcoming address during the opening ceremony of The Korea Forum 2018 at The Shilla Hotel Seoul, Thursday. The one-day forum, titled “From Crisis to Peace: Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and A New Order in Northeast Asia” was co-hosted by The Korea Times and its sister paper the Hankook Ilbo. It attracted hundreds of dignitaries including top government officials, leaders of political parties, ambassadors and senior embassy officials from 27 countries, international security experts and executives from multinational companies. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulDignitaries attend the opening ceremony of The Korea Forum 2018, Thursday. From left are Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon, Bareun Mirae Party co-chairman Yoo Seong-min, Democratic Party of Korea Chairwoman Choo Mi-ae, Korea Times and Hankook Ilbo Chairman Seung Myung-ho, National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun, Hankook Ilbo President and Publisher Lee Joon-hee, Liberty Korea Party Chairman Hong Joon-pyo, Party for Democracy and Peace CMay 3, 2018
Foreign envoys moved by inter-Korean summit The Philippines Ambassador Raul Hernandez, left, with The Korea Times President and Publisher Lee Byeong-eon at The Korea Forum 2018 at Shilla Hotel Seoul in downtown, Seoul, May 3. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-sukBy Ko Dong-hwanForeign envoys based in Seoul said they were moved by the inter-Korean summit at the border village Panmunjeom on April 27. But most were uncertain whether Pyongyang would dismantle its nuclear program and declined to make definite predictions. For South African Ambassador Nozuko Gloria Bam, one of the 20 national envoys invited to The Korea Forum 2018 at Shilla Hotel Seoul in downtown Seoul on May 3, the inter-Korean summit was reminiscent of the glee from a historical event in her home country. The date of the summit, April 27, was the same as South Africa's Freedom Day, which marked the first post-apartheid elections held in 1994. “So you can imagine what it is like for me as I look at the history of Nelson Mandela,” Bam said. “It was for me very important to watch. Everyone at the embassy was watching. They were almost in tears to seeMay 3, 2018
Ex-US diplomat to Seoul cautious of North Korea's promises Hankook Ilbo Vice President Lee young-sung, right, speaks as other panelists, including Evans Revere, third from left, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution's Center for East Asia Policy Studies, listen during a discussion at The Korea Forum 2018 co-hosted by The Korea Times and its sister paper Hankook Ilbo at The Shlla Hotel, Seoul, Thursday. / Korea Times photo by Bae Woo-hanBy Yi Whan-wooEvans Revere, a former U.S. deputy chief of negotiations for North Korea's nuclear program, said Thursday it is important to be cautious of the true intentions of North Korea following its abrupt decision for denuclearization.Speaking before The Korea Forum 2018 co-hosted by The Korea Times and its sister paper the Hankook Ilbo, Revere warned that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is the “master tactician” and remained cautious about being too optimistic of North Korea's change in its nuclear policy.“As we try to determine whether North Korea is serious about moving in a positive and productive direction, it is also fair to ask whether the North Korean leader may be comiMay 3, 2018
