Inter-Korean oceanic trade routes on rosy prospect Proposed inter-Korean trade routes connecting South Korea's Yeongjongdo Island with Gaesong and Haeju in the North. / Korea Times graphic by Lee Jong-eunBy Ko Dong-hwanWith the inter-Korean summit under way on Friday, another inter-Korean breakthrough may be on the way ― a network of trade routes connecting cities of both countries near the Korean Peninsula's western seaboard.The emerging road network would connect Yeongjongdo Island in the South, the home of Incheon International Airport, to the North's Gaesong Industrial Complex in North Hwanghae Province and Haeju in South Hwanghae Province. The Gaesong complex is an inter-Korean project which combined South Korean industrial know-how and North Korean labor in a proto-reunification experiment in economic cooperation that was supposed to eventually lead to cultural openings between the two Koreas. The project has been in the wind since South Korean President Moon Jae-in promised the western port city of Incheon during the 2017 presidential election that he would support a “West Sea peace cooperation belt” via an inter-KApr 27, 2018
'History renewed, here and now' North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wrote a specially prepared message for the summit in the visitors' book at Peace House on the south side of Panmunjeom in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Friday. It said: “A new history begins now. The era of peace stands at the starting point.” The message ends with his name and date. / Korea Summit Press PoolApr 27, 2018
South Jeolla churches ring 130 bells for successful summit President Moon Jae-in, right, greets Archbishop Kim Hee-jung of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea before a state luncheon at Cheong Wa Dae on Dec. 6, 2017. / Korea Times fileBy Ko Dong-hwanChurches in Gwangju and other parts of South Jeolla Province rang their bells simultaneously at 9:30 a.m. Friday to wish for a peaceful result from the inter-Korean summit.About 130 bells at churches in the Archdiocese of Gwangju tolled at the time South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un were to meet on the south side of Panmunjeom in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. The leaders actually met several minutes earlier.Catholic Archbishop Kim Hee-jung had an emergency meeting with parish officials on Thursday afternoon and decided to send a letter to all churches to encourage them to ring their bells. The letter referred to the summit as “the historical day when President Moon and the North's leader Kim meet for talks that will lead to peace on the Korean Peninsula.”The letter requested that churches toll their bells for one minute at 9:30 a.m., “when thApr 27, 2018
Foreign wheels dominate President Moon's motorcade President Moon Jae-in's motorcade crosses the Imjin River and heads to Panmunjeom in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Friday. / YonhapPresident Moon Jae-in's motorcade drives past Jayu-ro Road and heads to Panmunjeom in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Friday. / YonhapBy Ko Dong-hwanAs President Moon Jae-in left Cheong Wa Dae on Friday morning and headed to Panmunjeom to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the presidential motorcade drew attention because most of the 13 cars in it were imports. Except for Hyundai Motor's white Genesis police car that led the motorcade, all the vehicles were products of foreign motor companies. What stood out most was a group of five black Cadillac Escalades by American carmaker General Motors. They initially grabbed attention when the president's bodyguards in the SUVs appeared through the roofs to monitor the surroundings as they left the presidential office and drove down Sejong-ro Road in Gwanghwamun District in Jongno-gu, Seoul.In front of the Escalades were two Maybachs by German luxury auto brand Mercedes-Benz, one of which carried Moon. Two S-class sedans oApr 27, 2018
Photos show 'secret' Pompeo meeting with Kim A photo released by the White House shows U.S. Central Intelligence Director Mike Pompeo meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang. / Yonhap / Yonhap The White House on Thursday released photos of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's secret meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.The two photos -- sent to reporters by White House press secretary Sarah Sanders -- show Pompeo and Kim meeting in Pyongyang over Easter weekend. The White House did not disclose the exact venue and date.Pompeo traveled to North Korea to prepare for a potential meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim. At the time, he was director of the Central Intelligence Agency.The photos were released shortly after Pompeo was sworn in as new secretary of state upon confirmation by the Senate.Trump said in an interview on "Fox and Friends" earlier Thursday that the two weren't supposed to meet."They arranged, actually while he was there, to say hello," the president said. "We have incredible pictures of the two talking and meeting which I'd love to release. If we can I'll do thaApr 27, 2018
Inside the US effort to profile the secretive North Korean leader North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks during the Third Plenary Meeting of the Seventh Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency in Pyongyang on April 20, 2018. / ReutersU.S. intelligence experts are trying to build a profile of Kim Jong-un to give President Donald Trump a competitive edge in one of the most consequential summits since the Cold War, but they face a huge challenge – figuring out a secretive North Korean ruler few people know much about.Following a long tradition of arming U.S. presidents with political and psychological dossiers of foreign leaders ahead of critical negotiations, government analysts are gathering every new bit of information they can glean about Kim and making adjustments to earlier assessments of what makes him tick, U.S. officials told Reuters.They will rely in part on the impressions drawn by CIA director Mike Pompeo, who just weeks ago became the first Trump administration official to meet Kim. Pompeo, Trump’s pick to become secretary of state, came back from PyoApr 26, 2018
Panmunjeom: Standing witness to decades of border history A U.S. soldier from the United Nations Command watches over the Peace House at Panmunjeom on April 18, where today's inter-Korean summit is to be held. / Korea Times fileBy Ko Dong-hwanThe heads of the two Koreas meet at Panmunjeom today, the first inter-Korean leaders' summit in 11 years and the first at the border village divided in two by the military demarcation line (MDL). North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will cross the MDL to the south side of Panmunjeom to meet his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in around 9.30 a.m. They will begin their historic summit at 10.30 a.m. in the Peace House. A state dinner also will be held at the venue. The meeting has attracted the largest media contingent ever to an inter-Korean summit, with almost 3,000 reporters from South Korean and around the world covering the event. Panmunjeom is known as the truce village where China, North Korea and the United Nations Command (UNC) signed the armistice that brought the Korean War to a halt in 1953. Panmunjeom, previously known as the village of Neolmun-ri, had a group of tents erected there in 1951 so lApr 26, 2018
Geologists say North Korea's nuclear test site has collapsed A study by Chinese geologists shows the mountain above North Korea's main nuclear test site has collapsed under the stress of the explosions, rendering it unsafe for further testing and necessitating monitoring for any leaking radiation.The findings by the scientists at the University of Science and Technology of China may shed new light on North Korean President Kim Jong Un's announcement that his country was ceasing its testing program.Nuclear explosions release enormous amounts of heat and energy, and the North's largest test in September was believed early on to have rendered the site in northeastern North Korea unstable.The data in the latest Chinese study was collected following the most powerful of the North's six nuclear device tests on Sept. 3 that is believed to have triggered four earthquakes over the following weeks. The yield of the bomb was estimated at more than 100 kilotons of TNT, at least 10 times stronger than anything the North had tested previously. (The bomb the United States dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 had a yield of about 15 kilotons.)The University of SciencApr 26, 2018
PHOTOS North Korea's Kim sees off wounded Chinese tourists North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un talks to a Chinese tourist, who was injured in a bus accident in North Korea, at Pyongyang Station, Wednesday, before the tourist returns to China. / Yonhap / Yonhap / Yonhap / YonhapNorth Korea's leader Kim Jong-un personally saw off a train repatriating the bodies of dozens of Chinese tourists who were killed in a bus accident as he issued a fresh apology to Beijing over the tragedy, state media reported Thursday.Thirty-two Chinese tourists and four North Koreans perished when a bus they were travelling in plunged off a bridge south of Pyongyang Sunday night, according to Chinese officials. Two other Chinese nationals were injured.Beijing is the isolated regime's sole major ally, providing an important economic and political buffer against international opprobrium.The crash has sparked a series of rare mea culpas on North Korea's tightly controlled propaganda network in which Kim has taken centre stage both in responding to the crash and apologising to China.In two new dispatches on Thursday morning, the North's state-run KApr 26, 2018
Mongolia, Singapore on host city shortlist for Trump-Kim summit: report By Park Si-soo Mongolia and Singapore are vying to host the historic summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, South Korean newspaper Joongang Ilbo reported on Wednesday, citing government sources.North Korea wants the summit in its capital Pyongyang, but the U.S. is reluctant to accept the idea due to safety and other issues, according to the daily. European countries and South Korea were excluded in the early stage of negotiations, it said. “The location could be decided as early as this week,” Joongang quoted a government source as saying. “But its announcement could be pushed back at the request of the North till the date and agenda are finalized.”Trump and Kim are expected to meet in May or June.Kim's private jet's limited range was a major reason why the North excluded Europe, it said. The flight, codenamed Chammae-1, was reportedly produced in the 1970s and can fly nonstop up to 5,000 kilometers, not enough to reach Stockholm or Zurich ― two suggested European locations ― that are nearly 7,200 and 8,500 kilometers fApr 25, 2018
