PHOTOS Kim's 'bitter sorrow' as bus crash kills 32 Chinese tourists Kim Jong-un consoles a Chinese tourist who was injured in Sunday's bus accident in North Korea. / Yonhap / Yonhap / YonhapBy Kim Rahn North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited the Chinese embassy in Pyongyang to express his “bitter sorrow” over the deaths of Chinese tourists in a bus accident in his country, by visiting the Chinese embassy in Pyongyang, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Tuesday. His visit came only hours after the accident, an unusual move. It was also Kim’s first visit to the Chinese embassy in his country since taking power in late 2011. It was unusual for the North’s state-run propaganda media to report negative news about the regime. The rare response reflects the rapidly improving Pyongyang-Beijing relations, following Kim’s visit to Beijing and talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping last month. “Kim visited the Chinese Embassy here at around 6:30 a.m. on April 23 and expressed his condolences over a large number of casualties among Chinese tourists in a bus crashApr 24, 2018
Moon should pursue 'equivalent peace treaty' This is the second in a series of interviews with international experts on the Korean Peninsula to discuss key issues at the upcoming inter-Korean summit slated for April 27. ― ED.By Kim Jae-kyoungHopes for peace on the Korean Peninsula are running high ahead of the upcoming inter-Korea summit scheduled for Friday.South Korean President Moon Jae-in has signaled there could be a peace treaty to formally end the Korean War, and both the United States and China have publicly espoused Seoul's approach.Sean King, senior vice president of Park Strategies, said Moon should not obsess over a peace treaty itself but focus on ensuring Seoul's equivalency in any agreements with Pyongyang.“A peace treaty should be between Seoul and Pyongyang with perhaps Washington and Beijing signing a parallel agreement but never between Washington and Pyongyang per se,” King said in an interview.“Any such equivalency (Washington-Pyongyang) only validates North Korea's false propaganda narrative that it defended the peninsula against U.S. forces.”King is an expert on politics of East AsApr 23, 2018
Kim Jong-un's wife, sister play greater roles North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's wife Ri Sol-ju waves after watching a performance by a Chinese ballet troupe in Pyongyang, April 15. It was the first state event she attended without her husband. / YonhapBy Kim Bo-eunThe bloodline of North Korea's founder Kim Il-sung, his son Jong-il and grandson Jong-un is apparent. Kim Jong-il is the father of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his sister Yo-jong― but lesser known is their mother.Jong-un, Yo-jong and their older brother Jong-chul were born to Ko Yong-hui. Ko was a former dancer born to a South Korean immigrant in Japan. She is known to have been the de facto first lady of Kim Jong-il for some time.For the 28 years she lived with Kim Jong-il, she was kept out of public view. She is known to have died while receiving treatment for cancer in France in 2004, and in an undisclosed procedure her body was taken back to Pyongyang.Ri Sol-juKim Jong-un's wife Ri Sol-ju, however, entered public view when the leader took power in 2011 following the death of his father. Her role had been limited until recently.Last week, she attended a majorApr 23, 2018
Is Kim following Deng Xiaoping's path in transforming North Korea? North Korean leader Kim Jong-un walks with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the former's visit to China from March 25 to 28. / YonhapBy Choi Ha-youngAfter North Korean leader Kim Jong-un put emphasis on economic development in tandem with his move toward denuclearization, experts say the young leader may pursue economic reform in the same way as Deng Xiaoping did in transforming China.Deng, who led China from the 1970s to 90s, opened the nation's door to the global economy with his iconic “cat theory” that refers to the phrase, “It doesn't matter whether a cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice.” As he stated, China adopted a market economy out of its planned economic system, which produced a notable economic presence. In a meeting of the central committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, Friday, Kim declared a move toward “socialist economic development,” saying the nation has “verified the completion of its nuclear weapons.” Former Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun said Kim's remarks were a message to the U.S. andApr 23, 2018
Moon calls North Korea's nuke test suspension 'good signal' By Kim Rahn President Moon Jae-in has welcomed North Korea’s decision to suspend its nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests, saying Pyongyang is showing its sincerity for denuclearization ahead of inter-Korean and Washington-Pyongyang summits. He also called for bipartisan cooperation for the summits. Moon’s reaction came Monday, two days after the North announced it would suspend its nuclear and missile tests. North Korea also said its nuclear test site in Punggye-ri would be dismantled to transparently guarantee the discontinuance of further tests. “The North declared suspension of nuclear and missile tests on Saturday,” Moon said in a meeting with secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae. “To put the decision into practice, it announced it would shut down the Punggye-ri test site. North Korea showed sincerity before the inter-Korean and Washington-Pyongyang summits, and I think highly of it.”Moon said the whole world welcomed the announcement, saying it was big progress toward peaceful denuclearization of the Korean PeninsuApr 23, 2018
3.000 reporters to cover Moon-Kim summit By Kang Seung-wooMore than 3,000 journalists from around the world will gather in Korea this week to cover the historic inter-Korean summit.President Moon Jae-in is scheduled to sit down with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the Panmunjeom truce village, Friday, for the third meeting of its kind between the two Koreas. The previous meetings were in June 2000 and October 2007.According to Cheong Wa Dae, Monday, 2,833 journalists from 348 local and foreign media outlets had registered for the summit as of last Wednesday. However, the presidential office plans to accept additional applications on the day of the summit at the main press center that will be set up at the KINTEX convention center in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, raising expectations that the number of journalists will surpass 3,000. The center will be open at 9 a.m., Thursday.The number of journalists attending will be more than double the number that covered the two previous summits, according to Cheong Wa Dae.The first summit between former President Kim Dae-jung and former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-un's Apr 23, 2018
Over 30 Chinese dead in North Korea tourist bus crash Chinese tourists have been involved in a major bus accident in North Korea that caused a large number of casualties, China’s state media and the government said on Monday, without giving a precise break-up.Chinese visitors account for about 80 percent of all foreign tourists to North Korea, says a South Korean think-tank, the Korea Maritime Institute, which estimates that tourism generates about $44 million each year in revenue for the isolated country.Chinese diplomats have rushed to the scene of Sunday’s accident in North Hwanghae province, the foreign ministry said.In a Twitter message earlier on Monday, Chinese state television’s English-language channel said a tour bus had fallen off a bridge, killing more than 30 people, but later deleted the message.State television’s main Chinese-language news channel later showed images of a crashed blue bus with its wheels in the air, in footage taken in pouring rain in the dark.It showed at least one person being treated in hospital, but also gave no details of casualties.The North Hwanghae province that borders SouApr 23, 2018
Minor 'natural' quake near North Korea's closed nuclear test site / Captured from KMA website By Park Si-soo A minor 2.3-magnitude earthquake was detected near North Korea's closed nuclear test site in Gilju early on Monday.The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said the tremor took place at 4:31 a.m. 47 kilometers north-north-west of Gilju, North Hamgyong Province, at a depth of five kilometers. The tremor was believed to be natural, but could have been caused by the North's sixth underground nuclear test there in September, KMA officials said.Experts here have said the nuclear test weakened the underground structure around the site, leaving it vulnerable to natural collapse. There have been nine natural quakes in the area since the Sept. 3 test, they said.“The quake's epicenter was within five kilometers of the test site,” a KMA official said. “Various signs showed the quake was natural and different in many ways from an artificial one caused by an underground explosion.” North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared the shutdown of the Gilju nuclear test site on Saturday, along with a freeze on missile and nuclear Apr 23, 2018
Will North Korea give up the bomb? The answer may start becoming clear when South Korean President Moon Jae-in meets North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Friday.While North Korea declared this past weekend it would stop nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests and shut down its nuclear test site, it did not indicate it will give up its nuclear arsenal or halt its production of missiles. Moon and later President Donald Trump are still likely to find it very difficult to persuade Kim to dismantle his entire arsenal, which includes purported thermonuclear weapons and developmental ICBMs.But other countries that developed or tried to develop nuclear weapons have agreed to abandon them in exchange for sanctions relief and compensation. None of these cases are directly applicable to North Korea, which advanced further and with greater zeal than any of the others.A look at the past cases as Washington and its allies map out a denuclearization strategy for Pyongyang and the challenges North Korea poses:LibyaShortly before he became Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton told Radio Free Asia that nuclear negoApr 23, 2018
Military halts anti-Pyongyang loudspeaker broadcasts By Lee Min-hyungSouth Korea has stopped anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts at the border town of Panmunjeom in a move to ease inter-Korean military tension ahead of a historic summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the defense ministry said Monday. “As of Monday, Seoul has halted loudspeaker broadcasts near the military demarcation line to boost the ongoing inter-Korean peace momentum and alleviate military tension before the summit on Friday,” the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement.The ministry declined to comment on whether it will resume operating the broadcasts after the summit.“We expect our latest decision to pave the way for peace and a new beginning in inter-Korean relations,” the ministry said.This comes more than two years after the South resumed the loudspeaker broadcasts in January 2016 after the North conducted its fourth nuclear test.The suspension of the propaganda broadcasts is an apparent peace gesture to the North, with Seoul seeking to extend the momentum for a longer period. The anti-NApr 23, 2018
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