US President Donald Trump has empathized that all options are on the table in dealing with North Korea and its repeated provocations amid concerns that Pyongyang may push to carry out an additional nuclear test, foreign media reports said Thursday. The remarks came in a telephone conversation earlier in the day with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, according to the reports which quoted Abe from a nationally televised press conference.(Yonhap)The North fired a ballistic missile from its easter

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- The ballistic missile that North Korea fired Wednesday is believed to be a medium-range Scud ER, a US defense official was quoted as saying."A Scud ER (extended range) flew about 60 kilometers before suffering an in-flight failure and crashing into" the East Sea, the official was quoted as saying by AFP. North Korea test-fires a ballistic missile in this undated file photo. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (KCNA-Yonhap)The US Pacific Command had e

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- Secondary sanctions aimed at cutting off business links to North Korea will be an "early topic" when US President Donald Trump holds summit talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, a senior White House official said Wednesday."I'm not going to go into specifics of our approach on North Korea, but I will say this is going to be an early topic in our conversation during the summit," Matt Pottinger, senior National Security Council director for Asia, told reporters in respons

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that tackling North Korean threats is "my responsibility," calling the communist nation "a big problem" and saying autocratic leader Kim Jong-un "is not doing the right thing."Trump made the remark during a joint news conference with Jordanian King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein at the White House, referring to his upcoming summit meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping set for Thursday and Friday at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

Korean animal rights activists called on Norway to stop its whale hunt in a rally in Seoul timed with the start of its annual whaling season. Members of the coalition comprising the Coexistence of Animal Rights on Earth, the Korean Animal Welfare Association and the Hotpink Dolphins staged the protest in front of the Norwegian Embassy in Seoul. A minke whale after it has been caught (Yonhap)The rally came after the North European country's six-month whaling season began on Saturday with a quota

South Korea condemned North Korea for its continued missile provocations on Wednesday, warning it would lead to toughened sanctions and eventually accelerate the "self-destruction" of the regime.The North fired off a ballistic missile earlier in the day into the East Sea from a site in the vicinity of Sinpo, South Hamgyong Province. This marked its fourth missile test using ballistic technology this year. South Korean foreign ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck (Yonhap)"Our government strongly con

A bipartisan group of US senators on Tuesday urged President Donald Trump to use his upcoming summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping to bring an end to "unwarranted and unfair" retaliatory measures Beijing has taken against South Korea for hosting the US THAAD missile defense system.A total of 26 senators, led by Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), made the appeal in a joint letter to Trump just two days before he is set to host China's Xi for high-stakes talks expected to cover al

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- The ballistic missile North Korea recently fired is believed to be "a KN-15 medium range ballistic missile," the US military said Tuesday."The US Pacific Command detected and tracked what we assess was a North Korean missile launch" at 6:42 Korea time, Cdr. Dave Benham, a spokesman for the command, said in a statement. "The launch of a single ballistic missile occurred at a land-based facility near Sinpo."(Yonhap)The missile was tracked until it landed in the East Sea at 6

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- The clock for resolving the North Korean nuclear issue "has now run out," and the United States is looking at "all options on the table" to deal with the problem, a senior White House official said Tuesday.The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the upcoming summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, also said that how to deal with North Korea is a "test of the relationship" between the US and China. US President Donald Tru

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- The commander of the US Strategic Command said Tuesday that North Korea is what he's concerned about "most nights" because it's hard to predict what the communist nation will be doing.Air Force Gen. John Hyten, commander of the US Strategic Command, told a Senate Armed Forces Committee hearing that Russia represents the "greatest threat" to the US, but the actions of Russia as well as China are predictable, compared with the North. US Air Force Gen. John Hyten, commander o

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- US President Donald Trump said Tuesday North Korea is a "humanity problem" and he will talk about the issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping."We're going to have a great meeting. I'm sure we're going to have a fantastic meeting and we're going to talk about a lot of things, including, of course, North Korea, a problem, and that's really a humanity problem," Trump said during a townhall meeting with business CEOs. US President Donald Trump (Yonhap)Trump is scheduled to hol

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- A majority of Americans support using force against China to defend South Korea or other Asian allies in the event of a military conflict, a survey showed Tuesday.The Pew Research survey, conducted among 1,505 people Feb.16-March 15, found that 58 percent back the use of force against Beijing "if an Asian ally such as Japan, South Korea or the Philippines were to become embroiled in a military conflict with China."By party, nearly two-thirds of Republicans, or 65 percent,

The chief of the International Criminal Court said Tuesday the murder case of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's half brother in Malaysia cannot be referred to the court immediately as both the countries are not state parties to its founding treaty.Silvia Fernandez de Gurmendi made the remark during a press briefing at the Supreme Court in southern Seoul during her visit to attend the ICC's high-level regional seminar.Silvia Fernandez de Gurmendi, president of the International Criminal Court, sp

South Korea is closely communicating with the United States on North Korea and other major issues ahead of the upcoming summit talks to be held between the US and China this week, the foreign ministry here said Tuesday.US President Donald Trump is to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in their first summit on Thursday and Friday (local time) in Florida. North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threats are expected to be one of their major topics. (AP-Yonhap file photos)"We are having close

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday instructed its ambassador to South Korea to request that Seoul implement a landmark 2015 deal to resolve the long-running rift over Japan's wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women, a Japanese broadcaster reported.Abe met with Ambassador Yasumasa Nagamine, who will return to Seoul later in the day after being recalled nearly three months ago in response to Korean civic groups erecting a statue of a girl symbolizing the sexual slavery victims in fron