US President Donald Trump told his foreign-policy advisers that he does not want another summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un before the presidential election in November, CNN reported Monday, citing two sources. 　 Denuclearization talks between the US and North Korea have been deadlocked since the Trump-Kim summit collapsed in Hanoi, Vietnam, last February. With Trump’s focus on winning reelection this year, his interest in engaging North Korea appears to have “waned,&rdquo

A US maritime surveillance plane has flown over South Korea this week, an aviation tracker said Tuesday, in the latest in a series of US surveillance operations apparently aimed at monitoring North Korea. According to Aircraft Spots, a P-3C plane of the US Navy was spotted over South Korea on Monday. The operation came just days after North Korea quietly marked the 72nd anniversary of its army's founding without a military parade. "Army-Building Day," which commemorates the 1948 e

WASHINGTON -- North Korea exported some $370 million worth of coal last year in violation of United Nations sanctions, a UN panel of experts was quoted as saying in a draft report Monday. The transactions were largely carried out via illicit ship-to-ship transfers between North Korean vessels and Chinese barges, according to a report that is to be submitted to the UN Security Council committee overseeing North Korea sanctions implementation, Reuters said. UN Security Council resolutions ban N

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump told his advisers that he does not want another summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un before the November presidential election, CNN quoted two sources as saying Monday. The report comes as denuclearization negotiations between the two countries have stalled since the unfruitful second summit between Trump and Kim in February 2019. "And as Trump focuses on his re-election campaign his appetite to engage on the issue has waned," CNN repor

South Korea and the United States were set to hold a meeting Monday to coordinate policy on issues related to North Korea, including inter-Korean cooperation projects, such as allowing individual trips to the North. Alex Wong, deputy special representative for North Korea policy, arrived in Seoul on Sunday for the "working group" meeting with Rhee Dong-yeol, director general at the foreign ministry's Korean Peninsula Peace Regime bureau. The two sides are expected to discuss South

North Korea appears to have marked the founding anniversary of its armed forces last week in a low-key manner amid its nationwide efforts to stem the outbreak of the new coronavirus on its soil, according to state media reports. North Korea's 72nd anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Army on Saturday has been closely monitored as Pyongyang has often used such dates as a chance to showcase its new weapons and flex its military muscle.  Some speculated that the North might u

A US State Department official involved in nuclear talks with North Korea was set to arrive in South Korea later Sunday for a meeting of a bilateral policy coordination working group on the communist regime.  Alex Wong, US deputy assistant secretary of state for North Korea, is expected to meet with his South Korean counterpart, Rhee Dong-yeol, director general at the foreign ministry's Korean Peninsula Peace Regime bureau, for the working group talks Monday, according to foreign ministr

North Korea has been putting in all-out efforts to prevent the new coronavirus from reaching the capital city of Pyongyang, the country's state media said Saturday. Pyongyang's anti-epidemic headquarters is meticulously carrying out testing and disinfection measures at every road reaching Pyongyang and at the same time strengthening all tests and medical monitoring, the Korean Central News Agency said, even though no confirmed case has been reported there. On Friday, North Korea announced it

Seoul’s Unification Ministry said Friday that Seoul hasn’t heard back from Pyongyang on its proposal to allow South Koreans to travel to North Korea.  “North Korea hasn’t given an official response, nor reacted to the individual tourism (proposal) yet,” said Cho Hey-sil, the ministry’s deputy spokesperson, during a regular press briefing. “As for individual tourism, we are evaluating the issue, considering various matters related to the novel coro

A UN Security Council panel has approved sanctions exemptions to three aid agencies allowing humanitarian assistance to North Korea, its website showed Friday. The North Korea sanctions committee approved a World Health Organization's request for exemptions on diagnostic equipment, including stethoscopes, microscopes, digital electrocardiograms and portable abdominal ultrasonography machines. The committee also allowed the World Food Programme on Jan. 20 to deliver assistance worth $110,000,

WASHINGTON -- US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Thursday that "rogue states" like Iran and North Korea demand the United States' constant vigilance. Esper made the comment as he discussed the Trump administration's National Defense Strategy, which was released in January 2018. He said the strategy is designed to help the US maintain a competitive advantage over adversaries such as China and Russia. "Both countries have violated the sovereignty of their neighbors and routine

The US has not given up on the nuclear talks with North Korea, Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Wednesday, referring to his meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo a day earlier. During his two-day visit to the US for the first time since taking office two months ago, the UN nuclear watchdog chief said his agency will undertake a reliable, independent verification process once Washington and Pyongyang reach a deal on denuclearization

A cybercriminal syndicate believed to be linked to the North Korean government breached the Singapore-based DragonEx exchange and stole $7 million worth of cryptocurrencies in March 2019, Radio Free Asia said Wednesday. Hackers of the Lazarus Group withdrew cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ripple and Litecoin, RFA said, citing findings released by US-based blockchain firm Chainalysis. The group created a fake company offering an automated trading bot with a fabricated website and employees,

Two US surveillance aircraft flew over South Korea on Wednesday, an aviation tracker said, spurring speculation that the US may be strengthening its watch over North Korea after detecting unusual activity. The US Navy's EP-3E was spotted in the skies over South Korea at 25,000 feet, Aircraft Spots tweeted. An E-8C aircraft, or JSTARS, of the US Air Force also flew over the Korean Peninsula at 31,000 feet, it added. The US surveillance aircraft have often been detected here in recent months,

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump made no mention of North Korea in his third State of the Union address Tuesday, amid the stalled denuclearization talks with the communist nation. It was the first time Trump ignored North Korea in his annual speech. That suggests a realignment of priorities amid an ongoing impeachment trial and reelection campaign. In his first State of the Union address in 2018, the president talked about the threat of North Korea's nuclear weapons and vowed to break