US Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said Friday that he recognizes the risk of North Korea taking provocative action in light of tensions between the United States and Iran, but denied there is a direct correlation.At an event at the Brookings Institution, McCarthy was posed a question about the possibility that North Korea will launch a provocation as the US military focuses its operations on the threats from Iran. "There's always risk with that. I don't see a direct correlation right now,&quo

Nuclear negotiations between the United States and North Korea are unlikely to resume this year as chances are low that Washington will come up with major concessions ahead of its upcoming presidential election, an expert said Friday.Kim Dong-yub, a professor of the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University, made the case during a seminar in Seoul, adding that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appears to have calculated this when he warned of a protracted deadlock in US-North Korea

North Korea began operations of a new spa resort in the country's central region Friday, according to state media, as Pyongyang pushes to attract more foreign tourists in the face of global sanctions crippling its economy.The construction of the Yangdok spa resort in the North's South Pyongan Province was completed last month, which the North's leader Kim Jong-un described as a demonstration of "steady development and prosperity" achieved by the country despite "the worst adversit

The National Endowment for Democracy, a congressionally funded US grant-making organization, provided more than $11.2 million over the past four years to human rights groups working on North Korea, recent data showed.According to the data released by the NED on Thursday, $11,222,553 was granted to nongovernmental human rights groups in seven different areas between 2016-2019, including funding for freedom of information. About $5 million was granted to 22 projects designed to provide news to the

US President Donald Trump met with the top national security advisers of South Korea and Japan in Washington on Wednesday, the White House said, as nuclear talks between Washington and North Korea remain deadlocked.Trump met briefly with Chung Eui-yong, director of Cheong Wa Dae's national security office, and his Japanese counterpart, Shigeru Kitamura, and noted that the two countries are among the strongest US allies in the Indo-Pacific, according to a White House readout sent late Wednesday.T

The US State Department stressed that South Korea is required to implement sanctions against North Korea in regard to President Moon Jae-in’s New Year’s address, in which he vowed efforts to expand inter-Korean cooperation, Voice of America reported Thursday.“All UN member states are required to implement UN Security Council sanctions resolutions, and we expect them all to continue doing so,” an official in the State Department spokesperson’s office said, according

A North Korean radio station on Wednesday slammed President Moon Jae-in's move to rally international support for Korean peace as a "bad habit of relying on external forces." "The South Korean official disgracefully begged the leader of another country to continue its efforts for the safety and peace of the Korean Peninsula while pleading for close cooperation in denuclearization and resuming negotiations between North Korea and the U.S in a so-called summit," the North's Pyo

WASHINGTON -- The United States remains hopeful it can have a conversation with North Korea about its promise to dismantle its nuclear weapons program, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday.Pompeo's remarks come amid tensions with North Korea following leader Kim Jong-un's threat to showcase a "new strategic weapon" in protest of stalled nuclear talks with the US.Kim issued the message on New Year's Day after the US refused to offer concessions by the leader's self-imposed dea

WASHINGTON -- The United States remains committed to achieving North Korea's denuclearization and will never accept the regime as a nuclear weapons state, US officials were quoted as telling South Korean lawmakers Tuesday.The position was stated by US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Korea and Japan Marc Knapper during a meeting with a delegation of the conservative main opposition Liberty Korea Party, acco

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump reaffirmed his commitment to achieving North Korea's denuclearization in a letter to South Korea's new ambassador to Washington, the South Korean Embassy here said Tuesday.Trump wrote a note Monday in response to Amb. Lee Soo-hyuck's letter accompanying his credentials, the embassy said in a press release. Lee presented his credentials to the US president the same day. "President Trump said Amb. Lee's appointment demonstrates the resilience of the Sou

With denuclearization talks between the United States and North Korea showing no sign of progress, South Korean President Moon Jae-in is seeking a greater role, renewing a push for better inter-Korean ties, analysts said Tuesday. 　　In his New Year’s address earlier in the day, Moon emphasized the importance of inter-Korean exchanges, while expressing hope to see North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Seoul. 　He also expressed commitment for resuming two major inter-Korean projects that have be

Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo on Tuesday reiterated that South Korea stands fully prepared for any provocation by North Korea, amid growing speculation concerning Pyongyang’s “new strategic weapon.” Appearing on a radio channel operated by the ministry, he said the military is taking the situation seriously and is ensuring watertight military readiness for any emergency. “I’d say this with confidence that we are ready for whatever unfolds.” A week earl

President Moon Jae-in’s top security adviser is expected to arrive in Washington on Tuesday for three-way talks with his US and Japanese counterparts amid rising tensions over North Korea and Iran, diplomatic sources said Tuesday.Chung Eui-yong, director of Cheong Wa Dae’s national security office, is scheduled to meet with US national security adviser Robert O’Brien and Japan’s National Security Council chief Shigeru Kitamura on Wednesday.The three are likely to discuss

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited a fertilizer factory under construction in his first "field guidance" of 2020, state media said Tuesday, in an apparent move to highlight his drive for a "self-reliant" economy to overcome global sanctions.The visit to the "Sunchon Phosphatic Fertilizer Factory" under construction north of Pyongyang came five days after state media reported that Kim paid his respects at the mausoleum of his late grandfather and father to mark

WASHINGTON -- A special security adviser to President Moon Jae-in said Monday that the United States needs to show flexibility to break the impasse in nuclear negotiations with North Korea.Moon Chung-in spoke at a public seminar in Washington, saying the ongoing stalemate may force South Korea to break from its alignment with the US and pursue an independent path toward inter-Korean economic cooperation."The United States needs to be more flexible and realistic," he said at the Center