Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha met with United Nations Development Programme chief Achim Steiner in New York for talks on issues of mutual interest, including support for North Korea, her ministry said Saturday.During the meeting held on Friday (New York time), the two sides exchanged views on such issues as the various ongoing joint projects between South Korea and the UN body, the UNDP's projects regarding North Korea and the implementation of reform measures for the UN development system, ac

MOSCOW (Reuters) -- Russian border guards detained three North Korean fishing vessels and 262 crew members for poaching in waters that Moscow considers its exclusive economic zone, the Interfax news agency reported on Friday. The vessels have been delivered to Russia's port of Nakhodka and border guards have seized 30,000 squid as well as illegal fishing equipment, the report said.It is the second such incident this month. Russia on Sept.17 detained two North Korean boats in Russian territorial

TOKYO (Reuters) -- Additional tests may add at least $500 million to Japan’s price tag for two US-built ballistic missile interceptor stations that could struggle to shoot down the latest North Korean missile types, four government and defense sources said.“Japan is waiting to hear back from the US Missile Defense Agency about what tests will be required,” said one of the sources. “Those tests haven’t been budgeted for.”As part of a major defense upgrade, Japa

North Korea has continued to build a new ballistic missile submarine at its Sinpo shipyard, a US monitor said Thursday, citing recent commercial satellite imagery.38 North, which monitors activities inside the North Korean regime, said satellite imagery of the shipyard from Aug. 26 and Sept. 23 showed the movement of parts and equipment near the construction hall, indicating construction has continued since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's reported visit to the site in late July.However, the ty

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday that working-level denuclearization negotiations with North Korea that were expected this month have not been arranged.Pompeo made the remark at a press conference on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, saying the US stands ready to resume negotiations with the North."We've not been able to make those happen. And we don't have a date yet when we'll be able to get together," he said. "The North Koreans kn

A former chief North Korean nuclear envoy said Friday he believes US President Donald Trump is different from his predecessors, and looks forward to him making a "bold decision" in nuclear talks despite calls in Washington for Pyongyang to denuclearize first.Kim Kye-gwan, currently an adviser to the North Korean foreign ministry, made the remarks in a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, amid expectations that the US and the North could hold working-lev

US President Donald Trump could visit Pyongyang for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to try to use the event to boost his reelection campaign, a former top US nuclear envoy said Thursday."A possibility of him going to Pyongyang, I think it's quite likely. He's focused on reelection. Anything that helps the reelection, he would be wanting to do it," Joseph Yun, former US special representative for North Korea told a forum in Seoul."Another summit is likely. Trump has e

The foreign ministers of South Korea and China met in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly and agreed to continue their cooperation for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Thursday.In the 30-minute talks, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi exchanged views on the current situation, including North Korea’s nuclear program. “The two sides agreed that it is imperative to make substanti

South Korea is sounding North Korea out through various channels about its intention to send a cheering squad to Pyongyang for next month's World Cup qualifier between the two countries, a unification ministry official said Thursday.The move came days after South Korea's football governing body said that it was informed by the Asian Football Confederation that the North reaffirmed its will to host South Korea on Oct. 15, as scheduled, for their Group H match in the second round of Asian qualific

About 70 percent of South Koreans think that a trip to the South by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for a summit with Southeast Asian leaders would have a positive impact on denuclearization talks and inter-Korean relations, a survey showed Thursday.On Tuesday, the country's spy agency raised the possibility that Kim could visit the southern port city of Busan for the special summit that South Korea is to host in November for the leaders of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations.Ac

A glimmer of hope for the revival of inter-Korean diplomacy has emerged as international events have opened possibilities for engagement to break a monthslong impasse. With North Korea confirming that it will host South Korea next month for the World Cup qualifier in Pyongyang as planned, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said Wednesday that it will consider sending a squad to the North. On Tuesday, the Korea Football Association in Seoul said it had been informed by the Asian Football Confeder

North Korea received 1,425 tons of food aid from the World Food Programme last month, the UN food agency's monthly report showed Wednesday, as the impoverished country struggles to cope with chronic food shortages.The amount is down from the 2,188 tons provided a month earlier, according to the WFP report. A total of 557,930 people received the aid across North Korea last month. "Nutritional support is focused on areas of the country where food security and nutrition are fragile and reaches

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that North Korea must denuclearize in order to tap its "tremendous" economic potential.In a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York, Trump said he delivered that message to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.His remarks come as the United States and North Korea are expected to resume working-level denuclearization negotiations in the coming weeks."I've told Kim Jong-un what I truly believe -- that, like Iran, his country is full of tremend

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may visit South Korea to take part in a multilateral summit if denuclearization negotiations with the US work out, Seoul’s spy agency said Tuesday.In a closed-door session of the parliamentary intelligence committee, South Korea’s National Intelligence Agency chief Suh Hoon told lawmakers that working-level talks between the United States and North Korea are expected to take place in two to three weeks, according to the committee’s lawmakers, who

NEW YORK -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump agreed during their summit in New York on Monday on the need to obtain results in North Korean denuclearization talks, Cheong Wa Dae said. However, the two leaders did not discuss the security guarantees that Pyongyang is demanding or broach Trump’s “new method” of handling North Korean issues. Seoul’s presidential office also said Moon and Trump had discussed the importance of the South Korea-US