Two of the four North Korean fishermen rescued from the East Sea last week expressed a desire to defect to South Korea, while the two others were sent back to the North according to their wishes, the unification ministry said Tuesday.South Korea returned the two crew members at the border village of Panmunjom earlier in the day after notifying the North of the incident via their joint liaison office in Kaesong on Monday, a ministry official said. "Based on their free will, two have clearly

South Korea's top nuclear envoy left for the United States on Tuesday for talks with his counterpart amid growing hopes for a restart of denuclearization talks between Washington and Pyongyang.During his four-day trip to Washington, Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, is scheduled to meet US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun, the foreign ministry said.  "I believe various forms of contact are being made (between the N

Chinese President Xi Jinping will make a state visit to North Korea this week, the North's state media reported Monday, marking his first trip to Pyongyang since becoming president.Xi is scheduled to pay a two-day visit to North Korea from Thursday at the invitation of its leader Kim Jong-un, according to the Korean Central News Agency.It will be the first visit by a Chinese leader to its communist neighbor in 14 years. Though Xi visited North Korea in 2008, he was China's vice president at that

WASHINGTON -- The world is focused on achieving North Korea's denuclearization, the White House said Monday in response to news of Chinese President Xi Jinping's upcoming visit to Pyongyang.Xi is to make a state visit to North Korea on Thursday and Friday, his first as China's president."Our goal is to achieve the final, fully verified denuclearization of the DPRK as agreed to by Chairman Kim," a White House official told Yonhap on background, referring to North Korea by its official n

Vice Unification Minister Suh Ho met with a UN special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea on Monday and discussed the issue of North Korean escapees held in China and other matters.The special rapporteur, Tomas Ojea Quintana, said after the meeting that he also discussed the need for humanitarian aid for North Korea. But he did not provide details of his discussions. Quintana arrived in South Korea earlier in the day for a five-day visit, during which he plans to hold a series of talks wi

The South Korean government has closely consulted with China on a plan by President Xi Jinping to visit North Korea this week, Cheong Wa Dae said Monday.The presidential office was responding to multiple news reports that Xi will make a two-day trip to North Korea from Thursday. Such state media reports by Beijing and Pyongyang represent a formal announcement.South Korea has kept a close eye on the issue since it learned of a related move last week, Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Ko Min-jung said in

BEIJING -- Xi Jinping will make the first trip to North Korea by a Chinese president in 14 years this week, state media said Monday, as Beijing tightens relations with Pyongyang amid tensions with the United States.Xi will visit Pyongyang on Thursday and Friday at the invitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said Chinese broadcaster CCTV.The timing is likely to raise eyebrows at the White House as it comes one week before the G20 summit in Japan, where US President Donald Trump expects to

South Korea is in discussion with a UN agency on its plan to provide food aid to North Korea, the unification ministry said Monday."Discussions are under way with the World Food Programme on the food provision issue," Lee Sang-min, the ministry's spokesperson told reporters during a regular press briefing. "It is about working-level matters." The Seoul government has been drawing up details on its push to provide food assistance to the North since early last month, including

South Korea's military vowed Monday to beef up vigilance around the inter-Korean maritime boundary amid criticism that a North Korean boat drifted across it unchecked over the weekend.The fishing boat carrying four North Koreans was found adrift off the northeastern coastal city of Samcheok about 130 kilometers away from the Northern Limit Line, the de facto sea border, on Saturday.  Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said that its overall coastal and maritime defense operations had proceeded &q

The top diplomats of South Korea and the United States have held phone talks over US President Donald Trump's planned visit to Seoul and the situation on the Korean Peninsula, Seoul's foreign ministry said Monday.During her visit to Russia on Sunday night (Moscow time), Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha spoke by phone with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ahead of Trump's trip to South Korea after the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, Japan, on June 28 and 29.  They shared an understanding that T

WASHINGTON -- US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday said his country is taking "all actions" that are necessary to make sure it's fully aware of any threats from North Korea. "American people should rest assured the United States is taking all actions that it needs to take to make sure we understand the risks and threats that are posed by North Korea," he said in an interview with Fox News.  The remark came in response to a question about US President Donald Trump'

President Moon Jae-in has returned back from a three-nation tour of Europe, but his comments regarding North Korea have gained more public attention than Seoul’s relationship with Nordic countries. On the tour to Finland, Norway and Sweden, Moon not only put a timeline on his desired meeting with Kim Jong-un, but also urged Pyongyang to take concrete steps, while voicing his views on the groundwork necessary for US-North Korea dialogue.  “(I think) working-level negotiations sho

A wreath of flowers that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent for the funeral of late former South Korean first lady Lee Hee-ho is expected to be preserved permanently, an official said Sunday.Kim sent a condolence message and the wreath of white chrysanthemums to South Korea on Wednesday after Lee, wife of late former President Kim Dae-jung, died Monday. Kim's sister, Kim Yo-jong, delivered the message and the wreath at the border village of Panmunjom.The wreath was decorated with a black ribbo

A North Korean fishing boat was found adrift in South Korean waters off the east coast Saturday, and its crew members are under investigation by authorities, they said. The boat carrying four crewmen was spotted by a South Korean fishing boat in waters south of the Northern Limit Line (NLL) at around 6:50 a.m., according to officials.  The North Korean boat is known to have drifted across the NLL, the de facto maritime border between the two Koreas, due to an engine problem. The m

North Korean media outlets said Saturday inter-Korean agreements signed last year are milestones for peace and prosperity of the Korean Peninsula, celebrating the 19th anniversary of a joint declaration signed by the two Koreas at their first-ever summit. The North's main newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, said the June 15 declaration signed by then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 2000 was a landmark event in the country's unification history.It said the thr