SEOUL (AFP) - South Korea will this week celebrate the first anniversary of a landmark summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un -- but Pyongyang may not take part, Seoul said Monday.　The pair held their first meeting on April 27 last year in the Demilitarized Zone dividing the peninsula amid a rapid diplomatic thaw, paving the way for a historic summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump in Singapore in June. (Yonhap)　But one year later, little progress has

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could visit the world-renowned Mariinsky Ballet theater or a Russian Navy fleet headquarters during his widely expected trip to Vladivostok this week for a summit with President Vladimir Putin, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported on Monday.According to the Kremlin, Kim will visit Russia later this month for talks with Putin. Vladivostok Station (Yonhap)Though no details have been made public, widespread indications are that Kim will make a three-day visit to Vladiv

President Moon Jae-in could deliver a message from US President Donald Trump to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un if a new inter-Korean summit takes place, a presidential official said Sunday.CNN reported earlier, citing unidentified sources, that Moon has a message from Trump to relay to the North's leader. Moon met with Trump at the White House earlier this month to discuss ways to get the stalled denuclearization talks between Washington and Pyongyang moving again.  (Yonhap)"If an inter-Korean

North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, one of the country’s top nuclear negotiators with Washington, on Saturday condemned US National Security Adviser John Bolton for his comments in a recent interview, Pyongyang’s state media reported.In an interview with Bloomberg News on Wednesday (local time), Bolton said that the United States needs to see a “real indication” that North Korea is ready to give up its nuclear weapons before any third summit between their leaders. (Yonhap)He w

WASHINGTON -- US authorities have arrested a former US Marine who is a member of a group that allegedly raided the North Korean embassy in Madrid in February and stole electronics, two sources familiar with the arrest said on Friday.Christopher Ahn was arrested on Thursday and appeared on Friday in federal court in Los Angeles, according to a law enforcement official and a source close to the group.In a related development, armed US federal agents on Thursday raided the apartment of Adrian Hong,

WASHINGTON -- US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday that he will continue to lead nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea, dismissing the regime’s call for his replacement.Pompeo’s remark comes after a North Korean official accused the top US diplomat of failing to understand Pyongyang’s position and called for his replacement with a “more careful and mature” negotiator.“Nothing’s changed,” Pompeo said in a press conference after meeting with his Japanese counterpart and the two count

North Korea is holding its first international conference on blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies in Pyongyang, a US-based radio broadcast said Saturday.The Korean International Blockchain Conference was launched Thursday for an eight-day run in the North Korean capital city, according to the report by Radio Free Asia. (Yonhap)The event, postponed from last September, has brought some 100 experts in the cutting-edge field from around the world, the report said.The main summit will take pla

Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul said Friday he expects North Korea to respond to President Moon Jae-in's offer to hold a fourth summit with leader Kim Jong-un.Moon said earlier this week he wants to meet the North's leader regardless of the venue or the format as part of efforts to help break the deadlock in nuclear talks between the North and the United States. The North has not responded to the offer yet.But the unification minister said he was positive the North will respond.  (Yonhap)"As

The leaders of North Korea and Russia are expected to hold summit talks around April 25 in Vladivostok, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported Friday.Citing a high-ranking official in the Kremlin, NHK said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un would visit Russia next week and hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin around April 25.Russian news outlets reported on Thursday, citing the Kremlin, that Kim would visit Russia in late April to meet with Putin at the Russian president’s invitation.Seni

North Korea’s demand for removal of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo from future nuclear talks may escalate into a war of nerves between Pyongyang and Washington before the two sides enter a fresh round of denuclearization negotiations, experts here said Friday. The US State Department did not directly respond to North Korean Foreign Ministry’s call for replacing Pompeo, Washington’s top negotiator, with someone who is more “careful and mature.”  In this Feb. 27, 2019, file photo, US President

North Korea appears to be embracing a delicate diplomacy between its major-power backers -- Russia and China -- as it prepares for a summit with Moscow amid stalled nuclear talks with Washington and less-than-expected support from Beijing.The planned meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin harked back to the Cold War-era "pendulum diplomacy" that Pyongyang employed to swing between Moscow and Beijing to maximize its strategic interests.(Yonhap)The Kre

US President Donald Trump sent his congratulations on the birthday of the late North Korean founding leader Kim Il-sung earlier this week, according to US National Security Adviser John Bolton.The message was sent as part of Trump's efforts to maintain good relations with Kim's grandson and current North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, as they try to negotiate the dismantlement of the regime's nuclear weapons program, Bolton said Wednesday in an interview with US broadcaster PBS.Monday marked the fo

The United States said Thursday that it stands ready to continue nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea, a response to Pyongyang's calls on Washington to change tack and replace its top negotiator.The two countries have made little headway since a second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in February ended without any deal. (Yonhap)In a report carried by state media earlier Thursday, the North urged the US to remove the "obstacles" on the path to its

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will visit Russia later this month for talks with President Vladimir Putin, Russian news service RIA Novosti reported Thursday, citing the Kremlin.    Kim will make the visit at Putin's invitation, the news service and other Russian news outlets quoted the Kremlin as announcing in a press release. The report did not give further details, including dates and the venue of the summit between Kim and Putin.  (Yonhap)    Speculation has been rising that the two leaders

North Korea on Thursday reported the development of a new tactical weapons system, adding uncertainty to the situation surrounding the Korean Peninsula. According to the North’s Korean Central News Agency, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attended the testing of a newly developed guided tactical weapons system on Wednesday, and applauded the development as having a “very big significance” in strengthening the country’s military capabilities. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is seen inspecting an a