Analysts here have downplayed the possibility that the US might only seek to avoid a nuclear attack from North Korea directed at the country during their upcoming summit, following US President Donald Trump’s remarks that he is not in a rush to denuclearize North Korea.While taking credit for averting a war with Pyongyang, Trump said he expects the second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, slated for Feb. 27-28 in Vietnam, to as successful as the first, where the two leaders had pledge

A senior North Korean official is believed to have looked around areas near a smartphone factory in Vietnam owned by South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co., sources said Sunday.The move is prompting speculation that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may seek to visit the Samsung factory when he travels to Vietnam for his second summit with US President Donald Trump. Kim Chang-son (Yonhap)Kim Chang-son, known as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's de facto chief of staff, and other officials

A close aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrived in Hanoi on Saturday, a source said, ahead of the planned second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim.According to the source, a delegation of North Korean officials led by Kim Chang-son, chief secretary of the North Korean Secretariat of the State Affairs Commission, arrived at Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport at around 10:45 a.m. via a China Southern Airlines plane from Guangzhou.Kim Chang-son, chief secretary of the No

The Day of the Shining Star dawned bitterly cold in Pyongyang. But thousands of North Koreans lined up in temperatures of minus 8 degrees Celsius on Saturday to pay their respects to late leader Kim Jong Il on his birthday.Kim, the son of the isolated North's founder Kim Il Sung and the father and predecessor of current leader Kim Jong Un, was born on February 16.According to Pyongyang's orthodoxy, he came into the world in 1942, in a snow-covered hut at a secret camp on the slopes of Mount Paek

Vietnam is more than a convenient neutral site for the second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, which is slated for later this month. The Southeast Asian nation is being held up as a model for what Kim’s isolated country could become if he adopts sweeping market reforms. It’s an especially apt comparison, one which Kim himself reportedly noted last year -- but not necessarily for the reasons you might think.The choice facing Kim at the Hanoi summit

A close aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrived in Beijing and may be en route to Hanoi, a source in Beijing said Friday, ahead of the planned second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim. A delegation of 12 North Korean officials, led by Kim Chang-son, who is known as the North Korean leader's de facto chief of staff, arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport at around 6:20 p.m. via an Air China plane from Pyongyang. The North Korean officials were on the list of pas

North Korea possesses the capabilities to track and target satellites, posing a challenge to other militaries, the US Department of Defense said in a recent report.According to the report published Monday by the US Defense Intelligence Agency, “Challenges to Security in Space,” North Korea is among countries that pose a challenge to militaries using space-enabled services.  (Yonhap)“Iran and North Korea maintain independent space launch capabilities, which can serve as avenues for testing ballis

Diplomacy experts are expressing skepticism about the upcoming summit between the leaders of the US and North Korea, casting doubt on whether it will bring concrete progress toward denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. At a recent meeting, some questioned whether the North would offer “measurable specifics” and warned that the US might take “an imprudent step” due to inadequate preparation. “Fundamentally, we’re not prepared,” said Kurt Campbell, chairman of the Asia Group, at the inaugural

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday that he expects President Donald Trump to discuss the possibility of formally ending the 1950-53 Korean War at his next summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.Trump and Kim are scheduled to meet in Hanoi, Vietnam, Feb. 27-28 to discuss the dismantling of North Korea's nuclear weapons program in exchange for US security guarantees. (AP/Yonhap)An end-of-war declaration is a key concession North Korea has demanded in return for the denuclearizati

US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s views on North Korea’s true intentions have raised questions about the denuclearization process, with less than two weeks until the second US-North Korea summit. In a meeting with South Korean lawmakers, including National Assembly Speaker Rep. Moon Hee-sang and floor leaders of ruling and opposition parties on Tuesday, Pelosi reportedly directly refuted North Korea and the Trump administration’s claims on denuclearization. US President Donald T

Vietnam's top diplomat wrapped up his visit to North Korea on Thursday apparently meant to discuss issues related to leader Kim Jong-un's upcoming trip to the Southeast Asian nation.Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, who doubles as Vietnam's deputy prime minister, arrived at a Beijing international airport on an Air Koryo flight from Pyongyang. (Yonhap)He's apparently in transit back to Vietnam following a three-day trip to the North's capital, where he reportedly had meetings with Foreign Ministe

US Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris stressed Thursday that sanctions will remain in place until North Korea denuclearizes, as Washington and Pyongyang are preparing for their second summit slated for late this month.Speaking at a security forum in Seoul, Harris also dangled the prospect of a "brighter, more secure and more prosperous future" for the impoverished communist nation in case it fulfills its denuclearization commitment stated in the Singapore summit last year between its leader

Ri Su-yong, a top North Korean official on foreign affairs, met with Vietnam's foreign minister onWednesday, the North's state media said, amid prospects for a possible state visit by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to Hanoi this month.Ri, vice chairman of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, met a Vietnamese delegation led by top diplomat Pham Binh Minh in Pyongyang, according to the Korean Central News Agency. North Korea Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong, right, meets the de

　Fewer young students in South Korea perceive North Korea as an enemy than a year ago, while a larger number of them regard the North as a cooperative partner, a poll has showed.　In the poll of 82,947 elementary, middle and high school students by the education and unification ministries last year, only 5.2 percent said North Korea should be thought of as an enemy, marking a sharp fall from 41 percent in a similar survey held in 2017.　Instead, 28.2 percent of the young students agreed with the n

With the US-North Korea summit scheduled to take place Feb. 27-28 in Hanoi, the Vietnamese government has ordered hotels near JW Marriott Hotel Hanoi to cancel reservations that have already been made, a local daily here reported Wednesday.Hotels near the JW Marriott Hotel notified tour companies here that they would not be taking any reservations until after the forthcoming summit, per a Vietnamese government order, according to Maeil Business News.  Flags of United States and North Korea in a