North Korea's main newspaper on Wednesday called for sanctions relief ahead of a second summit between leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump, saying that bilateral relations cannot improve without trust-building efforts."Improvement in relations and sanctions cannot go side by side," the Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the North's ruling party, said in a commentary. "If the basis of improvement in relations is respect and trust, then it can be said that the basis of sanctions is hostility

North Korea is unlikely to give up its nuclear weapons program, the US intelligence chief said Tuesday, calling into question the efficacy of ongoing diplomacy to denuclearize the regime.Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats made the remark at a Senate panel hearing, with only weeks to go before a planned second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Dan Coats (Yonhap)"We currently assess that North Korea will seek to retain its WMD capabilities and i

North Korea will favorably consider participating in an international gymnastics event in South Korea this year, Seoul's gymnastics federation said Tuesday, after discussing its plans with the sport's international governing body.    According to the Korea Gymnastics Association (KGA), North Korea told International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) President Morinari Watanabe, who visited Pyongyang with a delegation last week, that it will review proposals for competing in the Korea Cup international

The United States and North Korea will likely start preparing a joint statement of their leaders to be issued at their second bilateral summit scheduled for next month, the head of Seoul's state spy agency said Tuesday.Suh Hoon, director of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), said he expected the two sides to begin discussing major topics for the proposed summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un."I believe they will begin coordinating topics for the summi

North Korea has sent back a US court verdict ordering the communist nation to pay $500 million in damages to the parents of an American student for his death shortly after his return from the country in a coma, a news report said Tuesday. The US District Court for DC made the ruling last month, saying Pyongyang was responsible for the death of Otto Warmbier, a University of Virginia student who died in 2017 just six days after his return from the North.In this May 3, 2018, file photo, Fred Warmb

　Any agreement that U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un make at their second summit must state that “complete denuclearization” of the communist nation is the two sides’ ultimate goal, an expert said Monday.　Hong Hyun-ik, a researcher at Sejong Institute, made the case in a report amid concerns in South Korea that the United States might settle for a deal falling short of complete denuclearization as long as threats to the U.S. are removed, for instance by dismantling

Choson Exchange, a Singapore-registered NGO with a mandate to support North Korea’s future business leaders, will host its inaugural DPRK Economic Forum in April. The forum will take place in Pyongyang from April 20 to 27. Participants will get a chance to connect with North Koreans as part of the forum’s interactive business training sessions, which will run for three days. Discussion sessions will tackle North Korean business and economic policy innovation.  Participants to Choson Exchange’s e

Chinese President Xi Jinping attended a rare concert by a North Korean state art troupe and met with the delegation's chief, Chinese state media reported Monday, as the two countries boast close ties ahead of a second summit between the United States and North Korea. Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, met with Ri Su-yong, vice chairman of the North Korean ruling party's Central Committee, on Sunday and watched the performance by the North Korean artists, according to China's Xinhua News Agency. (Yonh

The UN Security Council has granted a sanctions exemption for an inter-Korean project to excavate Korean War remains in the Demilitarized Zone, a diplomatic source said Monday.The UNSC made the decision last week as Seoul sought the exemption to ensure that the delivery of equipment into the communist state for the project will not be impeded by anti-Pyongyang sanctions. (Yonhap)The Koreas plan to carry out the project in Arrowhead Ridge, a notorious battle site of the 1950-53 Cold War conflict,

BEIJING (Yonhap) -- A North Korean art troupe staged a performance in China for a second day on Sunday in a demonstration of close ties between the two countries ahead of a second summit between the North and the United States, diplomatic sources said. North Korean art troupe stages a performance in Beijing. YonhapA delegation of senior officials and a 280-strong art troupe, led by Ri Su-yong, vice chairman of the ruling party's Central Committee, arrived in Beijing on Thursday for the show.Nort

With a series of talks between the United States and North Korea being held in apparent preparation for their second summit, the appearance of a new figure in the North’s envoy team has triggered speculations on his role and the North’s direction in negotiations. Kim Hyok-chol, a former North Korean Ambassador to Spain had accompanied the North’s ruling Workers’ Party’s Central Committee Vice Chairman Kim Yong-chol on his visit to Washington, appearing with the vice chairman in a meeting with US

North Korea continues to fall short of international standards in protecting the human rights of its people, also failing to implement many of the UN recommendations it earlier agreed to live up to, Amnesty International suggested in a report released Saturday.    The report comes as North Korea is set to be reviewed for its human rights conditions under the United Nations' Universal Periodic Review (UPR). (Yonhap)    Amnesty International noted the communist state may have worked to increase it

   North Korea needs to take a "significant" step toward abandoning its nuclear weapons in order to get sanctions relief from the United States, US National Security Adviser John Bolton has said.    In an interview with The Washington Times published Friday, Bolton indicated that US President Donald Trump is ready to lift the sanctions on Pyongyang if the regime will signal its sincerity about giving up its nuclear arsenal. National Security Advisor John Bolton walks on the driveway of the White

North Korea has adopted a new law to monitor the production and distribution of Korean ginseng, or "insam," state media said Friday, in an apparent move to industrialize the medical herb.   The law lays out legal requirements for the guidance and control of the cultivation and purchase of insam, as well as the production and sale of processed insam products, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency.Insam has long been used in Asia as a medicine and tonic, along with Korean re

South Korea’s foreign minister said Thursday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is expected to take concrete steps toward denuclearization in order to keep his pledges concerning economic development, as the leaders of both the US and the North express optimism about their upcoming summit. Closing the Yongbyon nuclear complex and dismantling key missile facilities in the presence of foreign inspectors are measures that Pyongyang might suggest during a second summit between US President Donald