US President Donald Trump said Thursday that there has been progress in talks with North Korea despite criticism and that he expects another good meeting with the North Korean leader soon.Trump said the media has been unfair by accusing him of producing few tangible results toward dismantling the North's nuclear weapons program since his first summit with Kim Jong-un.(Yonhap)"The Fake News Media loves saying 'so little happened at my first summit with Kim Jong Un.' Wrong!" the president tweeted,

A North Korean art troupe arrived in Beijing on Thursday for the first performance in the neighboring country in three years in a demonstration of close ties between the two countries ahead of a second summit between the North and the United States. The delegation, led by Ri Su-yong, vice chairman of the ruling party's Central Committee, arrived at a Beijing train station at around 11 a.m. and was greeted by North Korean Ambassador to Beijing Ji Jae-ryong and Chinese officials.(Yonhap)The North'

North Korea may not be ready to bring its intercontinental ballistic missiles and the idea of transferring its nuclear arsenal to China to the negotiating table as bargaining chips in talks with the US, analysts here said Thursday. “Moving ICBMs out of North Korea is what the US has been demanding but there’s no evidence that the North has accepted the proposal,” Handong University professor Park Won-gon said. Washington’s simultaneous incentives and building of mutual trust must first take plac

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expressed "great satisfaction" after receiving a letter from US President Donald Trump and spoke highly of Trump's "determination and will" to resolve issues between the two countries, state media reported Thursday.Kim made the remark after top aide Kim Yong-chol briefed him on the results of his visit to Washington last week that included meetings with Trump and other top officials for talks about a second summit between the two countries, according to the Korean

South Korea's top nuclear envoy who recently attended working-level consultations between North Korea and the United States in Sweden said Wednesday that there will be "rapid progress" in efforts to stage more talks between Pyongyang and Washington.Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was at a meeting in a suburb of Stockholm where North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui and U.S. State Department Special R

The UN Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea has granted exemptions from the sanctions to four organizations, it was revealed Tuesday. According to the committee, Christian Friends of Korea, the Eugene Bell Foundation, First Steps and UNICEF were given exemptions that took effect Jan. 18. Christian Friends of Korea is a US-based organization that has been providing humanitarian aid to North Korea since 1995, and First Steps is a Canada-based Christian organization that focuses on a

North Korea has replaced an envoy handling negotiations with the United States ahead of the second summit between their leaders, an informed source said Tuesday.The new representative is Kim Hyok-chol, who previously served as the first North Korean ambassador to Spain, according to the source privy to North Korea-Spain relations."It's a mystery to us," the source told Yonhap News Agency on condition of anonymity, referring to the sudden switch of interlocutors. Kim Hyok-chol (Yonhap)The US spec

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday that he expects to see a "good marker" on the path to achieving North Korea's denuclearization at the end of next month.The two sides are planning to hold a second summit late next month to discuss the next steps in implementing the accord reached by US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un last year. (Yonhap)At the first summit in Singapore in June, Kim committed to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula

A former Unification Ministry official who leaked personal information about North Korean defectors living in South Korea was sentenced to six months in prison, two years of probation and a 15 million won fine on Tuesday.The 48-year-old, identified only by the surname Lee, was removed from office by the ministry in July 2017 for having passed on private information about North Korean defectors, such as addresses and phone numbers, to another North Korean defector surnamed Bae, 38. Bae, a broker

Gangwon Province Gov. Choi Moon-Soon said Tuesday that North Korea will get sanctions relief for the resumption of two key inter-Korean economic projects -- the Kaesong industrial complex and Kumgangsan tours -- as its nuclear talks with the US are making progress. “After the Olympics, I visited North Korea three times, and I’m quite convinced now that North Korea will become a sole and successful case of denuclearization in the world,” he told reporters during a press conference in Seoul.  Choi

The two Koreas and the US wrapped up working level talks Monday, having reportedly dealt with issues regarding the upcoming US-North Korea summit and regional security. On Monday, US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui and South Korean negotiator Lee Do-hoon concluded their talks held on the outskirts of Stockholm.  North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui leaves the conference venue in Stockholm on Monday. YonhapDetails o

South Korea is seeking a sanctions waiver for its plan to survey the condition of a North Korean highway along the east coast as part of efforts to connect it across the border to the South, a unification ministry official said Tuesday.A sanctions exemption is required for the envisioned joint survey with the North of the Donghae Line highway because it involves bringing into the country equipment banned under UN Security Council sanctions resolutions.  (Yonhap)Last month, similar surveys were c

South Korea needs to resolve "procedural" issues before sending its promised Tamiflu to North Korea, a unification ministry official said Tuesday amid speculation that sanctions might be behind the protracted delay.The government promised to send 200,000 doses of the antiviral drugs to North Korea via a land route over their western border, but delivery, which had initially been scheduled for Jan. 11, has been repeatedly put off for reasons that are unclear. "There are no special issues," the of

One of 20 undeclared ballistic missile operating bases in North Korea serves as a missile headquarters, according to a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) published on Monday.“The Sino-ri missile operating base and the Nodong missiles deployed at this location fit into North Korea’s presumed nuclear military strategy by providing an operational-level nuclear or conventional first strike capability,” the report said. (Yonhap)The discovery of an undeclared missile h

North Korea and the United States ended their working-level consultations in Sweden on Monday (local time) to break the impasse over denuclearization talks amid apparent preparations underway for another summit of their leaders.A vehicle carrying U.S. Special Representative Stephen Biegun was seen leaving the convention earlier in the day in a remote area located northwest of Stockholm, where the two sides have held three days of negotiations since Saturday.Later in the day, another vehicle appa