North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s visit to Seoul remains undecided, with Pyongyang yet to respond to Seoul on the matter, Cheong Wa Dae reiterated Sunday. “There has been no contact (on the issue) from North Korea,” a high-level Cheong Wa Dae official said.  A large painting installed near Cheong Wa Dae shows President Moon Jae-in and north Korean leader Kim Jong-un shaking hands. Yonhap“Sufficient messages have been sent to the North, and as it would have many things to consider if the visit is

The pope may visit North Korea in 2019, and the Vatican has begun working-level efforts to establish a point of contact with Pyongyang, a Korean news agency reported Sunday. Citing a Vatican official who requested anonymity, Yonhap News Agency reported that the Vatican has not ruled out a visit to Pyongyang by Pope Francis in the coming year.  President Moon Jae-in and Pope Francis shake hands at the Vatican during their meeting in October. Cheong Wa Dae“To my knowledge, the Vatican is trying to

The two Koreas have completed their joint inspection of a waterway along their western border aimed at easing access to its restricted estuary following a September military agreement signed between the two sides, the Seoul government said Sunday.The 20-member team officially ended its 35-day survey of the mouth of the Han River, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the Ministry of Defense said in a joint statement.  (Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries)The hydrographic survey measured the wate

There appear to be no signs of progress in regard to a possible visit by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to Seoul following the Moon Jae-in government's official invitation, the presidential office said Sunday."No headway has been made so far, and there is nothing to announce," Yoon Young-chan, Cheong Wa Dae's top press secretary said in a message to reporters.  (Yonhap)Speculation is rising in South Korea amid a slew of media reports claiming that Kim could be planning to make a three-day visit

A group of South Korean officials and experts traveled to North Korea on Saturday for a 10-day probe of the North's eastern rail system as part of efforts to connect railways along the divided peninsula.The 28-member team crossed into the North by bus via the eastern land route across the heavily armed border between the two Koreas, according to the unification ministry. They will carry out a joint inspection until Dec. 17 with North Koreans of the 800-kilometer east coast Donghae railway from M

Seoul and Pyongyang have not agreed on possible dates for a visit to Seoul by the North's leader Kim Jong-un, the presidential office said Saturday, denying a media report that he may come next week.The remark came in response to a media report that claimed Kim will visit the South on Thursday, and that the presidential office and police held a meeting to discuss preparations. Yoon Young-chan (Yonhap)"For now, we have not received any messages from the North," said Yoon Young-chan, the chief pre

BEIJING -- North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho told his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on Friday that Pyongyang’s commitment to denuclearization remains unchanged, according to Wang‘s ministry.The top diplomats of the communist allies met at the Daioyutai state guesthouse in Beijing, less than a week after a summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Ri Yong-ho (Yonhap)Ri was quoted as saying that his country is trying to create peaceful external conditions to

Analysts said S. Korean government wants to reveal Kim’s travel plans at the last minute out of safety concerns for the NK leader

South Korea will send 10 officials and experts to Pyongyang next week for talks on forestry cooperation, the unification ministry said Friday. The team will fly to the North via Beijing on Tuesday for a three-day visit, according to the ministry. Lim Sang-seop, a senior official with the Korea Forestry Service, will lead the delegation, the ministry said. (Yonhap)The planned trip is part of efforts to implement an agreement reached in October to jointly combat pine tree pests and other forestry

South and North Korea will hold a meeting of their chief liaison officers on Friday, a unification ministry official said, amid speculation that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could visit Seoul before year's end. (Yonhap)Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung and his North Korean counterpart, Jon Jong-su, will meet at the joint liaison office in the North's border town of Kaesong, according to the official. Chun and Jon serve as co-heads of the office launched in September to secure a channel

The top diplomats of South Korea and the United States met in Washington Thursday and agreed to coordinate closely in their efforts to denuclearize North Korea, both sides said.South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held their first meeting in two months amid an impasse in denuclearization negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang.(Yonhap)The diplomats "reaffirmed the ironclad alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea," State Dep

US senators who are influential in shaping Washington’s North Korea policy advise tying the second US-North Korea summit to more tangible steps toward denuclearization from Pyongyang, Voice of America reported Thursday.  (Yonhap)Republican Senator Cory Gardner said President Donald Trump should “walk away” from the summit if there are any signs that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is using it as an excuse to buy time, according to the report.“As I said from the last one, if the complete, verifia

　The South Korean military said Thursday that Seoul and Washington have long monitored a North Korean missile base that a US media outlet described as an unreported facility capable of launching a long-range ballistic missile. 　Citing satellite images and analysis from a private think tank, CNN reported Wednesday that the Yeongjeo-dong missile base and a nearby site -- previously unreported -- remain active and have been continuously upgraded. 　The South Korean government, which dismissed previo

The militaries of the two Koreas agreed to verify each other’s work on the removal of 22 guard posts next week, Seoul’s Defense Ministry said Thursday, in an effort to sustain the momentum of a detente between the two Koreas. 　The Ministry of National Defense will conduct an on-site verification on Dec. 12 to ensure the guard posts were dismantled or destroyed as pledged after the two Koreas pulled back their troops and ammunition from the posts.　While the two Koreas agreed to “completely destro

WASHINGTON -- The United States is ready to offer a brighter future to North Korea, but only after it completely abandons its nuclear weapons program, a senior US official said Wednesday.The two sides have been trying to negotiate the terms of North Korea's denuclearization since the historic June summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.But talks have stalled over US demands for a full inventory of the North's nuclear arsenal and Pyongyang's demands for recip