Cheong Wa Dae sent a gift of 200 tons of tangerines to North Korea, in return for the North's mushrooms in September following the summit between the two leaders in the North's capital city of Pyongyang, the presidential office said Sunday.According to the text message sent by presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom to reporters, South Korean cargo planes carrying the fruit left the resort island of Jeju for Pyongyang earlier in the day. On board are Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung and Suh

Controversy continues to escalate at the United Nations Security Council over humanitarian aid for North Korea, with member states divided over sanctions exemptions required to send relief materials to the country. The United States has been delaying approval of several requests for sanctions exemptions to deliver tractors, spare parts and other goods needed for humanitarian relief in North Korea, according to an AFP report Thursday.Russia asked the Security Council to discuss the delays during

North Korea and the United States are trying to set a new date for a meeting between their top officials, Seoul's foreign minister said Friday in response to skepticism about momentum in denuclearization talks.US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was supposed to meet Kim Yong-chol, a senior aide to the North's leader Kim Jong-un, in New York this week.But it did not occur amid reports that Pyongyang demanded a delay in the talks. (Yonhap)"The US has said conclusively that the talks have been postpo

South Korea's minister in charge of inter-Korean cooperation will visit the United States next week to discuss bringing permanent peace to the Korean Peninsula, his office said Friday.Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon will visit Washington DC and New York from Nov. 13-17 to attend the 2018 Korea Global Forum and meet with US government officials and lawmakers, the ministry said. Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon (Yonhap)Cho is expected to meet with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to exch

South and North Korea agreed to hold a second meeting of their joint road research group on Monday in the North's border city of Kaesong, the Ministry of Unification said Friday.Lee Eugene, deputy spokeswoman of the ministry, said that the agreement was reached after North Korea proposed the second meeting on inter-Korean road connection and modernization via the inter-Korean liaison office. (Yonhap)At the meeting, to be held at the liaison office in Kaesong, the two Koreas will discuss various

South Korea held a National Security Council meeting Friday to discuss the results of the US midterm elections, the presidential office said.Presidential National Security Advisor Chung Eui-yong presided over the meeting of the council's standing committee, and members discussed the US election results and its implications for Washington's foreign policy, Cheong Wa Dae said in a statement.Presidential National Security Advisor Chung Eui-yong (Yonhap)"Considering that the US Congress has provided

North Korea’s external propaganda media on Friday lambasted the South Korea and US decision to launch a working group to coordinate strategies for Pyongyang’s denuclearization and resume joint marine drills. “The US and South Korea have decided to officially launch a working group in November and plan to discuss relevant details on management and structure of the group,” said Uriminzokkiri, a website run by Pyongyang in Korean. (Yonhap)It also called the formation of the working group an arrogan

WASHINGTON -- North Korea's key missile site has not been dismantled further since August, a US website monitoring the regime said Thursday.North Korea has pledged to dismantle a missile engine testing site and a launch pad in Dongchang-ri as part of its stated commitment to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.38 North said satellite imagery from Oct. 31 indicates there has been no additional dismantlement activity since August. (Yonhap)"Components that were previously removed remain stacked on th

WASHINGTON -- The United States has been delaying the United Nations' approval of certain humanitarian aid to North Korea, Reuters reported Thursday.Citing documents obtained from a UN committee handling sanctions on North Korea, the news agency said the US has repeatedly asked for more time to consider the proposed aid to the impoverished nation.North Korea is under a wide array of economic sanctions for its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, and delivery of humanitarian aid often

President Moon Jae-in said Thursday that South Korea will lay firm groundwork for trilateral economic cooperation with North Korea and Russia by bringing lasting peace to the Korean Peninsula.Moon made the remark during an address at the inaugural meeting in the southeastern city of Pohang of the Korea-Russia Local Cooperation Forum involving 17 local governments of South Korea and nine local governments in Russia's Far East.President Moon Jae-in speaks during the inaugural meeting of the Korea-

South Korea will make preparations to hold a groundbreaking ceremony for the connection and the modernization of inter-Korean railways, as agreed earlier by the Koreas, regardless of the recent postponement of high-level talks between North Korea and the United States, a Seoul government official said Thursday.A ranking official at the Ministry of Unification said that South Korea is preparing to proceed in accordance with an inter-Korean agreement to connect and modernize cross-border railway l

The National Theater of Korea plans to invite a North Korean art troupe to a festival to mark the 70th anniversary of its opening in 2020, the theater's new head said Thursday. "We plan to make the anniversary festival a venue for arts troupes from all around the world, including one from North Korea," Kim Cheol-ho said during his inaugural press meeting.  NTK CEO Kim Cheol-ho speaks during a press meeting in Seoul on Nov. 8, 2018 (NTK via Yonhap)"Inter-Korean exchanges have recently been made i

The Koreas agreed Thursday to each retain one of the 11 border guard posts they have selected for "complete demolition" due to their historical symbolism, Seoul's defense ministry said.During their general-grade military talks last month, they agreed to each withdraw 11 guard posts in the Demilitarized Zone by the end of this month and verify their removal in December in line with their September military agreement aimed at building trust, reducing tensions and preventing accidental clashes.The

The government's request for parliamentary ratification of President Moon Jae-in's first summit agreement with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was automatically introduced to the parliamentary foreign affairs committee on Thursday. (Yonhap)By law, the request, which was sent to the National Assembly on Sept. 11, can be introduced to the committee 20 days later. If it's not introduced in the following 30 days, it is automatically put on the committee's agenda at its first meeting convened after t

UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) - The UN Security Council is expected to meet behind closed doors at Russia's request on Thursday to discuss sanctions imposed on North Korea, diplomats said.The request for consultations came just hours after President Donald Trump said he was in "no rush" to solve the crisis over North Korea's nuclear program.It was not immediately clear whether Russia was planning a new push to ease sanctions against North Korea. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said