A ranking South Korean official on Tuesday expressed hope for substantial progress in denuclearization and other issues in talks between high-ranking US and North Korean officials set to be held in New York later this week.The official at the Ministry of Unification made the remark as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was scheduled to meet with Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party Central Committee, in New York on Thursday."Our government will carefully prepare for

Artists of North Korea and China held a joint performance at the Mansudae Art Theatre in Pyongyang, according to the North's media Tuesday.The Korean Central News Agency said that the joint performance on Monday was watched by scores of officials from both countries, including Choe Hwi, vice chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea; Ri Ryong-nam, vice premier of the cabinet; and Chinese Ambassador to North Korea Li Jinjun. (Yonhap)North Korean students and teachers in the

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held talks with Cuba's president at his Pyongyang office on ways to strengthen cooperation between the two sides, the North's state news agency reported Tuesday.Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel Bermudez arrived in the North Korean capital on a state visit Sunday, along with his wife. (Yonhap)Kim invited them to the office building of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea on Monday. That venue is known as the equivalent of the Oval Room at the White House and

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will meet with his North Korean counterpart in New York this week to continue discussions on the denuclearization of the regime, the State Department said Monday.Pompeo will meet with Kim Yong-chol, a close aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, on Thursday to discuss ways to advance a denuclearization agreement reached by US President Donald Trump and the leader in Singapore in June, the department said in a statement. (Yonhap)"Secretary Pompeo will travel to

‘Kumrung’ draws attention as a Pyongyang-version of Starbucks

An alleged insulting remark by a top North Korean official to chiefs of leading South Korean conglomerates has not been fully substantiated yet, the South's presidential office said Monday.Ri Son-kwon, chairman of the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country, has been under fire in the South after an opposition lawmaker alleged that he rebuked chaebol chiefs when they were having lunch together at Pyongyang's most famous cold noodle restaurant as part of September's third

The two Koreas will hold talks over joint efforts to fight contagious diseases and other forms of health cooperation at their liaison office in North Korea's border city of Kaesong this week, Seoul's unification ministry said Monday. The meeting will take place on Wednesday, led by South Korea's Vice Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol and Park Myong-su, a senior North Korean health official, ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun told reporters. (Yonhap)"In line with the September Pyongyang declaration a

MOSCOW -- South Korea's top diplomat in Moscow said Monday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is likely to visit Russia in November.South Korean Ambassador Woo Yoon-keun told reporters that Russia and North Korea do not appear to have reached an agreement on Kim's visit yet but the most likely time seems to be this month in consideration of several circumstances."Russia has asked for Kim's visit within this year and expects it to happen. But North Korea seems to be weighing the time and place

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday he will meet with his North Korean counterpart in New York "at the end of this week" to continue discussions on the denuclearization of the regime.Pompeo said in two separate interviews that his counterpart will be Kim Yong-chol, a top aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but stopped short of revealing the exact date of their meeting. (Yonhap)"I'll be in New York City at the end of this week meeting with my counterpart, Kim Yong-chol," the top US

South Korea’s military says joint survey does not clash with international sanctions imposed on North Korea

North Korea has blasted a report by a US human rights watchdog criticizing allegedly widespread sexual violence against women in the North, the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported Sunday.  (Yonhap)The response comes after Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, said, in a press conference held in Seoul last week, that sexual violence is one of the most serious human rights violations in North Korea and that it has not drawn as much attention as prison camps and o

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel was due in Pyongyang on Sunday, North Korea's state media reported, describing the visit as a "historic event" highlighting the "invincible friendship" of the two allies.The visit comes amid stalled talks between North Korea and the United States and only days after Washington imposed fresh economic restrictions on Cuba.Washington's ties with Havana were fully restored in 2015 after more than half a century of enmity, but have deteriorated since President Donald

Hundreds of South Korean civic leaders and North Korean officials on Sunday renewed calls for the resumption of inter-Korean exchanges as they met at a scenic mountain resort on the North's east coast for the first time in a decade.The two-day meeting at Mount Kumgang that ended on Sunday came amid rapprochement on the divided Korean Peninsula following inter-Korean summits between the leaders of the two Koreas.The meeting involved some 300 South Koreans, mostly from the Korean Council for Recon

South and North Korea raised yellow flags at 11 guard posts each along their heavily fortified border on Sunday in a first step toward dismantling the posts under a military agreement reached as part of September's summit.The two sides hoisted the 4-meter by 3-meter flag at each of the 22 guard posts as a mark to indicate that the posts are to be dismantled, according to defense ministry officials.  These photos provided by the defense ministry show yellow flags at guard posts on the South and N

South and North Korea will together launch a waterway inspection Monday as part of an agreement to jointly take advantage of the estuaries of the Han and Imjin rivers along their western border, officials said Sunday.Under a military deal signed on the sidelines of September's inter-Korean summit, the two sides agreed to make joint use of the river estuaries in the border areas and take steps to militarily guarantee safety in the region. (Yonhap)Officials said the areas can be used for aggregate