Hope of papal visit to North Korea raised, but little progress made on sanctions relief.

The two Koreas are likely to start a joint inspection of cross-border railways as early as this week, government officials said Sunday, in an effort to implement the agreement reached between their leaders in April. The two Koreas agreed to revive on-site surveys of the Gyeongui railway, which runs along the peninsula’s west coast, in late October and the Donghae railway along its east coast in November, at high-level talks last week held in the truce village of Panmunjom.  A section of Gyeongui

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s recent remarks, indicating that he hopes to meet with his North Korean counterpart “in the next week and a half or so,” without revealing details, is fueling speculation about the details of this potential meeting. “We’re working on finding dates and times and places that will work for each of the two leaders,” Pompeo told the Voice of America on Friday. “I’m very hopeful we’ll have senior leader meetings here in the next week and a half or so between myself a

　Controversy continues to grow over South Korea’s plan to establish a no-fly zone along the border with North Korea, prompting debate over the question of building trust with Pyongyang without compromising the military’s reconnaissance capabilities.  　The two Koreas’ defense chiefs agreed last month to ban aircraft flights over the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone and the surrounding area. The agreement was signed following a summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim J

South Korea's top nuclear envoy left for the United States on Sunday to coordinate North Korea policy with Washington, Seoul's foreign ministry said.Lee Do-hoon, the country's representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, will visit Washington DC from Sunday to Tuesday to meet with his US counterpart, Stephen Biegun.They are expected to discuss the progress of negotiations between the United States and North Korea, including preparations for a second summit between President Do

President Donald Trump will likely have his second meeting with Kim Jong -un early next year to continue charting a way for the North Korean leader to give up his nuclear weapons in a verifiable way.    A senior administration official told White House reporters Friday that a meeting is "likely sometime after the first of the year.''    The official spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the meeting have not been finalized.    US President Donald Trump. Yonhap   Earlier this month, S

The two Koreas are wrapping up their demining operations in part of the Demilitarized Zone to carry out their plan to disarm the Joint Security Area in the buffer zone separating them, a government source here said Friday.The South Korean military has almost completed its demining work, while the North Korean military is expected to finish its work on Saturday in line with the two sides' recent agreement aimed at reducing border tensions and preventing accidental clashes.According to the agreeme

The ruling Democratic Party on Friday expressed hope that Pope Francis' potential visit to North Korea will help speed up denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.The pope effectively accepted an invitation to visit North Korea Thursday when President Moon Jae-in relayed North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's verbal invitation. Pope Francis said if the North sends an official invitation, he will "certainly" respond to it. (Yonhap)"The pope's possible visit to North Korea indicates the international c

South Korea's top nuclear envoy arrived in Beijing on Thursday to discuss North Korean denuclearization issues with his Chinese counterpart.    Lee Do-hoon, South Korea's representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, is scheduled to meet Kong Xuanyou, China's point man on the Korean peninsula affairs, in Beijing on Friday.     Both Lee and Kong are chief delegates to the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program. The forum also involves the United States, Russia and Japa

 Pope Francis expressed his willingness Thursday to visit North Korea if officially invited, also saying he will "certainly" respond to such an invitation from the communist state.   The remarks came in a meeting with South Korean president Moon Jae-in, who paid a courtesy call on the pope to deliver a verbal invitation from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for the pope to visit Pyongyang.   "The pope said '(I) will unconditionally give an answer if an (official) invitation arrives and I can go',

North Korea's official newspaper on Thursday called on Japan to abstain from insulting the victims of Japanese wartime sexual slavery and sincerely atone for its past wrongdoing.In a commentary written by an unidentified person, the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North's ruling party, lambasted what it described as Japan's shamelessness, citing a recent episode in which a Japanese person appeared to kick a statue symbolizing its wartime sexual slavery victims in Taiwan. (Yonhap)Las

The two Koreas are likely to hold a meeting at their joint liaison office in the North‘s border town of Kaesong this week to discuss follow-up steps on last month’s summit agreement, a unification ministry official said Thursday.South Korea has proposed holding a meeting on Friday between Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung and his North Korean counterpart, Jon Jong-su, who are serving co-heads of the liaison office.“We are waiting for the North‘s response,” the ministry official told report

WASHINGTON -- The United States and North Korea are expected to meet soon to hammer out the details of a planned summit on the regime's denuclearization, Seoul's top envoy to Washington said Wednesday.The US appears confident that the working-level negotiations will take place in line with an agreement reached by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un earlier this month, Amb. Cho Yoon-je said during a regular press briefing."I expect the North Korea-US working-leve

US President Donald Trump said his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is unlikely to be held in the United States, although it may happen in the future.Trump reaffirmed in an interview with the AP Tuesday that the meeting will take place after the US midterm elections on Nov. 6.He said he wanted to first "help people get elected.""No, I don't think so," he replied, when asked if the summit could be held in the US "I mean, we haven't set it up yet, but I would think not yet. At so

 VATICAN (Yonhap) -- President Moon Jae-in summoned the Christian love for humanity and the European spirit of unity to inspire peace on the divided Korean Peninsula Wednesday, as the South Korean leader preached his policy to engage and denuclearize the rival North at the Vatican.Moon attended a rare special mass for Korean peace at the Basilica of St. Peter, presided over by Cardinal State Secretary Pietro Parolin. President Moon Jae-in gives a speech at Basilica of St. Peter in Rome on Wednes