Articles by "North Korea"
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Hello Jammu News at 4:32:00 PM 0


Seoul, Mar 11 :  South Korea's military said Monday it was closely monitoring North Korean facilities after a series of satellite images triggered international alarm that Pyongyang might be preparing a long-range missile or space launch.

Analysis indicates increased activity at two key sites -- the Samundong missile research facility and the Sohae rocket-testing facility. 

Any launch could send stuttering talks on denuclearisation into disarray.

South Korea is "closely tracking and looking into all activity for possible scenarios including a missile launch" across the border, in close coordination with the US, said Kim Joon-rak, spokesman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Satellite images of Samundong taken on February 22 showed cars and trucks at the site, as well as rail cars and cranes at a yard, US news outlet NPR reported.

"When you put all that together, that's really what it looks like when the North Koreans are in the process of building a rocket," Jeffrey Lewis, a researcher at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, was quoted as saying.

Located on the outskirts of Pyongyang, the Samundong facility was built in 2012 to support development of long-range missiles and space-launch vehicles.

As well as developing the Hawsong-15 ICBM, which analysts agree is capable of reaching the whole US mainland, Samundong constructed the long-range rockets that were then transported and successfully launched from the Sohae satellite launch station in 2012 and 2016.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed last year to shutter the Sohae site at a summit with the South's President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang.

Satellite pictures in August suggested workers were dismantling an engine test stand at the facility.

But the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies suggested last week rebuilding was progressing quickly at the facility.

A moving structure that had been used to carry vehicles to a launch pad on rails has been restored, said respected research website 38 North project.

It added the work had started before last month's failed meeting on denuclearisation between Kim and US President Donald Trump.

John Bolton, President Donald Trump's national security adviser, said Sunday the US sees "exactly what they are doing" in regard to possible missile or rocket launch moves by the nuclear-armed state.

"We see it unblinkingly, and we don't have any illusions about what those are," he warned, adding his boss would be "pretty disappointed" if a nuclear-armed state conducted a new missile test.

North Korea has been banned by the UN security council from carrying out space launches, as some of its technology was similar to that used for intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs.

Since the collapse of the Hanoi summit, Trump has been cautious in his forecasts, continuing to suggest a deal remains possible.

Trump said Kim promised he would carry out no more missile or nuclear testing, adding, "I take him at his word.                [Agencies]
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Hello Jammu News at 1:50:00 PM 0


Hanoi, Feb 26 :  Kim Jong Un arrived in Hanoi Tuesday to ultra-tight security and enthusiastic crowds ahead of a second summit with Donald Trump, as the world looks for tangible progress over North Korea's nuclear programme.

After a historic initial meeting in Singapore in June that produced only a vague statement about denuclearisation, analysts say the second date must deliver more concrete steps towards dismantling Pyongyang's arsenal.

The normally sleepy Vietnamese border station of Dong Dang spruced itself up for Kim's arrival after the young leader emulated his grandfather with a 4,000-kilometre, two-and-a-half-day odyssey through China aboard his olive green train.

A military guard of honour in pristine white uniforms presented arms as Kim strolled down the red carpet waving and grinning, surrounded by a phalanx of aides and security personnel.

Local official Hoang Thi Thuy, said she had waited in the cold rain since before dawn for a glimpse of Kim, the first North Korean leader to visit fellow one-party state Vietnam since his grandfather Kim Il Sung in 1964.

"I was so excited when we were told to stand in place for the arrival of the train," she told. "We saw the leader from afar. I felt so happy, it's hard to describe." 

Wearing his trademark Mao-style black suit and flanked by his troops of bodyguards, Kim was ushered into a waiting Mercedes Benz and his motorcade rolled off towards Hanoi, where crowds lined the streets and armoured personnel carriers patrolled the roads.

Trump was taking a more conventional route on Air Force One to the meeting and was expected to arrive in Hanoi late Tuesday. He tweeted he was looking forward to a "very productive" second summit.

The US president again dangled the carrot of economic progress for North Korea if it gives up its nuclear programme. 

"With complete Denuclearization, North Korea will rapidly become an Economic Powerhouse," tweeted Trump. "Without it, just more of the same." "Chairman Kim will make a wise decision!" Relations between the two mercurial leaders have undergone a dramatic turnaround, from flinging personal insults and threats of destruction to Trump declaring he had fallen "in love" with Kim through an exchange of letters.

But many North Korea watchers dismissed the Singapore summit as a piece of political theatre that failed to produce a concrete roadmap to denuclearisation and stressed that the Hanoi meeting must deliver more.

"The window for diplomatic progress with North Korea will not remain open indefinitely. The second summit... must emphasise substance over pageantry," said Kelsey Davenport from the Arms Control Association.

Concrete details about the summit have been few and far between but White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters aboard Air Force One the two leaders would dine together Wednesday with close advisors.

Diplomatic progress since Singapore has stalled over the definition of denuclearisation, with Stephen Biegun, the US Special Representative for North Korea, admitting there was no "shared agreement" of what that means.

The United States has repeatedly demanded the North give up its nuclear arsenal in a final, fully verifiable way.

But Pyongyang sees denuclearisation more broadly, seeking an end to sanctions and what it sees as US threats -- usually taken to include the American military presence in the South, and sometimes in the wider region.

In the run-up to the summit, Trump appeared to lower US demands for Pyongyang, repeatedly saying there was no rush to rid the North of its arsenal as long as missile and nuclear tests stopped.

"I don't want to rush anybody. I just don't want testing. As long as there's no testing, we're happy," said Trump.

He also hinted more summits could follow the Hanoi meeting, reducing expectations of a dramatic breakthrough in the Vietnamese capital.

Pyongyang insists it has already taken major steps, by not testing ballistic missiles or nuclear weapons for more than a year, and blowing up the entrances to its atomic test site.

The North also wants increased security guarantees, which could come in the form of a declaration of an end to the 1950-53 Korean War -- that ended with an armistice instead of a full peace treaty -- or opening liaison offices.

Opening liaison offices would signal the first stage of normalising US-North Korean relations, said Go Myong-hyun of the Asan Institute of Policy Studies, and would be an ideal "politically symbolic step" rather than prematurely agreeing to sanctions relief.

Harry Kazianis of the Center for the National Interest said: "Nothing would be worse than for either side to come out of the meeting as if it was a waste of time.                         [Agencies]
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Hello Jammu News at 1:44:00 PM 0


Seoul, Feb 19 :  The North Korean special representative for the US arrived in Beijing on Tuesday, apparently en route to Vietnam to meet his Washington counterpart ahead of a second scheduled summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.

Kim Hyok Chol arrived in the Chinese capital at around 10 am (0200 GMT) and was expected to board a plane bound for Hanoi later in the day.

Kim's trip comes three days after Kim Jong Un's de-facto chief of staff, Kim Chang Son, landed in Hanoi to discuss protocol and security matters with the US team ahead of the summit on February 27-28.

Kim Hyok Chol and his US counterpart Stephen Biegun were engaged in three days of talks in Pyongyang earlier this month, exploring each side's positions on denuclearisation ahead of the much-anticipated meeting.

Biegun said they had been productive, but more dialogue was needed.

"We have some hard work to do with the DPRK between now and then," Biegun said, adding that he was "confident that if both sides stay committed we can make real progress here".

The US State Department said talks during Biegun's trip explored Trump and Kim Jong Un's "commitments of complete denuclearization, transforming US-DPRK relations and building a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula".

Specifically, discussions on declaring an end to the 1950-53 Korean War could have been on the table, with Biegun last month saying Trump was "ready to end this war".

The US envoy is expected to fly soon to Hanoi from Washington to resume talks with Kim Hyok Chol.

Experts say tangible progress on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons will be needed for the second summit if it is to avoid being dismissed as "reality TV".                           [Agencies]
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Hello Jammu News at 2:15:00 PM 0

Seoul, Oct 8: International inspectors will be allowed into North Korea's dismantled nuclear testing site, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday, after a meeting with Kim Jong Un in which he said "significant progress" was made towards denuclearisation.

Pompeo met with the North Korean leader in Pyongyang on Sunday to rekindle stalled denuclearisation talks following a landmark summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump in Singapore.

"Chairman Kim said he's ready to allow them to come in" to see the dismantled Punggye-ri nuclear test site, Pompeo said.

North Korea took apart the Punggye-ri facility in the country's northeast in May but has yet to allow international observers into the site to verify its claims.

The facility, buried inside a mountain near the border with China, was the staging ground for all six of the North's nuclear tests.

The inspectors will be allowed in as soon as the two sides agree on "logistics", Pompeo told reporters in Seoul before leaving for Beijing on a whirlwind diplomatic trip.

Denuclearisation of North Korea is "a long process", Pompeo said, adding: "We made significant progress."

The visit was Pompeo's fourth to North Korea.

Trump met Kim in Singapore in June for the first-ever summit between the two countries, resulting in what critics say was only a vague commitment by the North Korean leader towards denuclearisation.

The two sides have since sparred over the exact terms of the vaguely-worded deal, with the US pushing for a "final, fully verified denuclearisation" of North Korea while Pyongyang has slammed Washington for its "gangster-like" demands for its unilateral disarmament. (AFP)
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Hello Jammu News at 2:16:00 PM 0

Washington, Oct 5: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo heads back this weekend to North Korea as the contours of a potentially historic deal begin to take shape, even if Kim Jong Un's regime publicly stays firm in demands.

The top US diplomat will pay his fourth visit this year to the onetime US pariah as he looks to arrange another summit between Kim and President Donald Trump, who has declared himself "in love" with the strongman.

Pompeo arrives Saturday in Japan, a treaty-bound US ally which has been privately uneasy about Trump's rapid reconciliation with the totalitarian state, before he meets Sunday in Pyongyang with Kim.

Just a year after Trump threatened to wipe out North Korea, Pompeo is hopeful that diplomacy can coax Kim to give up the regime's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

"This is a long-term problem. This has been outstanding for decades. We've made more progress than has been made in an awfully long time," Pompeo told reporters on Wednesday.

Pompeo has repeatedly declined to be drawn out publicly on the shape of an eventual agreement. The United States has called for a comprehensive accord and rigorous enforcement of sanctions on North Korea in the meantime.

South Korea -- whose left-leaning president, Moon Jae-in, helped pave the way for Trump's diplomacy and who will meet Pompeo in Seoul after he visits Pyongyang -- gave a preview of what a deal may look like.

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, in an interview with The Washington Post, said that the North could agree to dismantle Yongbyon, its signature nuclear site.

In exchange, the United States would declare a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War -- which closed with an armistice rather than a full-blown peace treaty -- but North Korea would stop short of delivering an exhaustive list of its nuclear facilities, she said.

Kang told the newspaper that the tradeoff would mark "a huge step forward in denuclearization." North Korea has publicly not budged on its positions. State media ahead of Pompeo's visit said a peace treaty "can never be a bargaining chip," saying an end to war "is not just a gift from one man to another."

Douglas Paal, a former senior US official on Asia policy, said the South Korean proposal could appeal to Trump, who has made clear his eagerness for a second summit soon with Kim.

"The package is something that Trump can announce after he lands in Pyongyang. That's my projected outcome at this point, although it has not been confirmed," said Paal, the vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Trump in June met Kim in Singapore in the first-ever summit between the countries. No sitting US president has visited North Korea, which according to human rights groups remains one of the most repressive countries on Earth.

Paal said Trump likely sensed political opportunity in a breakthrough with North Korea, with congressional elections seen as tough for his Republican Party due on November 6.

When the average US voter "no longer hears the president saying 'fire and fury' but hears him saying peace, they believe he has actually made progress towards it, even if arms control people say we've made no progress of a material nature at all," Paal said.

North Korea, ruled by three generations of Kims, has pursued both nuclear weapons and diplomacy with the United States for decades.

It reached an agreement in 1994 to freeze nuclear work in exchange for normalization with the president Bill Clinton's administration. The deal broke down a decade later, although George W. Bush also pursued talks late in his presidential term.

Pompeo closes his trip Monday in China, which is North Korea's political and economic lifeline.

The Beijing stop could be tense as it comes days after Vice President Mike Pence delivered a blistering speech accusing China of military aggression, commercial theft, rising human rights violations and electoral intervention against Trump. (AFP)
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Hello Jammu News at 1:50:00 PM 0

United Nations, Sep 15: The United States has called an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council for Monday in response to what it says are efforts by some countries "to undermine and obstruct" sanctions against North Korea.

The US Mission announced Friday evening that the meeting will "discuss the implementation and enforcement of UN sanctions on North Korea." 

The mission didn't name any countries, but US Ambassador Nikki Haley accused Russia on Thursday of pressuring an independent panel of UN experts to alter a report on North Korea sanctions that included alleged violations "implicating Russian actors." 

Haley said the panel should release the original report, which cited "a massive increase in illicit ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum products" for North Korea in violation of UN sanctions.

It said some products allegedly were off-loaded from Russian ships, which were identified in the report.

A summary of the experts report obtained in early August by The Associated Press also said North Korea has not stopped its nuclear and missile programs. And it said North Korea is violating sanctions by transferring coal at sea and flouting an arms embargo and financial sanctions.

The Security Council initially imposed sanctions on North Korea after its first nuclear test in 2006 and has made them tougher and tougher in response to further nuclear tests and an increasingly sophisticated ballistic missile program.

Haley said earlier this year that successively tough Security Council sanctions resolutions adopted unanimously had cut off all North Korean exports, 90 percent of its trade, and disbanded its pool of workers send abroad to earn hard currency.

Many diplomats and analysts credit the sanctions with helping promote the thaw in relations between North Korea and South Korea as well as the June meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at which they agreed to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

But in July, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused North Korea of "illegally smuggling" in refined petroleum products beyond the annual quota of 500,000 barrels allowed under U.N. sanctions.

US documents sent to the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions against North Korea and obtained by AP cited 89 instances between Jan 1 and May 30 in which North Korean tankers likely delivered refined products "illicitly procured" via transfers from other ships at sea.

The US said Russia and China both informed the sanctions committee that they were supplying refined products to North Korea. China, which is North Korea's closest ally, is responsible for more than 90 percent of the isolated country's trade.

Pompeo said North Korea is also evading sanctions by smuggling coal by sea and across borders, by using cyber thefts and other criminal activities, and by keeping workers in some countries that he didn't name.

All these activities are "generating significant revenues for the regime and they must be stopped," he said.

At the time, Haley criticized "some friends who want to go around the rules," and especially Russia and China for blocking the sanctions committee from demanding that all countries halt shipments of petroleum products to North Korea immediately.

After the experts' report was released in August, Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said he put a hold on its official release to all UN member nations "because we disagree with certain elements" that he refused to disclose.

Russia and China then blocked the UN from imposing sanctions on Russia-based entities and vessels sanctioned a week earlier by the US Treasury Department.

The Russian news agency TASS quoted Russia's UN Mission as saying the proposed sanctions were "unjustified." The Security Council has remained united in imposing tougher and tougher sanctions on North Korea, though the differences over the experts' report mark a serious dent in that unity.

UN diplomats familiar with discussions said Russia was angered that the panel used a lot of US intelligence in the initial report that Moscow claimed was incorrect. The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because talks were private.

Haley expressed disappointment in the panel "for caving to Russian pressure and making changes to what should have been an independent report." She called it "a stain" on the experts' important work. (AP)
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Hello Jammu News at 1:21:00 PM 0

Kaesong (North Korea), Sep 14: North and South Korea on Friday opened a joint liaison office in the Northern city of Kaesong as they knit closer ties ahead of President Moon Jae-in's visit to Pyongyang next week.

"A new chapter in history is open here today," South Korean unification minister Cho Myoung-gyon told a ceremony, according to a pool report. (AFP)
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Hello Jammu News at 2:31:00 PM 0

Washington, Sep 7: A computer programmer allegedly working for the North Korean government has been charged in the US with a series of massive cyberattacks around the world, including the WannaCry ransomware that infected computers in 150 countries and USD 81 million bank heist in Bangladesh.

In a criminal complaint filed on June 8 and made public for the first time Thursday, the Department of Justice alleged that the programmer, Park Jin Hyok, was part of "a wide-ranging multi-year conspiracy" led by the North Korean government and carried out multiple cyberattacks through a front organisation.

Park is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit computer fraud and abuse and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

The Justice Department alleged that Park was a member of a government-sponsored hacking team known to the private sector as the "Lazarus Group", and worked for North Korean government front company Chosun Expo Joint Venture (Korea Expo Joint Venture or KEJV) to support the North Korean government's "malicious" cyber actions.

Park, who is believed to be in North Korea, conspired to conduct a series of attacks including the creation of the malware used in the 2017 WannaCry 2.0 global ransomware attack; the 2016 theft of USD 81 million from Bangladesh Bank; the 2014 attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment and numerous other attacks or intrusions on entertainment, financial services, defence, technology and virtual currency industries.

The WannaCry ransomware virus infected computers in 150 countries and crippled parts of the British health care system.

As part of the cyber-heist in Bangladesh Bank, Park accessed the bank's computer terminals that interfaced with the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) communication system after compromising the bank's computer network with spear-phishing emails, then sent fraudulently authenticated SWIFT messages directing the Federal Reserve Bank of NY to transfer funds from Bangladesh to accounts in other Asian countries.

"The Conspiracy attempted to and did gain access to several other banks in various countries from 2015 through 2018 using similar methods and watering hole attacks, attempting the theft of at least USD 1 billion through such operations, the complaint said.

In addition to these criminal charges, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced that the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Park and KEJV under Executive Order 13722 based on the malicious cyber and cyber-enabled activity outlined in the criminal complaint.

"This group's actions are particularly egregious as they targeted public and private industries worldwide stealing millions of dollars, threatening to suppress free speech, and crippling hospital systems," FBI Director Christopher Wray said.

"The scale and scope of the cyber-crimes alleged by the complaint is staggering and offensive to all who respect the rule of law and the cyber norms accepted by responsible nations, said Assistant Attorney General Demers.

The FBI alleged that the North Korean government, through a state-sponsored group, robbed a central bank and citizens of other nations, retaliated against free speech in order to chill it half a world away, and created disruptive malware that indiscriminately affected victims in more than 150 other countries, causing hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars' worth of damage, Demers said. (PTI)
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Hello Jammu News at 5:19:00 PM 0

Seoul, Aug 18: North Korean state media blamed Donald Trump's political opponents for the "deadlock" over denuclearisation today, urging the US President to act boldly to make progress on the thorny issue.

Trump and the North's leader Kim Jong Un held a groundbreaking summit in Singapore in June, which the US leader touted as a historic breakthrough.

At the meeting the pair struck a vague agreement to denuclearise the Korean peninsula, but there has been little movement since.

Meanwhile the North has criticised Washington for its "gangster-like" and "unilateral" demands for the complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantling of Pyongyang's atomic arsenal.

On Saturday Rodong Sinmun, the North's most prominent daily, praised Trump for seeking to improve US-North Korea ties and achieve world peace, which it said would be the "feat of the century".

"However, he faces too many opponents," it said in a signed commentary.

The newspaper said Democrats and even some Republicans are hampering Trump's efforts for their own partisan interests while media hostile to Trump are undermining his policies.

It accused bureaucrats and Trump's aides of "speaking and moving in contradiction to the president's will" and "distorting facts and covering up his eyes and ears in order to mislead him to a wrong decision".

North Korea has demanded that America agree to declare an end to the 1950-53 Korean War, accusing the US of failing to reciprocate a series of its "goodwill measures".

These include ending its nuclear and missile testing, the destruction of a nuclear testing site and handing over the remains of US troops killed in the Korean War.

When Kim met South Korean President Moon Jae-in in April for their first summit, they agreed to push for a declaration of an end to the Korean War this year.

But US officials insist denuclearisation of the North should be realised before such an event takes place.

Trump's political opponents are "raising their voice, dismissing the Singapore joint statement and boycotting a declaration of an end to the war", Rodong Sinmun said.

"The current deadlock in the DPRK-US relations requires President Trump's bold decision," it added.

It also urged Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to brush aside speculation from opponents over the North's intentions.

Pompeo, who is preparing for his fourth visit to the North, said Thursday his team was "continuing to make progress" with the North, expressing hope that "we can make a big step here before too long". (AFP)
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Hello Jammu News at 11:52:00 AM 0

Seoul, Aug 13: North and South Korea will hold a summit in Pyongyang in September, the South's Yonhap news agency reported today as the two sides held high-level talks in the Demilitarized Zone that divides the peninsula.

Yonhap did not immediately cite a source for the information. If the South's President Moon Jae-in went to the North's capital it would be the first such trip for more than a decade. (AFP)
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Hello Jammu News at 1:12:00 PM 0

Washington, Jul 26: North Korea is still making nuclear material, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told lawmakers today, six weeks after President Donald Trump said the nuclear threat from Pyongyang was over.

"Yes, they continue to produce fissile material," Pompeo told senators during a closely watched appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12, where the US said Kim had agreed to totally get rid of his nuclear weapons.

After the historic summit, Trump tweeted that "there is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea," but in recent days he has faced criticism about the lack of clear progress towards denuclearization.

Pompeo insisted that "progress is happening" and that Trump is "upbeat about the prospects of North Korean denuclearization." The top US diplomat said Trump "would agree that the primary systems that have threatened America continue to exist."

"I think what his comment was that the tension had been greatly reduced," Pompeo said.

Still, he warned, Washington will not let nuclear negotiations with Pyongyang continue indefinitely.

"We are engaged in patient diplomacy, but we will not let this drag out to no end," Pompeo said.

Pompeo said he had emphasized this position during "productive" discussions he'd had with Kim Yong Chol, Kim's powerful right-hand man.

"Progress is happening. We need Chairman Kim Jong Un to follow through on his commitments made in Singapore." In a sign of potential progress, new satellite imagery shows that Kim has started dismantling a facility seen as a testing ground for intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Pompeo added that "every single nation" must maintain enforcement of US sanctions against North Korea.

China and Russia have argued that North Korea should be rewarded with the prospect of eased sanctions for opening up dialogue with the United States and halting missile tests.

When asked if North Korea is still advancing its nuclear program, Pompeo demurred.

"May I answer that question in a different setting?" he said, referring to a closed-door meeting with senators where classified information can be discussed. (AFP)
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Hello Jammu News at 12:39:00 PM 0
Washington, Jul 18: President Donald Trump said today there is no hurry to denuclearise North Korea under his accord with Kim Jong Un -- a shift in tone from when the US leader said the process would start very soon.

"Discussions are ongoing and they're going very, very well," Trump told reporters.

"We have no time limit. We have no speed limit." Trump said he discussed North Korea with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday at their summit in Helsinki.

"President Putin is going to be involved in the sense that he is with us," Trump said.

The Republican president met with Kim on June 12 for an unprecedented summit in Singapore during which the North Korean leader pledged to work toward denuclearization of the peninsula.

But the accord did not spell out a timetable for the process or say how it would be carried out. Diplomats are now expected to hammer out the details.

More than a month later, no concrete progress has been reported and North Korea has complained the Americans are making unilateral demands.

Before the Singapore summit, the Trump administration said denuclearisation should start "without delay," and after the meeting, it spoke of the process beginning "very quickly."

A day after the meeting, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the bulk of North Korea's denuclearization should be completed by the end of Trump's term in 2020.

The White House has hailed the summit between Kim and Trump in Singapore as a major breakthrough toward disarming the isolated, nuclear-armed North in exchange for easing of sanctions and other help with economic development.

Pompeo met with Kim's key aide this month during his latest trip to Pyongyang but as soon as he left, the North's foreign ministry berated him over his "unilateral and gangster-like" demands.

Trump last week signaled optimism however, unveiling a letter from Kim in which the young leader hailed the "start of a meaningful journey" and tweeting "Great progress being made!" (AFP)
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Hello Jammu News at 12:58:00 PM 0


Pyongyang, Jul 6 (AFP) US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Pyongyang today for talks on North Korea's nuclear arsenal.

Pompeo, who has been tasked with fleshing out the details of an agreement signed by Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un in Singapore, was greeted by Kim's right hand man Kim Yong Chol and Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, pool reports said. (AFP) AMS

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Hello Jammu News at 2:16:00 PM 0
Seoul, Jun 27 : North Korea is carrying out rapid improvements to its nuclear research facility, a monitor said today, despite declaring a commitment to denuclearisation of the peninsula at the Singapore summit.

The nuclear-armed North's leader Kim Jong Un promised to "work toward" the goal at a landmark summit in the city-state earlier this month with US President Donald Trump.

But the Singapore meeting failed to clearly define denuclearisation or produce a specific timeline towards dismantling the North's atomic weapons arsenal.

Trump claimed the process would start quickly, saying last week that "It will be a total denuclearisation, which is already taking place." But recent satellite imagery showed that not only were operations continuing at present at the North's main Yongbyon nuclear site, it was also carrying out infrastructure works, said the respected 38 North website.

"Commercial satellite imagery from June 21 indicates that improvements to the infrastructure at... Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center are continuing at a rapid pace," it said.

It noted "continued operations" at the North's uranium enrichment plant and several new installations at the site -- including an engineering office and a driveway to a building housing a nuclear reactor.

But continued operations at the site "should not be seen as having any relationship with North Korea's pledge to denuclearise", it added.

Nuclear officials could be "expected to proceed with business as usual until specific orders are issued from Pyongyang", it said.

The North last month blew up its aged but only nuclear test site at Punggye-ri -- where it had staged six atomic tests -- in a show of goodwill before the summit.

But Pyongyang has kept its counsel on the denuclearisation issue since the meeting, although state media have dialled down propaganda against the US, long dubbed the "imperialist enemy." US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been pushing for more follow-up talks to flesh out details over denuclearisation but no date has been set for when they would take place.    AFP
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Hello Jammu News at 6:17:00 PM 0
Seoul, Jun 26 : North and South Korea held talks today on connecting the railways that run across their border, a physical link that would transform the relationship between the two sides of the divided peninsula.

The discussions, the first on the issue for 10 years, took place in the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone that divides the two countries.

The two sides agreed to conduct a joint-study "at an early date" on modernising the railways that run through their border, Yonhap reported the South's Unification Ministry as saying.

A rail line already exists from Seoul to Pyongyang and on to Sinuiju on the Chinese border, originally built by Japan in the early 20th century, long before the Korean War and decades of division.

Linking the two systems -- and modernising the North's ageing rail infrastructure -- would give trade-dependent South Korea a land route to the markets of China, Russia and on to Europe.

But doing so would represent a fundamental change on the peninsula: there has been no direct civilian communication between the two Koreas since their division was sealed by the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War - not even post.

Despite the diplomatic warming on the peninsula, with summits between the North's leader Kim Jong Un and both the South's President Moon Jae-in and Donald Trump of the US, Pyongyang remains under heavy sanctions over its nuclear and missile programmes.

Any practical steps would only become possible after such measures are eased, South Korea's chief delegate Kim Jeong-ryeol acknowledged as he set off for the meeting.

"But we can thoroughly research and study various projects we can pursue after the sanctions are lifted," he added.

During an earlier period of rapprochement, the South built a gleaming station at Dorasan, just south of the Demilitarized Zone, with platforms marked for non-existent services to the North's capital.

On the eastern side of the peninsula, railways could connect South Korea's port city of Busan to Europe via the North and Russia.

Kim and Moon agreed to "adopt practical steps towards the connection" of the railways at their first summit in April.

Moon has also shared his vision of linking the inter-Korean lines to trans-Siberian railways, offering a route to Europe, saying it would bring "huge economic benefits" to Seoul and Pyongyang as well as Russia.

But freedom of movement for North Korean civilians could threaten the grip on power of the ruling Workers' Party, which imposes tight controls on the population.

The rapprochement on the Korean peninsula was triggered earlier this year when Kim decided to send athletes, cheerleaders and his sister as an envoy to the Winter Olympics in the South.     AFP

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Hello Jammu News at 1:23:00 PM 0

Beijing, Jun 20 : North Korean leader Kim Jong Un thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping for his support in last week's groundbreaking summit with President Donald Trump, the North's official media reported today.

Kim is in Beijing on his third visit to China this year, underscoring the major improvement in relations between the communist neighbors.

A report by the Korean Central News Agency said Kim expressed his gratitude to Xi in a meeting on Tuesday, during which Xi "gave high appreciation and extended heartfelt congratulations" to Kim over the summit.

KCNA said that during a banquet hosted by Xi, Kim also said Pyongyang and Beijing are seeing their ties develop into "unprecedentedly special relations." At the summit with Trump in Singapore, Kim pledged to work toward denuclearization in exchange for U.S. security guarantees. The US and South Korea suspended a major joint military exercise that was planned in August in what was seen as a major victory for North Korea and its chief allies, China and Russia.

There was no official word on Kim's activities on Wednesday, although South Korea's Yonhap news agency said his motorcade was seen at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing.

China has pressed North Korea to adopt economic reforms and has touted the prospects of increased trade and investment if Pyongyang makes progress in talks on abandoning its nuclear weapons and long-range missile programs.

That could allow the lifting of U.N. Security Council economic sanctions that have brought about a plunge in the North's foreign trade, although the U.S. insists easing of sanctions can only come after Pyongyang shows it has ended its nuclear programs. The U.S. says China is in agreement on that point, although Chinese officials have repeatedly stated that sanctions should not be considered an end to their own.

Chinese media reported that in the Tuesday talks, Xi told Kim that he hopes Pyongyang and Washington can fully implement the summit outcomes and that China would "as always play a constructive role" in that process.

The U.S. has long looked to China to use its influence with North Korea to bring it to negotiations, but the visit comes as ties between Beijing and Washington are being tested by a major trade dispute.

Kim is expected to return to Pyongyang today. (AFP) CPS
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Hello Jammu News at 5:13:00 PM 0

Singapore, Jun 12: Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un signed a "very comprehensive" document after their historic summit today, with the US president saying that the process of denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula will begin "very soon" and the North Korean leader promising to leave the past behind.
The two leaders had a one-on-one meeting, with translators only, followed by an expanded meeting including their top aides and a working lunch at Capella Singapore hotel in Sentosa Island after months of diplomatic twists and turns.
"We're signing a very comprehensive document, and we've had a really great time together, a great relationship," Trump said while signing the document along with Kim in the presence of media at the end of the summit - the first between a sitting US president and North Korea's top leader.
It was unclear what the document was about but Trump said the public will find out soon.
In response to a question about denuclearisation, Trump said, "We're starting that process... very quickly." 
"We have decided to leave the past behind," Kim said through a translator, at the signing table. "The world will see a major change," he added.
Trump said he was very proud of what took place today and the two leaders would "take care of a very dangerous problem for the world." 
The 71-year-old Trump said the summit worked out far better than expected and he's developed a "very special bond" with 34-year-old Kim.
"We'll meet again, we'll meet many times," said Trump when asked whether the two leaders will meet again. 
He said Kim is "a very talented man" who "loves his country very much".
Trump said he "absolutely" will invite Kim to the White House.
As they exited the room, Trump and Kim patted each other on the back. 
Earlier, the summit began with the two leaders meeting at the luxurious hotel. 
They walked towards each other, stood face to face for the first time and shared a 12-second handshake against a backdrop of American and North Korean flags. They then appeared to share a few light-hearted words as they walked down a corridor to the hotel's library.
Trump and Kim are the first leaders of their respective countries to meet, marking the culmination of months of diplomatic wrangling and negotiations.
In brief remarks to the media before the start of their meeting, Trump hoped that the historic summit would be "tremendously successful." 
Kim then said there were a number of "obstacles" to the meeting taking place in Singapore today.
"We overcame all of them and we are here today," he told reporters through a translator. Trump responded, "Thank you very much".
The two leaders held one-on-one meeting for around 45-minutes with just translators present.
According to North Korean media, Kim actually arrived at the venue 7 minutes earlier than Trump to show respect as it's cultural, the young one should arrive earlier than the elder one. The red tie that Trump wears may also show some respect to Kim as well, it's the colour that North Koreans like.
Later, they held delegation-level talks.
Kim was asked at least three times if he would give up his nuclear weapons. In response, he just smiled.
"There will be challenges ahead but we will work with Trump. We overcame all kinds of skepticism and speculations about this summit and I believe that this is good for the peace," Kim said.
After the delegation-level meeting, Trump joined Kim for a working lunch which had a mix of Western and Asian dishes, such as Korean stuffed cucumber and beef short rib confit with some Haagen-Dazs ice cream to top things off.
As the two men entered the room, photographs were taken, with Trump joking about wanting to get a "beautiful picture" in which he looked good.
The two leaders then took a post-lunch stroll in the courtyard of the hotel.
On the eve of the summit at Sentosa, the US had offered "unique" security guarantees to North Korea in return for a "complete, verifiable and irreversible" denuclearisation.
Sentosa is a popular tourist island a few hundred metres off the main island of Singapore.
The US insists it will accept nothing less than complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. (PTI)
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Hello Jammu News at 6:56:00 AM 0


Washington, May 29 : President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed today that it is "imperative" to completely dismantle North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile program, the White House said.

During a telephone call, the pair "discussed recent developments in North Korea and confirmed they would meet again to continue close coordination in advance of the expected meeting between the United States and North Korea," a statement read.

"The president and prime minister affirmed the shared imperative of achieving the complete and permanent dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and ballistic missile programs." (AFP) CK

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Hello Jammu News at 3:09:00 PM 0

Seoul, May 16: North Korea has threatened to pull out of a summit with US President Donald Trump if Washington pressures it to give up its nuclear programme.
North Korea's vice-foreign minister Gwan Kim Kye made this statement hours after North Korea abruptly canceled a high-level meeting with South Korea. He threatened to do the same with the planned summit between leader Kim Jong Un and President Trump next month.
The highly anticipated meeting between the leaders is due to take place on June 12, BBC reported.
The North Korea's vice-Foreign Minister accused the US of making reckless statements and of harbouring sinister intentions. He points the finger squarely at US National Security Adviser John Bolton.
"We do not hide our feeling of repugnance towards him," said Kim Kye-gwan.
The groundbreaking agreement for Mr Kim and Mr Trump to meet came about as North Korea said it was committed to denuclearising the Korean peninsula.
Exactly what that would entail has remained unclear, but North Korea has invited foreign media to witness the dismantling of its main nuclear test site later this month. UNI
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Hello Jammu News at 7:47:00 PM 0

SEOUL, May 15: North Korea will invite South Korean reporters from one news agency and from one television broadcaster to observe the dismantling of a nuclear test site between May 23 and May 25, South Korea's Ministry of Unification said on Tuesday.
The South Korean reporters will be allowed in to North Korea on a flight from Beijing, with other foreign media covering the event, on May 22.
They will then go by train to the nuclear site, then return on May 26 or May 27, the South Korean ministry said in a statement, citing a North Korean notice.
North Korea has said it will dismantle its nuclear test site between May 23 and May 25, to uphold its pledge to discontinue nuclear tests, its state media reported on Saturday, a month ahead of a planned North Korea-U.S. summit in Singapore. REUTERS
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