by Jung Ha-won Agence France-Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea staged a military parade in Pyongyang Thursday to mark the 70th anniversary of its armed forces, putting its intercontinental ballistic missiles on a show just a day before the Winter Olympics open in the South. The nuclear-armed North is on an Olympics-linked charm offensive — sending a troupe of performers, hundreds of female cheerleaders, and the sister of leader Kim Jong Un to […]
Tag: Kim Jong Un
Putin praises ‘mature politician’ Kim Jong-Un
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday praised North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Un as a “mature politician” with a formidable arsenal, but also urged him to defuse international tensions over Pyongyang’s controversial nuclear program. Kim, 34, has been locked in an increasingly bitter standoff with US President Donald Trump, with the pair trading threats of war and personal insults. However, there have been signs of a potential cooling after Pyongyang this month […]
Trump cryptic about contacts with N. Korea’s Kim
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump on Thursday suggested he could have a good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, but refused to say if the two had spoken. “I probably have a very good relationship with Kim Jong-Un,” Trump told the Wall Street Journal in an interview. “I have relationships with people. I think you people are surprised.” The paper reported that Trump would not be drawn on whether contacts […]
N. Korea must stop nuclear testing before any talks with US: Haley
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — North Korea must stop conducting nuclear tests before the United States would enter into any talks with the isolated Pyongyang regime, US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Sunday. “They have to stop testing. They have to be willing to talk about banning their nuclear weapons. Those things have to happen,” she said Sunday, one day after President Donald Trump indicated he would be open to speaking directly […]
Trump says he is willing to talk with North Korean leader
by Saul Loeb Agence France Presse CAMP DAVID, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump said Saturday he would be willing to speak directly with Kim Jong-Un, voicing hope that rare talks between North and South Korea could help deescalate the crisis over Pyongyang’s nuclear drive. Trump’s remarks were a further pivot from his often-bellicose rhetoric on North Korea and Kim, with whom he has engaged in a war of words that raised […]
Trump calls talks between North and South Korea ‘a good thing’
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump said Thursday that high-level talks set for next week between North and South Korea are “a good thing,” while also seemingly taking credit for them. “With all of the failed ‘experts’ weighing in, does anybody really believe that talks and dialogue would be going on between North and South Korea right now if I wasn’t firm, strong and willing to commit our total ‘might’ against the […]
Updated: Pyongyang to reopen “very significant” inter-Korean hotline after Seoul proposes talks
by Hwang Sunghee Agence France Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea said Wednesday it will reopen a hotline with the South to discuss attending the Winter Olympics, forging ahead with peace overtures despite taunts from US President Donald Trump who said he has a “much bigger” nuclear button than Kim Jong-Un. The hotline, which was cut by the North in 2016, is to be restored at 0630 GMT after Seoul proposed high-level […]
Trump to Kim: My nuke button ‘bigger,’ as talks dismissed
by Issam AHMED Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump warned Kim Jong-Un Tuesday he has a “much bigger” nuclear button than the North Korean leader, as Washington dismissed the prospect of high-level talks between Pyongyang and Seoul. Trump launched the highly personal missive on Twitter hours after his ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley described proposed dialogue between the two Koreas as a “band-aid” and said Washington would never […]
South Korea proposes high-level talks with North
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) – South Korea Tuesday proposed holding high-level talks with Pyongyang on January 9, after the North’s leader Kim Jong-Un called for a breakthrough in relations and said Pyongyang might attend the Winter Olympics. Kim used his annual New Year address to underscore Pyongyang’s claim that it has developed a weapons deterrent and warn that he had a “nuclear button” on hand, but sweetened his remarks by expressing an interest in dialogue and participating […]
Kim vows North will mass-produce nukes but open to talks with Seoul
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un warned the United States Monday he has a “nuclear button” on his table but offered an apparent olive branch to South Korea in a New Year message, saying he was prepared for talks and may send a team to the Winter Olympics there. Kim struck a generally defiant note after a year of rising tensions marked by the North’s multiple missile launches and its […]
China rejects Trump accusation on N. Korea sanction breaches
BEIJING, China (AFP) – China on Friday rejected accusations that it had helped Pyongyang skirt sanctions after US President Donald Trump claimed on Twitter that Beijing was turning a blind eye to oil transfers to North Korea. Trump’s tweet was the latest salvo in his battle to persuade China to tighten the economic screws on Pyongyang over its missile and nuclear programmed, in a campaign that has seen him heap both praise and criticism on Beijing. “Caught […]
US sanctions two N. Koreans over ballistic missile program
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States sanctioned two North Korean officials on Tuesday over the development of ballistic missiles, as Russia and America’s top diplomats held talks on Pyongyang’s nuclear program. Tensions have escalated after the isolated but nuclear-armed regime staged a series of atomic and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests, most recently on November 28. US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un have also traded personal insults. “Treasury is […]





