Tag: North Korea

Asia markets rise as Seoul, won extend gains after Moon-Kim talks

HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong led a rally across most Asian markets on Monday as traders brushed off a slowdown in the US economy, while the boost from last week’s historic North-South Korea summit continues to support Seoul and the won. While figures on Friday showed growth in the world’s top economy slowed in January-March, tech firms on Wall Street won support after healthy earnings from Amazon, Microsoft, and Intel. The positive lead […]

China’s foreign minister to visit N. Korea this week

BEIJING, China (AFP) –Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit North Korea this week, his office said Monday, days after the leaders of the two Koreas held a landmark summit. Wang will be in the neighboring country at the invitation of his North Korean counterpart on Wednesday and Thursday, the foreign ministry said in a brief statement. He will be the first Chinese foreign minister to visit the North since 2007, a lapse that highlights […]

N. Korea offers to shut nuclear test site in May, invite US experts

by Jung Hawon with Mandel Ngan in Washington, Michigan Agence France Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea has promised to shut its atomic test site within weeks and invite American weapons experts to verify its closure, Seoul reported Sunday, as new US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington had an “obligation” to pursue peace. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un — who may meet US President Donald Trump as early as next […]

N. Korea to rejoin South’s time zone in conciliatory gesture

  SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he would move the country’s clocks 30 minutes forward to unify with the South’s time zone as a conciliatory gesture after Friday’s inter-Korean summit, Seoul said Sunday. The two countries on the divided peninsula have had different time zones since 2015 when the North suddenly changed its standard time to 30 minutes behind the South. Pyongyang cited a nationalistic rationale, saying it would […]

N. Korea offers to shut nuclear test site in May, invite US experts

    by Jung Hawon / With Mandel Egan in Washington, Michigan © Agence France-Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea promised to close its atomic test site next month and invite US weapons experts to the country, Seoul said Sunday, as Donald Trump expressed optimism about securing a nuclear deal in his summit with the secretive regime. The reported pledge from the North’s leader Kim Jong Un follows weeks of whirlwind diplomacy that saw […]

Things ‘going very well,’ Trump says after talk with S.Korea’s Moon on details of Kim meeting

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump said Saturday that “things are going very well” after talking with South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in about an upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. “Just had a long and very good talk with President Moon of South Korea. Things are going very well, time and location of meeting with North Korea is being set,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Also spoke to Prime […]

N. Korea says ‘historic meeting’ opens ‘new era for peace’

  SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — The inter-Korean summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the South’s President Moon Jae-in was a “historic meeting” that paved the way for the start of a new era, Pyongyang’s state media said Saturday. The official KCNA news agency said it was a “historic meeting that has opened a new era for national reconciliation and unity, peace and prosperity”, and carried the text of the leaders’ Panmunjom […]

Watch: N.Korea’s Kim and S. Korea’s Moon step over demarcation line in historic peace moves

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOmN8C1RcXc   In this video, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stepped over the Military Demarcation Line to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in the South side after a “historic handshake” that signaled the start of warmer relations between the two Koreas. At the Military Demarcation Line that delineates the border, Moon asked him: “While you come to the South, when can I possibly go over there?” After stepping over the line and becoming the […]

Japan’s Abe hails Korea summit, seeks ‘concrete action’

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe welcomed a historic summit between the two Koreas on Friday, urging Pyongyang to take “concrete action” on the peninsula’s denuclearisation and other issues. “Today President Moon Jae-in and Chairman Kim Jong Un held earnest discussions about North Korea’s denuclearization. I want to welcome that as a positive move toward comprehensive resolution of various issues concerning North Korea,” Abe told reporters in Tokyo. “We strongly hope that […]

Just in: Kremlin praises Korea summit as ‘very positive news’

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia on Friday praised a landmark summit between the leaders of the two Koreas as “very positive news”, saying direct dialogue on the divided peninsula was promising. “This is very positive news,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “Today we see that this direct dialogue has taken place (and) it has certain prospects,” he said.

Kremlin praises Korea summit as ‘very positive news’

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia on Friday praised a landmark summit between the leaders of the two Koreas as “very positive news”, saying direct dialogue on the divided peninsula was promising. “This is very positive news,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman told reporters after the leaders of North and South Korea held a historic meeting at the border separating the two countries. “Today we see that this direct dialogue has taken place (and) it has certain prospects,” […]

N. Korea vows to ensure implementation of peace deal, as Kim and Moon agree to denuclearize

  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un promised to ensure that the agreement reached with the South’s Moon Jae-in at a summit Friday would be implemented, unlike previous pledges. The two Koreas will closely co-ordinate to ensure they did not “repeat the unfortunate history in which past inter-Korea agreements…fizzled out after beginning,” Kim said after a summit with the South’s President Moon Jae-in. “There may be backlash, hardship and frustration on our way,” he added, […]