Tag: Nuclear

N. Korea urges Trump to be ‘bold’ on denuclearization

  SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean state media blamed Donald Trump’s political opponents for the “deadlock” over denuclearization on Saturday, 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 denuclearize the Korean peninsula, […]

US: N. Korea talks moving ‘in right direction’

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – US talks with North Korea on denuclearization are making progress “in the right direction,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Tuesday. Nauert said behind-the-scenes discussions with Pyongyang have normalized in the wake of President Donald Trump’s June summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and subsequent meetings between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other top Pyongyang officials. “We consider meetings, negotiations, conversations as we move forward behind […]

North Korea will preserve know-how despite denuclearization: FM

  TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — North Korea will preserve its nuclear know-how despite its promise of denuclearization to the United States, Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said during a visit to Tehran, Iranian media reported on Thursday. Despite the agreement to denuclearize the Korean peninsula struck during a landmark summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and US President Donald Trump, “we preserve our nuclear science as we know that the Americans will not abandon their […]

Russia, China block US bid to slap N.Korea sanctions

by Carole Landry Agence France Presse Russia and China on Thursday blocked a US request to add a Russian bank to a UN sanctions blacklist along with a North Korean official and two entities, diplomats said. The United States last week asked a UN sanctions committee to slap an assets freeze on Agrosoyuz Commercial Bank for allegedly helping North Korea evade UN-imposed restrictions on financial transactions. The request also targeted Ri Jong Won, the deputy […]

Japan marks 73rd anniversary of atomic attack on Hiroshima

TOKYO, Japan (AFP)–A bell tolled Monday in Hiroshima as Japan marked 73 years since the world’s first atomic bombing, with the city’s mayor warning that rising nationalism worldwide threatened peace. The skies over Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park were clear, just as they were on August 6, 1945, when an American B-29 bomber dropped its deadly payload on the port city dotted with military installations, ultimately killing 140,000 people. Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui, standing at the […]

North Korea has not stopped nuclear, missile programs: UN report

  by Carole Landry Agence France Presse North Korea has pressed ahead with its nuclear and missile programs and continues to evade UN sanctions through increased illegal ship-to-ship transfers of oil products at sea, a UN report said Friday. In a 62-page report sent to the Security Council, the UN panel of experts also listed violations of a ban on North Korean exports of coal, iron, seafood and other products that generate millions of dollars […]

UN moves to unblock humanitarian aid to North Korea

  by Carole Landry Agence France-Presse UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — The UN Security Council is poised to back a US proposal aimed at removing some of the hurdles that tough sanctions on North Korea have thrown up in the way of delivering humanitarian aid, according to documents obtained by AFP. North Korea’s humanitarian crisis has left about 10 million people — nearly half of the population – undernourished, according to UN officials, who have […]

UN chief to discuss North Korea in Japan

  UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is expected to discuss the North Korea crisis with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during his visit to Japan next week, a UN spokeswoman said Tuesday. Guterres will be in Tokyo for talks with Abe on August 8, before traveling to Nagasaki to attend the annual peace ceremony the following day. The meeting comes amid reports that Abe is seeking a meeting with North Korean […]

Trump praises rapport with Kim, hails dismantling of N.Korea site

  by with Thomas Watkins in Washington Agence France Presse KANSAS CITY, United States (AFP) — Praising his “good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday welcomed reports that Pyongyang has started dismantling a facility seen as a testing ground for intercontinental ballistic missiles. New satellite imagery shows “that North Korea has begun the process of dismantling a key missile site, and we appreciate that,” Trump said at […]

N. Korea begins dismantling rocket test site: analysts

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – North Korea appears to have started dismantling key facilities at a rocket-engine test center, a group of experts said Monday, potentially marking a significant step after last month’s summit between Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump. According to the respected 38 North group, commercial satellite imagery of the Sohae satellite launching station indicates Pyongyang has begun taking down a processing building and a rocket-engine test stand that had […]

Japan reopens beaches hit by 2011 nuclear, tsunami disaster

TOKYO, Japan (AFP)  — Japan has reopened three beaches in regions devastated by the 2011 tsunami and resulting Fukushima nuclear disaster after years of reconstruction efforts, officials said Monday. Local officials in Fukushima said they hoped the opening of the Haragamaobama beach would help change perceptions of the region, which has become inextricably linked with the 2011 disaster. One of the reopened waterfronts is Haragamaobama beach in Fukushima prefecture, about 40 kilometres north of the […]

Trump says Iran in turmoil since US withdrew from nuke deal

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump asserted Monday that Iran was being roiled by nationwide riots since he pulled out of an international nuclear deal and that Washington supports the protesters. Trump, interviewed after his summit in Helsinki with President Vladimir Putin, said that Russia still supported the nuclear accord because it does business with the regime in Tehran, so the deal is in Moscow’s interest. “It is not good for us […]