Tag: South Korea

S.Korea’s Moon still hopes to host Kim this year

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un could still visit Seoul for the first time in the next few weeks, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday, describing the possible trip as a major boost in efforts to make the peninsula nuclear-free. Moon and Kim have met three times in 2018 amid warming ties between the two Koreas, with Seoul hoping to host a first-ever visit by Kim to the South […]

Trump to grant Kim Jong Un’s wishes after denuclearisation: S. Korea president

HONG KONG, China (AFP) — US President Donald Trump will grant North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un his wishes if he delivers on denuclearisation, the South Korean president said Sunday, following talks on the sidelines of the G20 summit. As officials work to arrange a second meeting between Trump and Kim, South Korea’s Moon Jae-in relayed a message to reporters given to him by the US president to pass on to the North’s leader. “And […]

Two Koreas start landmark journey for railway reconnection

by Park Chan-kyong Agence France Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — A South Korean train crossed into North Korea on Friday for the first time in a decade — packed with engineers on a mission to upgrade the North’s dilapidated rail tracks and create a linked, cross-border network. Connecting up the railway systems was one of the agreements made earlier this year in a key meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the […]

S. Korean president’s approval below 50% in poll first

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s approval rating has dipped below 50 percent for the first time, a poll showed Thursday, as economic hardship bites and concerns rise over a rapid drive toward reconciliation with the North. Moon’s popularity hovered near 80 percent in May — an all-time high for any South Korean president at the end of their first year in office — in the wake of a landmark summit […]

S. Korea successfully tests space rocket engine

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea on Wednesday successfully conducted a rocket engine test launch, news reports said, paving the way for the development of its own space launch vehicle. A liquid-fuel engine successfully propelled a single-stage rocket weighing 52 tonnes and measuring 25.8 meters (84.6 feet) long, from the Naro Space Center on the southern coast, Yonhap news agency said. The engine, designed and developed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI ) […]

US bombers no longer flying over Korean peninsula: US general

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US bombers are no longer conducting flights over South Korea after Seoul asked for such missions to be paused, a US general said Monday. General Charles Brown, who heads US Pacific Air Forces, told Pentagon reporters that the break was to help create space for ongoing diplomatic efforts to address North Korea’s nuclear activities. “As we’re going through the diplomatic aspect, we don’t want to actually do something that’s going […]

Two Koreas connect DMZ road across border: Seoul

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North and South Korea have connected a road across their shared border for the first time in 14 years, Seoul’s defense ministry said Thursday in the latest reconciliation gesture between the neighbors. The dirt road, which is wholly within the Demilitarized Zone that divides the peninsula, will be used for joint operations next year to recover remains from the 1950-53 Korean War. The 12-meter-wide construction of the route in Cheorwon, […]

US, South Korea scale back military exercise

by Sylvie LANTEAUME Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States and South Korea have scaled down a joint military exercise scheduled for the spring of 2019 to facilitate nuclear talks with North Korea, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Wednesday. “Foal Eagle is being reorganized a bit to keep it at a level that will not be harmful to diplomacy,” Mattis said, adding that it would be “reduced in scope.” US […]

Interpol picks South Korean as president as Russia loses out

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — Interpol named South Korea’s Kim Jong-yang as its new president on Wednesday, in a blow to Russia which denounced “unprecedented pressure” against its own candidate to lead the global policing body. There had been growing Western calls for Interpol to reject Alexander Prokopchuk — a Russian interior ministry official and current Interpol vice president — over fears Moscow could abuse the role to target political opponents US-backed Kim, Interpol’s […]

S.Korea says too early to restart industrial zone with North

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea said Thursday it would not restart an industrial zone with North Korea until its neighbor moves to give up nuclear weapons, although it voiced hope for progress. Cho Myoung-gyon, the South’s unification minister, said Seoul was abiding by international sanctions on Pyongyang despite President Moon Jae-in’s calls for a step-by-step easing of pressure. “One thing I would like to highlight here is that we are not going to […]

Mushrooms and tangerines: North and South Korea swap food gifts

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea has sent 200 tonnes of tangerines to the North in return for mushrooms Pyongyang gave earlier, Seoul said Monday, in the latest reconciliatory gesture between the neighbors. Seoul is pushing ahead with a rapprochement with the nuclear-armed North while its security ally the US insists pressure on Pyongyang should be maintained until it denuclearizes. The tangerines — a rarity in the North — were being airlifted to Pyongyang […]