Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Northern Economic Cooperation will visit North Korea’s port city of Rason and attend a seminar hosted by Russia, Seoul’s Ministry of Unification said Wednesday. The Unification Ministry greenlighted an 11-member delegation, including the committee’s Chairman Song Young-gil, to visit North Korea on Friday and Saturday. Song Young-gil, Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Northern Economic Cooperation (left) shakes hands with Russian President Vladimi

With representatives of South Korean broadcaster JTBC beginning their trip to North Korea on Monday to discuss possible establishment of a Pyongyang bureau, speculations are rampant on how both sides will reach a consensus, with the existing gap on the role of the media. Last week, the South’s Ministry of Unification approved JTBC’s application to send an eight-person team to North Korea from Monday to Thursday to discuss cooperation on the media sector and the possible launch of a Pyongyang bur

In line with the 20th anniversary of Astana as its capital, Kazakhstan took a step forward in becoming a key hub for Islamic and Silk Road finance with the official launch of the Astana International Financial Center. The AIFC was inaugurated Thursday with the blessings of the country’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev at the international Expo venue, where the center is to operate. “Astana should become the main financial center of the Central Asian region and in the future be included in the lis

Even as North Korea engages in diplomacy with the US for denuclearization, US intelligence officials have spotted evidence that points to the communist nation’s unwillingness to fully dismantle its nuclear program while concealing key parts, the Washington Post said Sunday. The assessment contradicts US President Donald Trump’s remarks that “there is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea,” following a landmark summit with the North’s leader Kim Jong-un on June 12 in Singapore.  Satellite i

With the two Koreas having confirmed a slew of plans for cross-border sports exchange last month, July is to see many of the plans materializing. Inter-Korean basketball games this week at the North’s capital of Pyongyang will kick off a series of sport exchanges, signaling the beginning of a summer filled with South-North friendlies and joint teams.  The two Koreas play against each other at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. (Yonhap)Four basketball games will be held over the course of

With the world’s attention focused on North Korea’s denuclearization, concerns are mounting that the country’s human rights abuses could be overlooked. The summit agreement reached between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on June 12 did not include clauses on improving the much-criticized human rights conditions in North Korea. The same goes for the result of the inter-Korean summit in April. Trump even publically downplayed the issue when pressed by Fox News about N

South and North Korea agreed Tuesday to conduct a joint study on modernizing the railways that run through their borders “at an early date.”The joint study will start first on the northern part of the Seoul-Sinuiju western railways from July 24 and then on the railways running along the eastern region of the Korean Peninsula, according to the unification ministry. The agreements were reached after the two Koreas held working-level talks on the southern side of the truce village of Panmunjom to d

The two Koreas agreed, as result of their Red Cross talks held Friday, to hold the long-stalled reunion of the Korean War-separated families next month, marking the first of such case since October 2015.The event will be held from Aug. 20-26 at Mt. Kumgang on the North's east coast, with 100 members of families attending from each side, according to officials."The South and the North agreed to hold a reunion of separated families at Mount Kumgang, marking the Aug. 15 Liberati

The release of six South Korean detainees in North Korea is unlikely to be discussed at Friday’s inter-Korean Red Cross talks, as the reunion of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War is set to be at the top of the agenda. Friday’s talks are expected to address a clause inked in the agreement reached at the summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on April 27, when both vowed “to swiftly resolve the humanitarian issues that resulted from the div

North Korea could start the process of returning the remains of missing troops from the 1950-53 Korean War to the US within the next few days, media reports said Wednesday, a move which could be taken as an indication that the reclusive nation is serious about improving ties with the US. The news comes nearly a week after US President Donald Trump said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un recommitted to recovering and repatriating the remains of those declared missing in action, through a joint state

Amid a thaw on the Korean Peninsula, the US State Department reiterated its “close contact” with South Korea in coordinating the allies’ engagement with North Korea, Voice of America reported Tuesday.  North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (left) and South Korean President Moon Jae-in (right). (Yonhap)“We remain in close contact with the ROK to coordinate our DPRK engagement,” an unnamed state department official told VOA when asked about the two Koreas’ recent decision to hold a cross-border basketba

South Korea’s Ministry of Unification on Tuesday said that reunion of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War will be top of the agenda for the Red Cross talks scheduled this Friday. It is also expected to exchange delegation rosters with North Korea ahead of the talks, which will be held at the North’s Kumgangsan, a ministry official said. The official told The Korea Herald that rosters are likely to be exchanged by Wednesday.  South Korean Red Cross employees answer phone calls at the Kor

South Korean officials and private businesses visited North Korea on Tuesday to prepare for the renovation of key facilities for the opening of a joint liaison office in the North’s border city of Kaesong.  Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung (center) answers reporters at the South and North Korean customs, immigration and quarantine office, June 8, before leaving for Kaesong to inspect facilities for a planned inter-Korean liaison office. (Yonhap)Setting up a joint liaison office was an agr

US President Donald Trump on Friday hinted that he would personally talk to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Sunday (US time) via direct phone call, but questions remain on whether the exchange will be made in such a manner. “I‘m going to be actually calling North Korea,” Trump told Fox News in an interview when asked what he planned to do on Father’s Day, without elaborating who he would be speaking to. The US president also said during an impromptu news conference at the White House that he

With the two Koreas set to hold talks on sports Monday, expectations are growing that cross-border sports exchanges would lead to improved inter-Korean ties. Plans surrounding the joint entrance and teams for the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games in August are expected to be discussed, as South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed to jointly participate in the games during the inter-Korean summit on April 27. (Yonhap)“Sports diplomacy” has often been successfu

The US hinted at adopting a “front-loaded” model in the early stage of North Korea’s denuclearization at the recent US-North Korea summit, a think tank affiliated with the South Korean spy agency said Thursday, which requires the North to swiftly transfer all its nuclear arsenal to the US. US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reached an agreement on the North’s denuclearization at Tuesday’s historic summit in Singapore, in which Kim pledged to work toward denuclearizatio

The agreement reached between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore is receiving mixed reactions, but Pyongyang sees it as a win. North Korea’s state media outlets, the Korean Central News Agency and Rodong Sinmun, each reported the results of the summit on Wednesday, including the full text of the agreement. Rodong Sinmun dedicated four pages of its Wednesday edition to the summit, including 33 color photos.  North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (left) and US Pre

The United States and North Korea on Tuesday said they would commit to establishing new bilateral ties, feeding hopes for the normalization of US-North Korea diplomatic relations, but experts noted there is still a long road ahead. After their face-to-face summit in Singapore, US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced a joint statement in which the leaders committed to establishing new bilateral relations and making joint efforts to build a “lasting and stable” peac

North Korea’s state media have been delivering swift updates of Kim Jong-un’s itinerary in Singapore, which experts and officials have noted as “unusual,” yet “strategic.” The North’s Korean Central News Agency on Tuesday reported that Kim took a surprise overnight tour of Singapore and learned about “social and economic development, merely hours after the North Korean leader wrapped-up the tour. The Rodong Sinmun, the North Korean ruling party’s official newspaper, also reported on the tour. (K

The first session of the summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was joined by only the two leaders’ respective translators, but they were joined by their aides at the expanded bilateral meeting. (Yonhap)Trump was flanked by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, chief of staff John Kelly and national security adviser John Bolton, as previously announced by the White House. Sitting across the table from the US team were North Korean leader Kim, Kim Yong-chol, fir