A meeting attended by a senior North Korea diplomat, former US officials and academics from South Korea and the US is set to kick off Tuesday in Finland, which could mark a chance to explore the North’s sincerity about its denuclearization pledges and talks with the US. 　Choe Kang-il, deputy director general for North American affairs at North Korea’s Foreign Ministry, arrived in Helsinki, Finland, to attend a dinner with the Finnish government on Monday and a two-day meeting with former US offi

South Korea’s top diplomat said that she is confident of Washington’s commitment to the alliance and the troop presence in the country during an interview with a US media outlet aired Sunday, as the allies seek to boost coordination amid a diplomatic opening with North Korea. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” that US President Donald Trump’s apparent threat to remove US troops from South Korea over a trade dispute “raises eyebrows,” but the country remains “abso

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha left for Washington on Thursday to meet US officials for discussions on North Korean issues as Washington and Pyongyang prepare for a historic summit in May. 　Kang plans to meet acting Secretary of State John Sullivan, Ivanka Trump, senior adviser to her father President Donald Trump, and key congressional leaders including Paul Ryan, speaker of the House of Representatives, in Washington, according to the Foreign Ministry. 　They are expected to discuss recent dev

US President Donald Trump’s decision to tap a hard-liner as his new secretary of state ahead of a historic US-North Korea summit hints at serious intentions for the talks, and his determination to tighten his grip over North Korea policy, experts say.　The decision to pick Mike Pompeo, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, who has been loyal to Trump, could boost US-North Korea talks, they say. But concerns also persist that there is now no one left in Washington to challenge Trump’s decis

US President Donald Trump has accepted an invitation to sit down with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un by May for talks to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, but their different understandings of “denuclearization” stand as a major stumbling block to the possibly history-making talks. Despite growing hopes that the breakthrough between North Korea and the US could tackle the nuclear standoff, skepticism also lingers over whether the summit between Trump and Kim can be held and if so whether it wo

The question of who in Washington will take the lead in preparing for proposed talks between North Korea and the US is gaining attention as concerns grow over a lack of seasoned diplomats in Washington familiar with North Korea.US President Donald Trump accepted an invitation on Friday to meet North Korean leader Kim Jung-un for talks on denuclearization by May in what appears to be a breakthrough after months of insults, threats and hostility between the leaders. With the Trump administration a

With US President Donald Trump appearing ready to engage with North Korea, questions are rising over what prompted the North Korean leader to offer conditions sufficient to warrant such a reaction from the US leader. 　On Friday, the White House confirmed that Trump will meet North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un by May to achieve denuclearization, suggesting that Seoul’s envoys conveyed conditions satisfactory to the US leader. 　Trump, who once called Kim a “little rocket man” and threatened to rain

After North Korea said it was willing to discuss denuclearization with the US, both hope and skepticism are growing over a potential diplomatic breakthrough between Washington and Pyongyang. 　US President Donald Trump hailed the North’s offer to denuclearize as “very positive” and “sincere.” He also said in the Oval Office it would be “a great thing” for the world, North Korea and the peninsula, adding he will “see what happens.”　In what many see as an unexpectedly bold move, North Korean leader

The key achievement of President Moon Jae-in’s envoys to North Korea is that the two Koreas laid the groundwork for easing of tensions on the Korean Peninsula and opened a possibility for talks between the reclusive regime and the US to tackle the nuclear deadlock, experts said Tuesday. South Korea and North Korea have agreed to hold an inter-Korean summit at the Peace House in Panmunjeom at the end of April, Moon’s top security adviser said Tuesday, following a two-day trip to Pyongyang as Moon

In Korea, spring always comes with an unwelcome guest -- fine dust -- and it has become a norm to check the fine dust level every morning, put on a mask and bear with it. But that does not have be a norm. South Korean people hold the key to challenging the status quo by pressuring the government and businesses, said Marco Lambertini, director general of World Wide Fund for Nature. Marco Lambertini, director general of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)“Negative changes can be reversed. We decide t

South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s special envoys to North Korea have no plans to discuss the release of South Koreans and Americans detained in the communist state just yet, the presidential office said Monday.“I cannot be 100 percent certain that the matter will not be discussed, but it is not an agenda item (for the special envoys to North Korea,)” an official from the presidential office told reporters on condition of anonymity. “The core of preliminary talks between North Korea and the US

With South Korean President Moon Jae-in planning to send a special envoy to North Korea on Monday, the delegation’s pressing task will be convincing Pyongyang to put its nuclear weapons programs on the negotiating table to open talks with the US, experts say.　The presidential office said Sunday that Moon would send a five-member delegation led by Chung Eui-yong, head of the National Security Office, to North Korea. The delegation includes the National Intelligence Service’s chief Suh Hoon and Vi

The right condition for the US to engage in dialogue with North Korea is Pyongyang showing willingness to give up its nuclear weapons programs, the acting US ambassador in South Korea said Wednesday. Despite the retirement of Joseph Yun, US special representative for North Korea policy, there is no shift in the US’ North Korea policy that talks with Pyongyang are possible on the condition of denuclearization, Marc Knapper, charge d‘affaires at the US Embassy in Seoul, told reporters. Marc Knappe

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha on Monday called on North Korea to abandon its nuclear and missile programs and improve human rights of its people in her keynote speech to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. Kang also raised the issue of Japan’s sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II, saying a controversial 2015 deal between Korea and Japan on “comfort women” lacked a “victim-oriented approach.”“North Korea must heed the call of the international commu

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said that the US should lower the bar for talks with North Korea and dialogue between the two countries should begin soon, a day after a top North Korean official said that Pyongyang is willing to hold talks with WashingtonIvanka Trump, US President Donald Trump’s daughter and senior White House adviser, and Kim Yong-chol of the North Korean delegation attend the closing ceremony of the PyeongChang Olympics on Sunday. (Reuters-Yonhap)“The US should lower its ba

North Korea has “ample intentions” to hold talks with the US, a senior North Korean official leading the North Korean delegation to the closing ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics told President Moon Jae-in, according to Cheong Wa Dae on Sunday. Moon had held an hourlong meeting with Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party Central Committee, in PyeongChang ahead of the closing ceremony of the Olympics, according to the presidential office. “President Moon poin

The 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics were marked by not only hard-fought competition for medals, but also fierce diplomatic efforts on the sidelines of the sporting event, intent to pave the way for peace on the Korean Peninsula. 　With nuclear-armed North Korea’s participation, the Olympics left behind a legacy of peace and reconciliation for the world after a year of tensions heightened by North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests. 　The momentum for peace began building after North Korean leader

Speculations mounted Sunday over possible interaction between officials from the US and North Korea on the sidelines of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, as North Korea’s delegation includes a specialist on US-North Korea relations. Led by Kim Yong-chul, vice chairman of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party Central Committee, the eight-member delegation crossed the inter-Korean border on Sunday to attend the closing ceremony of the Olympics. The North’s delegation includes Choe Kang-il, deputy dir

The Trump administration is hitting more than 50 vessels, shipping companies and trade businesses with sanctions in the latest bid to turn up the pressure on North Korea over its nuclear program, according to a senior administration official. US President Donald Trump (Yonhap)President Donald Trump is set to announce the action Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, followed by a public announcement from the Treasury Department. The official says Trump will call it "the largest-

Ivanka Trump, US President Donald Trump’s daughter and a senior adviser to the White House, began her four-day visit to South Korea on Friday as the head of the US delegation to the closing ceremony of the PyeongChang Olympics, at which North Korean officials will also be present.  　Ivanka Trump, US President Donald Trump's daughter and senior adviser to the White House, shakes hands with President Moon Jae-in at the presidential office, Friday. (Yonhap)Trump said that her trip was aimed at reaf