The US envoy for North Korea will meet his South Korean counterpart in Seoul on Saturday for a briefing on the results of his visit to the communist state for preparations for a second summit between Washington and Pyongyang slated for late this month.US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun plans to hold talks with Lee Do-hoon, Seoul's top nuclear envoy, in the morning after paying a brief courtesy call on Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha. US Special Representative for North Kore

Two US lawmakers have urged Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to seek a longer-term cost-sharing agreement for the stationing of American troops in South Korea.In a letter dated Wednesday, Reps. Grace Meng and Norma Torres said a one-year deal does not sufficiently reflect the importance of the US alliance with South Korea. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (left) looks on as US President Donald J. Trump (right) launches the White House global women initiative by signing a national security memoran

US and North Korean negotiators concluded their talks in Pyongyang, agreeing to meet again before the second bilateral summit slated for later this month, the State Department said Friday.US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun was in the North Korean capital from Wednesday through Friday for pre-summit talks with his counterpart, Kim Hyok-chol. US and North Korean flags are on display for sale at a flag shop in Hanoi, Vietnam. With the next meeting between US President Donald T

South Korea will ink a provisional agreement with the US for the cost of maintaining US troops here Sunday, wrapping up nearly yearlong negotiations, according to a source Friday. Under the deal, Seoul will pay about 1.03 trillion won ($916.3 million) for costs related to the stationing of 28,500 members of the US Armed Forces in Korea for 2019. The contract is valid only for this year per Washington’s request for annual renewal of the agreement. Chang Won-sam (Left), South Korea`s negotiator in

The US envoy for North Korea held the second day of talks in Pyongyang on Thursday to finalize details of a summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, scheduled to take place in three weeks.  US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun continued working-level negotiations with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Hyok-chol, after arriving in the North Korean capital on Wednesday morning via plane from the US air base in Osan, Gyeonggi Province. US Spe

Over 1,500 people gathered in Seoul on Jan. 25 to celebrate Australia’s national day with an event hosted by the Australian Embassy in South Korea with a theme in recognition of the Australian Open.The annual tennis tournament inspired fans here and abroad alike last year with the memorable sporting achievement made by Korean semifinalist Cheong Hyun.  Australian Ambassador to South Korea James Choi plays an exhibition on a custom-built mini-tennis court during the 2019 Australian Day event, hel

It is a great pleasure to usher in the Year of the Golden Pig, a joyous occasion that also marks the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Denmark and Korea. And although the diplomatic ties were established in March 11, 1959, the friendly relations between our countries go even further back to 1902, when the Empire of Chosun and the Kingdom of Denmark concluded the “Friendship, Trade, and Sea-trade Treaty.” In more modern years, we can also look back to 1951 when Denmark sent the hos

US President Donald Trump reaffirmed his commitment to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and confirmed the second summit between Pyongyang and Washington will take place in Vietnam on Feb. 27 and 28 during his State of the Union address Wednesday. “As part of a bold new diplomacy, we continue our historic push for peace on the Korean Peninsula,” he said during the speech, which focused on the country’s foreign policy and economic status. US President Donald Trump makes a comment during hi

South Korea’s foreign minister said Thursday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is expected to take concrete steps toward denuclearization in order to keep his pledges concerning economic development, as the leaders of both the US and the North express optimism about their upcoming summit. Closing the Yongbyon nuclear complex and dismantling key missile facilities in the presence of foreign inspectors are measures that Pyongyang might suggest during a second summit between US President Donald

North Korea may not be ready to bring its intercontinental ballistic missiles and the idea of transferring its nuclear arsenal to China to the negotiating table as bargaining chips in talks with the US, analysts here said Thursday. “Moving ICBMs out of North Korea is what the US has been demanding but there’s no evidence that the North has accepted the proposal,” Handong University professor Park Won-gon said. Washington’s simultaneous incentives and building of mutual trust must first take plac

South Korea’s struggle to reach an agreement with the US for the cost of maintaining US troops here intensified when the gap between the total amount of Seoul’s contributions demanded by the US and that which Seoul was able to accept, as well as differences over the contract period, widened in December as a result of instructions from the very top in Washington, sources said Wednesday. Through a diplomatic channel, the US demanded in late December that South Korea pay $1.2 billion for costs rela

The Foreign Ministry confirmed Tuesday that the US ambassador to South Korea visited Cheong Wa Dae last month, but declined to comment on a news report that the top envoy’s visit was designed to pressure Seoul to pay more for the US troops stationed here. “Our government is making efforts to reach a reasonable agreement, mutually acceptable, as early as possible on the basis of mutual respect and understanding (with the US ally),” ministry spokesperson Noh Kyu-duk said at a regular press briefin

Gangwon Province Gov. Choi Moon-Soon said Tuesday that North Korea will get sanctions relief for the resumption of two key inter-Korean economic projects -- the Kaesong industrial complex and Kumgangsan tours -- as its nuclear talks with the US are making progress. “After the Olympics, I visited North Korea three times, and I’m quite convinced now that North Korea will become a sole and successful case of denuclearization in the world,” he told reporters during a press conference in Seoul.  Choi

US President Donald Trump identified his nuclear talks with North Korea as among his greatest achievements in the first half of his first term, amid hopes for substantial results from the second summit between Pyongyang and Washington next month. In the “historic results of President Donald Trump’s first two years in office,” issued by the White House on Sunday, the US administration said he brought the beginning of peace and denuclearization to the Korean Peninsula by holding a historic summit

US President Donald Trump said Saturday that the US and North Korea have made progress in their denuclearization talks, while officials from the two countries have begun negotiations to craft details of agreement for a second summit next month.“We have made a lot of progress as far as denuclearization is concerned and we’re talking about a lot of different things,” Trump said after a 90 minute meeting with North Korean nuclear envoy Kim Yong-chol at the White House on Friday.  (Yonhap)Trump said

Working-level officials from South Korea and the US agreed on Thursday that a sanctions exemption was needed to enable the two Koreas to carry out joint projects and said they would ask the United Nations Security Council to waive related restrictions. According to the Foreign Ministry, the two countries reached consensus during a videoconference that it was necessary to bring electronic devices into North Korea for two inter-Korean projects -- surveys to prepare for the reconnection of cross-bo

North Korea’s chief negotiator in US-North Korea talks, Kim Yong-chol, is expected to deliver a letter to US President Donald Trump during his visit to Washington this weekend, according to media reports Thursday. Kim, vice chairman of the ruling Workers’ Party Central Committee, is expected to arrive in the US capital on Thursday. He will meet Trump at the White House, following a meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday. North Korean senior official Kim Yong-chol (Yonhap)The se

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-hwa reaffirmed Wednesday that the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is a shared goal of South Korea and the US, stressing close cooperation between the two countries. “Denuclearization talks will begin in earnest based on strategies that have been mediated between South Korea and the US. … I expect there will be great progress in denuclearization, inter-Korean relations and lasting peace settlement if a second North Korea-US summit and North Korean lea

The Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that South Korean and US officials are poised to hold working-level talks via video conferencing. “South Korea and the US are closely coordinating for the next working group video conference,” Noh Kyu-duk, the ministry’s spokesman, told a regular press briefing.Officials will discuss matters relating to North Korea and its nuclear program, although the schedule remains under discussion, he said. Lee Dong-yeol, director-general for the Korean Peninsula Peace regi

North Korea cannot afford to be slapped with additional international sanctions over the development of nuclear weapons, experts here said Tuesday, following a media report that the country might have produced material for more atomic bombs in 2018. Citing satellite-imagery analysis and leaked US intelligence, Bloomberg on Monday reported that Pyongyang has been strengthening its nuclear arsenal by churning out rockets and warheads as well as adding several intercontinental ballistic missiles an