South Korea’s national security adviser Chung Eui-yong returned home Friday after wrapping up his first meeting with US counterpart John Bolton, describing it as “conducive” amid preparations for separate US and South Korean summits with North Korea. 　During a meeting with reporters at Incheon Airport, Chung said he and Bolton reaffirmed that there is “no difference” between Seoul and Washington in achieving denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and making the upcoming summits a success. 　“I

　South Korea’s Defense Minister is scheduled to visit the United Arab Emirates next week in a bid to boost bilateral ties in the military procurement following the summit last month, Seoul’s Defense Ministry said Thursday. 　The Ministry of National Defense confirmed that Defense Minister Song Young-moo will visit the UAE April 15- April 18. The trip is aimed at following up on the agreement made during President Moon Jae-in’s recent visit to the UAE, where the two sides agreed to move the bilate

 　Research institute 38 North announced that it would continue delivering analysis on North Korea despite the imminent closure of its parent institution following the South Korean government’s decision to terminate its funding.　In a statement posted Wednesday on its website, 38 North founder Joel Wit said the research institute would continue its operations even after the planned closure of the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.  　“Without commenting on

With US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un officially announcing their first meeting, the focus is now on where would be the ideal place to convene the historic summit to resolve the decades-old nuclear crisis. 　In a cabinet meeting on Monday in Washington, Trump said he plans to meet Kim next month or in early June to discuss the denuclearization of North Korea. The North’s state-run media reported Tuesday that Kim made the first official mention of the summit during his

　South Korea’s presidential office said on Sunday it is not considering dismissing the head of the country’s financial watchdog amid the criticism that Financial Supervisory Service chief Kim Ki-sik spent taxpayer money on his business trip abroad while serving as a lawmaker three years ago. 　Cheong Wa Dae also denied the allegation it exercised influence over the Korea Institute for International Economics‘ termination of funding for the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University. Kim was o

 　The United States and North Korea have kicked off their working-level discussions for their first summit amid speculation that the two countries’ spy chiefs are leading diplomatic efforts to resolve the decadesold nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula. 　Citing several officials from the Trump administration, CNN reported Saturday that the United States and North Korea have been holding secret, direct talks using intelligence backchannels between the two countries’ top intelligence agencies. 　L

In March 2010, the South Korean Navy ship Cheonan sank in the West Sea just south of the de facto maritime border with North Korea near Baengnyeong Island. Of the 104 South Korean sailors on board, 46 were killed or remain missing. 　A multinational investigation team led by the South Korean military later concluded that the warship was sunk by a North Korean torpedo fired from a midget submarine. North Korea denied its involvement while controversy over the cause of the sinking roiled South Kore

　Ever since North Korea rattled the international community with nuclear and missile programs in the late 1990s, there have been two competing approaches to addressing Pyongyang’s relentless pursuit of nuclear ambition: incremental implementation and comprehensive denuclearization. 　While the previous negotiations took an “incremental approach” in which North Korea made limited nuclear concessions in return for limited benefits from the US, the Trump administration denounces it as a delaying tac

　South Korea and China on Friday agreed to bolster bilateral economic and environmental ties amid lingering concerns the latest China-North Korea summit could complicate the upcoming inter-Korean and US-North Korea summits. 　During his meeting with President Moon Jae-in, Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi pledged to work with South Korea in addressing health threats posed by fine dust after a rare acknowledgement that the issue is attributed to air pollution from China. 　The Chinese official al

　North Korea had floated the idea to the United States of building a neutral state on the Korean Peninsula when the communist state witnessed the late 1980s detente that led to the collapse of the Cold War, according to South Korea‘s diplomatic document revealed Friday. 　Released to the public by the Foreign Ministry, the document said North Korea asked former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev to deliver such proposals to then-US President Ronald Reagan during their summit in 1987.  　Titl

Following its first public debut of F-35A fighter jets, South Korea kick-started its efforts to deploy the fifth-generation stealth fighters amid growing uncertainty over the security landscape ahead of its summit with North Korea. US aerospace giant Lockheed Martin unveiled its first batch of F-35A fighter jets to be delivered to South Korea on Wednesday in Fort Worth, Texas, USA. The event was celebrated by the allies’ senior acquisition and defense officials, including South Korea’s Vice Defe

Following a monthslong investigation into the crash of an aircraft participating in an international air show in Singapore in February, the Air Force announced Wednesday the accident was caused by a pilot error during preparation for take-off. According to the Air Force, the pilot from the Black Eagles aerobatic team failed to abide by the emergency procedure when the T-50 Golden Eagle aircraft skidded off the runway at Changi Airport during the 2018 Singapore Airshow on Feb. 6. The Air Force sa

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reaffirmed his willingness to abandon nuclear weapons and hold a summit with the United States during his first meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Beijing’s state news agency Xinhua said Wednesday. “It is our consistent stand to be committed to denuclearization on the peninsula, in accordance with the will of late President Kim Il-sung and late General Secretary Kim Jong-il,” Kim said, referring to his father and grandfather.“The issue of denuclearization of

　Since the end of the Cold War in the 1990s, the United States has struck various types of nuclear deals with countries seeking to develop their own nuclear weapons. 　The most well-known examples are negotiations with Iran and Libya. The former is the latest country with which the US signed a nuclear-freeze deal -- though it is being criticized as a “failure” by President Trump -- while the latter is touted as a shining example for denuclearization by hard-liners in the Trump administration 　Wit

Expectations are growing over South Korean K-pop artists’ performances in Pyongyang next month, with a South Korean art troupe scheduled to stage a joint performance with their North Korean counterparts. 　South Korean K-pop artists and other celebrated singers will hold a joint concert with the North Korean artists on April 3 -- two days after the South Korean art troupe is to stage its own performance in Pyongyang, according to a presidential protocol aide. 　Under the working title of “Spring C

Since the Syngman Rhee administration in 1950, the South Korean government has had the authority to issue a decree and mobilize the armed forces in order to maintain public order in the event of disasters and emergencies. 　But the “garrison decree” has often been criticized as an excuse to suppress democratic protests, such as during the authoritarian administration of the 1970s. The late President Park Chung-hee mobilized troops several times to crack down on anti-government protestors. 　Now th

Despite high hopes for the historic summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, their first-ever encounter carries the risks of ending in failure and bringing tension back to the Korean Peninsula, a prominent US security scholar warned. 　John Mearsheimer, a professor at the University of Chicago, said there is a chance that the Trump-Kim summit may not materialize, or if the talks fail, the two counties could return to the level of animosity of last year.  　“It’s not

The South Korean military and US Pentagon on Tuesday issued differing statements regarding the duration of their upcoming joint military exercises, raising suspicions of an attempt by Seoul to contain possible fallout from the resumption of the drills.　According to the Ministry of National Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff, the postponed joint military exercises will start on April 1, with the field-training Foal Eagle exercise that is to be halved in length from two months to one followed about

A postponed South Korea-US joint military exercise will resume April 1, South Korean and the US militaries said Tuesday, with its field-training Foal Eagle to be halved in length from two months to one.South Korea’s Defense Minster Song Young-moo and his US counterpart Jim Mattis decided to resume the annual computer-simulated Key Resolve exercise and field training Foal Eagle exercise, according to Seoul’s Defense Ministry and US-led Combined Forces Command. South Korea`s President Moon Jae-in

A timetable for the postponed South Korea-US joint military drills is to be announced Tuesday, the allies’ militaries said Monday, amid speculations that the scope of the annual exercise may be scaled down due to a diplomatic breakthrough with North Korea. 　According to South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense and US-led Combined Forces Command, the resumption of the computer-simulated Key Resolve and field training Foal Eagle drills will be announced late Tuesday morning. 　“As far as I know,