US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday he expected “bumpy” talks ahead with North Korea but that he still hoped to reach a potentially landmark denuclearization deal. US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un cut short a summit in February in Hanoi, with Pyongyang later blaming Pompeo for pushing a […]
North Korea
Japan drops ‘maximum pressure’ approach to North Korea relations
Japan on Tuesday dropped the push to apply “maximum pressure” on North Korea from its official foreign policy, an apparent softening of Tokyo’s position as major powers engage with Pyongyang. In last year’s “Diplomatic Bluebook,” published when tensions on the Korean peninsula were soaring, Japan said it was coordinating efforts with its allies to “maximize […]
North Korea demands Pompeo’s removal from US nuclear talks
North Korea on Thursday demanded the removal of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo from talks over its banned nuclear programme, hours after the isolated state claimed to have tested a new kind of weapon. Describing Pompeo as “reckless” and immature, the foreign ministry said it wanted him replaced by another interlocutor, a demand that […]
Cheap solar panels power consumer appliance boom in North Korea
Years after they first appeared in North Korea, increasingly cheap and available solar panels are giving a boost to consumer consumption and industry as Pyongyang tries to limit the impact of tough international sanctions. Electricity shortages have been a perennial concern for North Korea, and leader Kim Jong Un has called for greater use of […]
Japan will not submit motion against North Korea in UN
On Wednesday, Japan said that it will not submit a motion against the human rights record of North Korea at a United Nation Panel. This decision was made first time in more than a decade.This verdict came after Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe explored ways to indulge North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in an effort […]
North Korea gets illegal oil, enlists Syria arms broker: UN report
North Korea has resorted to a “massive increase” of illegal ship-to-ship transfers of oil products at sea to evade UN sanctions and enlisted a Syrian arms broker to sell weapons to Yemen and Libya, a UN report said Friday. In a 62-page report sent to the Security Council, the UN panel of experts also listed […]
N. Korea developing new missiles: report
US intelligence agencies have found that North Korea is building new missiles, based on satellite photographs taken in recent weeks and other new evidence, The Washington Post reported Monday. Just weeks after a high-stakes summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Pyongyang appears to be developing at least one or […]
Pompeo preaches prosperity to North Korea, via Vietnam
POOL/AFP / Andrew HarnikSecretary of State Mike Pompeo took to the streets of the Vietnamese capital Hanoi to draw attention to the relative prosperity he says it enjoys as a new friend of the United States Washington’s top diplomat Mike Pompeo was addressing Vietnamese business leaders but his real audience was not in the Hanoi […]
Pompeo in Pyongyang to seek concrete nuclear commitments
POOL/AFP / Andrew Harnik Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was ensconced in an elegant Pyongyang guest house for a second day of talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s right-hand man Kim Yong Chol Washington’s top diplomat embarked on an intense day of negotiations with his North Korean counterpart Saturday as he strives to […]
US envoy Pompeo to return to North Korea this week
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo heads back to North Korea this week to flesh out the bare bones nuclear agreement between President Donald Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un. Pompeo will leave Washington on Thursday for Pyongyang at the start of a round-the-world diplomatic mission that will bring him to Brussels and a key […]