Seoul, South Korea | AFP | South Korea played down a report Tuesday that the North’s leader Kim Jong Un was being treated after surgery, as speculation mounted over his absence from a key anniversary. Pyongyang marked the birthday of its late founder, Kim’s grandfather Kim Il Sung, on …
Read More »Donald Trump steps into North Korea, in historic first
Panmunjom, South Korea | AFP | Donald Trump stepped onto North Korean soil Sunday as he met Pyongyang’s leader Kim Jong Un in the Demilitarized Zone dividing the peninsula, in a symbolic diplomatic spectacle and a first for any American president. After shaking hands with Kim over the line …
Read More »Xi makes his day: Kim boosted by China talks, say analysts
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korean leader Kim Jong Un came away from his fourth meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping with his hand strengthened in nuclear talks with the US, analysts say, even as Seoul urged him to do more. Beijing is Pyongyang’s sole major ally and …
Read More »N. Korea’s Kim vows more summits with South next year: Seoul
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to meet the South’s President Moon Jae-in “frequently” next year to discuss denuclearisation of the peninsula in a rare letter sent to Seoul, Moon’s office said Sunday. The leader of the isolated North met with Moon three …
Read More »Two Koreas start landmark journey for railway reconnection
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | A train carrying South Korean engineers and officials crossed into the North on Friday to begin a landmark joint survey to reconnect railway tracks between the two Koreas. Linking up the railway systems was one of the agreements made earlier this year in a key …
Read More »S.Korea says too early to restart industrial zone with North
Washington, United States | AFP | South Korea said Thursday it would not restart an industrial zone with North Korea until its neighbor moves to give up nuclear weapons, although it voiced hope for progress. Cho Myoung-gyon, the South’s unification minister, said Seoul was abiding by international sanctions on Pyongyang …
Read More »Samsung Electronics posts record in Q3 despite smartphone struggles
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | Samsung Electronics on Wednesday posted record quarterly operating and net profits for the July-September period as solid demand for its memory chips cushioned the fallout from slowing smartphone sales — but warned of tougher times ahead. The South Korean tech giant — the world’s …
Read More »Top S. Korea court orders Japanese firm to pay for forced labour
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | South Korea’s top court on Tuesday ordered a Japanese steel giant to pay compensation over forced wartime labour, a decision likely to further strain ties between the two neighbours. South Korea and Japan are both democracies and US allies faced with an increasingly assertive …
Read More »Pope ready to visit Pyongyang if invited: S.Korea’s Moon
Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis is ready to visit North Korea if its leader Kim Jong Un extends a formal invitation, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Thursday after meeting the pontiff. Moon briefed the pontiff about his visit to Pyongyang in September when Kim …
Read More »After Obama, a Nobel prize for Trump — or not so fast?
Washington, United States | AFP | A decade after Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize, could his White House successor Donald Trump follow suit for navigating the thorny North Korean nuclear standoff? The very idea, put forward by a handful of Republican lawmakers in a Wednesday letter nominating the …
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