South Korea's President Moon Jae-in (R) and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (2nd R) walking together after their summit at the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas, on May 26, 2018. (Photo: AFP/handout) "I truly believe North Korea has brilliant potential and will be a great economic and financial Nation one day," Trump said on Twitter. "Kim Jong Un agrees with me on this. It will happen!," the president said, confirming that a US team "has arrived in North Korea to make arrangements for the summit" between himself and North Korean leader Kim. His upbeat language contrasted sharply to that of only three days earlier, when Trump cancelled the planned summit, citing "open hostility" from the North. An extraordinary flurry of diplomacy since then - much of it led by South Korea - appears to have put the meeting back on track. Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in met on Saturday at the Panmunjom border truce village, in a surprise bid … [Read more...] about Trump sees ‘brilliant potential’ for North Korea as summit prep continues
Conflict north korea
European stocks fall on North Korea, new Trump trade worries
Stock markets fell on Thursday (May 24), hit by the decision by US President Donald Trump to call off a planned summit with North Korea, as well as concerns over a new transatlantic trade conflict as the US mulls tariffs on car imports. Logo of the London Stock Exchange While share prices in Frankfurt and Paris had been higher on bargain-hunting earlier in the day, markets ended the day in the red, pulled down by a weaker showing on Wall Street. London ended the session 0.9 per cent lower, Paris slipped by 0.3 per cent and Frankfurt shed 0.9 per cent. In New York, the benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.8 per cent after Trump informed Kim Jong Un he was cancelling their nuclear summit next month in Singapore, blaming "anger" and "hostility" from the North Korean regime for the spectacular collapse of the historic event. The region's bourses had already fallen heavily on Wednesday after Trump said he was not satisfied with talks aimed at averting a trade war with … [Read more...] about European stocks fall on North Korea, new Trump trade worries
North Korea casts doubt on Trump summit, cancels talks with Seoul
North Korea casts doubt on Trump summit, cancels talks with Seoul, Mandel Ngan/AFP/KCNA via KNS North Korea on Wednesday (May 16) called into question a much-anticipated and unprecedented summit between its leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump set for next month. Pyongyang also cancelled high-level talks due on Wednesday with Seoul over the Max Thunder joint military exercises being held between the United States and South Korea, denouncing the drills as a "rude and wicked provocation". "There is a limit to the amount of goodwill and chances we can give," the North's official news agency KCNA said. The drills between the two allies' air forces were a rehearsal for invasion and "a deliberate military provocation" at a time when inter-Korean relations were warming, it added. "The US will have to think twice about the fate of the DPRK-US summit," KCNA said, referring to the North by its official acronym. Washington said it will continue to plan the meeting in Singapore on … [Read more...] about North Korea casts doubt on Trump summit, cancels talks with Seoul
North Korea denies it hacked UN sanctions commitee database
North Korea on Wednesday (May 2) denied hacking the database of a UN committee tasked with monitoring sanctions against Pyongyang, and called on Washington to focus on peace efforts ahead of a planned summit between the countries' leaders. South Korean soldiers dismantle loudspeakers that were set up for propaganda broadcasts near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas in Paju on May 1, 2018, as hopes grow for a peace settlement AFP/KIM HONG-JI In a statement, the North Korean mission at the UN said Pyongyang "has never recognised the illegal and unlawful Security Council's 'sanctions resolutions'" and "is not interested in what the Sanctions Committee does", adding the idea that it had carried out a hacking operation was "nonsense". "The US and hostile forces should squarely recognize the trend of the times and make efforts to do the work helpful to detente and (the) peace process on the Korean peninsula rather than manipulating plots with that hacking … [Read more...] about North Korea denies it hacked UN sanctions commitee database
North Korea tells US it is prepared to discuss denuclearization: source
North Korea has told the United States for the first time that it is prepared to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula when North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets President Donald Trump, a U.S. official said on Sunday. U.S. and North Korean officials have held secret contacts recently in which Pyongyang directly confirmed its willingness to hold the unprecedented summit, the official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. The communications, still at a preliminary stage, have involved State Department officials talking to North Korea apparently through its United Nations mission, and intelligence officers from both sides using a separate backchannel, the official said. Until now, Washington had relied mostly on ally South Korea’s assurance of Kim’s intentions. South Korean envoys visited Washington last month to convey Kim’s invitation to meet. Trump, who has exchanged bellicose threats with Kim in the past year, surprised the world by quickly … [Read more...] about North Korea tells US it is prepared to discuss denuclearization: source