North - South Korea

US military blocks proposed railway linking North & South Korea

US military officials have put the brakes on a proposed rail project that would connect the Korean Peninsula, underscoring growing differences between Washington and Seoul on engagement with the hermit kingdom.

The governments of the two estranged nations were set to begin preliminary plans for the rail link last week, but their application to send a train from Seoul across the length of North Korea was denied by the US-led United Nations Command. The multinational military body, which traces its roots back to the Korean War, controls movement across the demilitarized zone which separates North and South Korea.

The decision is the latest illustration of Washington’s hardline approach to dealing with Pyongyang. The US has demanded full denuclearization as a prerequisite to any economic cooperation with North Korea, while Seoul has taken a less extreme stance, favoring constructive engagement with its northern neighbor. South Korean President Moon Jae-in had expressed hope that the rail link would be completed by the end of the year.

Moon has invested considerable political capital into improving inter-Korean relations and has signaled his desire for large-scale investment in North Korea once sanctions are lifted.

Russia blocks UN Security Council report on North Korea

Russia has decided to halt discussions of a United Nations Security Council report on North Korea, due to disagreement on some of its points and concern over parts of it being leaked before publication, Moscow's UN envoy has said.

Russia has blocked the upcoming report of the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea (the 1718 Committee) on the implementation of sanctions against North Korea and its nuclear program, demanding that it be amended.

"The discussion was vivid... we put on hold the report of the Committee 1718, because we disagree with certain elements of the report and on the conduct of the business itself. I will not dwell upon it because the report, before it is published, is confidential," Vassily Nebenzia, the Russian representative at the UN, told the media.

Nebenzia reiterated that Russia has been vocally against any part of the report being made public prematurely.

"We and other delegations expressed concern on the regular leaks of the committee information into the press, you can look it up on the internet,” he said. He added that while Russia has filed a request for the committee to investigate the leaks, “some members are not very willing to do so,” so Moscow decided to pursue this issue “individually.”

Russia will hold consultations with the head of the committee about how to proceed further, Nebenzia said. At the moment, the UN has been doing virtually nothing to identify the source of the leaks since “certain parties” within the committee have been opposing Russia’s request.

“It’s not going anywhere,” Nebenzia said, calling the leaks “inadmissible” and “against the principle of the work of the committee.”

Many of the reservations Russia had expressed about the contents of the report have not been taken into account in the existng draft, the Russian diplomat revealed.

The confidential report on the implementation of sanctions imposed on North Korea was leaked to Reuters on August 4. According to the leaks, the report, a six-month review by independent experts, alleges that Pyongyang did not halt its nuclear and missile program and was supplying certain states in the Middle East and Africa with weapons, thus violating the UN sanctions. Among the alleged customers of the reclusive state are the Houthi rebels, fighting against the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. North Korea is also accused of shipping fuel, including coal and petroleum, which is prohibited under the strict sanctions’ regime as well.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has previously said it was “outraged”by unauthorized leaks from the committee, demanding a thorough investigation of what it described as “the flagrant violation of the rules and practice of the committee as well as basic diplomatic ethics.”
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova suggested that the ultimate purpose of the leak was to advance the “maximum pressure” campaign against Pyongyang spearheaded by the US.
 
8 September، 2018 - DPRK celebrates 70th anniversary of its founding
DPRK celebrates 70th anniversary of its founding – Syrian Arab News Agency

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The people of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) commemorate the 70th anniversary of the founding of their country with the determination to continue economic development in various fields and strengthen self- defense capabilities to counter conspiracies by hostile forces.

“The DPRK’s strength is growing stronger with passage of days,” said the DPRK Embassy in Damascus in a statement issued on the occasion.

The ability of DPRK lies firstly in its one-hearted unity, where this unity is based on the loyal and enduring love of the leader Kim Jong-un who elevated its people, just as President Kim Il-sung and the Chairman of the National Defense Commission kim Jong-il have done, following the path of his directives for achieving the happiness of all the DPRK’s people and making great achievements in the process of reconstruction, as well as getting rid of the effects of the floods in the country.

The Embassy went on saying that the ability of the DPRK lies secondly in its huge military capabilities where the leader Kim Jong-un is doing his best to enhance the national defense capabilities, focusing on nuclear armed forces in order to put an end to the reckless US nuclear threat and ensure the safety of the people of the DPRK.

The Embassy said that the ability of DPRK lies thirdly in the in the power of self-enhancement, as the leader Kim has achieved great achievements in building a strong socialist state, adding that conspiracies and the acts of the hostile forces against the DPRK have not dissuaded the people of the DPRK from developing their economy, culture, and national defense, depending on local resources, technologies, abilities, and talents.

The value of industrial output exceeded 144 percent last year and industrial production grew by 6 times in 2015, as hundreds of projects were inaugurated and rebuilt, the Embassy stated.

The Embassy concluded by saying that the DPRK has exceeded the GDP goal in the industrial sector by 119%, and at the same time completed work to undo the damage caused by floods in the north. By 2017, the DPRK achieved many successes in national defense industries and other economic sectors, and is moving steadily towards realizing the state’s five-year strategy for developing the economy set by the 7th conference of the 7th Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea, adding “doubtless the DPRK’s abilities will exceed the world’s expectations when this goal is achieved soon.”


06.09.2018 - North Korea Could Formally End War with South Without US Troop Pull Out - Report
North Korea Could Formally End War With South Without US Troop Pull Out - Report

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Chief of the national security office at Seoul's presidential Blue House Chung Eui-yong shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang, North Korea September 5, 2018. Picture taken September 5, 2018. The Presidential Blue House/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY


A South Korean delegation returning from Pyongyang brought important news from the socialist country: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is willing to sign an end-of-war declaration without the withdrawal of US troops from the South. Meanwhile, the North is preparing to celebrate its 70th birthday amid speculation about how militant the fete will be.

A special envoy delegation sent by South Korean President Moon Jae In visited the North Korean capital of Pyongyang Wednesday, delivering a personal letter from Moon to Kim. A Thursday statement in the Workers Party of Korea's newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, described the photoshoot, dinner and discussions as taking place "in a compatriotic and warm atmosphere."

The Rodong Sinmun article says Kim was "pleased over the fact that technical contacts in various fields were made between the north and the south, the reunions of separated families and relatives were realized and north-south military talks and the work of setting up a joint liaison office progressed well after the historic Panmunjom meeting," and that "we should value all these successes which the north and the south made hand in hand and keep advancing without deviation the north-south ties that have definitely entered the new orbit of peace, the orbit of reconciliation and cooperation."

According to the statement, the two Korean delegations mostly discussed the agenda and schedule of the upcoming inter-Korean summit, to take place in Pyongyang September 18 to 20, and Kim said, "The north and the south should further their efforts to realize the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." Those efforts that have seemingly stalled in recent weeks as the US cancelled it most recent planned visit by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the US equivalent of a foreign minister, claiming not to have seen sufficient progress by North Korea toward denuclearization.

More details about the meeting came to light once the delegation returned to South Korea, when members of the envoy delivered further messages from Kim.

Chung Eui-yong, Moon's national security adviser, told reporters Thursday that Kim said he would be willing to sign the end-of-war declaration that Seoul and Pyongyang have been pursuing since the spring without concomitantly demanding the withdrawal of the 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea or an end to the alliance between the US and South Korea.

While a lasting peace treaty to the 1950 to 1953 war would require much more extensive negotiations between the four powers involved — North Korea, China, South Korea and the US — a statement declaring the end of the war, issued by the two Koreas, would be an important step toward realizing that goal, which Moon and Kim have indicated to be their primary concern ever since their first meeting at the truce city of Panmunjom in April.

Rodong Sinmun articulated the belief Thursday that "[t]he US should no longer stick to a position of attaining denuclearization before signing a peace treaty."

Chairman Kim Jong Un has made it clear several times that he is firmly committed to denuclearization and expressed frustration over skepticism in the international community over his commitment," Chung said. "He said he has pre-emptively taken steps necessary for denuclearization and wants to see these goodwill measures being met with goodwill measures."

Chung also told reporters that "Chairman Kim stressed that he has never spoken negatively about President Trump to his staff or anyone," a statement that won praise from US President Donald Trump in a tweet Thursday.


Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump

Kim Jong Un of North Korea proclaims “unwavering faith in President Trump.” Thank you to Chairman Kim. We will get it done together!
6:58 AM - Sep 6, 2018

In turn, the US State Department announced Thursday that Stephen Biegun, the US' new special envoy to North Korea, who was supposed to go on Pompeo's cancelled visit, would be touring South Korea, China and Japan next week.

"The special representative will meet with his counterparts and continue diplomatic efforts to achieve the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea as agreed to by Chairman Kim in Singapore," it said, without further elaborating in Biegun's itinerary, the South China Morning Post reported Thursday.

The South Korean diplomat further affirmed the two Korean governments' commitment to opening a liaison office in the North Korean industrial city of Kaesong before the inter-Korean summit. Another goal of the Panmunjom summit, the South Korean Ministry of Unification announced last month the approval of $3.1 million in funding to set up the inter-Korean joint liaison office, to come from the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund, NK News reported at the time.

"We will operate the liaison office with the aim that it can contribute to round-the-clock dialogue and cooperation and the stable management of the situation of inter-Korean relations," the unification ministry said in the statement.

"The Ministry of Unification will strive to contribute to the development of the South-North relations by implementing the Panmunjom Declaration sector-by-sector without setbacks."

Meanwhile, North Korea is preparing to celebrate its 70th anniversary on Sunday, and there's no shortage of speculation and anticipation about how the festivities will play out.

Satellite photos on the website 38 North show that North Korean troops have been practicing for weeks at a mockup of Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square, named after the founder of the country (and Kim Jong Un's grandfather), a revolutionary communist leader who led the Korean insurgency against Japanese colonial rule during World War II. His Workers Party of Korea declared the foundation of the people's democratic republic on September 9, 1948, and the country has made a habit of celebrating its birthday with an extravagant parade, the centerpiece of which is typically their latest military weaponry.

However, observers wonder if this year's event won't be different, to reflect the change in tone by Kim in recent months. The last major military parade, in February, showcased North Korea's Hwasong-14 and Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missiles, the very weapons at the center of the denuclearization push on the peninsula, which North Korea says are necessary to guarantee its security and independence amid the presence of US troops in the South and the lack of a permanent peace treaty.

In a major contrast to past parades, dozens of international media organizations have been granted visas to attend this year's events, Defense News noted Thursday.

It's known that the parade, which always features mass performances by the people of the city, will include a torch parade as well as the revival of the country's iconic mass games after a six-year hiatus. The celebrations also feature civilian contingents celebrating achievements in agriculture, industry, science and art, and may feature these more prominently in the past, given Kim's newly declared focus on building these parts of North Korean society.


5 September، 2018 - North Korea's Kim sets Denuclearization Time line, prompting Thanks from Trump
North Korea's Kim sets denuclearization time line, prompting thanks...

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Chief of the national security office at Seoul's presidential Blue House Chung Eui-yong meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang, North Korea. The Presidential Blue House /via REUTERS

North Korea’s Kim Jong Un has given his first time line for denuclearization, aiming for the end of U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term, Seoul officials said on Thursday, prompting thanks from Trump who said they would “get it done together”.

Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in will meet in Pyongyang on Sept. 18-20 for a third summit and discuss “practical measures” toward denuclearization, Moon’s national security adviser, Chung Eui-yong, said a day after meeting Kim.

The summit could provide renewed momentum to talks over denuclearization between North Korea and the United States, after Trump canceled a visit to Pyongyang by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last month citing lack of progress.

Kim told South Korean officials his faith in Trump was “unchanged” and that he wanted denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and an end to hostile relations with the United States before Trump’s first term ends in early 2021, Chung said.

But there was no indication that Kim had offered concrete steps toward giving up his nuclear arsenal, something some U.S. officials have said privately they doubt he is willing to do.

“He particularly emphasized that he has never said anything negative about President Trump,” Chung said.

Trump welcomed Kim’s remarks in a trademark Tweet.

“Kim Jong Un of North Korea proclaims ‘unwavering faith in President Trump.’ Thank you to Chairman Kim. We will get it done together!” Trump wrote.

Trump had previously hailed his landmark June 12 summit with Kim as a success and said the North Korean nuclear threat was over, despite little evidence to back that assertion.

In previous, failed talks, North Korea has said it could consider giving up its nuclear program if the United States provided security guarantees by removing troops from South Korea and withdrawing its so-called nuclear umbrella of deterrence from the South and Japan.

U.S. officials involved in the latest negotiations have said North Korea has refused to even start discussions about defining denuclearization and has insisted the United States must first agree to simultaneous steps to reduce sanctions pressure.

Some analysts suggested Kim was flattering Trump in hopes of dividing the president from advisers who have advocated a tougher U.S. stand.

“Kim just owns Trump. He knows his mark,” Vipin Narang, a political scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who specializes in nuclear issues, said in a message on Twitter.

‘ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF WORK TO DO’
Pompeo, on a trip to New Delhi, said there was still “an enormous amount of work to do” on the denuclearization issue.

He visited Pyongyang in July, after which North Korea accused him of making “unilateral and gangster-like demands for denuclearization”.

Asked about U.S. intelligence that North Korea was still advancing its weapons programs, Pompeo noted Pyongyang had ceased its nuclear tests and test-firing missiles, which he said was a “good thing.”

“But the work of convincing Chairman Kim to make this strategic shift that we’ve talked about for a brighter future for the people of North Korea continues,” Pompeo said.

The State Department later said Pompeo was sending his newly appointed North Korea envoy, Stephen Biegun, to South Korea, China and Japan from Sept. 10-15.

Signaling that Washington’s concerns extend beyond Pyongyang’s nuclear program, the U.S. government on Thursday charged and sanctioned an alleged North Korean hacker over the 2017 global WannaCry ransomware cyberattack, the 2014 cyber assault on Sony Corp. and other “malign cyber activities.”

Chung said Kim had stressed the need for the United States to reciprocate North Korea’s initial moves, which have included dismantling a nuclear test site and a missile engine facility.

“We support progress in inter-Korean relations and President Moon’s statements that such progress must go hand-in-hand with denuclearization,” a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council (NSC) said when asked about the meeting

North Korea’s official KCNA news agency said Kim told the South’s envoys that his “fixed stand” was to turn the Korean peninsula into “a cradle of peace without nuclear weapons, free from nuclear threat”.

Chung said Kim showed “frustration over the doubt raised by some parts of the international community about his willingness to denuclearize, and asked us to convey his message to the United States”.

“He expressed his strong will to carry out more proactive measures toward denuclearization if action is taken in response to the North’s preemptive steps,” Chung said.

Koh Yu-hwan, a professor of North Korean Studies at Dongguk University in Seoul, said: “Looks like Kim is trying to wash away worries that talks could stall or fail, knowing well that Washington is losing patience.”

U.S. officials have previously said they have already made conciliatory gestures, such as suspending joint military exercises with South Korea.

During his meeting with Kim, Chung delivered a message from Trump and will relay comments from Kim to U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton, Moon’s spokesman, Kim Eui-kyeom, told reporters. Chung later spoke to Bolton, the NSC official said.

Trump spoke to Moon on the evening before Chung’s trip and asked Moon to act as “chief negotiator” between Washington and Pyongyang, the spokesman said.

However, a three-way summit between Trump, Kim and Moon - an idea that South Korea has floated - is not expected on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York this month, Chung said, suggesting that Kim is not likely to become the first North Korean leader to attend the gathering.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres praised the Koreas for their trust-building efforts and expressed hope for further progress toward “complete and verifiable denuclearization,” his spokesman said.

WHAT HAPPENS FIRST?
Kim and Trump held an unprecedented summit in Singapore in June, in which the
North Korean leader made a broad, vague commitment to work toward denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. But negotiations have stalled, while signs North Korea has maintained work on its weapons have emerged.

Under discussion is whether North Korean denuclearization or declaring an end to the 1950-53 Korean War should come first.

The war ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty, meaning U.S.-led U.N. forces are technically still at war with the North.

“The United States shouldn’t delay any further an end-of-war declaration, which the U.S. president promised at the Singapore summit,” the North’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said.

U.S. officials have said such a declaration could weaken North Korea’s incentive for denuclearization, and create uncertainty about the purpose of 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea.
 
September 9, 2018 - North Korea Military Parade features floats and flowers, not Missiles
North Korea military parade features floats and flowers, not missiles

With no long-range missiles on display, North Korea staged a military parade on Sunday focused on conventional arms, peace and economic development as it marked the 70th anniversary of the country’s founding.

The reduced display compared to past years earned a thank you note from U.S. President Donald Trump, who hailed it as a “big and very positive statement from North Korea.”

Trump on Twitter quoted a Fox News description of the event without long-range nuclear missiles as a sign of North Korea’s “commitment to denuclearize.”

“Thank you To Chairman Kim. We will both prove everyone wrong! There is nothing like good dialogue from two people that like each other! Much better than before I took office,” Trump tweeted.

In Pyongyang, line upon line of goose-stepping soldiers and columns of tanks shook the ground before giving way to chanting crowds waving flags and flowers as they passed a review stand where North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sat with a special envoy from China, as well as other visiting foreigners.

Kim told the envoy, Chinese parliament chief Li Zhanshu, that North Korea was focusing on economic development and hopes to learn from China’s experience in this regard, Chinese state television reported.

“North Korea upholds the consensus of the Singapore meeting between the leaders of North Korea and the United States and has taken steps for it and hopes the United States takes corresponding steps, to jointly promote the political resolution process for the peninsula issue,” the report paraphrased Kim as saying.

The parade highlight themes of military accomplishment, national development, and international engagement at a time when doubts are arising over Kim’s commitment to abandoning nuclear weapons.

Unlike in previous years, there were no inter-continental missiles on display. And there were no nuclear tests to mark the holiday, as has happened in each of the last two years.

North Korea routinely uses major holidays to showcase its military capabilities and the latest developments in missile technology.

But that has lessened this year, underlining Kim’s stated aim for denuclearizing the Korean peninsula and his recent meetings with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and summits with Trump in Singapore and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing and Dalian.

The theme for the celebrations this year was economic development and unifying the Korean peninsula, divided since World War Two.

A huge float was decorated with a modern train, solar panels, wind power plants and dams, under a slogan of “All our might to build economy!”, as North Korean men in construction work wear marched.

Kim Yong Nam, North Korea’s titular head of state, gave a speech at the parade in which he said the country had achieved status as a military power, and would now pursue efforts to strengthen its economy.

Floats on unification also passed by a throng of North Koreans waving unified Korea flags.

“All Koreans should join forces to accomplish unification in our generation. Unification is the only way Koreans can survive,” said an editorial in North Korea’s party newspaper Rodong Sinmun.

Kim Jong Un and his South Korean counterpart Moon will meet in Pyongyang on Sept. 18-20 for the third time this year and discuss “practical measures” toward denuclearization, officials in Seoul have said.


September 9, 2018 - Drones and gymnasts: North Korean 'Mass Games' return with messages of Reconciliation
Drones and gymnasts: North Korean 'Mass Games' return with messages...


With a formation of glowing drones, lasers and stadium-sized gymnastics shows, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un relaunched the "Mass Games" on Sunday in a pageant that declared that "waves" of international sanctions would break against the strength of North Korea's self-reliance.

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Fireworks explode during the Mass Games at May Day stadium marking the 70th anniversary of North Korea's foundation in Pyongyang, North Korea, September 9, 2018. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui
 
September 17, 2018 - North Korea's Kim says Summit with Trump stabilized Region, see more Progress
North Korea's Kim says summit with Trump stabilized region, sees more progress | Reuters

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said on Tuesday his “historic” summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore stabilized regional security, and that he expected further progress at an inter-Korean summit aimed at reviving stalled nuclear diplomacy.

Kim thanked South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in for bringing about the Singapore meeting in June as the two leaders began their third round of talks in Pyongyang.

“Thanks to that, the political situation in the region has stabilized and I expect more advanced results,” Kim told Moon, referring to the Singapore gathering, at the start of their talks.

The Kim-Moon summit will be a litmus test for another meeting Kim has recently proposed to Trump, with the South Korean president seeking to engineer a proposal that combines a framework for the North’s denuclearization and a joint declaration ending the 1950-53 Korean War.

Moon expressed gratitude for Kim’s “bold decision to open a new era”.

The first session of the talks, which lasted for two hours, were held at the headquarters of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party Central Committee, with party vice chairman Kim Yong Chol and Kim Jong Un’s sister Kim Yo Jong, as well as South Korea’s national security adviser Chung Eui-yong and spy chief Suh Hoon in attendance.

LIMOUSINE PARADE
Earlier, the leaders paraded down the streets of Pyongyang in Kim’s black Mercedes limousine to loud cheers from nearly 100,000 North Koreans who waved flowers and chanted “Motherland!Unification!”

Kim greeted Moon with hugs and handshakes as the South Korean leader landed in the North’s capital with a mission to rekindle momentum in faltering talks between Washington and Pyongyang over denuclearization and a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War.

As Kim escorted Moon to the Paekhwawon State Guest House, where Moon will stay during his three-day visit, Kim said he wanted to produce a “bigger outcome at a faster pace” than the two leaders have achieved so far.

Moon, himself the offspring of a family displaced by the war, has met Kim twice this year at the border village of Panmunjom.

“You Mr. President are traveling all around the world, but our country is humble compared with developed nations,” Kim told Moon. “I’ve been waiting and waiting for today. The level of the accommodation and schedule we provide may be low, but it’s our best sincerity and heart.”

Moon said it was “time to bear fruit” and thanked Kim for his hospitality, which included a massive welcome ceremony at Pyongyang International Airport featuring a large, goose-stepping honor guard and a military band.

During their motor parade through Pyongyang’s landmark Ryomyong Street, a new residential district launched last year under Kim’s initiative to modernize the city, Kim and Moon briefly stepped out of the vehicle to greet and take flowers from members of the crowd.

“CHIEF NEGOTIATOR”
Trump has asked Moon to be “chief negotiator” between himself and Kim, according to Moon’s aides, after Trump canceled a trip to Pyongyang by his secretary of state last month.

Washington wants to see concrete action toward denuclearization by North Korea before agreeing to a key goal of Pyongyang - declaring an end to the 1950-53 Korean War.

The conflict ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty, leaving U.S.-led U.N. forces including South Korea technically still at war with the North.

South Korea is pinning high hopes on Kim’s remarks to Moon’s special envoys earlier this month that he wants to achieve denuclearization within Trump’s first term in office ending in early 2021.

If North Korea-U.S. dialogue is restarted after this visit, it would have much significance in itself,” Moon said before his departure.
Underscoring the challenges ahead, North Korea’s official Rodong Sinmun said on Tuesday “the responsibility falls squarely on the United States” for the stalled nuclear discussions.

“It is due to its nonsensical, irrational stubbornness that other issues can only be discussed after our country has completely verifiably, irreversibly dismantled our nuclear capabilities... without showing the intention to build trust including declaring the end of war,” the newspaper said in an editorial.

On Wednesday, Moon and Kim plan to hold a second day of official talks after which they are expected to unveil a joint statement, and a separate military pact designed to defuse tensions and prevent armed clashes. Moon will return home early Thursday.

Traveling with Moon are South Korean business tycoons, including Samsung scion Jay Y. Lee and the chiefs of SK Group and LG Group. They met North Korean Deputy Prime Minister Ri Ryong Nam, who is in charge of economic affairs, although Seoul officials said they did not expect any specific joint economic projects to be agreed given extensive international sanctions.

The United States is pressing other countries to strictly observe U.N. sanctions aimed at choking off funding for Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

North Korea says it has destroyed its main nuclear and missile engine test site and has halted atomic and ballistic missile tests, but U.S. officials and analysts believe it is continuing to work on its weapons plans covertly.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley accused Russia on Monday of “cheating” on U.N. sanctions on North Korea.


Slideshow (26 Images)
North Korea's Kim says summit with Trump stabilized region, sees more progress | Reuters


Sept. 18, 2018 - Leaders of Two Koreas begin One-on-One Summit to Unlock Nuclear Talks
Leaders of two Koreas begin one-on-one summit to unlock nuclear talks | Reuters


Leaders of South and North Korea held one-on-one talks on the second day of their summit on Wednesday, aiming to announce steps to rekindle stalled negotiations on the North's nuclear program and deepen bilateral ties.
 
September 18, 2018 - Two Koreas to Sign Joint Statement after Summit: Seoul
Two Koreas to sign joint statement after summit: Seoul | Reuters


Leaders of North and South Korea plan to sign a joint statement on inter-Korean relations after their summit on Wednesday in the North's capital Pyongyang, Seoul officials said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in will hold a joint news conference after the signing ceremony, and after the two Korea’s defense chiefs adopt a separate military pact, Moon’s press secretary Yoon Young-chan told reporters.


September 18, 2018 - North Korea to allow International Inspections for Nuclear Dismantlement, if US takes Reciprocal Measures
North Korea to allow international inspections for nuclear dismantlement, if U.S. takes reciprocal measures | Reuters

North Korea agreed to allow international inspectors to observe a “permanent dismantlement” of its key missile facilities,
and will take additional steps such as closing its main Yongbyon nuclear complex if the United States takes reciprocal measures, South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in said on Wednesday.

North and South Korea agreed that the Korean Peninsula should turn into a “land of peace without nuclear weapons and nuclear threats,” Moon said following the conclusion of his summit talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.


September 18, 2018 - North Korea's Kim agrees to Inspections in bid to salvage Nuclear Talks
Trump enthusiastic at North Korea missile pledge, others doubtful | Reuters


North Korea said on Wednesday it would permanently abolish its key missile facilities in the presence of foreign experts, in a new gesture by leader Kim Jong Un to revive faltering talks with Washington over his country's nuclear program.

The pledges Kim and Moon made at their third summit this year could inject fresh momentum into the stalled nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang and lay the groundwork for another meeting Kim recently proposed to U.S. President Donald Trump.


Wed Sep 19, 2018 - Pyongyang Agrees to Shut down Nuclear Reactor, North Korean Leader to Visit Seoul by Year-End
Farsnews

North Korea agreed to shut down its experimental nuclear reactor in the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center, while the North Korean leader is expected to visit South Korea by the end of the year.

"North Korea gave its consent to fully stop the work of the nuclear reactor in Yongbyon," South Korean president Moon Jae-in said on Wednesday after talks with his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang, World News reported.

A joint statement, adopted by the two nations after the talks, said that Pyongyang would make similar steps toward denuclearization if the United States honors the agreements reached during the Singapore summit of US President Donald Trump and Kim.

The Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center houses an uranium enrichment facility and a 5-megawatt reactor, built by North Korean scientists in 1986. According to experts, every year it can produce enough materials to make several nuclear warheads.

Moon also told reporters on Wednesday following this year’s third inter-Korean talks that Kim is expected to visit Seoul by the end of the year.

"The visit should take place by the end of the year, if nothing extraordinary happens," he said, adding that the visit would be "a turning point in inter-Korean relations".

Kim confirmed he was set to visit the South Korean capital "in the near future".

The leaders of North and South Korea also agreed to reconnect severed rails and roads across the border, according to their joint statement signed on Wednesday.

"South and North have agreed that works to reconnect the railways and roads in the east and west should begin within a year," the document read.

North and South Korea have also agreed to jointly bid for hosting the 2032 Summer Olympic Games, according to a joint declaration signed by the two states’ leaders on Wednesday.

Kim and Moon signed a joint document following their talks in Pyongyang on Wedensday. The leaders of the two states put their signatures under the document and shook hands.

The South Korean president said the two states have agreed on measures to defuse tensions on the Korean Peninsula, adding that "South and North agreed to turn the demilitarized border zone into the zone of peace and prosperity".

Among other measures to ease tensions, the South Korean leader named an agreement to set up a joint committee comprising members of the two states’ top brass.

The North Korean leader also told reporters at a joint news conference with his South Korean counterpart that "the Pyongyang declaration will open a new era of prosperity and peace for both Koreas", describing the talks as "very substantive".

According to the North Korean leader, a comprehensive military deal, signed by the two states’ defense ministers during the summit, will contribute to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The inter-Korean summit, the fifth in history and the third this year, began in Pyongyang on September 18 and will end on September 20. The first round of talks between the leaders of North and South Korea within the framework of the ongoing summit took place on Tuesday and lasted two hours. Earlier this year, the two leaders met in the border city of Panmunjom twice. Two previous inter-Korean summits were held in Pyongyang in 2000 and 2007.


September 19, 2018 - Trump praises Korean Summit, cites progress on North Korea
Trump praises Korean summit, cites progress on North Korea | Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump hailed Wednesday’s summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, and said there had been “tremendous progress” with North Korea on several fronts including Pyongyang’s denuclearization.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said agreements reached between the two Korean leaders at the meeting, in which North Korea said it would permanently abolish its key missile facilities with witnesses, was “very good news.”

“He’s calm and I’m calm, so we’ll see what happens,” Trump said, referring to Kim.


September 19, 2018 - Kremlin praises steps by Korean Leaders to resolve Nuclear Crisis
Kremlin praises steps by Korean leaders to resolve nuclear crisis | Reuters


The Kremlin said on Wednesday that it approved of agreements reached by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korea's President Moon Jae-in at a summit in Pyongyang, describing them as effective steps toward a political settlement.
 
Sept. 24, 2018 - Trump says Expects Announcement of New Summit with North Korea's Kim 'pretty soon'
Trump says expects announcement of new summit with North Korea's Kim 'pretty soon' | Reuters

'
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he expected a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to be announced "pretty soon" but that the location had yet to be determined.

Trump, during a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the United Nations, said: “Chairman Kim has been really very open and terrific, frankly. I think he wants to see something happen.”

Moon met with Kim for a third time last week. He said brought Trump a personal message from the North Korean leader saying he was hoping to meet with the U.S. president again soon.

Trump and Kim met for an unprecedented summit on June 12, and Trump has been keen on a second meeting, even though some U.S. officials and most analysts say Pyongyang has yet to show it is prepared to give up a nuclear arsenal that threatens the United States.


U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told a news briefing earlier on Monday he hoped to travel back to North Korea before the end of the year to make final preparations for a second summit, which he said he was “confident” would happen.

“I expect I’ll be traveling to Pyongyang before too long,” he said.

Asked if that would be before the end of the year, he replied: “Yes. Lord willing, I’ll be traveling before the end of the year.”

Pompeo said he was optimistic that Kim would deliver on his pledge to denuclearize, but this would take time.

We’re bringing the two senior leaders, the individuals who can actually make the decisions that will move this process forward, bring them together so we can continue to make progress towards what the U.N. Security Council has demanded and what Chairman Kim has promised he would do.

“That’s the effort. There remains work to be done. There will be some time before we get to complete denuclearization for sure.”

At last week’s meeting with Moon, Kim promised to dismantle a missile site and also a nuclear complex - if the United States took “corresponding action.”

However, while appearing to set a positive tone, the commitments fell far short of Washington’s demands for a complete inventory of North Korea’s weapons programs and irreversible steps toward denuclearization.

The mood though is sharply changed from that at last year’s U.N. General Assembly, when Trump threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea and mocked the North Korean leader as “Rocket Man” on a “suicide mission.”

North Korea’s representative to the meeting, Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, responded to Trump’s U.N. remarks last year by calling them “the sound of a dog barking” and warning that North Korea could detonate a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific.

Pompeo has proposed a meeting with Ri at the General Assembly this week. U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said last week the two had agreed to meet but said the meeting could take place later.
 
It's been 65 years since the war on the Korean Peninsula ended. But it looks like both sides of the conflict are still on their way to reconciliation. Moreover, the peace talk mediators involved – Russia, China and the US – have different views on DPRK non-proliferation. On Thursday the UN hosted a ministerial meeting on the issue.

27.09.2018 - Moscow Opposes Washington's 'Stick-and-carrot' DPRK Policy
Moscow Opposes Washington's 'Stick-and-Carrot' DPRK Policy

For years, Russia has been playing a major role in the peace process on the Korean Peninsula. The UN General Assembly is just one of the places where Moscow and Pyongyang have a chance to share their views on the process of peace talks.

On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held a bilateral meeting with his North Korean counterpart, Ri Yong Ho.

The positive contacts between Seoul and Pyongyang accelerated in the past few years, thanks to peacekeeping efforts by Russia, China, and more recently — the US. Donald Trump's administration praised the North Korean leadership for its willingness to cooperate with the international community.

Secretary of State Pompeo is currently preparing for a trip to Pyongyang to lay the groundwork for another Donald Trump-Kim Jong Un summit.

Nevertheless, if you listen closely to speeches of Pompeo and other top Washington officials, aside from praising themselves and the North Korean leadership, it looks like the US is not prepared to ease the "stick" part of its "carrot-and-stick" DPRK policy.

Russia and China both play an active role in the DPRK peace talks. According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who spoke at the UN ministerial meeting on North Korea non-proliferation, more trust is needed between some "peacekeepers" and the DPRK:

We are convinced that building trust is a key to resolving the problems on the Korean Peninsula through political and diplomatic means. The agreement reached in Pyongyang by North and South is a very important step in that direction."

However, unlike the US, Russia, according to the country's foreign minister, is calling for a more balanced approach, which will rely not only on restrictions and pressure against Pyongyang:

It is unacceptable for sanctions against the DPRK to become an instrument of collective punishment. Lack of trust between Washington and Pyongyang hinders the development of joint measures, which the parties could take at the same time and sequentially to move the process of resolving outstanding differences forward."

In his speech, Lavrov also pointed out that "any negotiation is a two-way street," and called for the gradual removal of sanctions against Pyongyang. He also reminded to his colleagues that similar talks with Iran ended with the US failing to deliver on their promises.

Sergey Lavrov has a busy schedule during this year's General Assembly. After the DPRK non-proliferation session on Thursday, he met with his BRICS counterparts — the foreign ministers of China, Brazil, India and South Africa.

On Friday, Russia's top diplomat will be addressing world leaders at the UN General Debate. On the same day, the Russian delegation will conclude its visit to the 73rd UN General Assembly meeting.

Russian Mission UN‏Verified account @RussiaUN
#Lavrov and FM Ri Yong Ho of #DPRK discussed bilateral adgenda & the current situation on and around the #Korean peninsula | Лавров обсудил с главой МИД #КНДР Ли Ён Хо двусторонние
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отношения и ситуацию вокруг Корейского полуострова. #UNGA #UNGA73pic.twitter.com/LDNKkuIVZc
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10:01 AM - 26 Sep 2018

#Lavrov: Steps by the DPRK towards disarmament should be followed by easing of sanctions.This is necessary to avoid a situation,which occurred with JCPOA, where the US, based on bogus pretext, withdrew from the Iranian Deal unilaterally, and that violated their UNSC obligations.pic.twitter.com/RJbixosKry
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9:24 AM - 27 Sep 2018
 
September 30, 2018 - US Warship sails near disputed South China Sea Islands: US Official
U.S. warship sails near disputed South China Sea islands: U.S. official | Reuters

A U.S. Navy destroyer sailed near islands claimed by China in the South China Sea on Sunday, a U.S. official told Reuters, potentially angering Beijing at a time of tense relations between the two countries.

Beijing and Washington are locked in a trade war that has seen them impose increasingly severe rounds of tariffs on each other’s imports.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the destroyer Decatur traveled within 12 nautical miles of Gaven and Johnson Reefs in the Spratly Islands.

The operation was the latest attempt to counter what Washington sees as Beijing’s efforts to limit freedom of navigation in the strategic waters, where Chinese, Japanese and some Southeast Asian navies operate.

China’s claims in the South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes each year, are contested by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

“We conduct routine and regular freedom-of-navigation operations, as we have done in the past and will continue to do in the future,” the U.S. official added.

China’s foreign ministry did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

The United States has criticized China’s construction of islands and military facilities in the area and is concerned they could be used to restrict free nautical movement.

The U.S. military has a long-standing position that its operations are carried out throughout the world, including in areas claimed by allies, and are separate from political considerations.

The latest move comes at a particularly tense time in relations between the United States and China.

Friction between the world’s two biggest economies is now moving beyond trade, with U.S. President Donald Trump accusing Beijing this week of seeking to interfere in congressional elections, marking a new phase in an escalating campaign by Washington to put pressure on China.

China recently denied a request for a U.S. warship to visit Hong Kong and this month Beijing postponed joint military talks in protest against a U.S. decision to impose sanctions on a Chinese military agency and its director for buying Russian fighter jets and a surface-to-air missile system.

In May two U.S. Navy warships sailed near South China Sea islands claimed by China.
 
Oct. 1, 2018 - North, South Korea begin removing landmines along fortified Border
North, South Korea begin removing landmines along fortified border | Reuters


South Korean soldiers stand guard at the truce village of Panmunjom inside the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, South Korea, April 11, 2018. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

Troops from North and South Korea began removing some landmines along their heavily fortified border on Monday, the South's defense ministry said, in a pact to reduce tension and build trust on the divided peninsula.

Project details were agreed during last month’s summit in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, between its leader, Kim Jong Un, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

In a statement, the ministry said the two sides agreed to remove all landmines in the so-called Joint Security Area (JSA) in Panmunjom within the next 20 days, with military engineers performing the hazardous task on the South Korean side.

There was no immediate confirmation from North Korea that its troops had begun the process.

The deal also provides for removal of guard posts and weapons from the JSA to follow the removal of the mines, with the troops remaining there to be left unarmed.

The JSA is the only spot along the 250-km (155-mile) -long “demilitarized zone” (DMZ) where troops from both Koreas are face to face.

South Korean troops have gradually taken over most operations along their side of the border but international forces under the U.S.-led United Nations Command retain major roles, especially at the JSA, where an American commander and a South Korean deputy lead the security battalion.

UNC spokesman Colonel Chad Carroll declined to confirm if the command would also withdraw any weapons from the JSA, but said American forces would provide support for the demining operation.

“United States Forces Korea will perform a support role - to include having air medical evacuation assets available to respond within minutes of any potential medical emergencies,” he told Reuters in a statement.

Since fighting during the 1950-1953 Korean War ended in a stalemate, at least nine soldiers have been killed in incidents with North Korean troops, including the killing in 1976 of two U.S. soldiers by axe-wielding North Koreans, the UNC says.

In November 2017, North Korean troops at the JSA shot one of their soldiers defecting to the South five times.

More recently, it was the scene of the first dramatic April summit between Kim and Moon, as well as their second, more low-key meeting, in May.

In April, the neighbors announced their intention to turn the DMZ - long a symbol of tension and division - into a “peace zone”.

They have already dismantled propaganda loudspeakers and some guard posts along the border.

Demining projects are also set to begin on Monday in Gangwon province in South Korea’s east, to allow teams to search for the remains of soldiers killed in the war, the ministry added.

More than a million landmines were laid in border areas including the DMZ and the Civilian Control Zone in the South, say demining experts, and civilians and soldiers alike have been killed or injured by them.

In 2015, two South Korean soldiers were maimed by what Seoul said was a North Korean landmine, an accusation the North denied.


October 1, 2018 - Russia calls on South Korea to release vessel held at Busan Port
Russia calls on South Korea to release vessel held at Busan port | Reuters

Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned South Korea’s ambassador in Moscow on Monday and demanded that Seoul allow a Russian vessel to leave South Korea’s port of Busan, the ministry said.

The ‘Sevastopol’ has been illegally held at the port, the ministry said without adding what had served as the pretext for the alleged detention.

“The Russian side demanded the (South Korean) maritime authorities’ ban on the vessel leaving the port be immediately canceled,” it said in a statement.

A vessel named Sevastopol was one of six Russian-flagged vessels targeted by United States sanctions in August for their alleged breach of United Nations restrictions on North Korea.

Washington accused the vessels and two Russian shipping companies of involvement in the transfer of refined petroleum products to North Korean vessels.

Russia denies the allegations and has called the sanctions groundless.
 
Oct. 15, 2018 - Two Koreas, U.N. Command to hold First Meeting on Demilitarizing Border
Two Koreas, U.N. Command to hold first meeting on demilitarizing border | Reuters


FILE PHOTO: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in talk while taking a walk at Samjiyon Guesthouse in Ryanggang province, North Korea, September 20, 2018. Pyeongyang Press Corps/Pool via REUTERS

North Korea, South Korea and the United Nations Command will hold their first three-way meeting on Tuesday to discuss demilitarizing the border between the two Koreas, South Korea's defense ministry said.

The leaders of the two Koreas last month endorsed a military pact that includes halting military exercises, a no-fly zone near their border and the gradual removal of landmines and guard posts within the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

Tuesday’s meeting will evaluate progress in removing landmines and guard posts, adjustments to border surveillance equipment, and ways to mutually verify demilitarization efforts, said Yonhap news agency, quoting ministry officials.

The closed-door meeting will be held at the border village of Panmunjom and attended by three representatives from each side, the ministry said in a statement.

The two Koreas agreed on Monday to begin reconnecting rail and road links, another step in an improving relationship in spite of U.S. concerns that the rapid North-South thaw could undermine efforts to press North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.

North Korea and the rich, democratic South are technically still at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.


Oct. 14, 2018 - North Korea Leader sincere, must be rewarded for move to abandon Nuclear Weapons: South Korea President
North Korea leader sincere, must be rewarded for move to abandon nuclear weapons: South Korean president | Reuters


FILE PHOTO - South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walk during a luncheon, in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on September 21, 2018. KCNA via REUTERS

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is sincere and really means to abandon nuclear weapons, South Korean President Moon Jae-in told a French newspaper, adding that the international community needed to reward him for that.

Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump pledged at a landmark summit in Singapore in June to work toward denuclearization. But the agreement was short on specifics and talks have made little headway since, with the North refusing to declare its nuclear weapons and facilities or agree to a concrete timeline.

“This year I have discussed in depth with Kim for hours. These meetings have convinced me that he has taken the strategic decision to abandon his nuclear weapon,” Moon told Le Figaro in an interview before a state visit to Paris.

Moon is to meet President Emmanuel Macron on Monday.

While Pyongyang has stopped nuclear and missile tests this year, it failed to keep its promise to allow international inspections of its dismantling of the Punggye-ri site in May, stirring criticism that the move could be reversed.

But Moon said Kim was “sincere, calm and polite” and “felt frustrated by the international community’s continuing mistrust”.

“It is now time to respond to these efforts that were hard to agree to,” Moon said. “We need to assure Kim Jong Un that he took the right decision in deciding to denuclearize and we need to accompany him in his wish for a durable and solid peace.”

Washington wants concrete action, such as a full disclosure of North Korea’s nuclear and missile facilities, before meeting Pyongyang’s demands, including an official end to the Korean war and the easing of international sanctions.

Moon said he hoped another Trump-Kim summit would allow the two leaders to go further than the statements they made at their first meeting in Singapore.

“Declaring an end to the Korea war would be a start to establishing a regime of peace,” he said, also calling for the United States to take “reliable corresponding measures to guarantee the security of the regime”.

“We could also in the future discuss the easing of sanctions, in accordance with progress on denuclearization,” he added.
 
South Korea Mulls Boosting Support to North Korea Defectors – Ministry

South Korea’s Unification Ministry said it planned to push back the deadline for North Korean defectors to claim housing and other types of benefits to three years. The cabinet approved the law change on Tuesday, the Yonhap news agency said. It still needs to be endorsed by the parliament.

North Korean defectors are currently required to tell authorities within a year after their arrival if they want to settle down in the country in order to receive full support.

Some 30,000 defectors from North Korea are living in the South. The outlet said 206 people have been unable to claim full benefits as of September after missing the one-year deadline.

The number of defectors has been steadily declining since 2012, soon after Kim came to power following his father's death, the Yonhap news agency reported last month.

According to the spokesman for the ruling South Korean Democratic Party who has cited data of the country's Unification Ministry, while over 2,700 North Korean citizens have fled the country in 2011, just over 1,500 people reached South Korea from the north in 2012. In 2017, the number stood at 1,127, and only 703 people have defected from North Korea in 2018 as of August.

The Yonhap news agency suggested that North Koreans might be discouraged from defecting from their country because of stricter border control on the North Korean-Chinese border and rising costs of hiring brokers.

Many North Koreans have been reportedly using China as a transit point on their way to South Korea.


Russian Foreign Ministry delegation arrives in North Korea

The Russian Foreign Ministry delegation has arrived in Pyongyang to hold negotiations with representatives for the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

"A delegation of the Department of International Organizations of the Russian Foreign Ministry led by Deputy Director Mikael Agasandian arrived here on Monday," the KCNA reported.

According to the agency, the visit of the Russian diplomats to Pyongyang will last until Friday. A number of meetings with management representatives for the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs are to be held during the visit.
 
October 25, 2018 - North and South Korea agree to scrap 22 Guard Posts at Boarder next month
North and South Korea agree to scrap 22 guard posts at border next month | Reuters


FILE PHOTO: South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un acknowledges the audience after watching the performance titled "The Glorious Country" at the May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea, September 19, 2018. Pyeongyang Press Corps/Pool via REUTERS

North and South Korea agreed on Friday to "completely destroy" by next month 22 guard posts near their heavily fortified border, the latest advance in talks in the neighbors' effort to defuse military tension, Seoul's defense ministry said.

It follows a military pact at a summit last month in the North Korean capital that called for a halt to “all hostile acts,” a no-fly zone near the border and the gradual removal of guard posts, firearms and landmines from the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two.

As an initial step, the neighbors agreed to demolish 11 guard posts within 1 km (0.6 mile) of each side of the border and withdraw equipment and personnel stationed there by the end of November, the ministry said.

“The measures will be finished through mutual verification in December,” it said in a statement.

The talks were led by South Korean Army Major General Kim Do-gyun and North Korean Lieutenant General An Ik San at the border village of Panmunjom within the DMZ.

Both sides also discussed reinstating a joint military commission and forming a combined team to survey watercourses in the Han River their commercial ships could share.

The two sides also completed the removal of guard posts and firearms within the Joint Security Area in Panmunjom on Thursday, the ministry said.

In another development, the South’s military said it would stage two military drills next week.

That came after an agreement last week by Seoul and Washington to halt the Vigilant Ace air defense drills planned for December so as to give nuclear talks between the United States and North Korea every opportunity to continue, the Pentagon has said.

The allies delayed August’s major annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercises.

To maintain defense readiness and boost military cooperation, South Korea has decided to carry out the Taeguk and Hoguk drills, its Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

The former is a command post exercise from Monday to Friday, while the latter is a field maneuver exercise that starts on Monday, centered on a river east of the capital, Seoul.

“This year’s exercise is to sustain balanced defense posture and improve the practice effects, considering the suspension of the Ulchi Freedom Guardian,” the JCS said in a statement, referring to the annual exercise in which 17,500 U.S. forces joined South Korean troops last year.

The defense chiefs of South Korea and the United States will meet in Washington on Wednesday for an annual security consultative meeting, where they are expected to formally announce the suspension of the Vigilant Ace drills.


22/10/2018 - Two Koreas, U.N. Forces agree to remove weapons at Border
Two Koreas, U.N. forces agree to remove weapons at border

North and South Korea and the U.N. Command agreed on Monday to withdraw firearms and guard posts in the demilitarised zone village of Panmunjom this week, Seoul's defence ministry said, the latest move in a fast-improving relationship.

The three sides held their second round of talks at Panmunjom to discuss ways to demilitarize the border in line with a recent inter-Korean pact reached at last month's summit in Pyongyang.

The U.S.-led UNC, which has overseen affairs in the DMZ since the end of hostilities in the 1950-53 Korean War, was not immediately available for comment, but it said on Friday it supports the two Koreas' efforts to implement their military deal.

The announcement comes amid U.S. concerns that the inter-Korean military initiative could undermine defence readiness and comes without substantial progress on North Korea's promised denuclearization.

The neighbors are looking to withdraw 11 guard posts within a 1-km (0.6-mile) radius of the Military Demarcation Line on their border by the end of the year.

They also plan to pull out all firearms from a Joint Security Area (JSA) at Panmunjom and cut to 35 each the numbers of personnel stationed there and share information on surveillance equipment.

At Monday's meeting, the three sides agreed to remove firearms and guard posts from the JSA by Thursday, and carry out a joint inspection over the following two days, the ministry said.

The two Koreas have been removing landmines around the area as part of the agreement and they confirmed the completion of the demining operation at the talks with the UNC.

"We discussed the timeline of the pullout of firearms and guard posts, as well as ways to adjust the number of guard personnel and conduct joint inspections," the ministry said in a statement.

The agreement also includes a halt in "all hostile acts" and a no-fly zone around the border.

North and South Korea are technically still at war because the 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, but relations have improved considerably in the last year.

After his third summit in Pyongyang, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said the North was ready to invite international experts to watch the dismantling of a key missile site and would close the main Yongbyon nuclear complex if Washington took reciprocal actions.

Those actions could include putting a formal end to the 1950-53 war, opening of a U.S. liaison office in North Korea, humanitarian aid and an exchange of economic experts, Moon said.

But Washington demands North Korea takes irreversible steps to scrap its arsenal, such as a full disclosure of nuclear facilities and material.


October 25, 2018 - North Korean General gets warm Welcome in China as ties improve
North Korean general gets warm welcome in China as ties improve | Reuters


North Korea's Vice Minister of the People's Armed Forces Kim Hyong Ryong (2-R) speaks with Venezuela's Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez (L) at the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing, China October 25, 2018. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

A North Korean general got a warm welcome in Beijing on Thursday, a rare high-profile showing at an international military forum by his normally reclusive country, underscoring an improvement in ties with China and the world.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump held a landmark summit in Singapore in June as they both look to set aside decades of hostility and bring peace to the Korean peninsula.

The two Koreas have also held three summits this year, while Kim has also met Chinese President Xi Jinping three times in 2018.

Attending the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing, which China styles as its answer to the annual Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore, Kim Hyong Ryong, vice minister of North Korea’s People’s Armed Forces, was greeted warmly by other attendees, including Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen.

Addressing the forum, Kim said peace was the priority.

“Until only a year ago, the danger of military conflict lingered on the Korean Peninsula but today we are witnessing a series of events beyond all our expectations giving rise to the warm atmosphere of reconciliation, unity and peace,” he said, in comments translated into English.

“Today’s dramatic reality of the Korean Peninsula is the fruition of chairman Kim Jong Un’s determination and bold decision to turn the Korean Peninsula into a cradle of peace without any nuclear weapons or nuclear threats and achieve national reunification,” Kim said.

Chinese state media said it was the first time a North Korean general had attended the forum, which senior Western officials are traditionally largely absent from.

Kim said North Korea was making “sincere efforts” to successfully implement agreements reached by leader Kim and Trump in Singapore.

That summit was an “event of epochal significance” putting an end to their hostility and opening up a new chapter in ties, he said.

North Korea wants to turn the peninsula into a “cradle for peace and prosperity that contributes to the security of Asia and the globe by thoroughly implementing the DPRK-US joint statement”, Kim added, referring to his country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“The important reason the DPRK put forward a new strategic policy line of concentrating all efforts on socialist economic construction is to contribute to peace and stability of the region and the whole world,” he said.

“The DPRK will continue to fulfil its obligations and role in order to ease tensions and achieve stable peace on the Korean Peninsula.”
 
Beijing Warns US Against 'Showing Off Force' in S China Sea

The remarks came after a US Pacific Fleet spokesperson said in late September that a Chinese destroyer had allegedly approached the USS Decatur in an "unsafe and unprofessional maneuver", which prompted the US warship to maneuver so as to prevent a collision.

Chief of US naval operations Admiral John Richardson has stated that a recent dangerous sail-by of a Chinese destroyer near an American warship in the South China Sea would not stop the US Navy from patrolling the area.

"We will continue to progress this program of freedom of navigation operations. We do dozens of these operations around the world to indicate our position for […] illegitimate claims, maritime claims," Richardson underscored.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi responded by referring to some "non-regional countries" which he said fuel tensions by "showing off their force" in the disputed waters.

"We shall work together to be vigilant against and prevent interferences and disruptions coming from the outside as China and the Philippines and other littoral states of the South China Sea are cooperating to uphold peace and cooperation," he pointed out.

In a nod to bilateral telephone communication hotlines approved by the Chinese and Philippine coast guards, Wang noted that "mechanisms of this kind can effectively avoid misjudgment and prevent unexpected incidents" in the disputed areas.

He signaled Beijing's readiness to create such mechanisms "with other claimant states so as to enhance communication and timely handle the emergencies should they happen."

In late September, the US Pacific Fleet slammed what it described as an "unsafe and unprofessional maneuver" of a Chinese destroyer which came close to the US Decatur near Gaven Reef in the South China Sea and finally forced the US warship to maneuver in order to prevent a collision.

The Spratly Islands and Paracel Islands in the South China Sea remain the most frequently disputed territories claimed by China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines.

The US has repeatedly expressed concern about China's construction of industrial outposts and military facilities on artificial islands in the South China Sea, where US Navy ships conduct "freedom of navigation" operations.

In response, the Chinese Foreign Ministry urged Washington to stop such "provocative" actions, which Beijing said pose a "threat to its sovereignty."


China's President Orders Military To "Prepare For War"

China's President Xi Jinping ordered the military region responsible for monitoring the South China Sea and Taiwan to "assess the situation it is facing and boost its capabilities so it can handle any emergency" as tensions continue to mount over the future of the South China Sea and Taiwan, while diplomatic relations between Washington and Beijing hit rock bottom.

The Southern Theatre Command has had to bear a “heavy military responsibility” in recent years, state broadcaster CCTV quoted Xi as saying during an inspection tour made on Thursday as part of his visit to Guangdong province.

“It’s necessary to strengthen the mission … and concentrate preparations for fighting a war,” Xi said. “We need to take all complex situations into consideration and make emergency plans accordingly. “We have to step up combat readiness exercises, joint exercises and confrontational exercises to enhance servicemen’s capabilities and preparation for war” the president-for-life added.

According to the South China Morning Post, Xi’s visit to the military command was one of several he made during a four-day trip to the south China province aimed at bolstering confidence amid an economic slowdown, and growing trade and strategic disputes with the United States.

Xinhua reports President Xi “stressed the need to focus on combat research and commanding, to advance work in all areas and accelerate developing strong and efficient joint-operation commanding institutions for theatre commands to comprehensively boost the military’s battle-winning ability.”

The president instructed the military to ramp-up opposition to ‘freedom of navigation’ exercises being undertaken by the US, Australia, France, the UK, Japan and others through the waterway through which arterial shipping lanes have grown since the end of World War II.

“He ordered the troop to keep a close watch for changes in the situations and to strengthen analysis to firmly protect border stability and safety of the people’s life and property,” Xinhua reported Xi as saying.

“After hearing a report on their work, he underlined the importance of preparing for war and combat, while taking consideration of various complex situations, improving response plans and focusing on real-combat training.”

Xi’s words represent a significant ramp-up in the rhetoric between Beijing and Washington. China has been angered by US sanctions on its military for buying weapons from Russia, and by what Beijing sees as renewed Washington support for democratic Taiwan. Earlier this month, US Vice-President Mike Pence took the tensions between Washington and Beijing to a new level: “Using that stolen technology, the Chinese Communist Party is turning ploughshares into swords on a massive scale,” he said.

Meanwhile, the US recently sailed two warships through the Taiwan strait, claiming "freedom of navigation", and further angering China.

* * *

According to Australia's News.com.au, President Xi was not the only ruling Communist Party member to up the ant last week. State Councillor General and Defence Minister Wei Fenghe said that Beijing would never give up “one single piece” of its territory. He warned that “repeated challenges” to China’s sovereignty over Taiwan would lead to military action.

As for Xi's surprisingly sharp warning, the SCMP quoted military observers as saying President Xi’s words were likely aimed at an internal audience, boosting morale in the face of growing economic and international pressures.

“It’s likely intended as a signal to the US in particular and any parties that Beijing perceives to be causing provocation,” Collin Koh, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said.​

That said, the Beijing-based military analyst said he expected further clashes to come in the South China Sea.

“The United States is expected to conduct more freedom of navigation exercises in the South China Sea region, and because it does not recognise (Beijing’s) rights to artificial islands, like Mischief Reef, there will probably be more military friction between the two countries there,” the Post quoted him as saying.​

Earlier this month a Chinese destroyer almost rammed a US warship in an effort to force it to leave disputed waters. Shortly after the event, the Chinese defense ministry criticised the US for “gravely threatening China’s sovereignty and security, severely damaging relations between the two militaries and significantly undermining regional peace and stability”.

Last week, China’s Foreign Ministry said it had ‘expressed concern’ at the recent passage of two US warships through the narrow water way between China and Taiwan.

“China has closely followed the passing of US warships through the Taiwan Strait and monitored the whole process,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said. “We urge the US to strictly abide by the three China-US joint communiques and properly handle Taiwan-related issues so as to avoid impairing bilateral relations as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait."

So far any and all Chinese warnings and threats have fallen on deaf ears.

 
On Monday, the New York Times reported that South Korean President Moon Jae-in is succeeding where all of his predecessors have failed — in engaging North Korea and convincing the country to give up its nuclear weapons program.

31.10.2018 - 'Horrendous': New York Times attacks Inter-Korean Peace Process
‘Horrendous’: New York Times Attacks Inter-Korean Peace Process

However, the article isn't complimentary, quoting a South Korean newspaper that claimed Moon is Kim Jong Un's most effective spokesperson.

The New Times article also quotes an American think tank analyst stating that Moon is a "bad moon on the rise," quoting an old Creedence Clearwater Revival song.

Simone Chun, a fellow at the Korea Policy Institute and a member of the Korean Peace Network, joined Radio Sputnik's Loud & Clear Tuesday to discuss how the US corporate media continues to attack the historic progress towards peace on the Korean Peninsula.

"What this article is suggesting is that Kim Jong Un is either manipulating Moon Jae-in or Moon Jae-in is the unwitting fool falling for deception," Becker said.

"In the article, they even describe Moon Jae-in as ‘the agent of North Korea.' It's a very carefully crafted editorial position designed to sabotage Moon Jae-in's effort to bring about peace on the Korean peninsula," Becker added.

In September, North and South Korea signed a joint agreement, proclaiming an end to the state of war. The two nations agreed to cease large-scale artillery exercises and military flights near the demarcation line and make efforts to denuclearize the peninsula.

However, according to the New York Times article, "[A]s Mr. Moon has pushed to deepen ties with Pyongyang, the backlash from his critics has been swift. A major South Korean newspaper this month called him the ‘chief spokesman for Kim Jong-un,' and an American commentator, quoting Creedence Clearwater Revival, recently referred to him as a ‘bad Moon on the rise.'"

"If Mr. Kim wanted to change his image from nuclear madman to mature negotiator, it's unlikely he could have found a better agent than Mr. Moon," the article stated.

The South Korean newspaper being referenced is chosun.com, "one of the most right-wing newspapers in South Korea--and, according to a recent poll, the least trusted media," Chun told Radio Sputnik. The Creedence Clearwater quotation comes from Gordon Chang, a "notorious right wing" columnist, she added.

"It is a shame [that the] New York Times is giving a platform for the very ultra right-wing and minority voices who are afraid of [the] Korean peace process and who are trying to sabotage the current peace talks," Chun told Sputnik.

"Based on these two sources [cited by the New York Times], there isn't much credibility on this particular article. The image they create is that president Moon is somehow a spokesperson for Chairman Kim. Nine out of 10 Koreans in recent polls support the peace process. I would argue that it's the Korean people [themselves] who are behind the peace process. The big picture, you see here, is a growing, orchestrated chorus of America's right wing think tanks, such as the Heritage Foundation and CSIS, in conjunction with the minority voices in South Korea, who are now in the process of sabotaging and trying to discredit Moon. I think it is very important to, as your media [Sputnik] is doing, respond to this horrendous claims," Chun added.

"If this peace plan between the two Koreans has the support of 90 percent of the Korean people and is going so well for Donald Trump, a Republican president, why would the New York Times place an article like that?" Kirikou asked.

"This is a propaganda piece that found its way into the New York Times," he added.

"The author of the [New York Times] article is actually Korean," Chun responded, also adding that the author has taken conservative viewpoint when it comes to foreign policy over recent years.

"The New York Times, when it comes to foreign policy, has often taken a conservative position" as well, Chun added.

Last week, Seoul, Pyongyang and the UN Command (UNC) on Monday agreed to withdraw firearms and military posts from the village of Panmunjom, known as the Joint Security Area, in the Demilitarized Zone, in what Chun called a "historic attempt" that reveals that the "two Koreas are very determined [to make peace.]"

"The two Koreas and the UNC agreed to take measures of withdrawing firearms and military posts from the JSA by October 25, and for the following two days, the three parties will conduct a joint verification," the South Korean Ministry's of National Defense news release said, according to the Yonhap news agency.

In June, Kim also reached an agreement with US President Donald Trump, stipulating that North Korea would make efforts to promote complete denuclearization of the peninsula in exchange for freezing US-South Korean military drills and a potential removal of US sanctions.
 
2018-11-01 - The Korean Peace Process is Now Irreversible
The Korean Peace Process is Now Irreversible - Eurasia Future

While the United States continues to frame the Korean peace process in terms of de-militarization, a far more important aspect of the process is the political, cultural and physical reconciliation of the two Korean states. It is helpful to remember that while an artificially divided Germany formally united in 1990, it was not until 1994 that (post) Soviet troops left the former East Germany. In this sense there is a clear parallel to the Korean peace process in which the will among a common people on both sides of a politically divided border are rapidly accelerating their connectivity in the midst of a prolonged but still rapidly advancing de-militarization process.

On the 9th of November 1989 after East German authorities made an announcement that appeared to even surprise Günter Schabowski, the official tasked with announcing it, the divisions in Germany as a whole and in the city of Berlin began to disappear before the world’s eyes. On the 9th of November, all travel restrictions between a divided Berlin were to be lifted. Hours later, the Berlin Wall was torn down and what was once believed to be impossible became the inevitable – a divided Berlin and a divided Germany reunited. The history of modern Europe was consequently changed within a matter of hours.

With the 29th anniversary of the Berlin Wall’s demise just days away, a divided Korean people have just experienced something at least partly akin to their November 1989 moment. Today, the DPRK (North Korea) and South Korea have announced an end to all hostilities on the border between the two states. According to a report from China’s Xinhua,

“South Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Thursday stopped all hostile acts in border area as agreed upon in the military agreement, signed by defense chiefs of the two Koreas during the Pyongyang summit in September, according to Seoul’s defense ministry.

The ministry said in a press release that the military authorities of the two Koreas would stop all hostile acts against each other on land, in waters and the air as of 12 a.m. local time Thursday (1500 GMT Wednesday) in accordance with the comprehensive military agreement.

The military agreement was signed on Sept. 19 in Pyongyang on the sidelines of the third summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and top DRRK leader Kim Jong Un.

Under the agreement, the two sides would stop the live-fire artillery drills and the field maneuvering exercises by regiment or bigger units within the 5-km border areas from the military demarcation line (MDL) dividing the Korean Peninsula.

The operation of drones, helicopters and other aircraft would be banned over the border areas up to 40 km away from the MDL.

The live-fire coastline artillery drills and the maritime maneuvering exercises would be prohibited in maritime buffer zones in the eastern and western waters.

The Seoul ministry said the DPRK side officially expressed its willingness to implement the military agreement during the general-grade military talks on Oct. 26.

The DPRK military was implementing the agreement given the recent closure of coastline artilleries in the western waters, according to the Seoul ministry”.

It has further been announced by companies offering foreigners guided tours of the DPRK that for the first time in post-1945 history, ordinary tourists will be able to cross over from the DPRK into the Panmunjom peace village south of the border where DPRK Chairman Kim Jong-un first met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in earlier this year. As travel agencies are responsible for the safety of tourists, it is clear that any fear of a re-militarized situation between North and South is of little worry. While the two Korean states are still separate states, an irreversible process has begun which has clear parallels to Germany in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Today’s events naturally take some of the wind of out America’s sails as they attest to an attitude in South Korea that is far more eager to implement further connectivity measures with the DPRK than US officials appear to be. After South Korean officials moved to endorse a joint Chinese-Russian plan to formally request that the UN Security Council lift some sanctions on the DPRK, it became all too clear that when it comes to Korean unification, Asia is speaking with a singular voice and that voice is arguing for a more rapid rapprochement between Pyongyang and Seoul.

While yesterday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reported that Kim Jong-un had told him that he is prepared to allow US weapons inspectors into former nuclear testing sites to verify their dismantling, this revelation is far less significant than that coming from Korea regarding the 38th parallel. The announcement that the two Korean states are formally renouncing hostilities in the de-militarized zone dividing the Korean peninsula means that a border region far more fortified than that the formerly divided Berlin is now going to be a place where tourism, diplomatic and cultural exchange can take place in a harmonious and exciting atmosphere.

While the US has yet to endorse or even offer a significant response to the Chinese-Russian and joint Korean call for a partial lifting of sanctions on the DPRK, events on the ground in Korea are rapidly outpacing developments in Washington that have thus far sought a slow and steady peace process dictated on American terms.

This too is not surprising. In the late 1980s, Ronald Reagan and later George W. Bush’s United States were far more eager to see Germany re-unite than was Britain under Margaret Thatcher. The reasons behind this had little to do with American altruism towards the German people but had more to do with Washington seeing a united German as being a political bulwark against a Soviet Union that most minds throughout the global west still throughout would not collapse as it ultimately did a year after Germany reunited. By contrast, Margret Thatcher whose early life was shaped by Britain’s participation in the Second World War, continued to be suspicious of a united Germany.

Ultimately though, Germany reunited largely of its own volition and by the time what remained of the last Soviet/Russian troops withdrew in 1994, the matter was more of a symbolic formality than anything else. In Korea, a United States that in the 1940s refused to allow for reunification out of fear that such a singular Korean state would be ruled by a Communist party, is now paradoxically worried that a more interconnected Korea might result in the loss of American influence in the peninsula just as a united Germany resulted in Russia losing influence in central and eastern Europe. Today, it is not Chinese or Russian troops who sit in Korean waiting for the “next war” but rather it is over 23,000 US troops who sit in South Korea prepared to fight a war that no one in Asia wants or is willing to fight.

In this sense, the position of the US in today’s Korean is akin to a hybrid of the Soviet and British position of 1990. While the Soviets clearly did not want to lose influence in Europe, there was little that could be done to slow the momentum of political change in mainland Europe. Likewise, the objections of the openly Germanophobic British Premier proved not to carry much weight in spite of her close relations with America. Furthermore, while elements of the so-called US deep state including the hawkish US National Security Adviser John Bolton appear to want to prolong the peace process, the business minded Donald Trump clearly wants the US private sector to have a piece of the tantalizing Korean economic pie that will be served as soon as the spirit of economic openness that the DPRK is already preparing for becomes a matter of fact rather than a matter of policy.

On the whole however, the US is being more stubborn regarding Korea than the Soviet Union was in respect of Germany and other central and eastern European states with a post-1945 Soviet military presence. Be that as it may, just as the wider world tended to support German reunification in the 1990s, today even more of the world supports Korean steps to adopt something akin to a ‘One Country–Two Systems’ model that has defined post-colonial Hong Kong and Macao’s relations with the rest of China.

But just as the events in 1989 in Europe moved faster than either the Communist factions of the region or Britain’s anti-Communist Prime Minister wanted, so too does it appear that the movement towards peace and reconciliation in Korea is moving faster than anyone including the United States can control.

While there is little doubt that the Korean peninsula will be de-militarized as the US and others want, what’s even more important is that economic, human and cultural re-connectivity will likely happen long before the last nuclear weapon is disposed of. While sceptics will naturally disagree with this assessment, one must never forget that the majority of voices in the late 1989s and early 1990s were sceptical about the rapidly changing realities in Europe. They were proved wrong then and similar voices will likely be proved wrong in respect of Korea in the very near future.


October 31, 2018 - No-fly zone, military drill ban near Korea Border take effect
No-fly zone, military drill ban near Korea border take effect | Reuters

A no-fly zone and a ban on military drills near the heavily fortified border between North and South Korea came into effect on Thursday as the once uneasy neighbors push to further defuse tensions.

The measures were part of a military accord inked during last month’s inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang, which includes a halt in “all hostile acts,” and a gradual removal of landmines and guard posts within the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ).

The United States has raised concerns that the deal could undercut defense readiness amid tardy progress on North Korea’s denuclearisation, though it displayed support at an annual security consultative meeting of defense ministers on Wednesday in Washington.

“The South and the North completely removed dangers of military clash through the military agreement,” South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in told the parliament on Thursday.

“The two Koreas and the United States will achieve complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and lasting peace based on firm trust.”

North Korea has also taken steps toward the pact, such as covering artillery deployed along the skirmish-prone western shore, Seoul’s defense ministry said.

The no-fly zone extends 40 kms (25 miles) north and south from the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) in the east and 20 kms (12 miles) in the west for fixed-wing aircraft.

The agreement also bars live-fire drills involving fixed-wing aircraft and air-to-ground guided weapons in the no-fly area. South Korea and the United States had held such drills regularly until halting joint exercises in June.

There are different restrictions on helicopters, drones and balloons, with exemptions for commercial and non-military operations such as medical, disaster and agricultural uses.

“We will thoroughly verify the North side’s implementation of the agreement, including its movement on military exercises around the MDL and whether it complies with the no-fly zone,” the South’s defense ministry said in a statement.

The no-fly zone was a key sticking point for Washington because it would effectively bar close air support drills, in which airplanes provide firepower for troops who may be operating near enemy forces.

The allies agreed to halt the Vigilant Ace air defense drills set for December in a move to spur nuclear talks with Pyongyang, while South Korea said it kicked off two military exercises on Monday outside the banned area.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to work toward denuclearisation during his historic June summit with U.S. President Donald Trump. But Pyongyang’s actions have fallen short of U.S. demands for irreversible steps to scrap its arsenal, including a full disclosure of nuclear facilities and materials.

South Korea’s spy agency said North Korea was preparing for international inspections at some of its nuclear and missile test sites, the Yonhap news agency said on Wednesday.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he planned to meet his North Korean counterpart next week.
 
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