Politics

A South Korean delegation is meeting North Korean leader Kim Jung Un in Pyongyang to discuss details of an upcoming summit.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets envoys from South in Pyongyang

Delegates hand letter from Moon Jae-In as state leaders plan for summit this month

5 September 2018
Kim and Moon at their second summit in Panmunjom in May.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea's demands for economic aid push South into a corner

South Korea is sending envoys to Pyongyang on Wednesday ahead of Moon-Kim summit

4 September 2018
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects the Ungok Area General Stock Farm on Aug. 13 as part of a nationwide tour of factories, farms and other facilities. 
N Korea at crossroads

Kim struggles to revive North Korean economy battered by sanctions

Life in the cities better than on hardscrabble farms, but country still reeling

2 September 2018
A soldier walks at Imjingang Station near the demilitarized zone on the Gyeongui Line, which the two Koreas are trying to link. The United Nations Command denied permission to send a test train from Seoul through the border. 
N Korea at crossroads

Nuclear impasse clouds future of inter-Korean rail link

US intervention suspected in UN Command's rejection of survey plans

31 August 2018
U.S. President Donald Trump answers reporters' questions at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
N Korea at crossroads

China hits back at Trump's 'irresponsible' North Korea remarks

Trump had threatened to restart and ramp up military exercises if no progress

30 August 2018
North Korea is thought to be circumventing international sanctions by smuggling products through third countries or switching cargo between ships on the high seas. (Courtesy of Japan's Defense Ministry)
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea-linked smuggling ships made 25 stops in Japan

Vessels seen to be exporting coal, exposing gaping hole in sanctions enforcement

30 August 2018
Intercontinental ballistic missiles are put on show at a military parade in Pyongyang on Feb. 9, celebrating the 70th founding anniversary of the Korean People's Army.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea plans major military parade for its 70th anniversary

Pyongyang still interested in talking with Washington, South Korean spy agency says

29 August 2018
U.S. President Donald Trump, left, held a meeting Friday on North Korea attended by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, fourth from left. (Photo from White House social media director Dan Scavino's Twitter account)
N Korea at crossroads

Trump gambit takes aim at North Korea stalemate

Pompeo's scrapped trip to Pyongyang echoes negotiating tactic from summit

26 August 2018
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, right, announces the appointment of Steve Biegun as Special Representative to North Korea at the State Department in Washington on Aug. 23. (State Department photo)
N Korea at crossroads

Trump tells Pompeo to cancel North Korea trip

President cites lack of progress and China's unhelpful stance

25 August 2018
A Japan Coast Guard patrol ship warns a North Korean fishing boat in waters off Japan in June.
International relations

North Korean fishing in Japan's economic zone drops 77%

Early patrol by coast guard ahead of squid season pays off

25 August 2018
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said he would sit down with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. 
N Korea at crossroads

Japan weighs $10bn in North Korea aid to spur return of citizens

Tokyo's trump card of economic assistance will follow normalization of relations

17 August 2018
Indonesian masseuse Siti Aisyah, one of the two women accused of killing Kim Jong Nam, arrives at the Shah Alam High Court on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur on Aug. 16.
International relations

Women accused of Kim Jong Nam murder ordered to begin defense

Malaysian court rules enough evidence presented for trial to proceed

16 August 2018
South Korean President Moon Jae-in speaks at a ceremony on Aug. 15 marking the 73rd anniversary of liberation from Japan's colonial rule.
N Korea at crossroads

Moon pushes inter-Korean railway ahead of Pyongyang visit

President prepares economic incentives to encourage denuclearization

16 August 2018
Despite international sanctions banning the import of North Korean coal, South Korea apparently received roughly 35,000 tons of the fuel between April and October 2017.
N Korea at crossroads

Illegal North Korean coal finds its way to South's power plants

About 35,000 tons smuggled through Russia in breach of sanctions

11 August 2018
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, in an apparent goodwill gesture to North Korea, canceled military drills with the U.S. scheduled for August.
Politics

South Korea's foreign policy shaped by Moon's anti-US past

Talk of a smaller American military presence builds in Seoul

6 August 2018
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, speaks with his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong Ho at the ASEAN Regional Forum in Singapore on Aug. 4. (State Department photo)
N Korea at crossroads

US and North Korea trade barbs on international stage

At Singapore meeting, Pyongyang offers fiery response to Washington's new sanctions

5 August 2018
Foreign ministers attend the Asean Regional Forum Retreat Session in Singapore on August 4. 
N Korea at crossroads

ASEAN forum switches tone on North Korea and South China Sea

Members ease pressure on Pyongyang and welcome commitment to denuclearization

4 August 2018
North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho arrives at the ASEAN Regional Forum with a clear mission: drum up support for an official end to the Korean War.
N Korea at crossroads

Pyongyang campaigns to build support for Korean War closure

North Korean foreign minister meets counterparts from 7 Asian nations

4 August 2018
North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, left, and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi shake hands at a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Singapore on Friday.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea welcomed at ASEAN forum a year after being ignored

US denuclearization deal helps lighten mood at regional security conference

3 August 2018
This satellite image taken on July 22 appears to show North Korea's Sohae Satellite Launching Station in the process of being dismantled. (Airbus Defense and Space and 38 North)
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea starts dismantling main rocket test site, report says

Website 38 North says Kim has taken 'first step' to fulfilling pledge to Trump

24 July 2018
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held a summit in April in the North Korean border town of Panmunjom.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea turns up heat on South in push for peace declaration

Pyongyang disappointed as economic cooperation efforts come to a standstill

24 July 2018
The longer the U.S.-North Korea talks continue, the longer Beijing will be assured of its influence on Pyongyang.
Opinion

Why China wants the Trump-Kim show to go on -- as long as possible

The tensions in the US-North Korea talks suit Beijing as it keeps its hold on Pyongyang

23 July 2018
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, right, meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang in May. (North Korea's Korean Central News Agency)
N Korea at crossroads

Kim Jong Un plays hard to get with Putin

Better ties with Beijing have weakened Moscow's hand on the Korean Peninsula

21 July 2018
A South Korean soldier stands guard at the truce village of Panmunjom inside the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas on April 18.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea shows up for talks on returning US troop remains

No-shows at earlier planned meeting, Pyongyang came to the table this time

16 July 2018
Families of victims abducted by North Korea stand with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump during a November 2017 gathering in Tokyo.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea seeks new dialogue on Japan abductions

Kim Jong Un said to want another chance to explain findings

13 July 2018