Tag: North Korea

Trump-Kim summit: Decoding what happened in Singapore

Image copyright KEVIN LIM/THE STRAITS OCCASIONS/HANDOUT

Donald Trump arrived in Singapore promising to make history.

That he did by way of shaking Kim Jong-un’s hand for the world’s cameras – changing into the primary sitting US chief to satisfy his North Korean counterpart.

However what have they really completed, what are the results and what would possibly happen subsequent?

We requested 4 professionals for their take.

‘A vague document but Kim might have made unwritten promises’

Andrea Berger, senior analysis associate, James Martin Middle for Non-proliferation Studies

Kim Jong-un departed Singapore without hanging his signature next to any further precise or formidable nuclear-similar provisions. The language in the Singapore declaration mirrors previous agreements, and is in places much more imprecise. In that sense, the joint document is a present that has been elaborately wrapped and re-proficient. nevertheless it may be the concept that counts. The assembly in Singapore has created political house for, and momentum towards, further direct talks, which might be more suitable for filling in details absent from the joint settlement.

if truth be told, Mr Trump’s press conference indicates that further verbal commitments would possibly have already got been made. Among other revelations, he introduced plans to cancel US-South Korean joint military workouts. North Korea has long had an allergy to these drills, and Mr Trump agreed they have been “provocative”. Parts of the u.s. defence community will undoubtedly object to the cancellation of legitimate, protecting exercises, not least because it is uncertain whether or not the verdict used to be taken in concert with allies in South Korea. But suspending joint workouts may lend a hand enable additional development with Pyongyang, as it did when the “Unity” drills have been known as off within the early nineties.

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Media captionTrump Kim summit: Win-win, or a Kim win?

‘Triumph of religion over fact’

John Nilsson-Wright, North-east Asia expert, Chatham Area and senior lecturer, School of Cambridge

For the 2 leaders, the feeling should indubitably be that the summit has met all their expectancies and can depend as a success. However we should watch out to differentiate among the visuals and the bold expectancies at the one hand and the desire to deliver actual, measurable and unambiguous growth at the different. This feels more just like the triumph of faith over reality with a heavy dose of spin and salesmanship thrown in to bolster Donald Trump’s standing together with his base at house.

Mr Kim will were pleased through his burnished image as a responsible world statesman whom the u.s. president likes and respects. The North Korean chief will also unquestionably be encouraged by Mr Trump’s surprise statement that US-South Korea joint military exercises will be ending. Having A Look beforehand, the united states will want to keep the momentum behind the discussions and begin swiftly to deliver significant progress.

Handshake moment explained in pictures Did the summit rhetoric fit reality? The summit’s oddest moments

Locally, US allies will probably be unsettled by way of the president’s remarks it sounds as if hinting on the possible drawdown folks forces in the region at a few aspect and a repeat of familiar defence burden-sharing arguments. even supposing no longer explicitly tied to the summit, this reference – in conjunction with the announced suspension of the joint army workouts – risks destabilising critically vital alliance ties, in all probability sparking in turn a further disruptive expansion in local military competition and a zero-sum arms race.

It Is hard to see how the newest verbal exchange concretely and meaningfully addresses the humanitarian concerns of Japan over abductions carried out through North Korea. China too will need to peer proof that North Korea is adopting a extra accommodating posture, but will take center from the indicators that Mr Trump’s place is less combative and that, for now, the chance of military action has well and truly receded.

‘Trump received a lone, technical concession’

Ankit Panda, adjunct senior fellow at the Federation of yankee Scientists and a senior editor on the Diplomat

The joint statement makes two separate references to “complete denuclearisation”. That Is a loaded word and never exactly what it seems. but the last thing “whole denuclearisation” approach is that North Korea will unilaterally disarm itself – or completely, verifiably, and irreversibly dismantle its nuclear guns.

The latter word, steadily abbreviated to “CVID”, used to be nowhere to be discovered in the assertion and that is the reason removed from a surprise. within the lead-up to the summit, North Korea made clear that Kim Jong-un was now not coming to Singapore to show over the keys to his nuclear programme. “Entire denuclearisation” – a system that first gave the impression within the 27 April Panmunjom statement among the two Koreas – is ambiguous, open-ended and, in its such a lot generous interpretation, refers to world nuclear disarmament.

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Media captionKim: “the arena will see an immense amendment”

The headline-successful concessions that the rustic has made up to now on its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, including the declaration of a moratorium on intercontinental-range ballistic missile trying out and the presumably reversible dismantlement of its nuclear test web page at Punggye-ri, had been introduced in overdue April and had little to do with ongoing international relations with South Korea and the u.s..

Complete text of the signed commentary Trump-Kim summit explained Diplomacy on a plate: What did they devour?

In North Korea’s framing, those had been actions that were taken as a result of the rustic had finished its nuclear deterrent and now wanted to sign to the arena that it would continue to exist as a mature and responsible nuclear weapons energy.

Mr Trump appears to have extracted a lone, technical concession from North Korea at the summit. After signing the Singapore announcement, he asked Mr Kim to dismantle a “missile engine checking out website online”. The North Korean reportedly familiar the request – although this used to be now not put in writing. This web page appears to be specific from a just lately razed web page near Kusong associated with the rustic’s construction of complicated road-cellular missile launchers.

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Media captionTrump: “The prior does not must define our long term”

We lack enough element to understand what website online Mr Trump supposed in particular, but there is a probability that he was relating to North Korea’s forged propellant engine take a look at web site at Hamhung. despite North Korea’s substantial development in ballistic missiles, solid propellant missiles are the next frontier for its programmes. If Mr Trump controlled to protected an insurance from North Korea in this element, we might even see it end up the most important point of technical dialogue in a subsequent round folks-North Korea talks.

‘Starting gun for a marathon procedure’

Sokeel Park, director of analysis and strategy, Liberty in North Korea

A hugely hyped, unparalleled summit that produced an excessively mild, boilerplate settlement. The phrases truly could had been reproduction and pasted from different agreements with North Korea. So an unimpressive get started, however this used to be always only going to be the starting gun for a marathon procedure that we could have to attend a yr or to judge.

even supposing a ONE HUNDRED% solution on denuclearisation continues to be elusive, there may be wish that this time an engagement process could stick as a result of Kim Jong-un, handiest 34 years old, has to play an extended recreation lasting decades, and knows that he wishes financial expansion to maintain power for the long term.

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Media captionNorth Koreans resolution ‘stupid questions’

The more we can open the country and boost up the other people’s calls for for a growing economic system and better lives, the extra Kim Jong-un could have to secure a beneficial setting for business and funding from China, South Korea and the remaining of the arena, and the extra he will be tied to a monitor of sure engagement.

So in the offers that we make and the means we take with North Korea, we have to ensure that that it’s a win not just for Kim Jong-un but additionally for the North Korean people. That Is the only approach to positioned us on a track of long-term sustainable growth.

My feel is that a lot of standard and richer North Koreans alike will welcome this re-engagement with China and South Korea and new prime-stage engagement with the united states. People are likely to need change, breakthroughs and better financial possibilities. However, outdoor of controlled reporting in state media most North Koreans in fact should not have just about as so much knowledge, analysis and commentary approximately all this, so although they are affected more they may in reality be serious about it much less.

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December 16, 2018
Trump and the nuclear codes

Symbol copyright Brendan Hoffman/Getty Pictures

On 20 January, inauguration day in the Usa, a anonymous, unknown military aide will probably be observed accompanying President Barack Obama to the handover ceremony at the US Capitol in Washington.

That army aide can be wearing a satchel over his or her shoulder containing a briefcase known as “the nuclear football”. Inside will probably be a work of digital hardware measuring 3in (7.3cm) by means of 5in, referred to as “the biscuit”.

This comprises the launch codes for a strategic nuclear strike. The briefing for the incoming president on the right way to activate them will have already taken position out of public sight, but the moment President-go with Donald Trump takes the oath of administrative center that aide, and the satchel, will move quietly over to his side.

Donald Trump will then have sole authority to reserve an action that might consequence within the deaths of millions of people in underneath an hour. The query on so much of individuals’s minds at this time is, given his skinny pores and skin and impulsive temperament, what are the safeguards, if any, to prevent an impetuous choice by way of one guy with catastrophic results?

firstly, it will be mentioned that Donald Trump has rowed back on some of his earlier, provocative feedback on the use of nuclear guns. He has not too long ago stated he would be “the ultimate person to make use of them”, even if he has not ruled it out.

Symbol copyright Drew Angerer/Getty Images Image caption Donald Trump says the u.s. must “very much enhance and make bigger” its nuclear capabilities

Beneath the 25th Modification of the u.s. Charter a vice-president may just, in thought, claim the president mentally incapable of taking a proper choice, however he would wish to be subsidized by means of a majority of the cupboard.

So how would it not paintings in apply?

Inside Of that briefcase, the “nuclear soccer” that never leaves the president’s facet, is a “black book” of strike options for him to make a choice from as soon as he has authenticated his id as commander-in-leader, the use of a plastic card.

Washington folklore has it that a earlier president quickly mislaid his identification card when he left it inside a jacket that was once sent to the dry cleaners.

Once the president has selected his strike options from a protracted-prepared “menu”, the order is passed via the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the Pentagon’s conflict room after which, the usage of sealed authentication codes, directly to US Strategic Command HQ in Offutt Airbase in Nebraska.

The order to fire is transmitted to the actual launch crews the usage of encrypted codes that experience to match the codes locked inside their safes.

Media captionWhich international locations have nuclear weapons?

the us and Russia each possess enough nuclear missiles to smash every other’s towns a number of instances over – there are pronounced to be 100 US nuclear warheads geared toward Moscow alone. the two nations’ arsenals account for greater than 90% of the world’s overall selection of nuclear warheads.

As of September 2016 Russia had the most, with an anticipated 1796 strategic nuclear warheads, deployed on a combined platform of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) and strategic bombers.

Beneath a programme ordered by President Vladimir Putin, Moscow has just lately invested billions of roubles in upgrading its strategic nuclear missile drive, protecting an arsenal of regularly mobile ballistic missiles traveling via tunnels deep underneath the forests of Siberia.

America had, in September 2016, 1,367 strategic nuclear warheads, in a similar fashion deployed in land-primarily based underground missile silos, which by means of their static nature are vulnerable to a first strike, at sea onboard submarines, where they’re tougher to stumble on, and at airbases, where they may be able to be loaded directly to bombers.

the united kingdom has approximately A HUNDRED AND TWENTY strategic warheads, of which only a 3rd are deployed at sea. The Royal Military at all times helps to keep a element of the nation’s Trident nuclear force someplace within the world’s oceans, maintaining what is known as the continuous at sea deterrent.

Symbol copyright DIMA KOROTAYEV/AFP/Getty Pictures Image caption The Topol is one of Russia’s mobile ICBMs

ICBMs commute at a velocity of over 17,000mph (Mach 23), flying prime above the Earth’s surroundings ahead of descending against their pre-programmed objectives at four miles a second.

The flight-time for land-based totally missiles flying among Russia and the u.s. is between 25 and half-hour. For submarine-primarily based missiles, where the boats could also be in a position to method a coast covertly, the flight time could be significantly shorter, even as little as 12 minutes.

This does not depart a president much time to make a decision whether or not it is a false alarm or coming near near Armageddon. As Soon As ICBMs had been introduced they can not be recalled, but if they continue to be of their silos they’ll almost certainly be destroyed by the inbound attack.

A former senior White Area professional told me lately that so much may rely on the cases during which a nuclear strike was being considered.

If this was an extended-time period, measured policy decision to say, perform a pre-emptive strike on country X, then a lot of people would be involved. The vice-president, National Security Adviser, and far of the cabinet could all be more likely to be incorporated in the resolution-making procedure.

but when there was an impending strategic threat to the United States Of America, ie if an inbound release of ICBMs from a adverse state were detected and were minutes from achieving the us then, he stated, “the president has strange latitude to take the only decision to release.”

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December 4, 2018
Benoît Quennedey: French legitimate charged with spying for N Korea

Symbol copyright AFP Symbol caption Benoît Quennedey is president of the Franco-Korean Friendship Affiliation

A French civil servant has been positioned below formal felony investigation on suspicion of spying for North Korea.

Benoît Quennedey is suspected of treason and “offering data to a international power”. He faces up to 10 years in prison if found guilty.

Mr Quennedey holds a senior position in the French Senate’s department of structure, historical past and gardens.

He is also president of the Franco-Korean Friendship Affiliation, which promotes nearer ties with North Korea.

In latest years he has written books on the united states of america, together with North Korea’s Economy: Beginning Of Recent Asian Dragon (2013).

Mr Quennedey has travelled a couple of instances to Pyongyang in latest years and met officers and teachers working within the structure and construction fields, in keeping with his association’s website.

Following his arrest in Paris on Sunday, he was wondered for 96 hours by way of France’s counter-intelligence service.

Investigations into Mr Quennedey began a yr ago, French media say.

Reacting to his arrest, Senate President Gérard Larcher stated: “If the allegations in opposition to him were proven, this may severely undermine the picture of our institution.”

Underneath France’s criminal gadget, an investigating pass judgement on is charged with reviewing the evidence and will choose to close the case.

November 29, 2018
Mike Pompeo: North Korea talks progress

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday trumpeted progress in U.S.-North Korean relations on a slew of issues, from efforts to persuade Pyongyang to abandon nuclear weapons to closing in on details f

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday trumpeted progress in U.S.-North Korean relations on a slew of issues, from efforts to persuade Pyongyang to abandon nuclear weapons to closing in on details for a second Trump-Kim Jong-un summit.

Mr. Pompeo arrived in Seoul hours after wrapping up his fourth visit to North Korea on Sunday, telling reporters it was a “good trip” and that he and Mr. Kim made strides on the initiatives discussed at June’s historic summit in Singapore between the North Korean leader and President Trump.

“We had a good, productive conversation,” Mr. Pompeo said during a joint briefing with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. “As President Trump said, there are many steps along the way, and we took one of them today. It was another step forward. So this is, I think, a good outcome for all of us.”

According to Associated Press reports, Mr. Kim echoed Mr. Pompeo’s optimism. “It’s a very nice day that promises a good future for both countries,” Mr. Kim said as he, Mr. Pompeo and their respective entourages met for a 90-minute working lunch at the Paekhwawon State Guest House in the North Korean capital.

Prior to the lunch, Mr. Kim and Mr. Pompeo held closed-door talks for roughly 3 hours. Stephen Biegun, U.S. special envoy for North Korea, and Andrew Kim, head of the Korea working group at the CIA, attended as part of the U.S. delegation. Mr. Kim was accompanied by his sister, Kim Yo-jong, and Kim Yong-chol, the North’s former top intelligence official and the main conduit for talks between the regime and Mr. Pompeo.

Despite the goodwill expressed by both sides, neither Mr. Pompeo nor Mr. Kim opted to disclose details. During the joint press conference in Seoul, Mr. Moon attempted to press Mr. Pompeo to shed a little light on Sunday’s talks.

“Since we have the media present here, I would like to ask you to disclose anything that you can open to the public here,” Mr. Moon said. Mr. Pompeo politely declined, telling the South Korean leader, “I don’t have much to add but we had a good, productive conversation.”

White House critics argue that Mr. Kim and the regime in the North have leveraged Mr. Trump’s efforts to engage with Pyongyang to earn legitimacy in the international community while harboring no real intention to follow through on major U.S. initiatives, such as denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.

However, administration officials argue that Mr. Trump has broken through decades of diplomatic impasses that have stymied previous efforts to establish ties with Pyongyang. But officials have acknowledged the road to reconciliation for North Korea, the U.S. and the international community remains long.

Bilateral talks between North Korea and Washington faltered recently, and Mr. Trump canceled an earlier round of meetings. Sunday’s talks marked the first breakthrough in that impasse since Singapore.

Mr. Pompeo’s visit to North Korea was “better than the last time [but] it’s going to be a long haul” to get Mr. Kim to acquiesce to Washington’s demands, a U.S. official tied to Mr. Pompeo’s delegation told Fox News on Sunday.

While details were scarce on Sunday’s meeting, U.S. officials said the visit focused on the nuts and bolts of the denuclearization process, proffered by the Trump administration in June, as well as the diplomatic parameters for a proposed second summit between Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim.

In Washington, Mr. Trump indicated his willingness to hold a second face-to-face summit with the North Korean leader.

“I look forward to seeing Chairman Kim again, in the near future,” Mr. Trump tweeted Sunday, citing the progress he and Mr. Kim made in Singapore, just as Mr. Pompeo was wrapping up his visit in Pyongyang.

Analysts in the U.S. were upbeat but cautious.

“While there is no way Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in roughly 210 minutes with Chairman Kim Jong-un achieved any major breakthroughs Sunday, [he] may have achieved his goal nonetheless: exploring the timing and possible locations for a second U.S.-North Korea summit,” said Harry Kazianis, head of defense studies at the Washington-based Center for the National Interest.

Mr. Trump’s willingness to secure a second summit with North Korea could lead to an offer to officially end the Korean War, Mr. Kazianis said, in exchange “for a big action towards denuclearization.”

“Trump will likely be tempted to hold such a summit quickly, and possibly even in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, to make history and drive headlines, pointing to another success right before the midterm elections,” he said.

The administration has resisted efforts to officially end the war between North and South Korea — the two countries are technically under a 1953 cease-fire agreement — out of concern that a peace deal would increase pressure on the U.S. to remove troops from South Korea.

But Mr. Moon and Mr. Kim have pushed for the end-of-war declaration by December. Mr. Moon has argued that he and Mr. Kim have agreed that such a “political declaration” wouldn’t require the pullout of 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea.

October 8, 2018
Mike Pompeo seeks allied unity in dealing with North Korea

America’s top diplomat left Tokyo for Pyongyang on Sunday after pledging that the U.S. will coordinate with allies Japan and South Korea on efforts to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapo

TOKYO (AP) — America’s top diplomat left Tokyo for Pyongyang on Sunday after pledging that the U.S. will coordinate with allies Japan and South Korea on efforts to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.

On the eve of his fourth visit to North Korea, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Saturday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to try to unify the countries’ positions as he looks to arrange a second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and chart a path toward denuclearization.

Japan has been wary of Trump’s initiative, fearing it could affect its long-standing security relationship with the U.S.

Pompeo said it was important to hear from the Japanese leader “so we have a fully coordinated and unified view.” Pompeo also pledged that during his meeting with Kim on Sunday, he would raise the cases of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea.

Pompeo later planned stops in South Korea and China to review the negotiations.

“It is important for us to hear from you as I travel to Pyongyang to make sure that we are fully in sync with respect to missile programs, (chemical and biological weapons) programs,” Pompeo told Abe. “We will bring up the issue of the abductees as well and then we will share with you how we hope to proceed when we are in Pyongyang tomorrow.”

Trump is pressing to meet with Kim for a second time after their June summit in Singapore produced a vague agreement on denuclearization with few, if any, specifics. Despite the historic meeting, the two sides are deadlocked over how to achieve that goal. Trump canceled Pompeo’s initial planned return to North Korea last month.

In contrast with South Korea, where President Moon Jae-in has been at the forefront of encouraging Trump’s rapprochement with the North, Japan has been decidedly cautious, insisting its interests and concerns be addressed.

Abe did not speak of differences but highlighted the importance of demonstrating to the world that the U.S.-Japan alliance is “more robust than ever” and stressing the importance of “thorough coordination” with Washington on all aspects of North Korea policy.

Pompeo has repeatedly refused to discuss details of negotiations, including a U.S. position on North Korea’s demand for a declared end to the Korean War and a proposal from Seoul for such a declaration to be accompanied by a shutdown of the North’s main known nuclear facility.

The U.S. and Japan have pushed for the North to compile and turn over a detailed list of its nuclear sites to be dismantled as a next step in the process; the North has rejected that.

Japan’s foreign minister, Taro Kano, said the accounting continues to be a priority for his country.

“Disclosing all nuclear inventories is the first step toward denuclearization,” he told reporters after Pompeo wrapped up his meeting in Tokyo.

Kono also said he and Pompeo didn’t go into details of a possible war-end declaration because it’s premature while there is virtually no progress in denuclearization. “We are not even talking about whether to do it or not,” he said. “It’s not an issue that we are even considering.”

Many believe such a declaration could reinforce North Korea’s demands for the U.S. to withdraw its forces from South Korea and Japan.

While traveling to Asia, Pompeo said his mission was to “make sure that we understand what each side is truly trying to achieve … and how we can deliver against the commitments that were made” in Singapore. He said they would develop options, if not finalize, the location and timing of a second Trump-Kim summit.

He has also distanced himself from an earlier stated goal of achieving North Korea’s nuclear weapons abandonment by the end of Trump’s term in January 2021.

Since the effort got underway with a secret visit to the North by then-CIA chief Pompeo in April, there has been only limited progress.

North Korea so far has suspended nuclear and missile tests, freed three American prisoners and dismantled parts of a missile engine facility and tunnel entrances at a nuclear test site. It has not taken any steps to halt nuclear weapons or missile development.

The North also has accused Washington of making “unilateral and gangster-like” demands on denuclearization and insisted that sanctions should be lifted before any progress in nuclear talks. U.S. officials have thus far said sanctions will remain in place until the North’s denuclearization is fully verified.

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AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.

October 7, 2018
Seoul: North Korea estimated to have 20-60 nuclear weapons

A top South Korean official told lawmakers that North Korea is estimated to have up to 60 nuclear weapons, in Seoul’s first public comment about the size of the North’s secrecy-clouded weapons arsenal

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A top South Korean official told lawmakers that North Korea is estimated to have up to 60 nuclear weapons, in Seoul’s first public comment about the size of the North’s secrecy-clouded weapons arsenal.

Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon told parliament Monday the estimates on the size of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal range from 20 bombs to as many as 60. He was responding to a question by a lawmaker, saying the information came from the intelligence authorities. The National Intelligence Service, South Korea’s main spy agency, couldn’t immediately comment.

Cho may have unintentionally revealed the information. His ministry said Tuesday Cho’s comments didn’t mean that South Korea would accept North Korea as a nuclear state, suggesting Seoul’s diplomatic efforts to rid the North of its nuclear program would continue.

The South Korean assessment on the North’s arsenal is not much different from various outside civilian estimates largely based on the amount of nuclear materials that North is believed to have produced.

According to South Korean government reports, North is believed to have produced 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of weaponized plutonium, enough for at least eight bombs. Stanford University scholars, including nuclear physicist Siegfried Hecker who visited North Korea’s centrifuge facility at Nyongbyon in 2010, wrote earlier this year that North Korea is estimated to have a highly enriched uranium inventory of 250 to 500 kilograms (550 to 1,100 pounds), sufficient for 25 to 30 nuclear devices.

Many foreign experts say North Korea are likely running additional secret uranium-enrichment plants.

The North entered talks with the United States and South Korea earlier this year, saying it’s willing to negotiate away its advancing nuclear arsenal. Nuclear diplomacy later stalled due to suspicions over how sincere North Korea is about its disarmament pledge, but U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is to visit Pyongyang this month to set up a second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

October 2, 2018
Kim Jong-un, Moon Jae-in join hands on peak of sacred North Korean volcano

The leaders of the rival Koreas took to the road for the final day of their summit Thursday, standing on the peak of a beautiful volcano considered sacred in the North and a centerpiece of propaganda

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — The leaders of the rival Koreas took to the road for the final day of their summit Thursday, standing on the peak of a beautiful volcano considered sacred in the North and a centerpiece of propaganda used to legitimize the Kim family’s rule, their hands clasped and raised in a pose of triumph. Their trip to the mountain on the North Korean-Chinese border, and the striking photo-op that will resonate in both Koreas, followed a day of wide-ranging agreements they trumpeted as a major step toward peace.

However, their premier accord on the issue that most worries the world — the North’s pursuit of nuclear-tipped missiles that can accurately strike the U.S. mainland — contained a big condition: Kim Jong-un stated that he would permanently dismantle North Korea’s main nuclear facility only if the United States takes unspecified corresponding measures.

Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in flew separately to an airport near Mount Paektu on Thursday morning where they then met up and drove to the mountain.

Photos showed the leaders smiling broadly as they posed at the summit, their wives grinning at their sides, a brilliant blue sky and the deep crater lake that tops the volcano in the background; they also toured the shores of the lake. Members of the Kim family are referred to as sharing the “Paektu Bloodline,” and the volcano is emblazoned on the national emblem and lends its name to everything from rockets to power stations.

Many South Koreans also feel drawn to the volcano, which, according to Korean mythology was the birthplace of Dangun, the founder of the first ancient Korean kingdom, and has long been considered one of the most beautiful places on the peninsula. Not everyone was pleased, though. About 100 anti-North Korea protesters rallied in central Seoul to express anger about the summit and displayed slogans that read, “No to SK-NK summit that benefits Kim Jong Un.”

Moon arrived in South Korea later Thursday and was expected to brief the media.

The leaders are basking in the glow of the joint statement they settled Wednesday. Compared to the vague language of their two earlier summits, Kim and Moon seem to have agreed on an ambitious program meant to tackle soaring tensions last year that had many fearing war as the North tested a string of increasingly powerful weapons.

Kim promised to accept international inspectors to monitor the closing of a key missile test site and launch pad and to visit Seoul soon, and both leaders vowed to work together to try to host the Summer Olympics in 2032.

But while containing several tantalizing offers, their joint statement appeared to fall short of the major steps many in Washington have been looking for – such as a commitment by Kim to provide a list of North Korea’s nuclear facilities, a solid step-by-step timeline for closing them down, or an agreement to allow international inspectors to assess progress or discover violations.

It also was unclear what “corresponding steps” North Korea wants from the U.S. to dismantle its nuclear site.

The question is whether it will be enough for President Donald Trump to pick up where Moon has left off. Trump told reporters Wednesday that the outcome of the summit was “very good news” and that “we’re making tremendous progress” with North Korea. He didn’t indicate in his brief remarks whether the U.S. would be willing to take further steps to encourage North Korean action on denuclearization.

Declaring they had made a major step toward peace, Moon and Kim stood side by side Wednesday as they announced their agreement.

“We have agreed to make the Korean Peninsula a land of peace that is free from nuclear weapons and nuclear threat,” Kim said. “The road to our future will not always be smooth and we may face challenges and trials we can’t anticipate. But we aren’t afraid of headwinds because our strength will grow as we overcome each trial based on the strength of our nation.”

Moon urged unity for all Koreans in a speech he gave Wednesday night to the crowd gathered for North Korea’s signature mass games. “We have lived together for 5,000 years and lived in separation for 70 years. I now propose that we completely eliminate the hostility of the past 70 years and take a big step forward in peace so that we can become one again.”

Historians say the 5,000-year timeline of Korean history is a groundless claim that became part of South Korea’s official narrative after being inserted in school textbooks during the rule of former dictator Chun Doo-hwan.

This week’s summit comes as Moon is under increasing pressure from Washington to find a path forward in efforts to get Kim to completely – and unilaterally – abandon his nuclear arsenal.

Trump has maintained that he and Kim have a solid relationship, and both leaders have expressed interest in a follow-up summit to their meeting in June in Singapore. North Korea has been demanding a declaration formally ending the Korean War, which was stopped in 1953 by a cease-fire, but neither leader mentioned it Wednesday as they read the joint statement.

In the meantime, however, Moon and Kim made concrete moves of their own to reduce tensions on their border.

According to a statement signed by the countries’ defense chiefs, the two Koreas agreed to establish buffer zones along their land and sea borders to reduce military tensions and prevent accidental clashes. They also agreed to withdraw 11 guard posts from the Demilitarized Zone by December and to establish a no-fly zone above the military demarcation line that bisects the two Koreas that will apply to planes, helicopters and drones.

Other agreements aimed at removing some longstanding irritants from their relations, such as allowing more contact between families divided by the Korean War. Moon also appeared to be making good on his proposals to help build up the North’s infrastructure and open cross-border rail links.

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Klug reported from Seoul. Associated Press writers Hyung-jin Kim and Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul contributed to this report.

September 22, 2018
Trump receives ‘warm’ letter from Kim about new summit

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Time for a sequel to this summer’s blockbuster summit?

North Korea’s Kim Jong-un has written to US President Donald Trump inquiring for a observe-as much as their ancient summit, the White Space says.

The US says it is already taking a look at scheduling a new assembly.

White Space spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the “very warm” letter confirmed Pyongyang’s “endured commitment to take care of denuclearisation”.

Negotiations at the matter appeared to have stalled after the 2 leaders’ historic summit in Singapore in June.

“the primary purpose of the letter was once to request and look to agenda every other assembly with the president, which we’re open to and are already within the strategy of co-ordinating that,” Ms Sanders said.

Symbol copyright AFP Symbol caption Lots of troops marched within the parade

Mr Trump himself thanked the North Korean leader by the use of Twitter, announcing the parade was once “a large and really certain observation from North Korea.”

“Thank You to Chairman Kim. We Will each turn out everybody fallacious!”

Did Trump and Kim truly reach anything else in Singapore? What have been the effects of the Trump-Kim summit? Why did Trump mention N Korea’s seashores? Trump Kim summit: Win-win or a Kim win?

At their June summit in Singapore, the 2 leaders signed a imprecise agreement to paintings against the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

however it did not come with a timeline, main points or any mechanisms to make sure the process.

High-degree talks and visits have persisted, but the most up-to-date scheduled go back and forth via US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo used to be referred to as off at the closing minute.

each side have also blamed one another for stalling negotiations whilst insisting that they have been dedicated to the method.

(more…)

September 11, 2018
In pictures: North Korea’s mass video games propaganda display

Symbol copyright Reuters

North Korea on Sunday kicked off an enormous propaganda pageant, featuring enormous co-ordinated shows not like the rest in the global.

The spectacle is known as the Arirang Mass Video Games and can run all through September to mark the rustic’s seventieth anniversary.

It features tens of heaps of performers.

The Development is hanging however the United Countries has in the previous mentioned youngsters are forced to take part, or to help within the build-up.

Six months’ training for 10 minutes on parade North Korea anniversary parade shows off army energy Tears and joy as Korean families reunite Image copyright EPA Symbol caption The games are a huge propaganda event Image copyright EPA Image caption they are well-known for the large picture shows created by means of individuals maintaining up coloured boards Symbol copyright Reuters Image caption The games are designed to have a good time the country and boost morale Symbol copyright EPA Symbol caption The display is well-liked by overseas vacationers and a supply of revenue for Pyongyang Symbol copyright EPA Image caption The u . s . a .’s Air Koryo carrier has scheduled further flights from Beijing for the event Symbol copyright Reuters Symbol caption The remaining games were held in 2013 Image copyright Reuters Image caption The Development includes tens of thousands of contributors, a lot of them children Image copyright Reuters Image caption The UN has said kids are pressured to participate, or to assist within the construct-up Image copyright AFP Image caption Tickets to each experience reportedly value as much as €800 ($933; £717)

All photos matter to copyright.

September 10, 2018
Korea family reunions: The tales of separated family members

Image gallery The tales at the back of Korean family reunions

September 9, 2018