Vladivostok, Russia | AFP | North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and Russia’s Vladimir Putin vowed to seek closer ties as they met for the first time on Thursday, in talks aimed at countering US influence. Putin emerged from the meeting in Russia’s Vladivostok saying that like Washington, Moscow supports efforts to …
Read More »N. Korea may be preparing a missile or space launch: NPR
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korea may be preparing for a missile or space launch, US news outlet NPR has reported, based on satellite image analysis of a key facility near Pyongyang. NPR said the images of Sanumdong, one of the facilities Pyongyang has used to produce inter-continental ballistic …
Read More »North Korea in five figures
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | Ahead of the second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, here are five key figures on the reclusive Asian country. – 67 percent – The portion of the workforce employed in the agriculture sector, according to the Food …
Read More »North Korea seeks sweet smell of success ahead of summit
Sinuiju, North Korea | AFP | The manager of North Korea’s Sinuiju Cosmetics Factory clenches her fists when asked about a rival plant in Pyongyang, then bumps them together. “We compete,” Kim Hye Yong says firmly. Throughout the plant, masked workers in white overalls, gloves and hairnets operate machines producing shampoos, …
Read More »Kim arrives in Hanoi for nuclear summit with Trump
Hanoi, Vietnam | AFP | Kim Jong Un arrived in Hanoi Tuesday to ultra-tight security and enthusiastic crowds ahead of a second summit with Donald Trump, as the world looks for tangible progress over North Korea’s nuclear programme. After a historic initial meeting in Singapore in June that produced only …
Read More »Can the second Trump-Kim summit end the Korean War?
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | The second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has raised hopes for the longest ceasefire in history to be replaced by a peace treaty. Seoul and Pyongyang remain technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended with …
Read More »From Twitter hate to second date: Trump and Kim in quotes
“Seoul, South Korea | AFP | Donald Trump’s much-trailed announcement of a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later this month in Vietnam sets up another box-office summit between the two mercurial leaders who were once bitter verbal enemies. As Trump and Kim prepare for their second date, here …
Read More »Real progress needed at Trump-Kim II: analysts
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | The planned second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un needs to make tangible progress on Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons if it is to avoid being dismissed as “reality TV”, analysts say. Their summit in Singapore in June was undoubtedly …
Read More »Surprise as Kim Jong-un travels with personal toilet
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | KIM JONG-UN reportedly travelled with his own personal toilet to his meeting with his South Korean counterpart, based on an intense paranoia. The North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reportedly brought his own personal toilet to the historic April 27 meeting with his South Korean …
Read More »N. Korea claims nuclear statehood with US in missile range
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un said his country had achieved full nuclear statehood on Wednesday after a groundbreaking missile test, in a challenge to US President Donald Trump who responded with promises of “major sanctions”. Pyongyang on Wednesday tested its third intercontinental ballistic missile …
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