Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has not been seen in public for more than two weeks, missing commemorations for a key political anniversary, and reports he underwent a cardiovascular procedure have spiralled into speculation he could be incapacitated or even dead. Both Seoul and …
Read More »North Korea’s Kim reshuffles top governing body
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has carried out a major reshuffle of his State Affairs Commission, official media reported Monday, replacing more than a third of its members. Kim has established an iron grip on the levers of authority in his nuclear-armed country since …
Read More »‘Old man’ Trump is ‘bluffing’ says North Korea
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korea on Monday slammed US President Trump for “bluffing” and called him “an old man bereft of patience” as Pyongyang ramps up pressure on Washington over stalled nuclear talks. Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un engaged in mutual insults and threats of …
Read More »North Korea ‘no longer interested’ in summits with US: KCNA
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korea is “no longer interested” in summits with the US unless Washington offers new concessions in their nuclear negotiations, Pyongyang said Monday, hours after Donald Trump hinted at the prospect. “You should act quickly, get the deal done,” Trump tweeted Sunday, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong …
Read More »North Korea calls Biden ‘rabid dog’ that ‘must be beaten to death’
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korea has launched a visceral diatribe against US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, calling the former vice-president a “rabid dog” — while also borrowing the terminology of Donald Trump. Pyongyang is renowned for its vitriol, but the verbal deluge was unusually ferocious even by …
Read More »North Korea slams Europeans over criticism of missile test
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korea on Thursday slammed a statement by European UN Security Council members urging strict enforcement of sanctions against Pyongyang for its latest missile test, calling the move a “serious provocation”. Pyongyang fired a sea-launched missile on October 2 in the latest — and most …
Read More »Trump says North Korea talks going ahead despite missile test
Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump on Thursday brushed off North Korea’s test of a sea-launched ballistic missile, saying that planned nuclear talks with Pyongyang will go ahead. “They want to talk and we’ll be talking to them,” Trump told reporters at the White House in his …
Read More »N.Korea says to hold nuclear talks with US on Saturday
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korea and the United States will hold working-level nuclear talks on Saturday, Pyongyang said, signalling the resumption of a dialogue process that has been effectively stalled since the collapse of a summit in February. The two sides agreed to have “preliminary contact” on October …
Read More »China’s Xi to visit North Korea this week ahead of G20
Beijing, China | AFP | Xi Jinping will make the first trip to North Korea by a Chinese president in 14 years this week, state media said Monday, as Beijing tightens relations with Pyongyang amid tensions with the United States. Xi will visit Pyongyang on Thursday and Friday at the invitation …
Read More »N.Korea ‘executed’ officials after failed Trump summit:
Pyongyang, North Korea | AFP | North Korea executed its special envoy to the United States following the collapse of the second summit between leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump, a South Korean newspaper reported Friday. The Chosun Ilbo said Kim Hyok Chol, who laid the groundwork for the …
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