News Story: Japanese PM expects progress in concluding Japan-Russia peace treaty

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Russia and Japan have agreed to continue dialogue and sign a peace treaty in the foreseeable future, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday.

"The most important thing for Japanese-Russian relations is the conclusion of a peace treaty, (Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin said so during his visit to Japan. This time, we came to a new resolution to sign a peace treaty with our own hands," Abe said following talks with Putin on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) held here.

The Japanese prime minister said he and Putin had also agreed to have another meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to be held in Vietnam in November.

"We intend to maintain dialogue with him, taking advantage of every opportunity," he said.

Earlier at the plenary session of the EEF, Abe urged the two countries to improve bilateral ties and end the abnormal situation concerning the long-delayed peace treaty.

"A number of things that Russia and Japan could not achieve over the last 70 years were set to motion in the past single year. And if we continue our steps forward for another year and then another after that, then we will see a bright future in which the potential of Japan-Russia relations will be fully revealed," Abe said.

Towards this end, Russia and Japan must put an end to "the unnatural state of affairs" of still not having a peace treaty, he said, adding that the two countries should try and carve out a new era for bilateral relations.

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News Report: South Korean President Convinced There Will Be No War on Korean Peninsula

The South Korean president believes, there will be no war on the Korean Peninsula, adding that sanctions against North Korea are aimed at resolving the situation peacefully.

VLADIVOSTOK (Sputnik) — South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Thursday he believes there will be no war on the Korean Peninsula, and it is possible to continue funding for projects in the region.

"There will be no war on the Korean Peninsula, and in the region as a whole. I can say this with certainty, which is why it's time for investments in Russia, the Far East, China and Korea," he said at a plenary session during the Eastern Economic Forum.

News Story: Moon, Trump agree to build up missile deterrence, bring N. Korea back to dialogue

SEOUL/WASHINGTON, Sept. 2 (Yonhap) -- The leaders of South Korea and the United States have agreed to enhance Seoul's deterrence against North Korea by increasing its missile capabilities, but also reaffirmed the need to bring the communist state back to the dialogue table, Seoul's presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae, said Saturday.

The agreement came in a telephone conversation between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, on Friday, three days after Pyongyang staged its latest missile provocation.

"President Moon and President Trump reaffirmed their view that it was important to have North Korea come out to the dialogue table to peacefully resolve the North Korean nuclear issue by applying maximum sanctions and pressure on the North," Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Park Soo-hyun said in a press release.

North Korea fired what is believed to have been an intermediate range ballistic missile that flew over Japanese territory on Tuesday, prompting a fresh condemnation from the U.N. Security Council.

After the latest missile provocation, Trump said dialogue with the communist North was "not the answer."

In their talks, Moon denounced the North's latest missile launch, calling it a serious provocation that violated U.N. Security Council resolutions and raised military tension in the region, according to Park.

Trump stressed the importance of sending a strong and clear message to the reclusive North.

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News Story: S. Korean president to visit Russia next week

South Korean President Moon Jae-in

SEOUL, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in will visit Russia next week to hold a summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Moon's office said on Friday.

Moon will visit the eastern Russian city of Vladivostok from Wednesday to Thursday to attend the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) and meet with the Russian leader, according to the presidential Blue House.

On Wednesday, Moon will hold an expanded summit meeting with Putin and have a joint press conference.

On Thursday, the South Korean president will deliver a keynote speech at the forum, which was established in 2015.

Read the full story at Xinhua