News Story: Japan PM Abe calls for global blockade of N. Korea

Japanese PM Shinzo Abe

NEW YORK (Kyodo) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged all U.N. member states Wednesday to block North Korea's access to "the goods, funds, people and technology" necessary for its nuclear and missile development programs.

In his address at the annual U.N. General Assembly in New York, on the heels of a sixth nuclear test and a series of ballistic missile launches by North Korea, Abe said history shows that attempts at dialogue with the North "have all come to naught."

Abe demanded that all states strictly and fully enforce the series of U.N. Security Council resolutions targeting North Korea, saying the world must unite to make Pyongyang change its policies.

"We must make North Korea abandon all nuclear and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner. What is needed to do that is not dialogue, but pressure," he said.

Without specifically naming them, Abe laid criticism at the feet of countries including China and Russia that have advocated for direct talks with North Korea to get it to denuclearize.

Citing the Agreed Framework reached between Washington and Pyongyang in 1994 and the six-party talks involving the two Koreas, China, Russia, Japan and the United States that have stalled since 2008, Abe said North Korea had "no intention whatsoever of abandoning its nuclear or missile development."

"For North Korea, dialogue was instead the best means of deceiving us and buying time," he said. "In what hope of success are we now repeating the very same failure a third time?"

Read the full story at The Mainichi

News Story: Six-party talks "efficient platform" to address Korean Peninsula nuclear issue - Chinese FM

BEIJING, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- China said Tuesday that the six-party talks are still an efficient platform to address the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang made the remarks at a routine press briefing, saying China is open to all efforts that are conducive to solving the issue peacefully via political and diplomatic means.

Lu said the joint statement, signed on Sept. 19, 2005, is the most important progress in addressing the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue through negotiations, and is of milestone significance.

The document was struck by China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Russia and Japan during the fourth round of the six-party talks.

In the statement, the DPRK reaffirmed its commitment to abandoning nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs. In return, the United States promised not to use nuclear weapons or conventional weapons to attack or invade the DPRK.

Read the full story at Xinhua

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PacificSentinel: The single most important line in this story is the very last one.

Story Quote: "The DPRK walked out of the talks in April 2009 in protest against UN sanctions."

PacificSentinel: It was the North Koreans that threw away the agreement and sent the world down the path it has, until the North Koreans are prepared to negotiate in good faith and follow through on their pledges, nothing will come of China's continual harping on about this.

News Story: S.Korea names new envoy to stalled six-party talks

SEOUL, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's foreign ministry said Monday that it named a new top envoy to the long-stalled six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.

Lee Do-hoon, 55, a former presidential secretary for foreign affairs, was named as special representative for Korean Peninsula's peace and security affairs, according to Seoul's foreign ministry.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: DPRK condemns latest UN Security Council resolution imposing extra sanctions

PYONGYANG, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) early Wednesday condemned and categorically rejected the latest UN Security Council resolution imposing extra sanctions over its Sept. 3 nuclear test.

The DPRK Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the UN Security Council Resolution 2375 was "fabricated by the U.S. employing all sorts of despicable and vicious means and methods," it said.

The UN Security Council Tuesday adopted a new resolution imposing extra sanctions on the DPRK, including restricting its crude and refined oil imports, banning its textile exports and restricting overseas firms from hiring DPRK citizens.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: China supports UN Security Council resolution on DPRK

BEIJING, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- China supports the UN Security Council in taking necessary measures regarding the DPRK's nuclear test, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said Tuesday morning.

The UN Security Council Monday unanimously adopted a resolution to impose fresh sanctions on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) over its nuclear test on Sept. 3 for violation of previous Security Council resolutions.

Geng said the resolution reflected the unanimous stance of Security Council members in safeguarding peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the region, advancing denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and upholding international non-proliferation.

He said the resolution called for a peaceful settlement through diplomatic and political means, supported the resumption of six-party talks and stressed measures to de-escalate tension on the peninsula.

"The Chinese side hopes that this resolution will be implemented comprehensively and completely," the spokesperson said.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: China Reluctant to Support US-backed Oil Blockade to North Korea

Jenny Lee

WASHINGTON — With a new sanctions package under international consideration following North Korea’s sixth and most powerful nuclear test last week, analysts say China still appears reluctant to support an oil cutoff, a measure that could trigger destabilization of the Kim Jong Un regime.

Speaking at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council called after Pyongyang on Sunday tested what it claimed was a hydrogen bomb that can fit onto an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Monday that the U.S. is running out of patience with Kim, who is “begging for war.” She said only the strongest sanctions would allow a resolution of the growing nuclear threat through diplomacy.

Haley said the 15 Security Council members would negotiate a new draft resolution of tougher sanctions this week and push for a vote next Monday.

It has been just more than a month since the Security Council adopted a sanctions resolution in the wake of the regime’s two long-range ICBM tests, conducted in July, aiming to slash a third of Pyongyang’s $3 billion annual export revenue by banning coal, iron, lead and seafood. What remains untapped that has the potential to stifle Pyongyang’s nuclear pursuits is cutting off its supplies of oil and other fuels.

News Report: Likely US Envoy to Seoul Opposes Engagement With North Korea

Victor Cha (Image:
Wiki Commons)

Brian Padden

SEOUL — U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly will soon nominate Georgetown University professor Victor Cha for ambassador to South Korea. The addition of the highly qualified North Korea expert would fill an important diplomatic vacancy needed to manage what seems to be significant disagreements between Washington and Seoul over how to deal with the North’s increasingly provocative nuclear and missile tests.

Cha, who is Korean-American, is the director of Asian studies at Georgetown University, and the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. He was also deputy head of the U.S. delegation to the North Korea nuclear six-party talks during the administration of former President George W. Bush, and the author of a number analytical books on Asian security, including The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future, that was published in 2012.

News Story: China asks for restraint on Korean Peninsula nuclear issue

BEIJING, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- China on Tuesday called on all parties involved in the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue to refrain from provoking each other and raising tension.

"All parties should exercise restraint and work together to maintain peace and stability on the Peninsula," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying at a daily press briefing when commenting on the missile launch by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The past has proven that pressure and sanctions alone will not settle the issue. The Peninsula nuclear issue is long-standing, intricate and complex, she said.

"The only solution is to resolve the legitimate security concerns of all parties in a balanced way through dialogues. That is the way to break the vicious cycle of endless nuclear tests, missile launches and military drills," said Hua.

Read the full story at Xinhua

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Story Quote: "Hua called on all parties to give serious thoughts to the "suspension-for-suspension" proposal China raised as a practical, feasible, fair, unbiased and effective way out of the current malaise."

PacificSentinel: Ho-Hum...China banning this drum again, it simply doesn't matter if North Korea has Ballistic Missiles and Nuclear Weapons or not, South Korea has a military, as such they NEED to conduct Military Exercises to keep these forces combat ready, a military that doesn't, will atrophy and become useless. Regardless of the political conditions on the Korean Peninsula, the South Korean military will still have to conduct Military Exercises, so this whole "suspension-for-suspension" proposal is a stupid idea.

News Story: China should be 'neutral' if N. Korea strikes US - state-run daily

A Chinese state-run newspaper called on Beijing on Friday to "stay neutral" if North Korea strikes first in a conflict with the United States, despite a mutual defence pact between the Asian allies.

The nationalistic Global Times tabloid said in an editorial that Washington and Pyongyang were playing a "reckless game" that could lead to "miscalculations and a strategic 'war'".

"Beijing is not able to persuade Washington or Pyongyang to back down at this time," the Global Times said.

"It needs to make clear its stance to all sides and make them understand that when their actions jeopardize China's interests, China will respond with a firm hand."

The commentary came after Washington warned North Korea this week it faced "fire and fury like the world has never seen" if it continued to threaten the US with its missile and nuclear programmes.

That prompted a defiant Pyongyang to threaten a missile attack on Guam, a tiny US territory in the Pacific that is home to major US air and naval facilities.

Read the full story at SpaceDaily

News Story: High-level U.S.-DPRK dialogue important, says former defense chief

by Xinhua writers Liu Chen, Guo Yina

WASHINGTON, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- It is important to have a high-level dialogue as soon as possible between the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), former U.S. Defense Minister William Perry has said amid escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.

It is truly vital for the two countries to "conduct a serious negotiation aimed at bringing peace to the peninsula and bringing a non-nuclear peninsula into being as soon as possible," said Perry in an interview with Xinhua earlier this week.

Perry's remarks came after the United Nations (UN) Security Council unanimously passed a resolution Saturday slapping new economic sanctions on the DPRK over its ballistic missile and nuclear programs.

"Sanctions in theory can be effective, but in practice usually are not," said Perry, who was the Pentagon chief in 1994-1997 under then President Bill Clinton.

The Security Council also seeks resumption of the six-party talks aimed at verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

"The six-party talks has a great merit involving all of the countries that are most concerned about the issue," said Perry, 89, who visited the DPRK as Clinton's special envoy in 1999.

"We need partnership to put together an effective, really effective diplomacy," said Perry.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: No room to play with fire on Korean Peninsula issue

by Xinhua writers Qu Junya, Du Baiyu

BEIJING, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- A way out of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula cannot be found in the latest exchange of tough words between Washington and Pyongyang.

Unless there's a return to reason and a full commitment to a practical and peaceful solution, such a hostile approach will do little but make things worse.

Just earlier in the day, Pyongyang said it was mulling launching a missile strike against the U.S. Pacific military base of Guam, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to counter threats from Pyongyang with "fire and fury."

The war of words came two days after Washington and Seoul vowed to do the utmost to pressure Pyongyang into compromises, and after Pyongyang issued a statement against the new United Nations Security Council resolution on sanctions against its ballistic missile and nuclear programs.

"If the U.S. fails to act with discretion, persisting in its reckless attempts to stifle the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea), we will not waver or hesitate to use any form of ultimate means," Pyongyang said in the statement.

However, the bottom line on the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula is that there must not be any armed conflict there. There is no room for any related party to play with fire on the issue.

Exercising restraint is needed for making responsible choices to ensure peace, particularly at a moment approaching crisis, which can however also serve as a turning point for coming back to the negotiation table.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Restraint, dialogue essential to solving the crisis on the Korean Peninsula

BEIJING, July 27 (Xinhua) -- Tensions have been escalating on the Korean Peninsula with the test-launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile on July 4 by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and a combined ballistic missile exercise a day later by the United States and South Korea aimed at sending Pyongyang a warning.

But there's one simple way to diffuse tensions on the peninsula and in the region, and that is both sides showing restraint.

On Saturday, Joe Dunford, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the DPRK is able to launch a "limited" missile attack and the United States stands ready to defend itself, South Korea and Japan should such an event occur.

At present, there's a dire need for all sides concerned to refrain from actions that may worsen an already fragile and complicated situation. A peaceful settlement must be reached through dialogue and consultation.

The root cause of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula is, as political analysts have pointed out, mutual strategic suspicions between the DPRK and the United States.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: South Korea's Push for Talks with North Could Backfire

Jenny Lee

With South Korea's offer to hold military talks with North Korea already putting the U.S. on edge, experts say Seoul's move risks further fraying relations with Washington rather than significantly advancing relations between the two Koreas.

In a bid to calm rising border tensions on the Korean Peninsula and ultimately to dismantle North Korea's nuclear weapons program, Seoul on Monday proposed holding military talks and separate Red Cross talks with Pyongyang later this week at the heavily guarded border village of Panmunjom. This is the first formal overture to the North under President Moon Jae-in, who was inaugurated in May.

As Seoul looked to engage the Kim Jong Un regime, the Trump administration quickly signaled its discomfort, indicating that current conditions remain insufficient to have dialogue with Pyongyang, which has yet to respond to South Korea's invitation.

"I think the president has made clear in the past ... that any type of conditions that would have to be met are clearly far away from where we are now," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told a media briefing on Monday.

There is a divergence of opinion between Washington and Seoul as to how to rein in the North's expanding nuclear weapons program, with President Donald Trump bent on restraining the Kim regime through sanctions and Moon preferring dialog and engagement.

"The U.S. is unlikely to come out against Moon's overtures, but Moon's overtures to Pyongyang will deepen the mistrust and push the U.S closer to cooperating with Japan on North Korea policy," said Sung-Yoon Lee, a professor of Korean studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

News Story: S. Korea to push complete denuclearization, peace regime in Korean Peninsula

SEOUL, July 19 (Xinhua) -- The new South Korean government under President Moon Jae-in mulled pushing for a complete denuclearization and a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.

It was unveiled on Wednesday in a five-year plan under the new administration, which was inaugurated on May 10, according to the presidential Blue House.

Under the plan, the Moon government will draw up comprehensive measures for negotiations on the denuclearized peninsula, with an aim of reaching an agreement to the complete denuclearization by 2020. Moon's five-year term was scheduled to end in May 2022.

The new government will push for the resumption of denuclearization dialogue, including the six-party talks which involve South Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), China, the United States, Russia and Japan. The aid-for-denuclearization talks have been suspended since late 2008.

The Moon-led government vowed to achieve the DPRK's denuclearization through all available tools, including sanctions and dialogue, while deterring Pyongyang's further provocations based on the firm South Korea-U.S. alliance and in cooperation with the international community.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: US and North Korea need to talk -- but how?

By Paul HANDLEY

After North Korea's shock demonstration that it can strike the American mainland with an intercontinental missile, US officials say their focus remains on finding a diplomatic solution to avert a catastrophic conflict.

But with Washington reluctant to be seen to be rewarding Pyongyang, whose leader Kim Jong-Un has been taunting the "American bastards", can the two sides manage to sit down and thrash out their differences face to face?

Analysts and diplomats who are veterans of previous flare-ups in tensions between the two countries acknowledge there are huge obstacles in the way of talks -- not least because they have no diplomatic relations.

But they also say talks are not only possible but really the only viable solution, whether talking directly or via third parties -- including senior US politicians outside the Trump administration.

"The only way out here is diplomacy," said James Clapper, who spent years as a US intelligence chief in South Korea and was later Director of National Intelligence under Barack Obama.

Read the full story at SpaceDaily

News Story: To talk or not to talk to North Korea?

Nuclear-armed North Korea has muscled its way onto the agenda of the G20 leaders' annual summit in Germany Thursday, with Pyongyang's first test of an intercontinental ballistic missile set to dominate discussions.

The US is seeking new sanctions against Pyongyang and is due to hold a summit with Japan and South Korea on the sidelines, while China and Russia are already urging restraint and negotiations.

Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin have suggested a simultaneous freeze on North Korean nuclear and missile tests and South Korea-US joint military exercises -- a concept already rejected by Seoul and Washington.

The US and its allies are determined to avoid "rewarding bad behaviour", but a growing number of analysts -- and the New York Times editorial board -- say it will ultimately have no choice but to talk to Pyongyang.

Here are five questions and answers on the issue of negotiations.

Read the full story at SpaceDaily

News Story: S. Korea-U.S. summit brings mixed signals to President Moon Jae-in

SEOUL, July 1 (Xinhua) -- The first summit meeting in Washington between visiting South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump brought a "significant success" to the new South Korean leader, local media reports and experts said as the two leaders were in harmony to tackle Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.

The summit meeting, which lasted from Thursday to Friday local time, left some of issues unresolved, such as whether to renegotiate a 2012 free trade pact between the two countries and whether to increase the costs for U.S. forces stationed in South Korea.

"It was a significant success," Bong Young-shik, a research fellow at Yonsei Institute for North Korean studies in Seoul, told Xinhua Saturday, referring to the new South Korean leader's first face-to-face talks with the U.S. president since he took office on May 10.

According to the joint statement released after the bilateral meeting, Trump supported South Korea's "leading role" in fostering an environment for peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula.

Moon and Trump agreed that the door to dialogue with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) remained open "under the right circumstances" and that sanctions on Pyongyang were a "tool of diplomacy" to bring the country back to the dialogue table.

The six-party talks to dismantle the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, which involves the Korean Peninsula, China, the United States, Russia and Japan, have been suspended since late 2008.

The researcher at Yonsei Institute said President Moon delivered a message that he would pursue peace in his DPRK policy based on a firm security alliance with the United States, shrugging off concerns among the conservative bloc in South Korea and a part of U.S. experts and politicians that Moon may adhere solely to dialogue with the DPRK.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: S.Korean president vows continued efforts at DPRK's complete denuclearization

SEOUL, June 29 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in vowed continued efforts at the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s complete denuclearization for sustainable peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Moon's remarks were made in his congratulatory speech, read by his senior secretary for political affairs, to celebrate the third annual symposium on the Korean Peninsula reunification which was co-hosted by the unification ministry and Yonhap news agency on Thursday in Seoul.

The South Korean leader, who took office on May 10, was currently in Washington for his three-day stay to hold his first summit meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.

The peaceful reunification with the DPRK, Moon said, was not a matter of choice but an uncompromisable principle to the two Koreas for the purpose of securing sustainable growth and the future generation's peace.

Under the principle of peaceful reunification, South Korea should take the lead in the Korean Peninsula issues, said Moon who stressed the need for a firm South Korea-U.S. alliance, a strong security and a thorough management of security crisis to prevent any DPRK military provocations.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Suspension of joint military exercises could weaken U.S.-Korea alliance - Hill

WASHINGTON, June 25 (Yonhap) -- Suspending annual joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea could lead to a weakening of the alliance, a former chief U.S. nuclear negotiator with North Korea said.

Former Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill made the point in a recent Project Syndicate article, expressing concern about the "freeze-for-freeze" idea that calls for the U.S. freezing or scaling back the exercises in exchange for the North freezing nuclear and missile testing.

"Advocates of this so-called 'freeze for freeze' approach say that such a tradeoff is only fair: The North cannot be expected to suspend its efforts to strengthen its defensive capabilities if the U.S. and South Korea are pursuing supposedly hostile military cooperation in its near abroad," Hill said.

"But this argument has it backward. In fact, it is the North whose activities are inherently hostile, and the South, along with the U.S., that is focused on defense. Indeed, planning for the annual U.S.-South Korea spring exercises is always based on the premise that North Korea has invaded the South, not vice versa," he said.

Hill also stressed, "Without joint exercises, a military alliance becomes weak and hollow."

Read the full story at YonhapNews

News Report: Hope on the Horizon? Unofficial Talks With North Korea Slated for July

Unofficial negotiations between an increasingly militarized Pyongyang and nations concerned with the denuclearization of the isolated country are expected to be held in Singapore next month.

Representatives of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), alongside the diplomatic corps of several concerned nations and geopolitical experts from around the world will convene in Singapore next month in an unofficial attempt to restart negotiations to convince Pyongyang to end its continued nuclear and other weapons testing.

Representatives from all sides of the contentious debate will discuss regional stability and Pyongyang's denuclearization at the meeting, the Korea Times reported, citing an unnamed diplomatic source.