Kim Jong Un says North Korea is ′especially prepared for confrontation′ with US

Kim Jong Un said North Korea should be prepared for "confrontation" with the United States, state media reported on Friday.

At a meeting of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea on Thursday, Kim outlined his strategy for relations with the White House, bearing in mind the "policy tendency of the newly emerged US administration," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

Read more at: Kim Jong Un says North Korea is ′especially prepared for confrontation′ with US | News | DW | 17.06.2021

North Korea; Kim Jong Un makes ′first public appearance in weeks′

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ended weeks of speculation over his health by appearing in public, according to state news agency KCNA. Kim reportedly attended the completion of a fertilizer plant near Pyongyang.

Read more at :
https://www.dw.com/en/kim-jong-un-makes-first-public-appearance-in-weeks/a-53307940

North Korea abandons nuclear freeze pledge, blames 'brutal' U.S. sanctions - Reuters

North Korea said on Tuesday it was no longer bound by commitments to halt nuclear and missile testing, blaming the United States’ failure to meet a year-end deadline for nuclear talks and “brutal and inhumane” U.S. sanctions.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un set an end-December deadline for denuclearization talks with the United States and White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien said at the time the United States had opened channels of communication.

O’Brien said then he hoped Kim would follow through on denuclearization commitments he made at summits with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Read more at: North Korea abandons nuclear freeze pledge, blames 'brutal' U.S. sanctions - Reuters

North Korea: Pompeo "confident" there will be a third summit with North Korea - CBS News

Despite two failed attempts at brokering a firm agreement to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that he's confident a third summit will take place between President Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.

Speaking to "CBS This Morning" on Friday, Pompeo would not provide a clear date or location for this third meeting, but expressed hope that it would take place "soon." Pompeo acknowledged that while "we didn't get as far as the world is demanding," the two leaders left Hanoi with a "deeper understanding of each other."

"The positions that the two sides had, the two leaders were able to make progress in that respect," he said. In February, President Trump told reporters in Vietnam he and Kim were unable to sign an agreement as scheduled largely because they disagreed on sanctions and nuclear facilities.

Read more at: Pompeo "confident" there will be a third summit with North Korea - CBS News

Hanoi Summit: Trump and Kim abruptly cut short summit after failing to reach nuclear deal - by Philip Rucker, Simon Denyer, David Nakamura

President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un abruptly cut short their two-day summit Thursday after they were unable to reach an agreement to dismantle Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons.

Talks collapsed unexpectedly amid a disagreement about economic sanctions, with the two leaders and their delegations departing their meeting site in Vietnam’s capital without sitting for a planned lunch or participating in a scheduled signing ceremony.

Read more: Trump and Kim abruptly cut short summit after failing to reach nuclear deal

USA - Impeachment process Donald Trump kicked off: Trump’s bid for history in Hanoi is overwhelmed by Michael Cohen spectacle in Washington - by Philip Rucker and Josh Dawsey

The Process has begun

President Trump spent Wednesday in Vietnam cozying up to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un over grilled sirloin and chocolate lava cake and reaching for the legacy he wants: the great dealmaker negotiating a historic nuclear arms accord.

But halfway around the globe, an entirely different legacy for Trump was thrust to the fore by his longtime personal attorney and fixer — that of an alleged con man, liar, racist and, ultimately, criminal.

Michael Cohen’s explosive testimony to Congress was not only potentially humiliating for Trump. It also portrayed the president as an unreliable and dishonest man at the very moment he is conducting diplomacy with the world’s most erratic and untrusting dictator. And it propelled Trump’s presidency into greater legal and political peril.

On a day when two events of potentially lasting importance played out simultaneously some 8,300 miles apart, the spectacle in Washington overwhelmed the one in Hanoi.

This reality came into sharp relief as Trump sat down with Kim for a one-on-one chat before dinner here on Wednesday evening. Trump had just boasted of his warm relationship with the North Korean dictator, whom he called “a great leader,” when a reporter asked for his reaction to Cohen’s testimony. Trump did not respond and simply shook his head. But shortly thereafter, that reporter and three others were banned by the White House from covering the dinner because of what Trump press secretary Sarah Sanders called “sensitivities to the shouted questions.”

Cohen’s testimony added to the investigative morass that has consumed Trump’s presidency and served as a reminder of its continual state of turmoil. Although he sat in a hearing room addressing the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, 

Cohen might as well have been talking directly to his former boss when he said:

“I have fixed things,” he said, “but I am no longer your fixer, Mr. Trump.”

Read more: Trump’s bid for history in Hanoi is overwhelmed by Michael Cohen’s spectacle in Washington - The Washington Post

North Korea - US Meeting: China's shadow looms large over second Trump-Kim summit - by Katrina Yu

As North Korea's main ally, Beijing is keen on concrete results in upcoming vietnam meeting between North Korea and the US.

Read more at: China's shadow looms large over second Trump-Kim summit | China News | Al Jazeera

US- North Korea Relations: North Korea Is Still Developing Its Deadly Missile Program at 16 Hidden Bases - by David Brennan

New satellite images indicated that North Korea was continuing work on its ballistic missile program, despite President Donald Trump’s assurances that the regime no longer posed a security threat.

At least 16 different bases were identified in the images, The New York Times reported, all of which were part of an existing network known to American intelligence services.

It would appear that North Korea's highly publicized promise to dismantle a major missile research center was in fact a cover for upgrades and continued work at other locations. The research aims to improve the North’s missile arsenal, allowing it to carry larger warheads, whether conventional or nuclear, farther.

The ballistic missile sites were identified in a new study published Monday by the Beyond Parallel program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.

That flies in the face of Trump’s assertions that he has neutralized the North Korea threat. The president may tout improved relations with Pyongyang as one of his greatest foreign policy achievements, but the U.S. has achieved nothing of substance in disarming or denuclearizing the secretive dictatorship.

Though no new nuclear or missile tests have taken place for almost a year, U.S. intelligence officials believe research in both areas is continuing. Meanwhile, Pyongyang’s trade with China and Russia is helping it sidestep the worst effects of the sanctions Trump appears to believe will bring Kim Jong Un to the negotiating table.

The report included a map of North Korea indicating three belts of missile bases with varying ranges, from short-range to the longest-range missiles that could hit the continental U.S.

Read more: North Korea Is Still Developing Its Deadly Missile Program at 16 Hidden Bases

North-Korea - US Summit: Full text of the U.S.-North Korea agreement signed by Trump and Kim

President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed an agreement after their nuclear summit on Singapore on Tuesday. Here's the full text of the document, as released by the White House.

President Donald J Trump of the United States of America and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) held first historic summit in Singapore on June 12, 2018.

"President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un conducted a comprehensive in-depth and sincere exchange of opinions on the issues related to the establishment of new US-DPRK relations and the building of a lasting an robust peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. President Trump committed to provide security guarantees to the DPRK, and Chairman Kim Jong Un reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

Convinced that the establishment of new US-DPRK relations will contribute to the peace and prosperity of the Korean peninsula and of the world, and recognizing that mutual confidence building can promote the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un state the following:

1. The United States and the DPRK commit to establish new US-DPRK relations in accordance with the desire of the peoples of the two countries for peace and prosperity
2. The United States and the DPRK will join their efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula
3. Reaffirming the April 27, 2018 Panmunjom Declaration, the DPRK commits to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula
4. The United States and the DPRK commit to recovering POW/MIA remains, including the immediate repatriation of those already identified.

Having acknowledged that the US-DPRK summit — the first in history — was an epochal event of great significance in overcoming decades of tensions and hostilities between the two countries and for the opening up of a new future, President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un commit to implement the stipulation in this joint statement fully and expeditiously.

The United States and the DPRK commit to hold follow-on negotiations, led by the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and a relevant high-level DPRK official, at the earliest possible date, to implement the outcomes of the US-DPRK summit.

President Donald J Trump of the United States of America and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea have committed to cooperate for the development of new US-DPRK relations and for the promotion of peace, prosperity, and security of the Korean Peninsula and of the world".

Note EU-Digest: Apart from being a PR Photo-Op; for a ruthless oppressive dictator, who has killed not only many of his own citizens, but also family members, and an ego-maniac President, this so-called "agreement" basically only reaffirms earlier US -North Korea agreements, and certainly does not deserve for Mr. Trump to get a Nobel Peace prize.

Read more: Full text of the U.S.-North Korea agreement signed by Trump, Kim

The North Korea- US Summit: A reality check on Korea nuclear talks

When President Donald Trump and his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in first agreed to meet in Washington Tuesday, they seemed to genuinely believe they might be on the brink of a major rapprochement with the North. Now, there are concerns over whether the much-touted summit between Trump and Kim Jong Un scheduled for Singapore on June 12 will happen at all.

With hindsight, Pyongyang’s announcement last week that it might pull out of the meeting should have been less of a surprise. North Korea has spent decades using similar tactics to shape the diplomatic agenda with the South and Washington, raising hopes of a breakthrough – then sparking a crisis and moving the goal posts.


It’s still less than a month since Moon and Kim engaged in what appeared a successful summit in the
 demilitarized zone, both pledging to work towards the complete denuclearization of the peninsula. Last week, however, Pyongyang furiously denounced Washington for demanding the North’s unilateral disarmament, particularly as a precondition for potential U.S. economic aid.


Read more: Commentary: A reality check on Korea nuclear talks | Article [AMP] | Reuters

North Korea-USA Relations: Trump will meet with North Korea's leader for nuclear talks

President Trump will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by May for high-level talks toward a nuclear-free Korean peninsula, a South Korean official said outside the White House on Thursday.

It would be the first face-to-face meeting in history between a U.S. president and a North Korean leader. 

The opening came through shuttle diplomacy by a South Korean delegation that arrived in Washington on Thursday. Trump heralded the development as a “major announcement” after speaking with the South Korean president.

"I told President Trump that in our meeting, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he's committed to denuclearization. He pledged that North Korea will refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests," South Korean national security adviser Chung Eui-yong told reporters after meeting with Trump at the White House.

Significantly, there was no insistence that the United States and South Korea suspend joint military exercises.

Chung met with Kim earlier this week, and came to Washington on Thursday to relay the message from the North Korean leader.

Read more: Trump will meet with North Korea's leader for nuclear talks