Leaders from North and South Korea, meeting in the border village of Panmunjom, pledged to replace the 1953 Korean War armistice with a peace treaty and work toward denuclearizing the peninsula by the end of the year (Washington Post)
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un concluded the landmark summit, which marked the first entry by a North Korean leader into South Korean territory since the war’s end, with a declaration that called for the countries to “completely cease all hostile acts” (Korea Times)
North Korea’s Kim to Enter South on Foot
The Friday summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in will be the first time a North Korean leader has stepped on South Korean soil since the 1950–53 Korean War (Korea Times)
Separately, Chinese researchers found that a nuclear facility Kim Jong-un pledged last week to close has been unusable since a blast there last year (Wall Street Journal)
CIA Director Met With North Korea’s Kim Jong-un
CIA Director Mike Pompeo, awaiting confirmation as U.S. secretary of state, traveled in secret to North Korea to meet Kim Jong-un to discuss an upcoming summit between the U.S. president and the North’s leader. The meeting between Pompeo and Kim was the highest-level contact between the United States and North Korea since Secretary of State Madeleine Albright met with Kim’s father in 2000 (Washington Post)
U.S. President Donald J. Trump said yesterday that he would back talks between North and South Korea to formally end hostilities on the peninsula (New York Times)
Pyongyang Said to Confirm Denuclearization Talks
North Korea offered to discuss denuclearization during talks between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald J. Trump next month, according to U.S. media reports citing unnamed administration officials. North Korean and U.S. officials will reportedly hold secret meetings ahead of the summit (New York Times)
Kim and Moon to Meet in April
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed to meet April 27 in what will be the first inter-Korean summit in eleven years, and just the third meeting ever between leaders from the North and South. The announcement comes days after Kim Jong-un traveled to Beijing for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping (Reuters)
North Korea Open to Talks With U.S., Says China
Chinese state media confirmed that Kim Jong-un visited Beijing earlier this week in the North Korean leader’s first foreign trip since taking office in 2011 (Bloomberg)
Reports quoted Kim as saying that Pyongyang is “committed to denuclearization” on the Korean Peninsula (Xinhua)
Unofficial U.S.-North Korea Meeting Concludes
The unofficial diplomatic talks that included six delegates from North Korea, South Korea, and the U.S. respectively were “constructive,” said the Finnish foreign ministry. The talks are believed to have been geared towards preparing for a possible summit between U.S. President Donald J. Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (Associated Press)
Trilateral Talks on Denuclearization
Ahead of upcoming summits, U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster met his South Korean and Japanese counterparts, Chung Eui-yong and Shotaro Yachi, in San Francisco over the weekend for talks on denuclearization and maintaining trilateral cooperation (Associated Press)
Separately, Stockholm, acting as an intermediary for Washington, has “engaged heavily” in talks regarding the release of three U.S. prisoners in North Korea said sources with knowledge of negotiations between North Korean and Swedish officials (CNN)
North Korean Minister Visits Sweden
North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho made a surprise visit to Sweden, meeting with his Swedish counterpart Margot Wallstrom and Prime Minister Stefan Lofven ahead of a possible meeting with U.S. President Donald J. Trump. Their discussions allegedly focused on tensions between the two Koreas, and Sweden’s diplomatic work on behalf of the U.S. in North Korea, the Swedish foreign ministry said. The European nation has frequently acted as an intermediary between Washington and Pyongyang (BBC)
Trump to Meet Kim Jong-un by May
U.S. President Donald J. Trump has accepted an invitation by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, delivered by South Korea’s national security advisor, Chung Eui-yong, to meet within the next two months to discuss North Korea’s denuclearization (Washington Post)
U.S. Imposes New Sanctions on North Korea
The U.S. State Department said Pyongyang used chemical agents in violation of international law, imposing sanctions that appear to be a symbolic addition to ones the regime already faces (Yonhap)
Kim Ready to Talk Denuclearization, Seoul Says
South Korean envoys say Pyongyang is willing to discuss giving up its nuclear weapons and start negotiations with Washington following an unprecedented meeting with the North’s Kim Jong-un. Pyongyang said it would freeze all weapons testing during the proposed negotiations, according to Seoul, which also announced that President Moon Jae-in and the North Korean leader will attend a summit in the border village of Panmunjom late next month (New York Times)
UN Report Links North Korea to Syrian Weapons Programs
A report by a panel of experts investigating North Korea’s compliance with UN sanctions found links between North Korea and the Syrian chemical weapons program, including North Korean shipments supplies that could be used to produce chemical weapons and ballistic missile parts and materials between 2012 and 2017 (New York Times)
South Korea Says North Open to U.S. Talks
North Korean envoys at the Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang told their counterparts from the South they are open to dialogue with the United States. The White House said any talks should represent the “first steps” on a path toward denuclearization (Washington Post)
U.S. Announces New Sanctions on North Korea
U.S. President Donald J. Trump announced today a new set of sanctions on North Korea, targeting fifty-six vessels and shipping companies accused of conducting trade prohibited under previous sanctions (Washington Post)
North Korean Delegation to Attend Olympics Closing
A high-level North Korean delegation will attend the Olympics closing ceremony on Sunday, raising the prospect of a second inter-Korean meeting, says South Korea’s Unification Ministry. The announcement comes shortly after the White House said that Ivanka Trump, the daughter of President Donald J. Trump, will lead attend the event (Wall Street Journal)
North Korea Pulled Out of Meeting With U.S.
U.S. administration officials said that North Korean officials, including the sister of leader Kim Jong-un, backed out of a meeting with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence during the Winter Olympics the day it would have taken place (Wall Street Journal)
Pence Says U.S. Open to Talks With North Korea
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un’s sister delivered messages of reconciliation and an unexpected invitation from her brother to President Moon Jae-in to visit Pyongyang (New York Times)
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said he and South Korean President Moon Jae-in have agreed for the South to pursue further engagement with North Korea, after which the United States could follow. Pence called the policy shift “maximum pressure and engagement at the same time” (Washington Post)
U.S. Vice President Pence in North Korea
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, leading the U.S. delegation to the Winter Olympic Games, met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to its ally, saying that North Korea has to “accept change” regardless of what emerges during the Olympics (Voice of America)
He later met with North Korean defectors ahead Friday’s opening ceremony, condemning the North Korean regime’s brutality (Korea Times)
South Korea’s Moon to Meet Kim Yo-jong
President Moon Jae-in will hold talks with Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, this weekend when she visits the South for the Winter Olympics (Korea Times)
North Korea to Send Top Official to South for Olympics
Ninety-year-old Kim Yong-nam, North Korea’s nominal head of state, will visit South Korea with a delegation of twenty-two officials for the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang this week (BBC)
Candidate for U.S. Embassy in Seoul Withdrawn
Victor Cha was withdrawn from consideration for the post of U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, after expressing disagreement with the White House’s North Korea policy and raising concerns over the reported consideration of a so-called “bloody nose” strategy involving a limited strike on North Korea. The position has been vacant for over eighteen months (Washington Post)
U.S. General Casts Doubt on North Korean Missile Capabilities
The vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said yesterday that North Korea has not yet demonstrated that it possesses all the elements needed for an intercontinental ballistic missile. The general questioned whether missiles crafted using Pyongyang’s current technology could survive reentry into the atmosphere (Reuters)
North Korea Calls Off Pre-Olympic Event With South
North Korea canceled a joint cultural event with the South that was to be held at a North Korean resort ahead of the Winter Olympics, citing “insulting” press coverage (New York Times)
North Korea Calls for Unity as Athletes Arrive in South
In a rare move, North Korean state media called for all Koreans to work toward unification and improve North-South relations. The statement came as a delegation of athletes traveled to the South to train as part of a joint Olympic women’s ice hockey team (Reuters)