Tag Archives: North Korea

Bloomberg reports: As the 2020 U.S. presidential race heats up, North Korea’s official KCNA news agency has jumped into the fray, calling aspiring Democratic contender Joe Biden a “snob bereft of elementary quality as human being”. “He is self-praising himself as being the most popular presidential candidate. This is enough to make a cat laugh,” the agency writes in a …

CNN reports: Joseph Yun, the former State Department Special Representative for North Korea, confirmed Monday that he signed an agreement to pay North Korea $2 million for the release of American student Otto Warmbier in 2017. In an interview with CNN’s Jim Sciutto, Yun said that he did so with the approval of then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and that …

Axios reports: National security adviser John Bolton confirmed on “Fox News Sunday” that a Trump administration official signed a document pledging to pay North Korea a $2 million hospital bill to release Otto Warmbier, but that no money was ultimately transferred. President Trump called the Washington Post story that first reported the hospital bill “fake news,” though the report notably …

CBS News reports: President Trump said Thursday morning that “no money was paid to North Korea for Otto Warmbier,” after news broke Thursday that North Korean officials handed a U.S. envoy a $2 million bill for the now-late student’s medical bills in 2017. Mr. Trump has spoken of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un with glowing terms since Warmbier’s death, …

The Washington Post reports: North Korea issued a $2 million bill for the hospital care of comatose American Otto Warmbier, insisting that a U.S. official sign a pledge to pay it before being allowed to fly the University of Virginia student from Pyongyang in 2017. The presentation of the invoice — not previously disclosed by U.S. or North Korean officials …

The Hill reports: President Trump reportedly meant to undo sanctions imposed by his own Treasury Department on two Chinese shipping companies with an abrupt tweet referring to North Korea, but officials convinced him to ease off as they sought to explain away the post. The administration initially did not specify which sanctions Trump was referring to in a tweet last …

Reuters reports: U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he was ordering the withdrawal of recently announced North Korea-related sanctions imposed by the U.S. Treasury Department. It was not immediately clear what sanctions Trump was referring to. There were no new U.S. sanctions on North Korea announced on Friday but on Thursday the United States blacklisted two Chinese shipping companies …

NBC News reports: Kim Jong Un is considering suspending talks with the United States and may rethink a ban on missile and nuclear tests unless Washington makes concessions, a senior North Korean diplomat was quoted as saying Friday. Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui blamed top U.S. officials for the breakdown of last month’s summit in Hanoi between President Donald …

The BBC reports: Satellite images of a facility near Pyongyang suggest that North Korea may be preparing to launch a missile or a satellite. The increase in activity is around a site known as Sanumdong, where North Korea assembled most of its ballistic missiles and rockets. It comes after reports earlier this week that North Korea’s main rocket launch site …

Politico reports: Former President Jimmy Carter — who once brokered a nuclear agreement with Kim Jong Un’s grandfather in the 1990s — is offering to travel to North Korea to try and break President Donald Trump’s deadlock with the North Korean dictator. The offer was described to POLITICO by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who met with the former president in …

The Hill reports: Russian state-run media reportedly mocked the sudden collapse of talks between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this week. “It ended so badly the sides even avoided signing any joint agreement,” one host said, according to a translation reported by CNN. “Crafty Kim Jong Un was ready for some concessions, but not the ones …

NBC News reports: The parents of Otto Warmbier issued a blistering statement on Friday saying Kim Jong Un and his government “are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity” after President Donald Trump asserted that the North Korean dictator had been unaware of the harrowing treatment the student endured while detained there. “We have been respectful during this summit process. Now …

“He’s a real personality and he’s very smart. He’s sharp as you can be, and he’s a real leader, and he’s pretty mercurial. I don’t say that necessarily in a bad way, but he’s a pretty mercurial guy. He likes me. I like him. Some people say ‘oh, you shouldn’t like him.’ I said, ‘why shouldn’t I like him? I …

The Guardian reports: Trump’s explanation-free statement that he believed Kim Jong-Un when the North Korean dictator said he “didn’t know about” the imprisonment and torture of Otto Warmbier has baffled many – at both ends of the political spectrum. Adam Schiff, California Democrat, is among those to point out that Trump’s acceptance of foreign dictator’s claims – sometimes over the …

The New York Post reports: Dennis Rodman on Wednesday offered to help President Trump with the North Korea talks, saying his bromance with the dictator could be useful in brokering peace, according to a letter exclusively obtained by The Post. “As your staff is aware, based on our discussions, you have my continued and strong commitment to assisting in your …

CNN reports: President Donald Trump’s Hanoi summit with Kim Jong Un, meant to demonstrate his diplomatic gamble with North Korea is working, instead ended with no joint agreement after Kim insisted all US sanctions be lifted on his country. That was a bridge too far for the US President, who said Kim offered to take some steps toward dismantling his …

The Huffington Post reports: President Donald Trump scheduled a dinner for Wednesday with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un at their summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, but only after House Democrats announced that his former lawyer and “fixer” would publicly testify on Capitol Hill at about the same time. The apparent “counterprogramming” of Michael Cohen’s expected damaging testimony concerns arms control …

Reuters reports: U.S. President Donald Trump has arrived in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, on Tuesday for his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, eight months after their historic first meeting in Singapore. The two leaders are expected to discuss how to implement a North Korean pledge to give up its nuclear weapons and how to improve their …

NBC News reports: In the eight months since President Trump declared North Korea “no longer a nuclear threat,” the reclusive state has advanced both its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs and failed to provide an accounting of its deadly arsenal, according to multiple U.S. intelligence assessments. And intelligence officials tell NBC News they have grown increasingly doubtful that Kim …

Reuters reports: For those who like to push the cutting edge of style, two of the world’s most talked-about haircuts are now available for free, in Vietnam. In honor of an upcoming summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Feb. 27-28, a Hanoi barber is offering free haircuts to anyone wanting to copy …