Seoul

US Military Officially Ends 70-Year Presence in South Korea’s Capital City

(ANTIWAR.COM) — The US military has formally ended a 70-year presence in the South Korean capital of Seoul on Friday, with the opening of a new military headquarters further south in the city of Pyeongtaek. The US has had forces in Seoul since shortly after World War 2. The new base is further south, and therefore out of […]

CONFIRMED: North and South Korea engaged in talks for over 11 hours

TASS news agency reported that talks between North and South Korea began Tuesday morning in Panmunjom, and ran for 11 hours.  The main topic for this round of discussions centered on real and practical steps to improve relations between the South and North, with the possibility of the North Korean team participating in the 2018 Winter Olympics to be held in PyeoungChang.
Each country sent a delegation of at least five people, with Unification Minister Cho Mroung-gyon for the South, and Ri Son Gwon of the North.

Will Trump-Xi talks be another ‘tremendous success’?

File photo of US President Donald Trump with Chinese President Xi Jinping [Xinhua]
Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted his US counterpart Donald Trump at the Palace Museum within the Forbidden City, a historic site at the heart of the capital Beijing on Wednesday.
The two presidents, who have at times been at odds over how to deal with North Korea, met for tea at the Hall of the Embodied Treasures in the Museum with both first ladies in attendance.
Chinese news media showed Xi giving Trump and the first ladies a tour of the other main halls in the museum.

Russia increases pressure on North Korea

Putin does not agree with Trump’s threats against North Korea, and says such vitriol will add to tensions in the region [PPIO]
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree this week to enforce United Nations Security Council resolutions on North Korea.
In line with the UNSC resolutions, Putin ordered that increased restrictions be applied to North Korea in the trade, financial, and scientific sectors even though Russia has no existing economic ties to the country.
The UNSC passed Resolution 2371 on August 5 in response to Pyongyang testing two ballistic missiles.

N Korea defiant in face of US threats, UN sanctions

The leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un (front) has vowed to speed up the nuclear and ballistic missile programs [Xinhua]
Despite the threat of all-out war with the US and its allies in the Pacific and the weight of new UN sanctions, North Korea is to push ahead with full-scale development of its nuclear and missile technologies.
During the Second Plenum of the 7th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea held on Saturday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said that military development was a key defensive strategy against the US.

Analysis: China between a rock and a hard place over N Korea

Is North Korean leader Kim Jong Un the insane leader of a rogue state as the media makes him out to be? Here, he is addressing the central committee of the ruling Workers’ Party in Pyongyang [North Korean Central News Agency]
News that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, also known as North Korea) on Sunday successfully tested its sixth hydrogen bomb, meant for long-term missile warfare, has brought speculations of a nuclear Armageddon back to the fore.

A Brighter Future for BRICS

The 9th BRICS summit in Xiamen, China is not a routine meeting because it comes at a time when the bloc is entering a new stage of intensive development.
Moreover, it is the place for China to demonstrate its new role in international relations and the global economy.
The summit also comes at a time of increased political tensions in different areas, both close to the venue itself – that is, the Korean peninsula – and faraway Syria and the Middle East.

Tensions ease over North Korea

Despite reports of a rift with China in US media, tensions between Pyongyang and Washington appear to have subsided
The war of words between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appears to have subsided this week as South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced he was seeking improved relations with Pyongyang.
During a political rally in Arkansas earlier in the week, Trump claimed that Kim was “starting to respect us” even as the North Korean leader continued to inspect weapons facilities in his country.

McMaster: US Prepared to Launch ‘Preventative War’ Against North Korea

(ANTIWAR.COM) — Continuing to hype the threat posed by North Korea, despite their two ICBM tests being eventually conceded to both be failures, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster insisted that the US is fully prepared to launch a “preventative war” against North Korea, to prevent them threatening the US.