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North Korea Tag

The last time we checked on North Korea, all the participating parties in the Hanoi Summit were regrouping after the sudden collapse of the high-level meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korea's Chairman Kim Jong Un. Now it is being reported that after a North Korean opposition group stormed the North Korean embassy in Spain last month, it handed over data stolen from the raid to the FBI.

We have been chronicling how South Korea has been teaming up with North Korea on a number if different projects in an apparent effort geared toward eventually opening up the rogue nation in a way that will not be a severe economic strain on its southern neighbor. Though the Hanoi Summit did not conclude with a declaration, South Korea's President Moon Jae-in promises he will work toward having the other two countries complete the peace deal.

Now that the Hanoi nuclear summit talks have ended in failure, the two crucial questions are (1) whether there will be a major escalation of tensions and (2) whether the North Koreans have made a fundamental decision to keep their nuclear program, despite the pressures. Only Kim Jong-Un can answer the second question.

Given the Democratic-staged drama of the Cohen hearings, one would be forgiven for not recognizing another historic summit occurred yesterday between President Donald Trump and North Korea's Dictator Kim Jong Un. Perhaps the American press will turn its attention to Hanoi today, as President Donald Trump cut short the summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un after denuclearization talks went nowhere.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the two leaders "had very good and constructive meetings" and "discussed various ways to advance denuclearization and economic driven concepts," but that "no agreement was reached at this time."

Chinese officials are currently planning to send their top trade negotiator to Washington, D.C., next month for trade talks designed to end the tariff battle between the two nations. Ahead of the meetings, the Chinese are appearing to leverage their influence with North Korea to optimum benefit. North Korea's Chairman Kim Jong-un was in Beijing this week, and made significant statements related to promises made during June's Singapore Summit.

We recently reported that the parents of Otto Warmbier, the college student who died after a year of North Korean imprisonment and torture over a stolen propaganda poster, were seeking more than $1 billion in damages from the rogue nation. A judge has now ruled that the Warmbiers are to receive about half that amount.
An American judge has ruled that Kim Jong Un’s North Korean regime must pay $501 million to the parents of Otto Warmbier after their son died following his time spent in captivity there.

What is the status of the Singapore Summit agreement five months after the historic deal was signed by President Donald Trump and North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un? The American press is highlighting a set-back on the path to peace.  North Korean officials are warning that the nation will begin strengthening its nuclear arsenal if the United States does not lift economic sanctions against the country.

When reporting on the landmines removal from the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas, I noted Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was on his way for a meeting with North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un to discuss denuclearization of the peninsula. It appears the meeting was a success.
The U.S. and North Korea agreed Sunday to hold a second summit between leaders Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un "as soon as possible," according to a statement by South Korea's presidential office, with the American side saying that Kim had also invited inspectors to a key nuclear facility.

While the American press has been singularly focused on Judge Brett Kavanaugh's youth and the specialty cocktails he enjoyed while boofing, there have been intriguing news developments elsewhere. For example, it seems the Korean peninsula peace process is continuing apace, after its start with the Singapore Summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un. Troops from North and South Korea have started removing landmines buried in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between the countries.

Next week, South Korean President Moon Jae-in is expected to head to Pyongyang for the first time with the goal of accelerating international efforts to denuclearize North Korea.
"At this stage, I believe it is most important to put a complete end to military tensions between North and South, or possibility of military conflict, or war threat," Moon told reporters Thursday.

This week's developments on the Korean Peninsula following June's Singapore Summit have been fascinating. First, North Korean media is now reporting that Chairman Kim Jong Un reaffirmed his commitment to a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.
The statement from the Korean Central News Agency wasn't new information — Kim has repeatedly declared similar intentions before — but allows hopes to rise that diplomacy can get back on track after the recriminations that followed Kim's meeting in June with U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore. The impasse between North Korea and the United States, with neither side seemingly willing to make any substantive move, has generated widespread skepticism over Trump's claims that Kim is intent on dismantling his nuclear weapons program.