South Korea said Saturday that North Korea has accepted its proposal to hold high-level inter-Korean talks next week.

In a statement, South Korea's Unification Ministry said the talks are planned for Thursday.

The talks were first proposed by South Korea to be held in the Panmunjom truce village in the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

North Korea said it will be represented by a three-member delegation led by Ri Son Kwon, chairman of the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland Committee.

South Korea stated earlier that its three-member delegation will be led by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon.

The announcement came a day after South Korean President Moon Jae-in teased the possibility of another meeting, this one among the United States, North Korea and South Korea.

Moon said negotiations are continuing ahead of the "historic talks" planned for next month with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. He's expected to meet with Kim in April, the first time the North Korean leader has publicly met with a foreign head of state.

"Through these talks and future talks, we must end the nuclear and peace issue on the Korean Peninsula. It is necessary to make it possible for the two Koreas to live together peacefully without interfering with each other or damaging each other," Moon said this week.

The meeting between Moon and Kim is just a warm-up for the main event, however, with US President Donald Trump accepting an invitation to meet with the North Korean leader sometime before the end of May.

It will be the first time a sitting US president has met with a member of North Korea's ruling Kim family.</s>South Korea said Saturday that North Korea has accepted its proposal to hold high-level inter-Korean talks next week.

In a statement, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said the talks are planned for Thursday.

The talks were first proposed by South Korea to be held in the Panmunjom truce village in the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

North Korea said it will be represented by a three-member delegation led by Ri Son Kwon, chairman of the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland Committee.

South Korea stated earlier that its three-member delegation will be led by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon.

The announcement came a day after South Korean President Moon Jae-in teased the possibility of another meeting, this one among the United States, North Korea and South Korea.

Moon said negotiations are continuing ahead of the “historic talks” planned for next month with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. He’s expected to meet with Kim in April, the first time the North Korean leader has publicly met with a foreign head of state.

“Through these talks and future talks, we must end the nuclear and peace issue on the Korean Peninsula. It is necessary to make it possible for the two Koreas to live together peacefully without interfering with each other or damaging each other,” Moon said this week.

The meeting between Moon and Kim is just a warm-up for the main event, however, with US President Donald Trump accepting an invitation to meet with the North Korean leader sometime before the end of May.

It will be the first time a sitting US president has met with a member of North Korea’s ruling Kim family.</s>South Korea said Saturday that North Korea has accepted its proposal to hold high-level inter-Korean talks next week.

In a statement, South Korea's Unification Ministry said the talks are planned for Thursday.

The talks were first proposed by South Korea to be held in the Panmunjom truce village in the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

North Korea said it will be represented by a three-member delegation led by Ri Son Kwon, chairman of the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland Committee.

South Korea stated earlier that its three-member delegation will be led by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon.

The announcement came a day after South Korean President Moon Jae-in teased the possibility of another meeting, this one among the United States, North Korea and South Korea.

Moon said negotiations are continuing ahead of the "historic talks" planned for next month with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. He's expected to meet with Kim in April, the first time the North Korean leader has publicly met with a foreign head of state.

"Through these talks and future talks, we must end the nuclear and peace issue on the Korean Peninsula. It is necessary to make it possible for the two Koreas to live together peacefully without interfering with each other or damaging each other," Moon said this week.

The meeting between Moon and Kim is just a warm-up for the main event, however, with US President Donald Trump accepting an invitation to meet with the North Korean leader sometime before the end of May.

It will be the first time a sitting US president has met with a member of North Korea's ruling Kim family.</s>[SEOUL] North Korea on Saturday agreed to hold high-level talks with Seoul next week to discuss logistics for a rare inter-Korean summit, the South's Unification Ministry said, as a diplomatic thaw on the peninsula gathers pace.

The two sides will each send a three-member delegation to the border truce village of Panmunjom on Thursday for talks aimed at paving the way for a summit due in late April, it said.

South Korea on Wednesday had proposed holding high-level talks with the North to discuss details including the summit's dates and agenda.

The talks will take place at the Unification Pavilion building on the northern side of Panmunjom, which sits on the border, with Seoul's delegation led by unification minister Cho Myoung Gyon and his counterpart Ri Son Gwon heading Pyongyang's.

The decision by President Moon Jae In and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to meet came amid a rapid rapprochement kicked off with the recent Winter Olympics in the South.

The United States and South Korea announced Tuesday that their annual joint military drills would go ahead next month, but the main exercise will be shortened by a month. The exercises have caused tensions for years, with Pyongyang condemning them as preparations for an invasion of the North.

The inter-Korean summit is due to be followed by a face-to-face meeting between US President Donald Trump and Kim by the end of May.

Following a period of heightened tensions stoked by the North's nuclear and missile tests last year, a rapid rapprochement has been underway on the Korean peninsula.

The North on Wednesday broke its silence on the diplomatic thaw with Washington and Seoul, with its official KCNA news agency saying Pyongyang was driving the peace initiative and rejecting suggestions that sanctions forced it to dialogue table.

As diplomats scurry to arrange the North-South talks as well as the proposed Trump-Kim meeting, the North's silence has raised concerns over its intentions.

North Korean state media have not yet directly mentioned the summits.

Analysts say the North is carefully watching to see how events - including the US-South Korea military drills - play out before making them public to its people.

State media in the North have not reported any public activities by Kim since March 6, when they said he held talks with South Korean envoys and made a "satisfactory agreement" on the proposed inter-Korean summit.

On Friday, Rodong Sinmun, the official daily of the North's ruling Workers Party, attacked the US for continued sanctions and pressure on Pyongyang despite diplomatic progress.

"The good atmosphere appearing on the Korean peninsula has been created by our aggressive efforts and initiatives. It has not been brought about by sanctions by the US and its sycophants," the newspaper said.

"The United States has miscalculated. The stronger the US pressure, the stronger the DPRK (North Korea)... If the US fails to draw a lesson and continues acting recklessly, it would surely be in for a greater humiliation and defeat."

The commentary came as President Trump named John Bolton, a foreign policy hawk, as his new national security adviser.

Mr Bolton, a former US ambassador to the United Nations, has championed pre-emptive strikes against North Korea and regime change in Iran - making him an outlier even among Republicans.</s>SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has agreed to hold high-level talks with South Korea on March 29 at the border truce village of Panmunjom to prepare for a summit of their leaders planned for April, the South said on Saturday.

A team of three officials will be led by Ri Son Gwon, the chairman of North Korea’s committee for the peaceful reunification of the country, the North told its neighbour early on Saturday, the South’s Unification Ministry said.

“This morning, North Korea sent a message through a communication channel in Panmunjom agreeing to our suggestion made on the 22nd to hold high-level inter-Korea talks,” the ministry said in a statement.

The stakes are higher for a potential summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and his North Korean counterpart that may take place by the end of May, however.

Trump this week named John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations famed for his hawkish views on Pyongyang, to replace White House National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster.

Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on March 13, saying the two had disagreed over Iran and other foreign policy matters.

The Korean talks set for March 29 will precede musical performances in Pyongyang in early April by a group of South Korean singers making a reciprocal visit after the North sent performers to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

Artists of both nations will collaborate for a show on April 3, the South’s Yonhap news agency said, citing an aide of President Moon Jae-in.

Moon plans to hold a summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un by the end of April.</s>GENEVA - North Korea told a United Nations disarmament forum on Tuesday that sanctions over its nuclear programme would "never work", as it voiced further defiance against President Donald Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign.

The "US should (be) aware that sanctions and pressure will never threaten (North Korea) and never work", said Han Tae Song, Pyongyang's envoy to the UN Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.

The comments came days after Trump unveiled what he described as the "heaviest sanctions ever" levied on North Korea .

That may be an overstatement given past tough measures against Pyongyang approved by Washington, but Trump's administration has confirmed that the new sanctions target virtually every ship North Korea is currently using.

North Korean diplomats repeatedly spar with US officials at the disarmament body in Geneva, a venue where the bitter rivals argue face-to-face.

"If the US ignores our sincere efforts for improving inter-Korean relations... but prefers provocation.

and confrontation, the DPRK will certainly respond," Han said, using an acronym for the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea.

Despite an apparent easing of tensions between Seoul and Pyongyang at the just concluded "peace Olympics" in the South's city of Pyeongchang, Trump has pledged to maintain pressure on the North.

He has warned that if the latest sanctions do not work, "we'll have to go to phase two. Phase two may be a very rough thing."

Washington's disarmament ambassador on Tuesday repeated his insistence that the United States would never accept North Korea as a nuclear-armed state.

"It will not happen," Robert Wood said, replying to Han's threats.</s>South Korea said Saturday that North Korea has accepted its proposal to hold high-level inter-Korean talks next week.

In a statement, South Korea's Unification Ministry said the talks are planned for Thursday.

The talks were first proposed by South Korea to be held in the Panmunjom truce village in the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

North Korea said it will be represented by a three-member delegation led by Ri Son Kwon, chairman of the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland Committee.

South Korea stated earlier that its three-member delegation will be led by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon.

The announcement came a day after South Korean President Moon Jae-in teased the possibility of another meeting, this one among the United States, North Korea and South Korea.

Moon said negotiations are continuing ahead of the "historic talks" planned for next month with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. He's expected to meet with Kim in April, the first time the North Korean leader has publicly met with a foreign head of state.

"Through these talks and future talks, we must end the nuclear and peace issue on the Korean Peninsula. It is necessary to make it possible for the two Koreas to live together peacefully without interfering with each other or damaging each other," Moon said this week.

The meeting between Moon and Kim is just a warm-up for the main event, however, with US President Donald Trump accepting an invitation to meet with the North Korean leader sometime before the end of May.

It will be the first time a sitting US president has met with a member of North Korea's ruling Kim family.</s>UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council unanimously stepped up sanctions against North Korea on Monday over the country's sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3, imposing a ban on the country's textile exports and capping imports of crude oil.

 It was the ninth sanctions resolution unanimously adopted by the 15-member council since 2006 over North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear programs. The United States watered down an initial tougher draft resolution to win the support of Pyongyang ally China and Russia. 

 A week ago, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley called for the "strongest possible" sanctions on North Korea and had sought an oil embargo on Pyongyang.

 On Monday, Haley said the United States was not looking for war with North Korea and that Pyongyang had "not yet passed the point of no return." 

 "If it agrees to stop its nuclear program, it can reclaim its future. If it proves it can live in peace, the world will live in peace with it," she told the Security Council after the council adopted the new sanctions. 

 Haley added that the latest resolution "would not have happened" without the strong relationship that had developed between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

 China's U.N. ambassador, Liu Jieyi, urged North Korea to "take seriously the expectations and will of the international community" and called on all parties to remain "cool-headed" and not stoke tensions.

 A Security Council resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes to pass. In negotiations on the latest resolution, diplomats said Russia had questioned what leverage the Security Council would have left if North Korea continued to conduct nuclear and missile testing. 

 "This is a compromise in order to get everybody on board," French U.N. Ambassador Francois Delattre said of the draft ahead of the vote.

 Textiles were North Korea's second-biggest export after coal and other minerals in 2016, totaling $752 million, according to data from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. Nearly 80 percent of the textile exports went to China.

 The resolution imposes a ban on condensates and natural gas liquids, a cap of 2 million barrels a year on refined petroleum products, and a cap on crude oil exports to North Korea at current levels. China supplies most of North Korea's crude.

 A U.S. official, familiar with the council negotiations and speaking on condition of anonymity, said North Korea imported some 4.5 million barrels of refined petroleum products annually and 4 million barrels of crude oil. 

 

 'DUE PRICE'

 Trump has vowed not to allow North Korea to develop a nuclear missile capable of hitting the mainland United States.

 North Korea was condemned globally for its latest nuclear test on Sept. 3, which it said was of an advanced hydrogen bomb. 

 Pyongyang warned the United States on Monday that it would pay a "due price" for spearheading efforts on U.N. sanctions.

 "The world will witness how the DPRK tames the U.S. gangsters by taking a series of actions tougher than they have ever envisaged," the foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency. 

 DPRK stands for the North's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. 

 The tensions have weighed on global markets, but there was some relief on Monday among investors that North Korea refrained from conducting another missile test this past weekend to celebrate 69 years since its founding.

 European Council on Foreign Relations U.N. expert Richard Gowan said the United States had "rather predictably been mugged by reality" during the most recent negotiations" on sanctions. He added it was arguable, however, that the high U.S. bar had pushed China and Russia to agree to more limited sanctions "relatively quickly." 

 "China and Russia were never going to accept the severe package of sanctions tabled by Haley," Gowan aid. "This sort of lengthy, incremental diplomatic bargaining may be the best it can hope for. The alternative is, after all, a slide towards war." 

 Traditionally, the United States has discreetly negotiated with China on any North Korea sanctions before expanding talks to the full council once the five veto powers have agreed. More recently, that has typically taken one to three months. 

 China supplies most of North Korea's crude. Chinese officials have privately expressed fears that an oil embargo could risk causing massive instability in its neighbor.

 Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang stressed the need for consensus over North Korea and maintaining peace.

 "I have said before that China agrees that the U.N. Security Council should make a further response and necessary actions with respect to North Korea's sixth nuclear test," he told reporters.

 Russia and China have been critical that there is too much focus on pressuring North Korea with sanctions and not enough debate about kick-starting talks with Pyongyang. 

 

 (Additional reporting by Christine Kim and Hyunjoo Jin in Seoul, Philip Wen in Beijing, David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Grant McCool and Peter Cooney)</s>South Korea said Saturday that North Korea has accepted its proposal to hold high-level inter-Korean talks next week.

In a statement, South Korea's Unification Ministry said the talks are planned for Thursday.

The talks were first proposed by South Korea to be held in the Panmunjom truce village in the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

North Korea said it will be represented by a three-member delegation led by Ri Son Kwon, chairman of the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland Committee.

South Korea stated earlier that its three-member delegation will be led by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon.

The announcement came a day after South Korean President Moon Jae-in teased the possibility of another meeting, this one among the United States, North Korea and South Korea.

Moon said negotiations are continuing ahead of the "historic talks" planned for next month with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. He's expected to meet with Kim in April, the first time the North Korean leader has publicly met with a foreign head of state.

"Through these talks and future talks, we must end the nuclear and peace issue on the Korean Peninsula. It is necessary to make it possible for the two Koreas to live together peacefully without interfering with each other or damaging each other," Moon said this week.

The meeting between Moon and Kim is just a warm-up for the main event, however, with US President Donald Trump accepting an invitation to meet with the North Korean leader sometime before the end of May.

It will be the first time a sitting US president has met with a member of North Korea's ruling Kim family.</s>North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (right) shakes hands with South delegation leader Chung Eui-yong in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency March 6, 2018. — Reuters picSEOUL, March 24 — North Korea today agreed to hold high-level talks with Seoul next week to discuss logistics for a rare inter-Korean summit, the South’s Unification Ministry said, as a diplomatic thaw on the peninsula gathers pace.

The two sides will each send a three-member delegation to the border truce village of Panmunjom on Thursday for talks aimed at paving the way for a summit due in late April, it said.

South Korea on Wednesday had proposed holding high-level talks with the North to discuss details including the summit’s dates and agenda.

The talks will take place at the Unification Pavilion building on the northern side of Panmunjom, which sits on the border, with Seoul’s delegation led by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon and his counterpart Ri Son Gwon heading Pyongyang’s.

The decision by President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to meet came amid a rapid rapprochement kicked off with the recent Winter Olympics in the South.

The United States and South Korea announced Tuesday that their annual joint military drills would go ahead next month, but the main exercise will be shortened by a month. The exercises have caused tensions for years, with Pyongyang condemning them as preparations for an invasion of the North.

The inter-Korean summit is due to be followed by a face-to-face meeting between US President Donald Trump and Kim by the end of May.

Following a period of heightened tensions stoked by the North’s nuclear and missile tests last year, a rapid rapprochement has been underway on the Korean peninsula.

The North on Wednesday broke its silence on the diplomatic thaw with Washington and Seoul, with its official KCNA news agency saying Pyongyang was driving the peace initiative and rejecting suggestions that sanctions forced it to dialogue table.

As diplomats scurry to arrange the North-South talks as well as the proposed Trump-Kim meeting, the North’s silence has raised concerns over its intentions.

North Korean state media have not yet directly mentioned the summits.

Analysts say the North is carefully watching to see how events — including the US-South Korea military drills — play out before making them public to its people.

State media in the North have not reported any public activities by Kim since March 6, when they said he held talks with South Korean envoys and made a “satisfactory agreement” on the proposed inter-Korean summit.

Yesterday, Rodong Sinmun, the official daily of the North’s ruling Workers Party, attacked the US for continued sanctions and pressure on Pyongyang despite diplomatic progress.

“The good atmosphere appearing on the Korean peninsula has been created by our aggressive efforts and initiatives. It has not been brought about by sanctions by the US and its sycophants,” the newspaper said

“The United States has miscalculated. The stronger the US pressure, the stronger the DPRK (North Korea)... If the US fails to draw a lesson and continues acting recklessly, it would surely be in for a greater humiliation and defeat.”

The commentary came as President Trump named John Bolton, a foreign policy hawk, as his new national security adviser.

Bolton, a former US ambassador to the United Nations, has championed pre-emptive strikes against North Korea and regime change in Iran — making him an outlier even among Republicans. — AFP
North Korea accepts South Korea's proposal to hold high-level inter-Korean talks, scheduled to take place on March 29.