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    North Korea Tag

    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.

    I have been watching events on the Korean Peninsula since the conclusion of the Singapore Summit between President Donald Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong Un, trying to determine what the eventual outcome of that meeting would be. I have come to the conclusion that the two Koreas are like the children in a messy divorce, and are tired of being pawns in a larger political drama between the two "parents". In part, that assessment comes from statements from South Korean officials that they want the U.S. and China to declare a formal end to the Korean War.

    The United States has imposed sanctions on Chinese and Russian companies for violating the trade restrictions on North Korea. The move highlights President Donald Trump's strategy to keep tightening the screws on Pyongyang over its nuclear program. The Treasury Department blacklisted a Russian port agency and two Chinese firms on Wednesday for aiding North Korea's shipping industry.

    North Korea has transferred the remains of U.S. soldiers killed during the Korean War, in keeping with the agreement made in Singapore signed by Chairman Kim Jong-un at the historic summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.
    The remains were carried out of Wonsan, North Korea, on a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft headed for Osan Air Base, south of Seoul, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. The plane arrived at the base at around 11 a.m. (Korean time). A formal repatriation ceremony will be held Aug. 1 at the base.

    It's been 6 weeks since the Singapore Summit between President Donald Trump and North Korea's Chairman Kim Jong Un, which ended with the signing of a joint statement,. As a reminder, the agreement included security guarantees for North Korea, a reaffirmation of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, recovery of soldiers' remains, and follow-up negotiations.  And while the first post-Singapore summit did not seem to produce significant results on any front, a new report indicates that there may be some real progress on the path to formally ending the Korean War.

    As we near the one-month mark of the famous Singapore peace summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, it's a good time to check on the progress in the various goals set forth in those highly publicized discussion. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is flying to North Korea for a status check on denuclearization and the return of the remains of US servicemen.
    In the days since the June summit, U.S. and North Korean officials have struggled to maintain basic communication, North Korea has not returned the remains of U.S. soldiers who went missing during the Korean War as promised, and new satellite imagery has shown North Korea expanding a key missile-manufacturing plant.