Kim Jong Un has long been known to take extreme measures in order to hold on to power in North Korea. He is said to be most fearful of losing that power in diplomatic talks with the US.

The White House is preparing for a meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong Un on June 12. Despite Pyongyang's threats to back out, the White House has made a coin commemorating the event.

President Trump has been asking his aides if he should move forward with the planned meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un next month over fears that he could be politically embarrassed,

“A small boat was spotted in waters off the north of Baengnyeong Island” near the inter-Korean border, the source told Yonhap news agency, adding that the officer, who holds the rank of major, and a civilian were aboard the vessel. “They expressed willingness to defect,” he said.

North Korea has been seeking a one-on-one meeting between its supreme leader and the U.S. president for more than two decades. And it isn’t difficult to understand why: For the leader of the world’s most powerful country to sit down with his North Korean counterpart would be to bestow an aura of legitimacy and international importance on the rogue state’s regime.

Donald Trump has threatened Kim Jong-un with the same fate as Muammar Gaddafi if the North Korean leader “doesn’t make a deal” on his nuclear weapons programme. The US president issued the threat at t he White House when he was asked about the recent suggestion by his national security adviser, John Bolton, that the “Libyan model” be a template for dealing with North Korea at a summit between Trump and Kim planned for 12 June in Singapore.

Everyone’s new favourite dictator, Kim Jong-un, is capturing headlines. Releasing three Americans who had been taken prisoner on rather vague justifications has, for diplomatic reasons, been hailed as an indication that the man who had his half-brother killed with VX nerve agent is now someone the US can do business with. The headline for next month’s summit is “denuclearisation”. But there’s one thing that won’t be on the agenda: curbing North Korea’s ambitions in cyber warfare.

A US B-52 strategic bomber may not take part in ongoing South Korean-US military air drills according to a source, after North Korea cancelled bi-lateral talks with South Korea and threatened to cancel its upcoming summit with Donald Trump in June. The Thunder military exercise began on Friday and is scheduled to continue for two weeks. It will include around 100 aircraft, including F-15Ks, F-16s, and F-22 radar-evading fighter jets.

South and North Korea reportedly plan to conduct high-level talks this week as the estranged nations work towards a peace deal, the South Korean Unification Ministry said. The two nations agreed to again have officials meet at the so-called neutral "truce village” of Panmunjom, which straddles their border. 

The U.S. is ready to allow investments in North Korea once it has verifiable proof of the Asian nation’s denuclearization, two of President Donald Trump’s top national security officials said. “We’re prepared to open the trade and investment with North Korea as soon as we can,” National Security Adviser John Bolton said on ABC’s “This Week,” one of two appearances on Sunday political shows.

With North Korea pledging to reduce tensions and renew ties with its southern neighbor, South Korea’s hottest property market is now along the heavily fortified border between the two countries. Demand for property in small towns and sparsely populated rural areas around the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) is surging on expectations of an influx of people and investment.

North Korea plans to officially dismantle its nuclear test site later this month at a ceremony attended by foreign media that will pave the way for leader Kim Jong-un’s summit with the US president, Donald Trump. State authorities will put the site out of operation by using explosives to collapse the tunnels used for testing between 23 and 25 May, the foreign ministry said in a statement on the official KCNA website.

North Korea says it will begin dismantling its nuclear test site in less than two weeks in a ceremony attended by foreign journalists. Pyongyang said it was taking "technical measures" to carry out the process between 23-25 May, North Korean state news agency KCNA reported on Saturday. Scientists previously said the site may have partially collapsed in September. The move is due to take place three weeks before US President Donald Trump meets North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

North Korea's Air Koryo plans to launch charter flights between Pyongyang and Chengdu in south-west China, two airline officials told Reuters, amid a major improvement in diplomatic relations between the neighbours. The flights to Chengdu, one of the biggest cities in China's vast western region, could start as early as late June if approved by China's aviation regulator, the officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

President Donald Trump said Thursday his historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will take place June 12 in Singapore. It would be the first meeting ever for a U.S. president and the head of North Korea and a stunning turnaround in relations from last year, when the nations appeared to be on the brink of conflict.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has expressed optimism about upcoming talks with U.S. President Donald Trump, state-run media said Thursday, in the first local report hinting at his attitude toward the planned Pyongyang-Washington summit.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is en route back to the United States from North Korea, and he is bringing home the three Americans who had been detained in the country, President Trump announced on Wednesday. “I am pleased to inform you that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in the air and on his way back from North Korea with the 3 wonderful gentlemen that everyone is looking so forward to meeting. They seem to be in good health. Also, good meeting with Kim Jong Un. Date & Place set,” Trump tweeted.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is returning with "three wonderful gentlemen", Mr Trump tweets.

Leaders from Japan, China and South Korea on Wednesday reaffirmed the importance of the denuclearization of North Korea as the world looks ahead to the first-ever U.S.-North Korean summit in the coming weeks.

SEOUL: North Korea said on Sunday its intention to denuclearise, unveiled at a historic inter-Korean summit, was not the result of US-led sanctions and pressure, warning the United States not to mislead public opinion.