North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's promise to build "socialist economic construction" in his nuclear-armed but impoverished and isolated country could herald more Chinese-style economic reforms, according to analysts — but he will never explicitly say so. Alongside the declaration on Saturday that the North had completed the development of its nuclear arsenal and no more atomic or missile tests were needed, Kim proclaimed that the "new strategic line" for the ruling Workers' Party would be "socialist economic construction".

South Korean officials no longer have to use a bullhorn to communicate messages to their reclusive neighbor to the North. A direct phone line was installed and tested Friday, connecting South Korea's Blue House, the official residence and office of President Moon Jae-in, and the North's State Affairs Commission, where leader Kim Jong Un's power is consolidated.

From Pyongyang’s vast, empty boulevards to its dusty, disorderly alleyways, there is no talk of the high-stakes summit between the US president, Donald Trump, and North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, that has transfixed the rest of the world. The meeting is still a state secret, unmentioned in official media, unknown to the majority of Kim’s citizens – and far too dangerous for those who have heard whispers to discuss them in public.

The Trump administration shouldn’t get too excited about Kim Jong Un’s pledge to limit his weapons program.

North Korea has said it will halt missile and nuclear tests, fulfilling a pledge made by leader Kim Jong-un ahead of a meeting with Donald Trump. The promised cessation, reported by North Korean state media, represented another apparent concession as the country manoeuvres ahead of the landmark summit. Mr Kim also said North Korea would be shutting down a test site.

North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, announced early Saturday that his country no longer needed to test nuclear weapons or long-range missiles and would close a nuclear test site. “The nuclear test site has done its job,” Mr. Kim said in a statement carried by North Korea’s state media. Mr. Kim’s announcement came just days before a scheduled summit meeting with President Moon Jae-in of South Korea;

North Korea has expressed its commitment to "complete denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula and is not seeking conditions, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Thursday, as the United States vowed to maintain "maximum pressure" on Pyongyang. Moon said big-picture agreements about denuclearization, establishing a peace regime and normalization of relations between the two Koreas and the United States should not be difficult to reach through summits between the North and South, and between the North and the United States.

North Korea has expressed a desire for the “complete denuclearisation” of the Korean peninsula without attaching preconditions such as the withdrawal of US troops, the South Korean president has said. The statement, unconfirmed by North Korea, comes before a summit between the leaders of the two countries on 27 April, to be followed in May or June by a meeting between Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, and Donald Trump. The US president on Wednesday pledged to meet Kim “in the coming weeks” but said he was prepared to walk away if the talks were not fruitful.

South Korean president says Pyongyang has not attached conditions such as US troop withdrawal

Trump said Tuesday that the US was in talks with North Korea at "extremely high levels."

North and South Korea are in talks to announce a permanent end to the officially declared military conflict between the two countries, daily newspaper Munhwa Ilbo reported Tuesday, citing an unnamed South Korean official. Ahead of a summit next week between North Korean premier Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, lawmakers from the neighboring states were thought to be negotiating the details of a joint statement that could outline an end to the confrontation.

North and South Korea are in talks to announce a permanent end to the ongoing military conflict between the two countries, daily newspaper Munhwa Ilbo reported Tuesday, citing an unnamed South Korean official.

As the US prepares to try and convince North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to give up his nuclear weapons, it may have made his counter argument for him. On Friday, US President Donald Trump announced he had given the order for US forces to strike the Syrian regime in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held city in the southwest of the country, which he blames on Russia and Syria. But the attack against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad -- a longtime ally of North Korea -- could complicate Trump's planned summit with Kim, expected to take place in May or June.

North Korea has recently begun sending laborers to China, violating United Nations (UN) sanctions imposed against the regime. As sanctions for North Korea’s continued testing of nuclear weapons, the UN Security Council passed Resolution No. 2375 last September, which stipulated that UN members cannot issue new labor permits to North Korean workers. Several months later in December, the UN Security Council passed Resolution No. 2397, requiring UN members to repatriate all North Korean workers within 24 months.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un publicly acknowledged for the first time the prospect of a “dialogue” with the U.S. and a planned summit meeting with South Korea’s president, breaking a weekslong silence that had raised questions about Pyongyang’s participation in the high-level meetings. Kim, speaking at a meeting of the Politburo of the Workers’ Party of Korea on Monday, “made a profound analysis and appraisal of the orientation...

Washington (CNN)The United States and North Korea have been holding secret, direct talks to prepare for a summit between President Donald Trump and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un, a sign that planning for the highly anticipated meeting is progressing, several administration officials familiar with the discussions tell CNN.

North Korea has issued a rare apology to a group of South Korean journalists over access to a K-pop concert attended by Kim Jong-un. While apologies from the North are highly unusual, with criticism often deflected and blamed on the US and its allies, a mea culpa from a senior official over press freedom is almost unimaginable.

North Korea will take part in the next two Olympic Games in Japan and China, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said on Saturday after meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang.

The third summit ever between the Koreas could prove significant in the global diplomatic push to resolve the standoff over the North's nuclear program.

Increased activity at a North Korean nuclear site has once again caught the attention of analysts and renewed concerns about the complexities of denuclearization talks as President Donald Trump prepares for a summit with Kim Jong Un in the coming weeks. Satellite imagery taken last month suggests the North has begun preliminary testing of an experimental light water reactor and possibly brought another reactor online at its Yongbyon Nuclear Research Center.