July 28. South Korea is reporting a new daily high for coronavirus cases a day after authorities enforces stringent restriction in areas outside the seoul capital region seeking to slow a nation wide spread infection.

The 1,896 cases announced Wednesday took the country’s total for the pandemic to 193,427, with 2.083 death from Covid-19.

It was highly daily jump and surpassed previous record announced last Thursday. The Seoul area has been at the center of the outbreak . On Tuesday, the government put much of the non-seoul region under the second highest distancing guidelines to guard against a nationwide viral spread.

Seoul, Feb 17 : The Government of South Korea officially known as the Republic of Korea (RoK) has decided to extend the visa term of foreign migrant workers including from Nepal, who applied for extension of their visa term, by 13 months.

The special provision is mainly for those who have got their visa term expired amidst the COVID-19 crisis and are unable to return home at the moment and those who are interested to get the term extended in a different category, according to the Justice Ministry.
The provision will be applied to visa granted under several categories such as F-1 ( tourist and family visa), F-3 (dependent visa), H-2 (visit and work visa), E-9 (employment permit visa) and it will come into effect from coming March 2 and the holders will have temporary visa till March 31, 2022. Those possessing temporary visas will be recognized as seasonal workforce and allowed to work in agriculture and fisheries.

The South Korea witnessed no arrival of new foreign migrant workers for around a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and this is likely to cause the shortage of workforce in the country and the provision is also for addressing this issue. The South Korean government last year had planned to extend the visa term of 79,000 workers as seasonal workforce.

Likewise the tenure of those Nepali in the roster waiting for the labour agreement from South Korea is to be extended by six months.

This is informed by the South Korea’s Ministry of Employment and Labour.

It may be noted that aspiring foreign migrant workers successfully completing the RoK’s Employment Permit System and shortlisted for the further procedures are kept in the roster and they will be automatically out from the selection if it is not happened until the next two years.RSS /PHOTOS :The Interpreter

SOUTH KOREA, June 14: President Donald Trump promised to end “war games” with South Korea, calling them provocative, after meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un earlier this week. His announcement appeared to catch both South Korea and the Pentagon by surprise. A brief explanation of the military exercises:

THE DRILLS

The US and South Korea hold major joint exercises every spring and summer in South Korea.

The spring one — actually two overlapping exercises called Key Resolve and Foal Eagle — includes live-fire drills with tanks, aircraft and warships. About 10,000 American and 200,000 Korean troops usually take part. The drills typically begin in March but were delayed until April this year to encourage North Korean participation in the Winter Olympics in the South.

The summer exercise, Ulchi Freedom Guardian, consists mainly of computer simulations to hone joint decision-making and planning. Some 17,500 American and 50,000 South Korean troops participated last year. The drill, held since the 1970s, usually takes place in August. Trump’s pledge has thrown its fate into question this year.

THEIR PURPOSE

A major goal is to ensure that the two militaries can work together smoothly and seamlessly in a sudden crisis, from top commanders to troops in the field. Moon Seong Mook, a former South Korean military official, calls the joint drills and the 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea the core of the alliance between the two countries. He says the American military presence “wouldn’t mean much if the militaries don’t practice through joint drills.”

TRUMP’S WORDS

“We will be stopping the war games, which will save us a tremendous amount of money, unless and until we see the future negotiation is not going along like it should,” Trump told reporters after his meeting Tuesday with Kim in Singapore. “But we’ll be saving a tremendous amount of money. Plus, I think it’s very provocative.”

PROVOCATIVE?

Depends on your point of view. North Korea portrays the exercises as rehearsals for an invasion of its country. The US and South Korea, at least until Trump’s statement, have said the drills are purely defensive, to be ready at a moment’s notice if the North were to attack the South. The US has sent B-1B aircraft from an Air Force base in Guam on bombing runs over South Korean ranges, sometimes as a show of force after North Korean missile tests. The US and its allies routinely call the missile tests “provocations.”

CHINA

The biggest victor, if the US were to halt joint exercises with South Korea, may be China. The Chinese military is expanding its reach into the Pacific and sees the US as a rival in waters it considers its own. China has long called for a halt to both North Korean missile tests and US-South Korean military drills as a precursor to talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. AP

KATHMANDU, Feb 6: The government of South Korea, Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), has agreed to provide 10 million US dollar (approximately Rs 1.02 billion) grant assistance to the project for the Integrated Rural Development of Nepal through Strengthening Research and Development Capacity of Kathmandu University (KU).

The objective of the project is to contribute for integrated rural development of Nepal by strengthening research and development capacity of KU and to promote technology innovation for improving quality of life and income status of people in rural communities in Nepal.

At a program organized at the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday, Finance Secretary Shankar Prasad Adhikari, and Park Young-sik, Ambassador of Korea to Nepal, signed the MoU.

Kathmandu University is an autonomous and non-for-profit institution dedicated to maintain high standards of academic excellence.

The implementing agencies of the project are KOICA, Nepal and KU. The duration of the project will be from 2018-2023.

On the occasion, Finance Secretary, Adhikari, on the behalf of the government, expressed appreciation to the government of Korea for this assistance and its continued support in the socio-economic development of Nepal. RSS

SEOUL, Jan 26: A fire spread flames and smoke through a South Korean hospital Friday morning, killing at least 37 people, mainly from suffocation, and injuring nearly 130 others in one of the country’s deadliest blazes in years. The dead included three hospital staff and several people in an intensive-care unit for respiratory illnesses.

The fire started in Sejong Hospital’s emergency room and had engulfed the first floor when firefighters arrived. They approached the second floor through the windows to rescue trapped patients, said Choi Man-wu, a fire official in the southeastern city of Miryang.

He said smoke could have spread quickly through the building’s staircase at the center, but the flames were extinguished before reaching the third floor. The cause of the fire wasn’t immediately known. The hospital’s operations were suspended after the fire.

All the dead were from the hospital’s general ward, while all 94 people being cared for in a nursing ward for the elderly were safely evacuated after the fire, some carried on the backs of firefighters, Choi said.

The state-run National Fire Agency revised the death toll to 37 from 39, citing double counting.

Ten of the injured are in critical condition, medical official Cheon Jae-kyung said in the same televised briefing, suggesting the death toll could increase. The fire agency said 125 were injured, 14 of them in serious condition.

Most of the dead had been hospitalized for respiratory diseases in an intensive-care unit on the second floor. Two doctors and nine nurses were working in the emergency room at the time of fire.

Three of the dead worked at the hospital — a doctor who worked in the emergency room and a nurse and nurse assistant on the second floor, said Son Kyung-cheol, head of the foundation that operates the hospital.

Son said in a televised briefing that the hospital did not have sprinklers as it was not required by law. Fire agency officials said the hospital wasn’t big enough to be required to install sprinklers.

Most of the deaths appeared to be due to suffocation, with only one suffering burns, said an official at the National Fire Agency who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to media. The identification of the dead was underway, he said.

Videos from local TV networks showed black smoke billowing out of the building and engulfing its entire surface. A rescuer carried on his back an elderly patient covered in a blanket as they escaped the nursing ward.

President Moon Jae-in expressed regret over the blaze at an emergency meeting convened with his senior advisers. He ordered officials to provide necessary medical supports to those rescued, find the exact cause of the fire and work out measures to prevent future fires, according to his spokesman Park Su-hyun.

South Korea is one of the fastest-aging countries in the world and has many nursing hospitals, which are preferred for elderly people who need long-term doctors’ care.

Several recent fires in South Korea have been deadly.

In late December, 29 people were killed in a building fire in central Seoul, which was the country’s deadliest blaze over the past decade before the hospital fire. Last weekend, a fire at a Seoul motel killed six people, and police arrested a man who allegedly set it ablaze in anger because he had been denied a room for being heavily drunk.

In 2014, a fire set by an 81-year-old dementia patient killed 21 at another hospital for the elderly. AP

SEOUL, Nov 7: President Donald Trump arrived in South Korea on Tuesday on the second leg of his first official Asian tour. While Trump will be looking to use his trip to strengthen Washington’s alliance with Seoul and reaffirm their joint push to maximize pressure on North Korea over its nuclear program, he will also be faced with several thorny issues weighing on the relationship. Here’s a look at some of them.

NORTH KOREA

Both Trump and South Korea’s liberal President Moon Jae-in agree that it’s time to ramp up sanctions and pressure on North Korea, which has ignored international condemnation as it moves forward with its nuclear and missile tests.

But Moon, a former human rights lawyer, still favors dialogue as a way to defuse the nuclear tension and vehemently opposes a potential military clash, which experts believe would cause enormous casualties in South Korea. This contrasts with Trump, who has threatened the North with “fire and fury” and exchanged warlike rhetoric with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The world will be watching what kind of language Trump will use in his comments on North Korea. A hint at a military option or crude insults directed at Kim — like the term “Little Rocket Man” he previously used to deride the young North Korean dictator — is certain to enrage North Korea, which could react with weapons tests and threats of war.

Increasing animosity would be a burden for Moon.

TRADE

Renegotiating South Korea’s bilateral free trade agreement with the U.S., dubbed KORUS, is likely be high on the agenda during the Trump-Moon summit. Trump has criticized the deal as a source of the UStrade deficit with South Korea, an argument officials there dismiss.

Before Trump’s presidency, many in South Korea and the United States regarded the deal as a key pillar of their alliance. But Trump has made scrapping trade deals a hallmark of his presidency. Earlier this year, reports that Trump was considering triggering a withdrawal from the deal caused uproar not just in South Korea but also in the United States.

The two countries eventually started talks this summer on renegotiating the deal, which went into effect five years ago. Many South Koreans are watching if Trump will make off-the-cuff remarks on the trade deal during news conferences or on Twitter.

US TROOPS

Trump wants South Korea to pay more for the US military presence on its soil, which is chiefly aimed at deterring potential aggression from North Korea.

During election campaigning, Trump said South Korea and Japan must make more contributions for together hosting 80,000 US troops or he might withdraw those soldiers. Security jitters subsequently flared among many in South Korea and Japan.

Since taking office in January, Trump hasn’t publicly threatened to pull out the troops but he harkened back to an election campaign request for greater burden-sharing with South Korea during his first summit talks with Moon in late June.

South Korea currently pays more than 900 billion won ($800 million) annually and negotiations with the United States are to start in the coming months to try to determine a new amount for South Korea to contribute.

US MISSILE DEFENSE

South Korea’s recent agreement with China to try to end disputes over an advanced USmissile defense system deployed in South Korea could be an issue.

While announcing the deal last week, Beijing, which views the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system as a security threat, said it noted that Seoul stated it won’t do several things: deploying an additional THAAD battery, helping develop security cooperation with Japan and the US into a trilateral military alliance and joining a global USmissile defense network. South Korea’s foreign minister made similar remarks during a parliament committee meeting earlier last week.

Critics say the South Korean moves, dubbed by local media as its “Three No” policies, could undermine the operational capability of the allied South Korea-US forces and Trump’s push to bolter three-way cooperation with Seoul and Tokyo to put more pressure on Pyongyang.

Other issues at stake are South Korea’s hope to regain the wartime operational control of its troops, currently placed at the hands of the chief of the 28,000 UStroops in the South, and Seoul’s possible purchase of high-tech USweapons systems. AP

 SEOUL, Sept 8: South Korea is closely watching North Korea over the possibility it may launch another intercontinental ballistic missile as soon as Saturday when it celebrates its founding anniversary.

Seoul’s Unification Ministry spokeswoman Eugene Lee said Friday that Pyongyang could potentially conduct its next ICBM tests this weekend or around Oct. 10, another North Korean holiday marking the founding of its ruling party.

North Korea has previously marked key dates with displays of military power, but now its tests appear to be driven by the need to improve missile capabilities.

The North is just coming off its sixth and the most powerful nuclear test to date on Sunday in what it claimed was a detonation of a thermonuclear weapon built for its ICBMs. The country tested its developmental Hwasong-14 ICBMs twice in July and analysts say the flight data from the launches indicate the missiles could cover a broad swath of the continental United States, including major cities such as Los Angeles and Chicago, when perfected.

North Korea fired the ICBMs at highly lofted angles in July to reduce ranges and avoid other countries. But South Korean officials say the next launches could be conducted at angles close to operational as the North would seek to test whether the warheads survive the harsh conditions of atmospheric re-entry and detonate properly.

In Washington, President Donald Trump reiterated Thursday that military action is “certainly” an option against North Korea, as his administration tentatively concurred with the pariah nation’s claim to have tested a hydrogen bomb. A senior administration official said the U.S. was still assessing last weekend’s underground explosion but so far noted nothing inconsistent with Pyongyang’s claim.

“Military action would certainly be an option,” Trump told a White House news conference. “I would prefer not going the route of the military, but it’s something certainly that could happen.”

Pressed on whether he could accept a scenario in which the isolated nation had nukes but was “contained and deterred,” Trump demurred. “I don’t put my negotiations on the table, unlike past administrations. I don’t talk about them. But I can tell you North Korea is behaving badly and it’s got to stop,” he said.

North Korea broke from its pattern of lofted launches last month when it fired a powerful new intermediate range missile, the Hwasong-12, over northern Japan. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un then called the launch a “meaningful prelude” to containing the U.S. Pacific island territory of Guam and called for his military to conduct more ballistic missile launches targeting the Pacific Ocean.

South Korean experts say that the launch was Pyongyang’s attempt to make missiles flying over Japan an accepted norm as it seeks to test new projectiles in conditions close to operational and win more military space in a region dominated by enemies.

Kim, a third-generation dictator in his 30s, has conducted four of North Korea’s six nuclear tests since taking power in 2011. His military has maintained a torrid pace in testing weapons, which also include solid-fuel missiles built to be fired from road mobile launchers or submarines.

In accelerating his pursuit of nuclear weapons targeting the United States and allies South Korea and Japan, Kim is seen as seeking a real nuclear deterrent to help ensure the survival of his government and also the stronger bargaining power that would come from it.

Washington, Seoul and Tokyo have been pushing for stronger sanctions to punish Pyongyang over its nuclear activities, such as denying the country oil supplies. China and Russia have been calling for talks, saying sanctions aren’t working against North Korea. AP

SEOUL, Sept 5: South Korean warships conducted live-fire exercises at sea Tuesday as Seoul continued its displays of military capability following U.S. warnings of a “massive military response” after North Korea detonated its largest-ever nuclear test explosion.

South Korea’s presidential office also said Washington and Seoul have agreed to remove bilaterally agreed warhead restrictions on South Korean missiles, which would allow the South to develop more powerful weapons that would boost its pre-emptive strike capabilities against the North.

The South’s military exercises on Monday involved F-15 fighter jets and land-based ballistic missiles simulating an attack on North Korea’s nuclear test site to “strongly warn” Pyongyang over the recent detonation.

The heated words from the United States and the military maneuvers in South Korea are becoming familiar responses to North Korea’s rapid, as-yet unchecked pursuit of a viable arsenal of nuclear-tipped missiles that can strike the United States. The most recent, and perhaps most dramatic, advance came Sunday in an underground test of what leader Kim Jong Un’s government claimed was a hydrogen bomb, the North’s sixth nuclear test since 2006.

The U.N. Security Council held its second emergency meeting about North Korea in a week on Monday, with U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley saying the North’s actions show that Kim is “begging for war,” and the time has come for the Security Council to adopt the strongest diplomatic measures.

“Enough is enough. War is never something the United States wants. We don’t want it now. But our country’s patience is not unlimited,” Haley said.

South Korea has been seeking to obtain more powerful missiles while it pursues a so-called “kill chain” pre-emptive strike capability to cope with North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile threat.

Since the late 1970s, South Korean missile developments have been limited by a bilateral “guideline” between the U.S. and South, and it was updated in 2012 to allow the South to increase the range of its weapons from 500 kilometers (310 miles) to 800 kilometers (497 miles).

The agreement revealed Tuesday removes the 500-kilogram (1,100 pound) warhead limit on South Korea’s maximum-range missiles, which would free the South to develop more powerful weapons potentially targeting the North’s underground facilities and shelters.

In addition to expanding its missile arsenal, South Korea is also strengthening its missile defense, which includes the high-tech Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery currently deployed in the southeastern county of Seongju.

On Tuesday, a 2,500-ton frigate, a 1000-ton patrol ship and 400-ton guided-missile vessels participated in drills off the eastern coast aimed at retaliating against potential North Korean provocations, the Defense Ministry said. The ministry said more naval drills are planned from Wednesday to Saturday in the country’s southern seas.

The ministry said on Monday that North Korea appeared to be planning a future missile launch, possibly of an ICBM, to show off its claimed ability to target the United States with nuclear weapons, though it was unclear when such a launch might happen. Ministry official Chang Kyung-soo told lawmakers that it was seeing preparations in the North for an ICBM test but didn’t provide details about how officials had reached that assessment. Chang also said the yield from the latest nuclear detonation appeared to be about 50 kilotons, which would mark a “significant increase” from North Korea’s past nuclear tests.

Each new North Korean missile and nuclear test gives the country’s scientists invaluable information that allows big jumps in capability. North Korea is thought to have a growing arsenal of nuclear bombs and has spent decades trying to perfect a multistage, long-range missile to eventually carry smaller versions of those bombs.

Both diplomacy and severe sanctions have failed to check the North’s decades-long march to nuclear mastery.

President Donald Trump, asked in Washington if he would attack North Korea, said, “We’ll see.” No U.S. military action appeared imminent, and the immediate focus appeared to be on ratcheting up economic penalties, which have had little effect thus far.

Trump in tweets earlier had threatened to halt all trade with countries doing business with North Korea, a clear warning to its patron and closest ally, China. Such a move would be radical since the U.S. imports about $40 billion in goods a month from China. Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China regarded as “unacceptable a situation in which on the one hand we work to resolve this issue peacefully but on the other hand our own interests are subject to sanctions and jeopardized. This is neither objective nor fair.”

In brief remarks after a White House meeting with Trump and other national security officials, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters that America does not seek the “total annihilation” of North Korea, but then added somberly, “We have many options to do so.”

Mattis also said the international community is unified in demanding the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and that Kim should know Washington’s commitment to Japan and South Korea is unshakeable.

Sunday’s detonation builds on recent North Korean advances that include test launches in July of two ICBMs. The North says its missile development is part of a defensive effort to build a viable nuclear deterrent that can target U.S. cities.

North Korea has made a stunning jump in progress in its nuclear and missile programs since Kim rose to power following his father’s death in late 2011. The North followed its two tests of Hwasong-14 ICBMs, which, when perfected, could target large parts of the United States, by threatening to launch a salvo of Hwasong-12 intermediate range missiles toward the U.S. Pacific island territory of Guam in August.

It flew a Hwasong-12 over northern Japan last week, the first such overflight by a missile potentially capable of carrying nuclear weapons, in a launch Kim described as a “meaningful prelude” to containing Guam, the home of major U.S. military facilities, and vowed to launch more ballistic missile tests targeting the Pacific.

Beyond the science of the blast, North Korea’s accelerating push to field a nuclear weapon that can target all of the United States is creating political complications for the U.S. as it seeks to balance resolve with reassurance to allies that Washington will uphold its decades-long commitment to deter nuclear attack on South Korea and Japan.

That is why some questioned Trump’s jab at South Korea when he tweeted that Seoul is finding that its “talk of appeasement” will not work. The North Koreans, he added, “only understand one thing,” implying military force might be required. The U.S. has about 28,000 troops stationed in South Korea and is obliged by treaty to defend it in the event of war. AP

SEOUL, Sept 4: Following U.S. warnings to North Korea of a “massive military response,” South Korea on Monday fired missiles into the sea to simulate an attack on the North’s main nuclear test site a day after Pyongyang detonated its largest ever nuclear test explosion.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry also said Monday that North Korea appeared to be planning a future missile launch, possibly of an ICBM, to show off its claimed ability to target the United States with nuclear weapons, though it was unclear when this might happen.

The heated words from the United States and the military maneuvers in South Korea are becoming familiar responses to North Korea’s rapid, as-yet unchecked pursuit of a viable arsenal of nuclear-tipped missiles that can strike the United States. The most recent, and perhaps most dramatic, advancement came Sunday in an underground test of what leader Kim Jong Un’s government claimed was a hydrogen bomb, the North’s sixth nuclear test since 2006.

Chang Kyung-soo, an official with South Korea’s Defense Ministry, told lawmakers that Seoul was seeing preparations in the North for an ICBM test but didn’t provide details about how officials had reached that assessment. Chang also said the yield from the latest nuclear detonation appeared to be about 50 kilotons, which would mark a “significant increase” from North Korea’s past nuclear tests.

In a series of tweets, President Donald Trump threatened to halt all trade with countries doing business with the North, a veiled warning to China, and faulted South Korea for what he called “talk of appeasement.”

South Korea’s military said its live-fire exercise was meant to “strongly warn” Pyongyang. The drill involved F-15 fighter jets and the country’s land-based “Hyunmoo” ballistic missiles firing into the Sea of Japan.

The target was set considering the distance to the North’s test site and the exercise was aimed at practicing precision strikes and cutting off reinforcements, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

Each new North Korean missile and nuclear test gives Pyongyang’s scientists invaluable information that allows big jumps in capability. North Korea is thought to have a growing arsenal of nuclear bombs and has spent decades trying to perfect a multistage, long-range missile to eventually carry smaller versions of those bombs.

Both diplomacy and severe sanctions have failed to check the North’s decades-long march to nuclear mastery.

In Washington, Trump, asked by a reporter if he would attack the North, said: “We’ll see.” No U.S. military action appeared imminent, and the immediate focus appeared to be on ratcheting up economic penalties, which have had little effect thus far.

In briefs remarks after a White House meeting with Trump and other national security officials, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters that America does not seek the “total annihilation” of the North, but then added somberly, “We have many options to do so.”

Mattis said the U.S. will answer any threat from the North with a “massive military response — a response both effective and overwhelming.”

Mattis also said the international community is unified in demanding the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and that Kim should know Washington’s commitment to Japan and South Korea is unshakeable.

The precise strength of the North’s underground nuclear explosion has yet to be determined. South Korea’s weather agency said the artificial earthquake caused by the explosion was five times to six times stronger than tremors generated by the North’s previous five tests.

Sunday’s detonation builds on recent North Korean advances that include test launches in July of two ICBMs. The North says its missile development is part of a defensive effort to build a viable nuclear deterrent that can target U.S. cities.

North Korea has made a stunning jump in progress for its nuclear and missile program since Kim rose to power following his father’s death in late 2011. The North followed its two tests of Hwasong-14 ICBMs, which, when perfected, could target large parts of the United States, by threatening to launch a salvo of its Hwasong-12 intermediate range missiles toward the U.S. Pacific island territory of Guam in August.

It flew a Hwasong-12 over northern Japan last week, the first such overflight by a missile capable of carrying nukes, in a launch Kim described as a “meaningful prelude” to containing Guam, the home of major U.S. military facilities, and vowed to launch more ballistic missile tests targeting the Pacific.

Ahead of the North’s test, photos released by the North Korean government showed Kim talking with his lieutenants as he observed a silver, peanut-shaped device that was apparently the purported thermonuclear weapon destined for an ICBM. The images were taken without outside journalists present and could not be independently verified. What appeared to be the nose cone of a missile could also be seen in one photo, and another showed a diagram on the wall behind Kim of a bomb mounted inside a cone.

The Arms Control Association in the United States said the explosion appeared to produce a yield in excess of 100 kilotons of TNT equivalent, which it said strongly suggests the North tested a high-yield but compact nuclear weapon that could be launched on a missile of intermediate or intercontinental range.

Beyond the science of the blast, North Korea’s accelerating push to field a nuclear weapon that can target all of the United States is creating political complications for the U.S. as it seeks to balance resolve with reassurance to allies that Washington will uphold its decades-long commitment to deter nuclear attack on South Korea and Japan.

That is why some questioned Trump’s jab at South Korea. He tweeted that Seoul is finding that its “talk of appeasement” will not work. The North Koreans, he added, “only understand one thing,” implying military force might be required. The U.S. has about 28,000 troops stationed in South Korea and is obliged by treaty to defend it in the event of war.

Trump also suggested putting more pressure on China, the North’s patron for many decades and a vital U.S. trading partner, in hopes of persuading Beijing to exert more effective leverage on its neighbor. Trump tweeted that the U.S. is considering “stopping all trade with any country doing business with North Korea.” Such a halt would be radical. The U.S. imports about $40 billion in goods a month from China, North Korea’s main commercial partner.

Experts have questioned whether the North has gone too far down the nuclear road to continue pushing for a denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, an Obama administration policy goal still embraced by Trump’s White House.

“Denuclearization is not a viable U.S. policy goal,” said Richard Fontaine, president of the Center for a New American Security, but neither should the U.S. accept North Korea as a nuclear power. “We should keep denuclearization as a long-term aspiration, but recognize privately that it’s unachievable anytime soon.”AP

SEOUL, South Korea: Government delegates from North andSouth Korea held a marathon session of preparatory talks Sunday at a “truce village” on their heavily armed border aimed at setting ground rules for a higher-level discussion on easing animosity and restoring stalled rapprochement projects.

The meeting at Panmunjom, where the armistice agreement ending fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War was signed, was the first of its kind on the Korean Peninsula in more than two years. Success will be judged on whether the delegates can pave the way for a meeting between the ministers of each country’s department for cross-border affairs. Such ministerial talks haven’t happened since 2007.

South Korea has proposed they take place Wednesday in Seoul.

There was still no agreement early Monday morning, more than 15 hours after the delegates began discussions Sunday morning, although South Korean officials earlier seemed confident that they would eventually work out an accord on the ministerial talks.

The South Korean Unification Ministry, which is in charge of North Korea matters, sent reporters a brief text early Monday saying an agreement is being delayed because of an unspecified disagreement over the agenda. But there was no elaboration and it was unclear if a new round of talks would be held Monday.

The intense media interest in the bureaucrats’ meeting is an indication of how bad relations between the Koreas have been. Any dialogue is an improvement on the belligerence that has marked the relationship over recent months and years.

Earlier this year, North Korea threatened nuclear war, claimed that the Korean War armistice was void, closed a jointly run factory park and vowed to ramp up production of nuclear bomb fuel. That followed a North Korean nuclear test and long-range rocket launches and, earlier, attacks blamed on the North that killed 50 South Koreans in 2010.

“Today’s working-level talks will be a chance to take care of administrative and technical issues in order to successfully host the ministers’ talks,” one of the South Korean delegates, Unification Policy Officer Chun Hae-sung, said in Seoul early Sunday before the group’s departure for Panmunjom.

He said the southern delegation will keep in mind “that the development of South and North Korean relations starts from little things and gradual trust-building.”

The delegates in the morning discussed the agenda for the ministerial meeting, location, date, the number of participants and how long they will stay in Seoul, if the meeting is held there, said the Unification Ministry.

Reporters weren’t allowed at the venue.