Korea

A high-level South Korean delegation will fly to North Korea this week to discuss arrangements for an inter-Korean summit there this month, as relations grow cooler between Washington and Pyongyang.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attacked "hostile forces" over "brigandish" sanctions, state media reported Friday, as Washington seeks to maintain pressure on Pyongyang over its nuclear programme.

AFP - Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "at an early date", the North's state media reported Wednesday, amid a rapid diplomatic thaw on the peninsula.

North and South Korea agreed Monday to hold a summit in Pyongyang in September, the South's Yonhap news agency reported following high-level talks in the Demilitarized Zone that divides the peninsula.

The two sides "agreed at the meeting to hold a South-North summit in Pyongyang in September as planned", Yonhap quoted a joint statement as saying, without giving a precise date.

Pyongyang on Tuesday released a South Korean detainee "arrested for entering the North illegally" last month, Seoul's unification ministry said, as ties improve between the two countries following a summit between their leaders in April.

North Korea's foreign minister argued Aug. 4 that the United States is not holding up its end of their recent denuclearization deal.

North Korea transferred 55 cases carrying the remains of soldiers killed in the Korean War, the White House said on July 26, a first step by Pyongyang to implement an agreement made in a landmark summit in June in Singapore.

SEOUL (Reuters) - A South Korean court sentenced former president Park Geun-hye to eight more years in prison on Friday after finding her guilty on charges of causing loss of government funds and interfering in a 2016 parliamentary election.

BBC - Reports that North Korea is continuing its weapons programme, despite pledges to denuclearise, have cast doubt on its sincerity in peace talks.

The recent reports, based on US intelligence leaks, suggest the country is still upgrading its nuclear enrichment sites, among other activities. So what's actually going on?

BEIJING (Reuters) - North Korea leader Kim Jong Un is in China on a two-day visit, Chinese state television said on Tuesday, his third visit to the North's major ally this year.

Kim will be in China on Tuesday and Wednesday but the brief report gave no other details.