Pyongyang

South Korea said on May 17 that it would seek to mediate between the United States and North Korea after Pyongyang threatened to pull out of an unprecedented summit between its leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump on June 12 in Singapore.

China's foreign minister will visit North Korea this week, his office said April 30, becoming the highest-ranking Chinese official to travel there in years as Beijing moves to further improve ties with Pyongyang days after a landmark inter-Korean summit.

North and South Korea installed a telephone hotline between their leaders on April 20 as they prepare for a rare summit next week aimed at resolving the nuclear standoff with Pyongyang.

Seoul's top diplomat said on April 3 that North Korea's human rights record is unlikely to be discussed at this month's summit, after Pyongyang denounced the South for supporting a fresh UN resolution against the North.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said his "heart swelled" as he enjoyed an evening of South Korean music in Pyongyang, the reclusive state's official media said April 2.

On unconfirmed information, the North Korean leader is on a first visit abroad.

It is believed that Kim Jong-Un has arrived in the Chinese capital. But neither Beijing nor Pyongyang confirm this information.

According to Japanese media, on Sunday morning a train crossed the border with China. Wagons were green in color, like Kim's father's train.

South Korea will dispatch a delegation led by senior security officials for a two-day visit to North Korea starting on March 5, the presidential Blue House announced on March 4, as U.S. President Donald Trump hinted that he is ready to talk to Pyongyang.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in urged the United States to “lower the threshold for talks” with North Korea on Feb. 26 as his aides held rare talks with a Pyongyang general on ways to defuse tensions.

North Korea on Feb. 22 accused U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of being a “kind of henchman who is representing the United States” after the U.N. chief said sanctions were essential to pressure Pyongyang.

Mike Pence and North Korean officials had planned to meet secretly during the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, but Pyongyang scrapped the talks after the U.S. vice president denounced abuses from the “murderous regime,” U.S. officials said Feb. 20.