NORTH KOREA - Just one week after the Winter Olympics, in Pyongyang, North and South Korea are making steps forward to diplomacy.

High-level South Korean delegates went to North Korea and met with Kim Jong Un, Monday and one hot topic they're hoping to diffuse is nuclear weapons.

President Trump says if the U.S. and North Korea will work together they have to get rid of their nuclear weapons program.

This is the first time since 2011 Jong Un has spoken with South Korean leaders in person.

Another history making moment took place in Vietnam when the USS Carl Vinson arrived at port.

The U.S. Navy and Vietnamese military even held a meet and greet.

The 95,000 ton ship is a big sign that the United States supports Vietnam when it comes to standing up against Chinese aggression in the South China Sea. </s> SEOUL: The top national security advisers of the United States, South Korea and Japan met at the weekend to discuss North Korea and the "complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula", South Korea's presidential Blue House said on Monday (Mar 19).

The two days of meetings could also help prepare the way for a possible meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

They were the latest in a flurry of diplomatic activity spanning Asia, the United States and Europe ahead of North Korea's planned summits with the South and the United States.

South Korea's National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong met US National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and Japan's National Security Adviser Shotaro Yachi to discuss summit meetings between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, the Blue House in Seoul said.

They also discussed the possible meeting between Trump and Kim, it said.

The security advisers from the three countries discussed the "complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula", agreed that "it was important to not repeat the mistakes of the past" and to work together closely, the Blue House said.

A senior North Korean diplomat left for Finland on Sunday for talks with former U.S. and South Korean officials, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported.

That followed three days of talks between North Korean and Swedish foreign ministers on security on the Korean peninsula.

Sweden "engaged heavily" on the issue of US detainees during the talks between North Korean and Swedish foreign ministers, CNN reported on Sunday, citing unidentified sources with knowledge of the negotiations.

North Korea is pursuing its nuclear and missile programmes in defiance of U.N. Security Council sanctions and has made no secret of its plans to develop a missile capable of hitting the US mainland. </s> SEOUL, March 5 (Reuters) - A South Korean delegation led by senior security officials will leave for North Korea on Monday, a presidential official said, aiming to bring together Pyongyang and Washington for talks on the North's nuclear programme.

The 10-member delegation, headed by National Security Office head Chung Eui-yong, will leave Seoul Air Base in Seongnam City near Seoul, the capital, at about 0500 GMT, the official said, on condition of anonymity.

"We will deliver President Moon Jae-in's wish to bring about denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and permanent peace by extending the goodwill and better inter-Korean relations created by the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics," Chung said at the presidential Blue House.

The delegation hopes to speak with North Korean officials on starting dialogue between Pyongyang and the United States as well as other countries, he added.

Little has been disclosed of its agenda, but the delegation is expected to attend a dinner with North Korean officials on Monday, with another meeting set for early on Tuesday, said another administration official, who sought anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

The government hopes the visit will create "a positive atmosphere", Unification Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun told a regular briefing.

Thawing relations between the neighbours have prompted speculation of future direct talks between Washington and Pyongyang after months of tension and exchanges of insults between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un fuelled fears of war.

North Korea has not carried out any weapons tests since late November, when it tested its largest intercontinental ballistic missile. Inter-Korean talks began after Kim Jong Un said in his New Year's address that he wanted to engage the South.

Pyongyang has since sent athletes to participate in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in February, as well as a high-ranking delegation that included Kim's sister, Kim Yo Jong.

Both North Korea and the United States have expressed their willingness to talk to each other, but Washington demands Pyongyang "denuke" first. The North says it will not sit with the United States under preconditions.

Pyongyang has also fretted over a joint U.S.-South Korea military exercise, which it sees as practice for war, and which South Korean officials have said will start next month as planned, after being postponed for the Olympics and Paralympics.

Monday's delegation will leave on a special direct flight to Pyongyang rather than a jet chartered from a private airline.

The decision to use a special aircraft, most likely one of the private military jets used by President Moon Jae-in, according to administration sources, was unrelated to U.S. sanctions that bar entry for six months by vessels and aircraft that have visited North Korea.

The delegation's flight plans had already been negotiated with Washington regardless of the sanctions, the officials said.

Seoul had similar discussions with Washington this year when it sent South Korean athletes and journalists for a joint training session at the North's Masikryong ski resort ahead of the Olympics. The South Koreans took a chartered flight operated by Asiana Airlines Inc. (Reporting by Christine Kim; Additional reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Paul Tait and Clarence Fernandez) </s> Senior North Korean and United States officials are expected to meet in Washington at the end of this week to discuss a second summit between the countries' leaders, South Korean media reported on Tuesday.

A diplomatic source in Seoul cited by Chosun Ilbo newspaper and Yonhap news agency indicated that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is to meet with Kim Yong-chol on Thursday or Friday to discuss details of a second summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump. </s> PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (AP) U.S. President Donald Trump’s daughter toured the 2018 Winter Olympics on Saturday, the morning after telling South Korea’s president that she will use her visit to the Pyeongchang Games to advocate maximum pressure on North Korea to halt its nuclear program.

Ivanka Trump, who is one of her father’s close advisers, is leading the U.S. delegation at this weekend’s closing ceremony for the Pyeongchang Games. Under cloudy skies, she watched her first event Saturday morning – big-air snowboarding.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in highlighted to Trump how the Olympics have served as a vehicle for dialogue between the two Koreas, and said the U.S. and South Korea should make use of the current mood of rapprochement between the Koreas in seeking denuclearization.

At a closed-door meeting before a banquet Friday night at the presidential compound, Moon told Trump that talks on denuclearization and the inter-Korean dialogue must move forward side by side, Moon’s press secretary, Yoon Young-chan, told reporters. Trump responded by pushing for joint efforts by the U.S. and South Korea to apply maximum pressure on North Korea, Yoon said.

The differences in how the U.S. and South Korea hope to achieve denuclearization were also apparent during the banquet. In her remarks, Trump said she was in South Korea to celebrate the Olympics and to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to a ”maximum pressure campaign to ensure that the Korean Peninsula is denuclearized.”

On Friday, the Trump administration announced sanctions on more than 50 vessels, shipping companies and trade businesses to turn up the pressure on North Korea. U.S. officials said that Trump had discussed the action with Moon ahead of the announcement in Washington.

In Pyeongchang on Saturday morning, Ivanka Trump watched snowboarders go on runs at the big-air jump. A smiling Trump, wearing a Team USA hat and red snowsuit, chatted with members of her delegation and South Korea first lady Kim Jung-suk. Also with her was IOC board member and 1998 hockey gold medalist Angela Ruggiero.

A high-level North Korean delegation will also attend Sunday’s Olympic closing ceremony, but the South Korean government said it’s unlikely that Ivanka Trump will meet the North Koreans. Vice President Mike Pence, who attended the Olympics’ opening ceremony, sat awkwardly in a VIP box with the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un behind him. The two had no apparent contact.

Moon hopes to make the Olympics an avenue for peace on the divided Korean Peninsula.

”North Korea’s participation in the Winter Olympic Games has served as an opportunity for us to engage in active discussions between the two Koreas and this has led to lowering of tensions on the peninsula and an improvement in inter-Korean relations,” Moon said.

Moon met Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and Kim Yong Nam, North Korea’s nominal head of state, a day after the opening ceremony and urged North Korea to do more to engage in a dialogue with the United States.

While the games appear to have paved the way for possible rapprochement between the Koreas, U.S. and North Korean officials have yet to make direct contact. Earlier this week, the U.S. government said Pence had been set to meet North Korean officials during his visit to South Korea, but that the North Korean side canceled at the last minute.

For now, there are no signs that Ivanka Trump will meet Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party Central Committee, who is to attend the closing ceremony.

The White House has emphasized that the purpose of her visit is to celebrate the achievements of the athletes, noting that she is a winter sports enthusiast herself. She is expected to attend the games on Saturday before Sunday’s closing ceremony.

Errin Haines Whack is a national writer for The Associated Press. Youkykung Lee contributed to this report from Seoul. </s> SEOUL (Reuters) - A South Korean delegation led by senior security officials will leave for North Korea on Monday afternoon, a presidential official said, as they aim to bring Pyongyang and Washington to the table for dialogue.

The 10-member delegation, headed by National Security Office (NSO) head Chung Eui-yong, will depart South Korea at approximately 0500 GMT from Seoul Air Base in Seongnam City near Seoul, the official said on condition of anonymity. 

 Chung is expected to give brief remarks on his team's pending visit to the North around 0230 GMT on Monday. He will be accompanied by National Intelligence Service (NIS) chief Suh Hoon and Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung. 

 Thawing relations between North and South Korea have prompted speculation of future direct talks between Washington and Pyongyang after months of tension and exchanges of insults between Trump and the North Korean leader that have fueled fears of war.

 North Korea has not carried out any weapons tests since late November when it tested its largest intercontinental ballistic missile, while inter-Korean talks began after its leader Kim Jong Un stated in his New Year's address he wanted to engage the South.

 Since then, North Korea sent athletes to participate in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in February, as well as a high-ranking delegation that included Kim's sister, Kim Yo Jong.

 Both North Korea and the United States have expressed their willingness to talk to each other, but Washington demands Pyongyang "denuke" first, while the North says it will not sit with the United States under preconditions.

 The South Korean officials will use a special direct flight to Pyongyang and not a chartered jet from a private airline. 

 The decision to use a special aircraft, most like one of the private military jets used by President Moon Jae-in according to administration sources, for the delegation was unrelated to U.S. sanctions that bar vessels and aircraft that have visited North Korea from entering the United States for six months, the official said.

 However, the details of the delegation's flight had already been negotiated with Washington regardless of the sanctions, added the officials.

 Seoul had similar discussions with Washington earlier this year when it sent South Korean athletes and journalists for a joint skiing training session at the North's Masikryong ski resort ahead of the Olympics. Then, the South Koreans had taken a chartered flight operated by Asiana Airlines Inc.

 

 (Reporting by Christine Kim; Editing by Michael Perry) </s> The top national security advisers of the United States, South Korea and Japan met at the weekend to discuss North Korea and the “complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula”, South Korea’s presidential Blue House said on Monday.

The two days of meetings could also help prepare the way for a possible meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

They were the latest in a flurry of diplomatic activity spanning Asia, the United States and Europe ahead of North Korea’s planned summits with the South and the United States.

South Korea’s National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong met US National Security Adviser HR McMaster and Japan’s National Security Adviser Shotaro Yachi to discuss summit meetings between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, the Blue House in Seoul said.

They also discussed the possible meeting between Trump and Kim, it said.

The security advisers from the three countries discussed the “complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula”, agreed that “it was important to not repeat the mistakes of the past” and to work together closely, the Blue House said.

A senior North Korean diplomat left for Finland on Sunday for talks with former U.S. and South Korean officials, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported.

That followed three days of talks between North Korean and Swedish foreign ministers on security on the Korean peninsula.

Sweden “engaged heavily” on the issue of US detainees during the talks between North Korean and Swedish foreign ministers, CNN reported on Sunday, citing unidentified sources with knowledge of the negotiations.

North Korea is pursuing its nuclear and missile programmes in defiance of UN Security Council sanctions and has made no secret of its plans to develop a missile capable of hitting the US mainland.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App </s> HELSINKI (AP) - Chinese President Xi Jinping is on a state visit to Finland, a stop-off en route to meet U.S. President Donald Trump.

Welcoming ceremonies for the second-ever visit to Finland by a Chinese leader were hosted Wednesday by Finnish President Sauli Niinisto at the presidential palace in downtown Helsinki.

Xi, accompanied by his wife Peng Liyuan, noted on arrival that Finland opened political ties with China in 1950 and was the first Western country to sign a governmental bilateral trade agreement with Beijing. He also congratulated Finland on its centenary of independence from Russia.

During his two-day visit, XI will also meet Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila and Speaker of Parliament Maria Lohela.

On Thursday, Xi heads to Washington for meetings with U.S leaders. </s> PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (AP) U.S. President Donald Trump’s daughter toured the 2018 Winter Olympics on Saturday, the morning after telling South Korea’s president that she will use her visit to the Pyeongchang Games to advocate maximum pressure on North Korea to halt its nuclear program.

Ivanka Trump, who is one of her father’s close advisers, is leading the U.S. delegation at this weekend’s closing ceremony for the Pyeongchang Games. Under cloudy skies, she watched her first event Saturday morning – Big Air snowboarding.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in highlighted to Trump how the Olympics have served as a vehicle for dialogue between the two Koreas, and said the U.S. and South Korea should make use of the current mood of rapprochement between the Koreas in seeking denuclearization.

At a closed-door meeting before a banquet Friday night at the presidential compound, Moon told Trump that talks on denuclearization and the inter-Korean dialogue must move forward side by side, Moon’s press secretary, Yoon Young-chan, told reporters. Trump responded by pushing for joint efforts by the U.S. and South Korea to apply maximum pressure on North Korea, Yoon said.

The differences in how the U.S. and South Korea hope to achieve denuclearization were also apparent during the banquet. In her remarks, Trump said she was in South Korea to celebrate the Olympics and to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to a ”maximum pressure campaign to ensure that the Korean Peninsula is denuclearized.”

On Friday, the Trump administration announced sanctions on more than 50 vessels, shipping companies and trade businesses to turn up the pressure on North Korea. U.S. officials said that Trump had discussed the action with Moon ahead of the announcement in Washington.

In Pyeongchang on Saturday morning, Ivanka Trump watched snowboarders go on runs at the Big Air jump and saw American snowboarder Kyle Mack take a silver medal.

A smiling Trump, wearing a Team USA hat and red snowsuit, chatted with members of her delegation and South Korea first lady Kim Jung-suk. Also with her was IOC board member and 1998 hockey gold medalist Angela Ruggiero.

After the event ended, Trump spoke with some of the South Korean athletes who were guests of the delegation and posed for selfies.

A high-level North Korean delegation will also attend Sunday’s Olympic closing ceremony, but the South Korean government said it’s unlikely that Ivanka Trump will meet the North Koreans. Vice President Mike Pence, who attended the Olympics’ opening ceremony, sat awkwardly in a VIP box with the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un behind him. The two had no apparent contact.

Moon hopes to make the Olympics an avenue for peace on the divided Korean Peninsula.

”North Korea’s participation in the Winter Olympic Games has served as an opportunity for us to engage in active discussions between the two Koreas and this has led to lowering of tensions on the peninsula and an improvement in inter-Korean relations,” Moon said.

Moon met Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and Kim Yong Nam, North Korea’s nominal head of state, a day after the opening ceremony and urged North Korea to do more to engage in a dialogue with the United States.

While the games appear to have paved the way for possible rapprochement between the Koreas, U.S. and North Korean officials have yet to make direct contact. Earlier this week, the U.S. government said Pence had been set to meet North Korean officials during his visit to South Korea, but that the North Korean side canceled at the last minute.

For now, there are no signs that Ivanka Trump will meet Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party Central Committee, who is to attend the closing ceremony.

The White House has emphasized that the purpose of her visit is to celebrate the achievements of the athletes, noting that she is a winter sports enthusiast herself. She is expected to attend the games on Saturday before Sunday’s closing ceremony.

Errin Haines Whack is a national writer for The Associated Press. Youkykung Lee contributed to this report from Seoul.
Delegations from North Korea, South Korea, and the United States meet in the outskirts of Helsinki, Finland.