North Korea announced this morning that its leader Kim Jong-un will visit Russia and have a summit with President Vladimir Putin.
Pyeongyang's state-run Korean Central News Agency released a report this morning that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will soon visit Russia on the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It added that there will be a summit between Kim and Putin.
But the report did not provide details about when and where the summit will happen.
Pyeongyang's announcement on the summit comes at the same time as a confirmation from the Kremlin – that Kim and Putin will meet by the end of April.
The upcoming Pyeongyang-Moscow summit is the first of its kind in eight years.
The White House said on Monday local time U.S. President Donald Trump has decided not to extend waivers for imports of Iranian oil by South Korea and other countries
South Korea had been in negotiations with the U.S. to gain an extension to the waiver that expires May 2.
The White House said in a statement that the decision is "intended to bring Iran's oil exports to zero.”
In a press conference, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned that nations that continue to import oil from Iran will face sanctions from the U.S
The U.S. issued the waivers to eight countries, including South Korea, in November, after it withdrew from a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and reimposed tough sanctions on the country, with President Trump saying the agreement "had not stopped Iran from developing its nuclear and missile programs."
However, eight countries, including South Korea and Japan, were given exemptions from Washington's sanctions on Iran last November.
During his press briefing on Monday, Pompeo also touched upon concerns of potential market instability.
South Korea's foreign affairs ministry says it has been in talks with Washington on various levels for an extension, and it will continue to relay its stance to the U.S. right until the deadline.
In Washington earlier this month, South Korea's finance minister, Hong Nam-ki, held talks with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to seek a waiver extension.
The U.S. insists it does not want South Korea to be hurt by its Iran sanctions waiver decision, stressing Seoul also shares its goal of achieving certain national security objectives.
Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency reported its interview with Brian Hook, the U.S. Special Representative for Iran, on Tuesday.
He said Washington has been working with Seoul to help it.
Asked if maximum pressure on Iran is also meant to send a message to North Korea, Hook said President Trump is serious about nonproliferation and missile proliferation, and that Pyeongyang and Tehran are two leading states in the field.
With his tour of Central Asia drawing to a close, South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Monday put the focus on North Korea's denuclearization during his talks with leaders in Kazakhstan.
He said South Korea draws great inspiration from Kazakhstan's own experience of denuclearization, in which it gave up its nuclear weapons in exchange for financial aid.
Source: Arirang News
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