As Donald Trump seeks progress with North Korea at a second summit, the United States (US) has a series of cards it can play including easing sanctions, signing a peace declaration or even pulling troops from South Korea.After the historic handshake between the US president and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore in June, Washington policymakers are adamant on the need for tangible concessions by Pyongyang on its nuclear program at the sequel meeting, which Trump says will take place

By hosting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for a fourth time, China has signalled again that it will not be side-lined in the diplomatic dance between its Cold War-era ally and Washington.With another nuclear summit looming between Kim and United States (US) President Donald Trump, a meeting between President Xi Jinping and the North Korean leader was inevitable, according to analysts.It has become something of a ritual: Last year, Kim briefed Xi before and after his historic summits with Tru

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is eager to hold a second summit with United States (US) President Donald Trump. Since their first meeting in Singapore in June, Kim has consistently outmanoeuvred his counterpart.

North Korea has slammed recent sanctions over its missile tests as an “act of war” on Sunday, its first response to the latest diplomatic move to punish Pyongyang's ever-accelerating weapons drive. "We fully reject the latest UN sanctions...

ASEAN GeopoliticsThis week, sanctions on North Korea were further tightened after Pyongyang’s refusal to halt their nuclear program – the latest being Thailand which has been called on by the United States to put more trade and diplomatic pressure on the hermit nation.The ASEAN Post also covered the prospect of achieving a “high quality” Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership in pursuit of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP).Outcome of RCEP negotiations so far.The question of U

The Philippines intends to sue Sanofi after authorities suspended the pharmaceutical giant's anti-dengue vaccine in response to the company warning the drug could lead to severe infections in some cases, the health secretary said Thursday.Regulators froze the Philippines' world-first public dengue immunisation programme last week and suspended all sales of the vaccine on Monday after Sanofi said Dengvaxia could worsen symptoms for vaccinated people who contracted the disease for the

China will send a special envoy to North Korea this week, state media said Wednesday, after US President Donald Trump concluded an Asian tour to rally support against Pyongyang's nuclear threats.Friday's trip by President Xi Jinping's special envoy, Song Tao, is likely a diplomatic push by China to resolve the nuclear standoff, though the official Xinhua news agency merely said he will discuss last month's Chinese Communist Party congress.As Beijing prepared for the missio

US lawmakers proposed sanctions Friday against Myanmar's military, in some of the strongest efforts yet by Washington to pressure the Southeast Asian nation to end abusive treatment of its Rohingya Muslim minority.House Republicans and Democrats introduced legislation that would curtail assistance or cooperation with Myanmar's military and require the White House to identify senior military officials who would have US visa bans imposed or re-imposed against them.A bipartisan group i

The UN has slapped a global port ban on four vessels found violating sanctions against North Korea, the head of an expert panel said Monday in what he described as an unprecedented move.The United States led a drive at the Security Council to impose two recent sets of sanctions to punish Pyongyang over its nuclear and missile tests."There are four vessels that have been designated by the committee. The designation doesn't mean an assets freeze or travel ban.

At the turbine hall at North Korea's Wonsan Number 5 hydropower station, a placard mounted on a wall proclaims: "Prosperous and Powerful Nation".