Displaying items by tag: Kim Jongun

Friday, 05 July 2019 09:51

North Korea / US relationships

Donald Trump became the first sitting US president to enter North Korea in an ‘impromptu’ meeting after he left the G20 summit. Later he said that he and Kim would restart nuclear negotiations and he invited Kim to the US ‘when the time is right’. He added, ‘Great progress has been made, great friendships have been made and this has been, in particular, a great personal friendship.’ But the ‘friendship’ faltered four days later when North Korea accused the US of being ‘hell-bent on hostile acts’ and ‘obsessed with sanctions’. When Pyongyang's delegation visited the United Nations, North Korea also accused Washington of attempting to ‘undermine the peaceful atmosphere’ on the Korean peninsula. This indicates a return to the angry exchanges which have marred relations in recent times. We need to pray for the teams representing the US and North Korean leaders who will be meeting over the coming weeks to resume the talks which collapsed four months ago.

Published in Worldwide
Thursday, 25 April 2019 22:23

Russia: Kim’s visit

President Vladimir Putin was ‘pleased’ with the outcome of his 25 April meeting in Vladivostok with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, saying he would discuss the results with his Chinese counterparts when he travels to Beijing later. Many believe that after the diplomatic failure with Trump at Hanoi, Kim wants to prove he is still being sought after by world leaders; he does not want to look too dependent on Washington, Beijing, and Seoul. Also 10,000+ North Korean labourers working in Russia’s logging industry have to leave by the end of 2019, as UN sanctions take effect. The workers provided a revenue stream of hundreds of millions of dollars that Kim’s regime would like to keep flowing. As for Russia, the Putin-Kim summit will reaffirm Moscow's place as a major player on the Korean peninsula, and improve Russian international prestige. See also

Published in Europe
Thursday, 14 June 2018 23:04

Singapore summit - current prayer needs

Donald Trump appears to have succeeded in negotiations with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un where his predecessors failed. However, the lesson of previous deals (in 1994 and 2005) is ‘it is easier to reach agreements than to implement them’. Pray for practical progress towards disarmament and a united Korean peninsula. North Korea state media said Donald Trump had told Kim Jong-un that he would ease sanctions on Pyongyang, in language that suggested a different interpretation from the one put forward by the US president. Pray for clarity of communications and unity of thought and purpose in future decision-making. Trump said the US agreed to suspend military exercises with South Korea. However, US military in South Korea said that they had received no updated guidance on stopping training exercises. The announcement raised fears in South Korea that Washington was making concessions too fast, and a curt statement said that it was trying to figure out Mr Trump’s intentions. For a media report, click the ‘More’ button.

Published in Worldwide
Thursday, 19 April 2018 20:57

North Korea: positives to pray for

CIA Director Mike Pompeo recently made a top-secret visit to North Korea as an envoy for President Trump and met that country’s leader, Kim Jong-un. The extraordinary meeting between one of Trump’s most trusted emissaries and the head of a rogue state was part of an effort to lay the groundwork for direct talks between Trump and Kim about North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme. On 18 April respected international media outlets reported that South Korea is considering replacing the current armistice with a formal peace treaty with North Korea. This announcement as South Korean president Moon Jae-in prepared to meet Kim Jong-un on 27 April. Negotiating a peace treaty that replaces the armistice would depend on Pyongyang abandoning its nuclear ambitions. See also

Published in Worldwide
Friday, 09 March 2018 10:01

North Korea: breakthrough?

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US president Donald Trump are to meet in person by May, it has been announced, an extraordinary overture after months of mutual hostility. This news came after South Korean officials had held talks with Mr Trump at the White House. They passed a verbal message from Mr Kim, saying the North Korean leader was ‘committed to denuclearisation’. Mr Trump hailed ‘great progress’ but said sanctions would remain in place. South Korea's President Moon Jae-in said the news was like a miracle. ‘If President Trump and Chairman Kim meet following an inter-Korean summit, complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula will be put on the right track in earnest’, he said. China welcomed the development, saying the Korean peninsula issue was ‘heading in the right direction’. However, correspondents say the North has halted missile and nuclear tests during previous talks, only to resume them when it felt it was not getting what it demanded. The dramatic announcement came days after a high-ranking South Korean delegation had met Mr Kim in Pyongyang. See

Published in Worldwide

Ecclesiastes 9:17,18 says, ‘The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.’ Tensions around Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un are dangerous. No one is backing down in their war of words. Yesterday Trump implied in a tweet that he had North Korea to back down over its threat to Guam. It is a dangerous misperception that could cause the crisis to escalate. Trump could miss the best chance he will have to halt the missile tests that threaten the American homeland. Anxious about annual US-South Korea military exercises that begin next week, Pyongyang has presented the US with clear choices: reduce tensions or face a destabilising missile strike to the waters around Guam. Kim Jong-un is waiting to see what the ‘foolish Yankees’ do next. Pray for God's protection over Korea, Japan, Guam, and the USA.

Published in Worldwide