South Korean president Moon Jae-in announced that the four parties in the Korean War, which ended in a stalemate in 1953, have agreed “in-principle” to formally declare its end, indicating a major step towards peace

The US has sanctioned two companies based in China for employing North Korean citizens overseas. The US claims that it is implementing UN-backed sanctions

Donald Trump became the first US president to cross the demilitarized zone dividing North and South Korea. Following a meeting, he and Kim Jong-un decided to resume negotiations between the countries

“Kim Jong-un is interested in denuclearization, all North Korea needs is guarantees of its security and sovereignty,” Putin said

Newsclick Editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha talks about the developments in the aftermath of the Hanoi Summit – between US’s Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un

Prabir Purkayastha discusses the changing dynamics and the possibilities that the inter-Korean peace process has augured

An opportunity to have North Korea dismantle its only known source of plutonium was lost as US insisted on maintaining sanctions

Unless the contents of the declaration provide an assurance that US will not pose a security threat to North Korea, it is unlikely to mark a real beginning of the process of complete denuclearization

The message from the North’s ruling party comes days after the two countries struggled to even lay a foundation stone for a proposed railway project due to international sanctions and US interference

A recent commentary in the North Korean news agency, KCNA, noted that unilateral denuclearization would lead to the “creation of a defenseless state where the balance in nuclear strategic strength is destroyed and the crisis of a nuclear war is brought forth”

The tense exchanges between secretary of state Pompeo and Chinese officials, as well as stronger relations between China, the Koreas and Russia all indicate declining US influence in the region

South Korea has been trying to convince the US to declare a formal end to the war. This may be followed by Kim taking further steps towards denuclearization