(ATTN: CHANGES photo) SEOUL, June 18 (Yonhap) -- Two of the four North Korean fishermen rescued from the East Sea last week expressed a desire to defect to South Korea, while the two others were sent back to the North according to their wishes, the unification ministry said Tuesday. South Korea returned the two crew members at the border village of Panmunjom earlier in the day after notifying the North of the incident via their joint liaison office in Kaesong on Monday, a ministry official said. "Based on their free will, two have clearly expressed their intent to return and the other two said they want to stay," the official said. Those who were returned are in their 30s and 50s, the official said, declining to provide further details on those who opted to stay. The boat was discarded at the consent of the captain, according to the official. Their boat, known to be a 2-ton wooden one, was found adrift in waters near the port of the east coast city of Samcheok

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(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead; ADDS details, background throughout) By Koh Byung-joon SEOUL, June 19 (Yonhap) -- On the eve of his first visit to North Korea, Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed Wednesday to play a greater role in helping make progress in negotiations on Korean Peninsula issues and addressing Pyongyang's "reasonable" demands through dialogue. Xi made the pledge in an op-ed piece to the Rodong Sinmun, North Korea's official newspaper, in a rare move seen as part of efforts to emphasize their friendly and close bilateral relations, a day before he visits Pyongyang for the first time since assuming office in 2013. "We will actively contribute to regional peace, stability, development and prosperity by strengthening communication and coordination with North Korea and other relevant parties to make progress in talks and negotiations on Korean Peninsula issues," Xi said. Korean Peninsula issues apparently refer to the nuclear standoff between the United States and

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(ATTN: MODIFIES paras 7-8 for clarification) By Lee Chi-dong SEOUL, June 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's presidential office publicly toned down its expectations for an early inter-Korean summit Tuesday, a day after Beijing and Pyongyang announced this week's bilateral summit. Attending the Oslo Forum in the Norwegian capital last week, President Moon Jae-in expressed his desire to meet again with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un before U.S. President Donald Trump visits South Korea at the end of June. Trump is due in Northeast Asia to attend the Group of 20 summit to take place in Osaka, Japan, on June 28-29. He's widely expected to travel to Seoul on his way back home. As Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to pay a two-day state visit to Pyongyang starting Thursday, some observers here say the odds of an inter-Korean summit being held might have been lowered. In response to a related question from reporters, a Cheong Wa Dae official said Moon is "not sticking to" the h

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WASHINGTON, June 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's top nuclear negotiator arrived in the United States Tuesday for talks on North Korea and recent developments on the peninsula. Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, began a four-day visit to Washington amid renewed hope for denuclearization talks between North Korea and the U.S. "The biggest issue right now when it comes to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and establishment of peace is the early resumption of North Korea-U.S. negotiations," Lee told reporters upon arriving at Washington's Dulles International Airport. "My plan is to meet with State Department, White House and other administration officials to discuss ways to accelerate the (resumption of the) talks," he said. The U.S. and North Korea hit an impasse in their negotiations after the second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in February ended without an agree

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BEIJING, June 18 (Yonhap) -- China will use President Xi Jinping's upcoming trip to North Korea to strive for new progress in efforts for a political resolution of the "Korean Peninsula issue," Beijing's foreign ministry said Tuesday, apparently referring to Pyongyang's nuclear quandary. The Chinese president plans to make a two-day state visit to Pyongyang, starting Thursday, for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. It marks his first trip to the communist neighbor since he took power in 2013. "(China) will push to achieve new progress in the political resolution process concerning the Korean Peninsula issue," Lu Kang, a foreign ministry spokesman, said in response to a question from Yonhap News Agency during a regular press briefing. The spokesman also said that during their summit, Xi and Kim will look back on the seven decades of the two countries' relationship and put forward a direction for the development of their future ties. Both sides will also intro

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SEOUL, June 19 (Yonhap) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed close cooperation with North Korea on Wednesday to help make progress in negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington on the eve of his first visit to the North as leader. Xi made the pledge in an op-ed piece to the Rodong Sinmun, North Korea's official newspaper, in a rare move seen as part of efforts to emphasize their friendly and close bilateral relations, a day before he pays a state visit to the communist neighbor. "We will actively try to contribute to regional peace, stability, development and prosperity by strengthening communication and coordination with North Korea and other relevant parties to make progress in talks and negotiations on Korean Peninsula issues," Xi said. "The Chinese side expresses its support for North Korea holding a right approach of politically resolving Korean Peninsula issues and trying to address matters of its reasonable concerns through dialogue," he added. He noted that

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(ATTN: UPDATES with State Department remarks, background from 6th para; ADDS photos) WASHINGTON, June 17 (Yonhap) -- The world is focused on achieving North Korea's denuclearization, the White House said Monday in response to news of Chinese President Xi Jinping's upcoming visit to Pyongyang. Xi is to make a state visit to North Korea on Thursday and Friday, his first as China's president. "Our goal is to achieve the final, fully verified denuclearization of the DPRK as agreed to by Chairman Kim," a White House official told Yonhap on background, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and its leader, Kim Jong-un. "The world is focused on Chairman Kim's commitment to denuclearization," he said. The trip comes shortly before Xi and U.S. President Donald Trump travel to Osaka, Japan, for a Group of 20 summit, leading analysts to believe the Chinese leader is seeking to use his leverage on the North Korean nuclear issue as a

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By Oh Seok-min SEOUL, June 19 (Yonhap) -- Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo called on military commanders Wednesday to tighten discipline and readiness amid criticism that a North Korean fishing boat drifted deep into South Korea waters and reached the shore undetected. Concerns and criticism have mounted over possible loopholes in the military's maritime surveillance capabilities after the wooden boat carrying four North Koreans was found in waters quite close to a seawall of the port in the east coast city of Samcheok, Gangwon Province, on Saturday morning. The site was around 130 kilometers south of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto maritime border between the two Koreas. Calling the case "a very grave situation," Jeong demanded during a biannual meeting of top commanders that the military tighten operational and work discipline, and proactively push for measures to prevent recurrences, according to the defense ministry. According to sources and witnesses

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SEOUL, June 18 (Yonhap) -- A North Korean propaganda media outlet carried a report on South Korea's Cannes-winning film, "Parasite," on Tuesday, saying the movie shows that the South's society is seriously ill with the cancerous problem of the rich-poor gap. The article in DPRK Today, one of the North's propaganda websites, marks the first time that a North Korean state media outlet has mentioned the winner of the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival. It is rare for a North Korean media outlet to report on a South Korean movie. "This film gaining popularity in South Korea is clearly letting people know that capitalism is a rotten and sick society with a malignant tumor of the growing gap between the haves and the have-nots that has no hope or future," it said. It said the South is a society where wealth and poverty are passed on from one generation to the next. "In contrast, our republic, which has the people as the true owner of the country and society, is en

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(ATTN: UPDATES with GDP forecast by Goldman Sachs in paras 14-15) SEJONG, June 18 (Yonhap) -- Global credit appraiser Fitch Ratings has substantially slashed its growth outlook for South Korea's economy this year to 2 percent, citing weaker underlying momentum. The latest forecast, contained in its global economic outlook report posted on its website Monday, represented a sharp downward revision from its previous forecast of 2.5 percent in February. Fitch said the South Korean economy would grow 2.6 percent in both 2020 and 2021. The South Korean economy expanded 2.7 percent in 2018, down from a solid 3.1 percent the previous year. Fitch blamed slowing exports and sluggish investment for its downward revision. South Korea's exports fell 9.4 percent on-year to US$45.9 billion in May due mainly to a fall in chip prices and the weak Chinese economy. It was the sixth consecutive month that outbound shipments had declined. "Korean exports have been under pressure since the s

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