APRNEWS - With two missile launches in the space of a week, North Korea is treading a fine line between increasing pressure on the US and not derailing their nuclear negotiations -- all the while giving itself room to escalate, analysts say.

REUTERS - North Korea’s commitment to denuclearization and safeguarding peace and stability on the Korean peninsula are unchanged, its foreign minister, Ri Yong Ho, said on Friday, at a meeting in Beijing with the Chinese government’s top diplomat, Wang Yi.

APRNEWS - US President Donald Trump said Thursday he had “very good” talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the trade conflict between the two economic giants, and meetings were being planned at the G20 summit at the end of this month.

The phone call comes as tensions between the world’s two biggest economies are rising on several fronts, including commerce and security.

REUTERS - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday plans were being made for his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and he thinks “incredible” progress has been made in U.S. talks with the long-isolated country.

APRNEWS - South Korean President Moon Jae-in cleared a top item off his bucket list on Thursday: Climbing Mount Paektu in North Korea with its leader Kim Jong Un.

After the two leaders pledged new steps aimed at salvaging nuclear talks on Wednesday, Moon and Kim decided to use the final day of their three-day summit to go up the symbolic mountain on the Chinese border together.

REUTERS - North Korean officials have warned in a letter to the United States that denuclearization talks were “again at stake and may fall apart”, CNN reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The letter was delivered directly to U.S Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and stated that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s government felt that the process could not move forward.

REUTERS - More than 50 boxes handed over by North Korea to the United States last week appear to hold human remains from the 1950-1953 Korean War and are likely American, according to an initial forensic analysis, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.

REUTERS - U.S. spy satellites have detected renewed activity at the North Korean factory that produced the country’s first intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the United States, a senior U.S. official said on Monday, in the midst of talks to compel Pyongyang to give up its nuclear arms.

REUTERS - North and South Korea held military talks to build trust on Tuesday, while the United States detected renewed activity at a North Korean missile factory, casting more suspicion over the North’s intentions.

APRNEWS - North Korea on Friday returned the remains of what are believed to be U.S. servicemen killed during the Korean War, the White House said, with a U.S military plane making a rare trip into North Korea to retrieve 55 cases of remains.