A joint military drill by the United States and South Korea slated for August will not take place, the South Korean Defense Ministry confirmed Tuesday. The announcement comes after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed during last week’s meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to suspend “war games” with South Korea. The South’s Defense Ministry on Tuesday said the suspension would aid the two countries’ ongoing talks with North Korea. “South Korea and the U.S.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tried to assuage fears among U.S. allies this week that President Donald Trump would ease restrictions on North Korea before it gives up its nuclear weapons. “We’re going to get denuclearization,” Pompeo said during a visit to Seoul, South Korea. “Only then will there be relief from the sanctions.” The top U.S. diplomat sought to counter claims in North Korean media that Trump would grant concessions before denuclearization.

GUATEMALA: A volcano erupted near Guatemala City, the capital, on Sunday, killing at least 25 people and leaving many more missing, officials and local news media reported.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un traveled to a border village Saturday to meet South Korean leader Moon Jae-in, the second time in a month the two leaders have held face-to-face talks. As they did before, Kim and Moon discussed the planned denuclearization summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, but they also talked about ways to continue their own peace initiatives if the meeting doesn’t happen.

On May 1, four days after the historic handshake between the leaders of North Korea and South Korea, a group of North Korean defectors gathered on the shores of South Korea’s Ganghwa Island, only 8 miles from the North Korean coast. Under a cloudy sky, they threw into the ocean hundreds of watertight plastic bottles filled with rice, USB drives, dollar bills, and antibiotic ointment. Taped to each bottle was a plastic-wrapped book of Genesis and a study guide.

A group of foreign journalists in North Korea set out by train on Wednesday to witness the dismantling of the North Korean nuclear test site. The journey will include an eight- to 12-hour train ride, several hours on a bus, and an hour hike up to the remote site in the country’s northeast. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un announced the site’s closing earlier this month ahead of his planned summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore on June 12. The group includes journalists from Britain, China, Russia, South Korea, and the United States.

The upcoming summit between North Korea and the United States “may not work out for June 12,” President Donald Trump said Tuesday. Last week, the North protested long-scheduled joint military exercises performed by the United States and South Korea and has since threatened to back out of the historic meeting. At the White House on Tuesday, Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in worked on a mutual strategy to address the latest setback. Moon said in the Oval Office that the “fate and the future” of the Korean Peninsula depended on the talks.