Top News North and South Korean leaders to meet in Pyongyang in September CNN Red Cross warns of food crisis in North Korea as crops fail in heat Reuters Iran’s Khamenei rejects Trump offer of talks, chides government over economy Reuters US ambassador Woody Johnson warns Britain to side with Trump on Iran CNN East Asia North and South Korean leaders to meet in Pyongyang in September CNN8/12/18 The leaders of North and South Korea will hold a summit in Pyongyang in September, both countries announced Monday. It will be the third in-person meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The two first met in April, pledging to forge closer relations and work to formally end the Korean War in an agreement called the Panmunjom Declaration. They then held an impromptu meeting in May at the demilitarized zone that divides the two Koreas. Once ‘No Longer a Nuclear Threat,’ North Korea Now in Standoff With U.S. New York Times8/10/18 North Korea is insisting that the United States declare that the Korean War is over before providing a detailed, written disclosure of all its atomic weapons stockpiles, its nuclear production facilities and its missiles as a first major step toward denuclearization. Two months after President Trump declared his summit meeting in Singapore with Kim Jong-un a complete success, North Korea has not yet even agreed to provide that list during private exchanges with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, according to American and South Korean officials familiar with the talks. Red Cross warns of food crisis in North Korea as crops fail in heat Reuters8/10/18 A heat wave in North Korea has led to rice, maize and other crops withering in the fields, “with potentially catastrophic effects”, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said on Friday. The world’s largest disaster relief network warned of a risk of a “full-blown food security crisis” in the isolated country, where a famine in the mid-1990s killed up to three million people. It said the worrying situation had been exacerbated by international sanctions imposed due to North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. China says business ties with Iran no harm to any other country Reuters8/10/18 China’s business and energy ties with Iran do not harm the interests of any other country, the country’s Foreign Ministry said, after U.S. President Donald Trump said companies doing business with Iran would be barred from the United States. Middle East Iran test-fired anti-ship missile during drills last week: U.S. source Reuters8/10/18 Iran test-fired a short-range anti-ship missile in the Strait of Hormuz during naval drills last week that Washington believes were aimed at sending a message as the United States reimposes sanctions on Tehran, a U.S. official said on Friday. The official, however, did not suggest that such a missile test was unusual during naval exercises or that it was carried out unsafely, noting it occurred in what could be described as Iranian territorial waters in the Strait. Iran’s Khamenei rejects Trump offer of talks, chides government over economy Reuters8/13/18 Iran’s Supreme Leader on Monday rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s offer of unconditional talks to improve bilateral ties and he also accused the Iranian government of economic mismanagement in the face of reimposed U.S. sanctions. “I ban holding any talks with America… America never remains loyal to its promises in talks,” said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on policy in the Islamic Republic. Iran arrests 67 people for suspected financial crimes Reuters8/12/18 Iranian authorities have arrested 67 people in a drive against financial crime, the judiciary said on Sunday, as the country faces renewed U.S. sanctions and a public outcry against profiteering and corruption. Special Islamic revolutionary courts were being set up to try suspects quickly after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Saturday for “swift and just” legal action to confront an “economic war” by foreign enemies, state television quoted a judiciary spokesman as saying. Russia/FSU/Europe Russia chastises U.S. after sanctions over chemical attack in Britain Washington Post8/10/18 Russian officials lambasted new U.S. sanctions Friday and vowed to push back in response as relations between the two countries continue to deteriorate. In a phone call with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed Moscow’s “categorical disagreement” with the punitive measures announced Wednesday in connection with the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy in Britain. Multilateral Arms Control Nuclear Test Ban Group Skeptical of North Korea’s Denuclearization Efforts Wall Street Journal8/13/18 North Korea says it has destroyed its nuclear test site, halted missile launches and returned U.S. war remains. The next move, Pyongyang says, is for Washington to reciprocate by lifting sanctions. But North Korea hasn’t persuaded the world that it is sincere about denuclearization, the head of the global organization tasked with overseeing a ban on nuclear testing said in an interview on Monday. U.S. Nuclear Policy US ambassador Woody Johnson warns Britain to side with Trump on Iran CNN8/12/18 The United States ambassador to the UK has called on Britain to side with President Donald Trump on Iran or risk “serious trade consequences” for UK businesses. In a pointed intervention into an issue that has strained ties between the two allies, Woody Johnson said the UK should embrace Trump’s hard-hitting sanctions on Iran, reimposed last week, and break with its European partners who are seeking to preserve the deal to curtail Iran’s nuclear program. Opinion and Analysis North Korea’s Nuclear Program Isn’t Going Anywhere Foreign AffairsAnkit Panda and Vipin Narang 8/13/18 As it stands, Kim clearly has the upper hand. Exploiting Trump’s desire to put Singapore in the win column and move on, North Korea is testing how long and how far it can go before Trump stops living in denial about North Korea’s expanding nuclear program.