week after week the streets of seoul were bathed in candlelight. they gathered in their millions to overthrow a leader involved in a huge corruption scandal. the peaceful movement gathered pace and strength, and proved too powerful for south korea's president. the charges facing park geun—hye are tied to her relationship with friend and adviser choi soon—sil. she used her presidential connections to pressure huge businesses, including electronics giant samsung, for millions of dollars in donations to foundations she controlled. president park apologised twice, but her approval ratings fell to just 5% and opposition leaders worked to gather votes to impeach her. they were eventually successful. her now dwindling number of supporters were distraught. but most saw it as a victory for this young democracy. people power had finally cut all ties with authoritarian rule. park geun—hye was the daughter of park chung—hee, who seized power in a coup in 1961. he ruled for 18 years until he was gunned down in 1979. she entered the political arena amid

proceedings which were broadcast live let's cross over now to kathy novak who is outside the court house in seoul of course the eyes of the country on the capital guilty as charged i mean what else did the judge say. well the prosecutors had been asking for thirty years the judge gave her twenty four it still must be said this is a hefty sentence against this former president who was swept up in really the biggest corruption scandal to hit south korea this really captured the nation's attention months of mass protests in central seoul and these proceedings were televised live for the first time because the court found there was enough public interest in doing so and that this was a significant case pocket hey was found guilty of sixteen of the eighteen charges against her including abuse of power coworkers and bribery and leaking presidential information to her longtime friend shill shit did not have any official government

of abuse of power bribery and coercion in a case that shocked the nation kathy novak has more from seoul. this is a scandal that has gripped south korea since twenty sixteen and the nation watched the climax live on television but popgun hey boycotted the trial and wasn't in court to learn her fate but could it be the court sentences the defendant puck and head to twenty four years in prison and fines her sixteen point eight million u.s. dollars. fark was found guilty of sixteen of the eighteen charges including abuse of power coercion and of bribery and said to have taken millions of dollars from the country's vegas conglomerates in exchange for favors the corruption scandal sparked months of protests in central seoul culminating in parks impeachment was also found guilty of leaking sensitive information to her long time friend chess and she'll as president park allowed to dictate policy even though she had no official government role the pair was found to have conspired to extort millions of

will remain open as they discuss the substance and venue of a possible trump kim summit james out zira seoul and u.s. president donald trump says he will keep up the pressure on north korea until the peninsula is completely rid of nuclear weapons. i think the responsibility has fallen on the shoulders of the president of the united states and i think we have i think i have a responsibility to see if i can do it and if i can't do it it will be a very tough time for a lot of countries and

laura bicker, bbc news, seoul. brazil's former president has until friday afternoon to turn himself into police and begin serving his 12—yearjail term for corruption. luiz inacio lula da silva was requesting to remain free during his appeals process, but on wednesday, a judge ruled against that, ruining his chances of running in 0ctober‘s presidential election, which he was the favourite to win. let's speak to julia carneiro in sao paulo. tell us about the extraordinary circumstances about how a favourite to win the elections is turning himself into go to jail? he's facing a complicated judicial situation, charges for several different corruption accusations related to the period of his government in the workers' party. this has been the first sentence, he has been sentenced to over 12 years in prison, and he denies any wrongdoing. he said there's a conspiracy going on against him and this is part of a move to remove the workers' party's this is part of a move to remove the workers' pa rty‘s chances this is p

correspondent philip bilski in seoul thank you very much. in a bun as late as friday night's game hoffenheim can thank andre crime rich master catterick for keeping their champions league drains alive with a three one win against hanover the croatian of was man of the match began with the simplest of tappan in the sixteenth minute followed up with a smash of a volley in the fiftieth and that field a victory for hof and time with a delicate walk in eighty six. now the relegation battle is on in the bundesliga with only three match days remaining five clubs are still fighting for another season and the top flight realistically though perhaps only four of them have any hope of beating the dreaded drop. last place cologne seemed to have given up all hope they do still have a mathematical chance of staying up but these images say it all as do these i'm hamburg situation doesn't give them much reason for confidence either but reason has little to do with football especially the relegation battle their win last weekend means hamburg's coming clash

laura bicker, bbc news, seoul. and laura bickerjoins us now, live from seoul. what most people in south korea expecting today? will she be jailed and what will that mean for the nation? prosecutors are seeking a 30 year jail term, nation? prosecutors are seeking a 30 yearjail term, it is unlikely they will get that. her co—conspirator, her aid will get that. her co—conspirator, heraid and will get that. her co—conspirator, her aid and friend who was at the centre of the scandal got 20 years. certainly, those who spent 17 weeks on the streets will be hoping she will get a significant jail term. she will not be there for her sentencing, we understand. she hasn't turned up to any of her court hearings and that certainly has disappointed many who wanted to see justice done. i think the main thing for people here in south korea is they want the links between the comedy established links between the government and conglomerates to and. they want the government to be more transparent. it is hoped that today's verdict acts as a turning point which says those days

very quickly, what is the feeling like in seoul?” far. very quickly, what is the feeling like in seoul? i think here in south korea they have broadly welcomed this, it is something they really didn't expect because last year us and north korea were exchanging insults and it was a fear south korea would be caught in another korean war. and now all of a sudden there is the talk of a peace treaty being dangled in front of kim jong un. ithink treaty being dangled in front of kim jong un. i think there is a feeling that they just want this over with somehow. i think if there is going to bea somehow. i think if there is going to be a meeting between president trump and kimjong unit to be a meeting between president trump and kimjong un it will give people a loss of hope here that may be some time, something maybe getting better. thank you. let's talk to gordon chang, author of nuclear showdown: north korea takes on the world. he joins us from newjersey. very interested in your take on the timings. why do you think this is all happening

let's bring back in our professor from seoul. i guess the denuclearisation is another big topic, and some seem a bit sceptical, because obviously only six months ago tensions were very, very high. in your view, what changed kim jong—un‘s mind? very, very high. in your view, what changed kimjong—un‘s mind? was it that he is now confident that north korea is seen as a nuclear state? yes, first thing for moon —— kim jong—un, who has concerns about the status of the nuclear arms race. 0n the other hand, there is the high tension posed by the international economic sanctions. so the pressure can push kim jong—un to economic sanctions. so the pressure can push kimjong—un to have economic sanctions. so the pressure can push kim jong—un to have this kind of summit, and the summit with trump. so president moon isjust shaking hands, leaving the blue house a head of this very historic summit. in your view, house a head of this very historic summit. in yourview, who house a head of this very historic summit. in your view,

literally. half an hour behind seoul. korea will become one time zone once again. their view of kim jong—un. and i'm touched by it. translation: this time, kim jong—un speaks with conviction. i think that's why this time will be different. and changing the clocks is a good sign of unity. of misses the point. the us doesn't want him to have those weapons in the first place. a deal on denuclearisation. of a new era. laura bicker, bbc news, seoul. making the news. of destabilising the region. as the vast scope of tehran‘s links with terrorism. deal unless it can be strengthened. ban on citizens going to work in kuwait. was murdered there. kuwaiti employers. of the van attack a week ago that left 10 people dead. of deliberately driving into pedestrians. before the attack. in the country choose a new interim prime minister. resigned on monday after days of mass protests. andrew plant reports. to choose a new premier. to become the country's next prime minister. vanadzor and the town of ijevan. from a presidential to a pa

leaders kim jong il and human agreed to seek an official end to the war but that never materialized seoul says it intends to keep the new hotline open after the rare summit takes place journalist bruce harrison is standing by in seoul now for more on the story hi bruce so this summit represents only the third time that leaders of the two koreas have actually met since the end of the korean war what can we expect. well frankly it's hard to say at this point you mention it's the third time so they aren't meeting that off in the leaders of north and south korea but in the past we haven't seen diplomacy working at this fast of a pace it's only been a few months since kim jong un reached out to south korea saying he was interested in holding talks and bringing peace to the korean peninsula so in that sense it's fairly significant that they move this quickly and perhaps that there could be some sort of a positive outcome between this summit but really it's hard to say based on the failures in the past and how mercurial north korea has been sometimes that working level talks are even higher they

welcome to seoul! let's do this. >> anthony: my new friend marc helped popularize western style hip-hop in korea. an event that led directly to me eating silkworms in a tent. >> anthony: marc, how you doing? >> marc: nice to meet you. >> anthony: good to meet you. >> marc: thanks for having me out. >> anthony: oh, man. so, where are we? at&t provides edge-to-edge intelligence, covering virtually every part of your manufacturing business. & so this won't happen. because you've made sure this sensor and this machine are integrated. & she can talk to him, & yes... atta, boy. some people assign genders to machines. and you can be sure you won't have any problems. except for the daily theft of your danish. not cool! at&t provides edge to edge intelligence. it can do so much for your business, the list goes on and on. that's the power of &. & this shipment will be delivered... fthere's flonase sensimist.tchy and watery near pollen. it relieves all your worst symptoms including nasal congestion, which most pi

we are live in seoul. >>> a mega merger for two mobile phone companies. why a union with t-mobile and sprint could mean you pay more for service. they say leads to lower prices, though. we will discuss? >> we will. i wonder what regulators will say. >> that is the question. good morning. i hope you had a great weekend. welcome to "early start." i'm dave briggs. >> i'm christine romans. it is 4:00 a.m. in the east. right now, immigration showdown playing out at the u.s. and mexico border. a caravan of migrants camped out at border. dozens of asylum seekers are outside the immigration processing center. >> at a rally in michigan over the weekend, president trump talked about the approaching caravan. he did not sound sympathetic. >> are you watching that mess that's going on right now with the caravan coming up? are you watching this? our laws are so weak, so pathetic. given to us by democrats. they are so pathetic. nancy pelosi, chuck schumer. our laws are so corrupt and so stupid. i call them the dumbest immigration laws on earth. >> the homeland security

pledges to dismantle the cycloid as its nuclear weapon and allow foreign media to watch we'll go live to seoul for the latest also on the show . the outrage in spain over gang rape projects thousands take to the streets to protest the acquittal of five men accused of breaking a young woman in the studio comp long not during the bull running faster vault in two thousand and sixteen. and it's going down to the wire at the bronx and up to jurgen going to sleep this weekend things got there's a gulf between hamburg as they fought for survival and it was no different in fiber as cologne desperately trying to avoid relegation. and welcome to the show in the latest development on the korean peninsula pyongyang has pledged to shut down its underground nuclear test site next month that's according to south korean officials they say the north would also end by foreign media and experts to the site. to ensure the process is transparent and a groundbreaking summit on friday more korean leader kim jong un and south korean president pledge to officially and the state of war between their two countries and r

its nuclear weapons and allow corn and experts to observe we'll go live to seoul for the latest also coming up. outrage in spain over gang rape verdict thousands take to the streets to protest the acquittal fines that accused of raping a young woman in the city of homs long during the bull running passible in two thousand and sixteen. and restoring peace and quiet to the. city has come up with a novel way to reduce crowding the presidents are sick and tired of the massive numbers of visitors wandering through their city at busy times now that has come up with a plan to stem the tide story. welcome to the program near days after the historic summit between north and south korea pyongyang says it's prepared to shut down its underground nuclear test site next month this is according to officials in seoul they say the north is also prepared to end. experts and foreign media to the site at hungary to ensure the process is transparent and a groundbreaking summit on friday north korean leader kim jong il and south korean president pledged to officially end the state of war between their two

professor we talked to yesterday a professor you know here of you know big university in seoul and he said basically that he doesn't he doesn't believe in a major breakthrough at this summit regarding the nuclear issue. mainly because he doesn't believe that north korea will be willing to give up its nuclear. obviously and there's another summit coming very soon at the summit between. kim drone and president trumbull the united states and in that time obviously the nuclear issue will be even further discussed as fast you know right now philip bilsky did correspondent in seoul thank you for your insight for. now some of the other stories making news around the world armenia's opposition leader has promised fresh protests after the acting prime minister refused to hold talks with him and government demonstrations forced the resignation of the prime minister on monday triggering a political crisis opposition leader nicole passé neon says he is the only viable candidate to lead the country. thousands of mexicans have protested after three film students were murdered amid the country's bi

where it has its nuclear weapons and allow foreign media has actually birds to observe we'll go to seoul for the latest also coming up. outrage in spain over gang rape burdick's thousands take to the streets to protest a few of fine men accused of raping a young woman in a city a pump long during a bull running basketball in twenty sixteen. and it's going down to the wire at the rock band of the german bundesliga this weekend things got physical between hamburg and world's birds as they fought for survival and it was no different in freiburg house alone desperately trying to avoid relegation. i'm happy and welcome to the program mir days after the historic summit between north and south korea pyongyang says it's prepared to shut down its underground nuclear test site next month this is according to officials in seoul they say the north is also prepared to invite experts and foreign media to the site very to ensure the process is transparent at a groundbreaking summit on friday north korean leader kim jong un and south korean president mugabe and pledged to officially end. a state of war

in the south capital seoul people have reacted with skepticism. here. unless the regime changes i don't believe we can build normal diplomatic relations with our safety can't be guaranteed either on that one day he put our snot nose and they do want to know that it looked as if the north would denuclearize after the last two summits but now we're back to square one we shouldn't blindly believe them without thorough verification. because of the news of the. us president donald trump is also set to meet the north korean leader in the near future having previously derided kim as little rocket man trump reacted positively on twitter. this is very good news for north korea and the world big progress look forward to a summit but japan's defense minister was not optimistic stressing what was omitted from the announcement. just statement makes no reference to the north abandoning you can short and medium range ballistic missiles in the book you get to the stage . the prospects are not encouraging ten years ago the north blew up a cooling tower in a symbolic sho

fall from grace has gripped the nation for months now we'll be checking into the south korean capital seoul for more. also on the program russia and britain intensify their war of words we've told our british colleagues you're playing with fire and you'll be sorry. at the united nations security council the russian ambassador launches a tirade against british allegations that moscow is behind an attack on a former spy and his daughter the british ambassador fires back saying all the signs point to russia. christopher spring thanks for joining us alstad south korean president park geun hye has been sentenced to twenty four years in prison on a conviction including coercion bribery and abuse of power in a verdict broadcast live on south korean television the court ruled that park had colluded with friends to receive tens of billions of dollars in kickbacks from companies and state agencies park was impeached and arrested back in march of twenty seventeen. months of massive street protests. we're going to go straight to seoul now waiting for us there jason strother one of our correspondents th

committing to peace at their historic summit but will this time be any different we'll get the reaction from seoul. and it's that time of the year again the relegations dong fight is nearing its climax in the borders league five teams are fighting to beat the drop we give you the lowdown on which teams still have hopes of staying in the top division. and welcome to the program we begin in washington where german chancellor angela merkel has held talks with u.s. president donald trump it was the second face to face meeting between the two and merkel's first trip to washington since being reelected she's tried to persuade trump to stay in a landmark nuclear deal with iran which she's threatened to pull out of it was just one issue where differences between them are proving difficult to bridge. as chancellor merkel met president trump at the white house the focus was on style as well as substance. after a frosty first meeting last spring in washington this time there were signs of a thaw you know handshakes persist on this occasion and there were kind words from president trump. we have a really grea

constructive that process will be right and we're going to be joined now by philip bilski who is in seoul for us philip you're there you're actually witnessing what's happening just give us an idea of what's happening on the ground right now well i'm here at the press center in the north of seoul and we've been getting a life coverage live footage of what has been having happening at the summit itself the whole day and the last pictures we got were pictures from that dinner so that you know it started at six thirty local time with the south korean president moon and the north korean leader. the wife of both and officials from from both sides so that's the latest we got we got here in the press center itself as. many journalists are still busy writing their pieces trying to analyze what has been happening during the day but some also have already left so it's getting. more empty now do you have a sense of what the mood in korea there is like in light of these pretty dramatic developments. yes very much so i think so it started in the early morning here in the press center so sad we got the

laura bicker, bbc news, seoul. the un secretary—general antonio gutteres said it's possible that north korea could one day be fully de—nuclearised. i think there is hope. i believe that if things go well, and i think things will go well, they will prove that the security council can be effective when it is united. the problem is that in many aspects, namely syria, we have not been able to have a united security council. but when the security council is united and adopt important measures, they can effect change. today, i believe that the path is open for the peaceful denuclearisation of the korean peninsular. it also proves that diplomacy is the path to solve conflicts, not war. professor robert e kelly is an expert in the koreas at pusan national university in seoul. he told us... i think today, the response globally has been correct, guarded optimism. things they want us to say about nuclear weapons, the south korean alliance with the us, about military exercise. obviously, we have had trust issues with them

is that it isa coming from here in seoul is that it is a long—term plan. a process. not something that will be immediately put on the table. north korea will have to give up its nuclear weapons for this to happen. there are all kinds of potential implications here. we will discuss or more in a moment that breaking news that has come through about relations between north korea and the us. but for nearly seven decades, have there been something like 30,000 us troops holding the line with the south korean military in south korea, against the north. when it comes to the presence of the troops here in south korea, it has angered north korea and angered china. it seems that if north korea is going to come to the table, perhaps one of the things they will demand it is the removal of either us troops or the us protective umbrella, the nuclear umbrella it puts overjapan and south korea. when it comes to denuclearisation, many people are wondering exactly what kim jong on will mean. that will be the basis of these talks. next week, when president moonjae—in comes

journalist bruce harrison is standing by with the latest now from seoul so first just generally speaking how high are the hopes ahead of the summit what can we expect. well series it's really hard to say president moon julian has made it clear that his focus is going to be on getting north korea to give up its nuclear weapons he hasn't said that directly but we know that because his administration has made it clear they're not going to focus on other things other issues that have was more as korea such as human rights south korea's foreign minister recently said that that's something they're not going to touch on which is made many in south korea unhappy but like i said the focus is on getting north korea to give up its nuclear weapons this is different than previous summits however because unlike two thousand and seven as you mentioned and the previous summit with the former leader kim jong north korea didn't have a confirmed nuclear capability then it's pretty clear that they do now which gives north korea a lot more negotiating power they have a nuclear weapons capability they've prov

committing to peace at their historic summit but will this time be any different we'll get reaction from seoul. i will take a look out one football club search for divine inspiration the hand of god in a recreate shot of the painting in the sistine chapel but this isn't a gym hall in argentina as the team wants to give kids some i don't think they can really look up to. a map because awesome welcome to the program if you get in washington where german chancellor angela merkel has held talks with u.s. president donald trump it was the second face to face meeting between the two and merkel's first trip to washington since being reelected she's trying to persuade trump to stay in a landmark nuclear deal with iran which she's threatened to pull out of it was just one issue where differences between them are proving difficult to bridge. as chancellor merkel met president trump at the white house the. focus was on style as well as substance. after a frosty first meeting last spring in washington this time there were signs of a thaw no handshakes persist on this occasion and there were kind words fro

the bbc‘s laura bicker joins us now from seoul. is outside the courtroom. just remind us exactly what the charges are and where they stem from. —— shears. well, park geun-hye is charged with using her presidential influence to brian has companies in south korea. —— drive. —— bribe. she is thought to have taken millions it helped her old friend. prosecutors are seeking a 30 year sentence for park geun—hye, many are wondering what is hill sentence exactly wondering what is hill sentence exa ctly s he wondering what is hill sentence exactly she will get. you can probably hear behind me these are supporters of president park, they have been consistent in their protest at her imprisonment, her impeachment and the trial, and they are going to march, they say, to the centre of seoul. but it is also interesting to remember on the other side of this argument, those who believe that park geun—hye was guilty, took to the street for 17 weeks. millions of people in the sweep of candlelight protest were the reason that she was impeached in the reason that

laura bicker, bbc news, seoul. earlier, i spoke to harry kazianis, director of defence studies at the center for the national interest in washington, dc. i asked his opinion on kimjong—un‘s gestures of goodwill ahead of friday's summit. that's what they are, they are gestures and we have to remember the north koreans haven't done anything just yet that fundamentally changes the status quo that essentially almost brought us to the break of war last year. just because they've stopped testing missiles, doesn't mean they can't within two days' noticed start testing missiles against bjust noticed start testing missiles against b just because kim jong—un isn't detonating nuclear weapons at his nuclear testing grounds doesn't mean he can't do it against abhi we've had reports from 38 north, a prominent north korea watching website, they've dug other tunnels on the western side of that complex so on the western side of that complex so there's nothing the north koreans have really done that is a game changer. it's a v

our correspondent laura bicker is in seoul. this is the culmination of a scandal that has rocked the political elite and engulfed some of south korea's biggest corporations and companies. it has seen the former president is due to be now imprisoned. and others, including leaders of some of the largest companies, such as samsung, have also fallen foul of the law. however, people here want more changes to come. i was outside the court as the verdict was read aloud. she shouts in korean defiant, supporters of the former president scream her name. the protest grows louder as the verdict at a nearby courtroom is declared. 2a years in prison and a near $17 million fine. a bitter blow for a right—wing leader who fashioned herself as the daughter of the nation. we don't accept it, the charges are crazy. translation: this is an act that violates global human rights. we cannot accept the result at all. there is nojustice in south korea. despite these protests in support of president park, the majority of south koreans hope today's verd

very quickly, what is the feeling like in seoul? here in south korea they have broadly welcome this. it is something they really didn't expect because last year us and north korea were exchanging insults and there was a fear that south korea would be caught in the korean war. all of a sudden now there is talk of a peace treaty being dangled in front of kim jong un. i talk of a peace treaty being dangled in front of kimjong un. i think there is a feeling that theyjust wa nt there is a feeling that theyjust want this over with somehow. and i think if there is going to be a meeting between president trump and kimjong unit meeting between president trump and kim jong un it will give meeting between president trump and kimjong un it will give people hear a lot of hope that maybe sometimes something will get better. some breaking news. confirmed by the met metropolitan police, it is reported that police were called at three o'clock in the early hours of saturday to reports of a man that had been stabbed at seven sisters rd. a 21—year—

very quickly, what is the feeling like in seoul? i think here in south korea they have broadly welcomed this — it is something they really didn't expect, because last year us and north korea we re exchanging insults and there was a fear south korea would be caught another korean war. and now all of a sudden there is the talk of a peace treaty being dangled in front of kim jong un. i think there is a feeling that they just want this over with somehow. i think if there is going to be a meeting between president trump and kimjong unit will give peoplehere a lot of hope here that maybe some time, something maybe getting better. thank you. international chemical weapons experts have arrived at the site of a suspected gas attack in syria, according to russia's foreign ministry. the team from the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons reportedly entered the city of douma earlier today. the us has expressed concern that russia might have tampered with the site. both russia and syria deny that any chemical attack has taken pl

. >> for the latest on the korean peninsula, we go live to seoul. paula hancocks. nobel peace prize. a lot of work to do, paula. >> reporter: that's right, christine. we are getting more information from the blue house about what exactly was talked about on friday at that summit. kim jong-un has agreed to shutdown his nuke test site in the northeast of the country. he will do that in may. that is a fairly tight timeframe considering may starts tomorrow. he also said he would invite experts and journalists along to make sure it was transparent. he had an interesting comment as well according to the blue house. he is not the kind of person who would launch a nuke missile against south korea or the united states. this is clearly a different kim jong-un that we are seeing in the summit as a matter of months ago, that was the threat we did hear from north korea. certainly a big change of events. he also said that he rejected reports that this test site was obsolete because it had collapsed. that is not true. they had two more tunnels that were in good condition. if they

let's speak to our correspondent laura bicker in the south korean capital seoul. we were expecting a quiet sunday morning, but now we get this? and this has all come from the presidential palace, the blue house, here. —— blue house. they say kim jong—un made all these comments. we will start at the beginning. this nuclear test site in north korea, i think you and i were talking a couple of weeks ago, kim jong—un was planning to close this test site, but what he is saying is, not only will i close it, i will allow experts from the united states and south korea and the media to see that it south korea and the media to see thatitis south korea and the media to see that it is closed. there has been lots of speculation around this test site. a number of reports have come out that during the last test in september it was badly damaged. kim jong—un said he was aware of those reports and he denies them. he said the test site is still in good condition. he says it has not been closed down, and is not being close down because of its condition, it is being closed d

laura bicker, bbc news, seoul. the un secretary—general antonio gutteres said it‘s possible that north korea could one day be fully de—nuclearised. i think there is hope, i believe that if things go well, and i think they will go well, they will prove that the security council can be effective when it is united. the problem is that in many aspects, namely syria, we have not been able to have a united security council. when it is united and adopt important measures, they can effect change. today i believe that the path is open for the peaceful denuclearisation of the korean peninsular. diplomacy is the path to peace, not war. earlier, i spoke to our correspondent in seoul, laura bicker. she explained how kimjong—un was positioning himself, ahead of that planned summit with president trump. there is optimism in this statement because it gives us a little signal of what kim jong un might want from the summit. first he is laying the groundwork, he didn‘t have to do this, he didn‘t have to come out with the

we're in seoul. there are public lights that keep going off. they put up chairs and screens and amount of media and people have been stopping by and looking. they have had a huge support for this process. south korea is right in the direct line of fire. intercontinental miss ballistic missiles. there are those who suffered deeply, whose families who escaped or defected from horrendous conditions. they are quite rightly wanting to know how this will affect them and how it will affect their family still left behind that dmz. in germ the people here are supportive. >> okay. christiane, so great to have you on the ground for us. joining us now to discuss this historic day, we have cnn political analyst john avlon and cnn political and national security analyst david sanger. david, you have done so much reporting on north korea, we'll start with you. have do you see the importance of today? >> well, the first thing, alisyn, the optics were pretty unbelievable, sit is particularly sitting in seoul and watching the image of a south korean president, o

eunice is in seoul tonight. >> reporter: the mood here in seoul is hopeful, with a big summit between the two koreas coming up on friday. over the weekend we heard some encouraging comments out of north korea, when kim jong-un set an apology speech, and would close its nuclear site. north korea watchers leer say that an important point out of kihs policy spe was that the priority in pyongyang would shift from nuclear der an thes to economic development. to do that, he needs release from economic sanctions that were imposed by the united statesed nations to compel north korea to stop pursuing a nuclear program. those sanions have started to bite. even china, north korea's long time economic partner has becom tougher. falling 87% from last year in the first quarter. north korea experts see this as an opportunity for southorea d the united states to make some progress on declearizing the korean peninsula. te house has indicated that it won't loosenor makes progress on dismantling its nuclear program first. eoul where here in people have seen it all before, they're waiting and watching. f

and then from seoul by road to come here it's going to be a much easier journey of course for the north korean leader in a matter of hours an hour because unlike normal civilians he is going to cross a historic crossing because we've never seen a north korean leader since the korean war coming to south korea he's going to cross across the demarcation line it's not an international border because although the conflict of the korean war ended in one nine hundred fifty three there was just an armistice truce signed it's still an active front line that is going to be crossing and that's one of the things they hope to discuss apart to a peace treaty and what are the key points of the choreography that we should be aware of james in the run up to ensuring these discussions particularly if we view it through the prism of donald trump and what the trumpet ministration will bring to this debate in a matter of days and weeks. i think the trumpet ministration in washington will be looking that there is no hiccups in this that it runs extremely smoothly and that i think will then give them the conf

will rippley for us in seoul. >>> the caravan of asylum seekers who have just arrived on the mexico border. president trump ripping u.s. immigration laws. the world is laughing at us and saying he's watching this caravan for himself. details ahead. at crowne plaza, we know business travel isn't just business. there's this. a bit of this. why not? your hotel should make it easy to do all the things you do. which is what we do. crowne plaza. we're all business, mostly.

as a double agent powell and his daughter begin to recover after last month's attack in seoul spring his niece from russia has refused a visa to britain. party speaks with the former head of the international organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons about the script case and also how he was pushed from his post because he was against the u.s. invasion of iraq i got a phone call from john bolton from washington said that i do structures to resign your management style. washington. and the u.s. troops u.n. security council moved to investigate the deaths of protesters on the gaza border after at least ten palestinians were killed in a fresh round of violence including a journalist plus also to washington will not be offered a military base in the country the president makes the following mass protests it does come as the u.s. and other countries to see what it is to become more entrenched in africa. though it's just gone five pm here in moscow you're watching r.t. international our top story is the poison double agent recovers from last month's attack on him and his daughte

their way the supreme leader kim from pyongyang is on his way the president moon of south korea left seoul drove along the road right behind me here and just moments ago we've seen live pictures of him arriving at the demilitarized zone in the joint security area as it's known where this meeting is going to take place we understand pretty much how this is going to happen we know that supreme leader kim will get out of his car on the north side he'll come towards some huts that are actually across the line between north korea and south korea the military demarcation line in fact one of those huts is a table in it half is in south korea half in north korea where officials in the past have met instead of walking through those hearts though he'll walk between two of the huts between t two and t three t. stands for temporary even though they've been there for a very long time and they're between the huts there's a line of concrete line that marks the border between north and south korea and we are going to see in the next half an hour or so supreme leader kim cross that line the first time a no

kathy novak joins us live from seoul pardon me. so tell us more about about the scale of these exercises. well when these exercises come around every year north korea usually reacts very angrily so they were initially delayed as you mentioned because of the winter olympics the fear was that it may inflame tensions with north korea while the winter olympics and paralympics were happening here in february and march but not only were they delayed it seems they've been shortened as well so the overall scale we're told will remain the same but instead of going on for two months they will only go on for a month and that seems to be in light of the more peaceful atmosphere that is prevailing here on the korean peninsula in the lead up to a summit meeting between the leaders of the two koreas and with plans for a meeting between kim jong un the leader of north korea and the u.s. president donald trump so i think the sense of between the u.s.

laura bicker, bbc news, seoul. joining me now isjoel wit. he is a senior fellow at us—korea institute atjohns hopkins school of advanced international studies. he also worked for 15 years in the us state department on arms control and nonproliferation. the ideal person to speak to. what is your assessment of this announcement by north korea?” is your assessment of this announcement by north korea? i agree with people saying it is significant but i do not think we can count all oui’ but i do not think we can count all our chickens before they hatch. no one would expect kim jong—un to make this announcement and so i think in that context, it is an indicator of the direction the north koreans are heading in and also most people have missed essentially he has enunciated a new strategic line, to declare victory in terms of their development of nuclear weapons and missiles, and now to pivot towards development of his economy. he knows to do that he is going to need to put his nuclear programme on the bargaining table. do you think this is

ok on the line our correspondent stephen barr avik who's in the south korean capital seoul stephen as all important just a report rather just pointed out we've been here before ten years ago the north agreeing to end its nuclear program and yet that proved to be a full storm is this another false story or is it perhaps a signal that kim jong un is now serious about deescalating things. it's important to note that north korea has been committed to anything permanent here in america today message contained nothing about denuclearization they're saying they're going to try any more nuclear weapon so that feels like a sign that they are now that it invited them up look because they're cheap and it seems like they have an arsenal that allows them to spill over onto the ground that they can go shave from up position of strength and they are coming from the south korean the u.s. and they were of course the door open that the kurds go back on this year if they find that from a to a young if you're going to washington go are not very liking but at the very least this is an encouraging sign it'

laura bicker, bbc news, seoul. joining me now via webcam is marco milani, who is a research fellow at the korean studies institute at the university of southern california. half news coming thick and fast from the korean peninsula. what is your ta ke the korean peninsula. what is your take on today but brendon edmonds? the korean peninsula. what is your take on today but brendon edmonds7|i think the developments are very important. i think this announcement of closing down the nuclear site is a very important gesture of goodwill from the north korean regime. in the direction not only of south korea but the international community and the us. but at the same time i don't think this signal can be interpreted asa think this signal can be interpreted as a clear well from the regime for as a clear well from the regime for a complete and irreversible dinner clarification. that is the goal of the us. from this point on i think the us. from this point on i think the path has to be flexible on both sides, if both sides want