According to General Charles Brown, Commander of the US Pacific Air Forces, US bombers are no longer conducting flights over South Korea after Seoul asked for such missions to be paused. He said at the Pentagon on Monday that the break was to help create space for ongoing diplomatic efforts to address North Korea's nuclear activities.

Meanwhile, an official of the US State Department opened the possibility for reunions via phones or TV links for Korean-Americans with their relatives in North Korea. Lee Cha-hee, Secretary-General of the National Coalition of Divided Families said the State Department considers the issue of divided families a priority and that reunions involving Korean-Americans could take place before the next "nuclear talks."

North Korea’s sports minister Kim Il Guk (Photo: Yonhap/VNA)

In another development, the Japanese government on Tuesday said North Korea’s sports minister will be allowed to travel to Japan to attend Olympic meetings in Tokyo this week. Minister Kim Il Guk, who also serves as the president of the North’s Olympic committee, traveled to Beijing last week before moving to Tokyo. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Japan allowed Mr. Kim to enter the country as an exception because international sports and the Olympics charter share the notion of no discrimination against any nationalities.