SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had an “openhearted talk” in Pyongyang with envoys for South Korean President Moon Jae-in, the North said Tuesday.
It’s the first time South Korean officials have met with the young North Korean leader in person since he took power after his dictator father’s death in late 2011 — and the latest sign that the Koreas are trying to mend ties after a year of repeated North Korean weapons tests and threats of nuclear war.
North Korea’s state media said Kim expressed his desire to “write a new history of national reunification” during a dinner Monday night that Seoul said lasted about four hours.
Given the robust history of bloodshed, threats and animosity on the Korean Peninsula, there is considerable skepticism over whether the Koreas’ apparent warming relations will lead to lasting peace.
North Korea, some believe, is trying to use improved ties with the South to weaken US-led international sanctions and pressure, and to provide domestic propaganda fodder for Kim Jong Un.
But each new development also raises the possibility that the rivals can use the momentum from the good feelings created during North Korea’s participation in the South’s Pyeongchang Winter Olympics last month to ease a standoff over North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and restart talks between Pyongyang and Washington.
The North Korean report sought to make Kim look statesmanlike as he welcomed the visiting South Koreans, with Kim offering views on “activating the versatile dialogue, contact, cooperation and exchange.”
He was also said to have given “important instruction to the relevant field to rapidly take practical steps for” a summit with Moon, which the North proposed last month.
Moon, a liberal who is keen to engage the North, likely wants to visit Pyongyang. But he must first broker better ties between the North and Washington, which is Seoul’s top ally and its military protector.
The role of a confident leader welcoming visiting, and lower-ranking, officials from the rival South is one Kim clearly relishes. Smiling for cameras, he posed with the South Koreans and presided over what was described as a “co-patriotic and sincere atmosphere.”
Many in Seoul and Washington will want to know if, the rhetoric and smiling images notwithstanding, there’s any possibility Kim will negotiate over the North’s breakneck pursuit of an arsenal of nuclear missiles that can viably target the US mainland.
The North has repeatedly and bluntly declared it will not give up its nuclear bombs. It also hates the annual US-South Korean military exercises that were postponed because of the Olympics but will likely happen later this spring. And achieving its nuclear aims rests on the North resuming tests of missiles and bombs that set the region on edge.
Photos distributed by the North showed a beaming Kim dressed in a dark Mao-style suit and holding hands with Moon’s national security director, Chung Eui-yong, the leader of the 10-member South Korean delegation. Chung’s trip is the first known high-level visit by South Korean officials to the North in about a decade.
The South Korean delegates have another meeting with North Korean officials on Tuesday before returning home, but it’s unclear if Kim Jong Un will be there.
Kim was said to have expressed at the dinner his “firm will to vigorously advance the north-south relations and write a new history of national reunification by the concerted efforts of our nation to be proud of in the world.”
There is speculation that better inter-Korean ties could pave the way for Washington and Pyongyang to talk about the North’s nuclear weapons. The United States, however, has made clear that it doesn’t want empty talks and that all options, including military measures, are on the table.
Previous warming ties between the Koreas have come to nothing amid North Korea’s repeated weapons tests and the North’s claims that the annual US-South Korean war games are a rehearsal for an invasion.
Before leaving for Pyongyang, Chung said he would relay Moon’s hopes for North Korean nuclear disarmament and a permanent peace on the peninsula.
Chung’s delegation includes intelligence chief Suh Hoon and Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung. The South Korean presidential Blue House said the high-profile delegation is meant to reciprocate the Olympic trip by Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, who became the first member of the North’s ruling family to come to South Korea since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
Kim Yo Jong, who also attended Monday’s dinner, and other senior North Korean officials met with Moon during the Olympics, conveyed Kim Jong Un’s invitation to visit Pyongyang and expressed their willingness to hold talks with the US.
After the Pyongyang trip, Chung’s delegation is scheduled to fly to the US to brief officials about the outcome of the talks with North Korean officials.
President Donald Trump has said talks with North Korea will happen only “under the right conditions.”
If Moon accepts Kim’s invitation to visit Pyongyang it would be the third inter-Korean summit talk. The past two summits, one in 2000 and the other in 2007, were held between Kim’s late father, Kim Jong Il, and two liberal South Korean presidents. They resulted in a series of cooperative projects between the Koreas that were scuttled during subsequent conservative administrations in the South.
North Korean leader desires for ‘new history of national reunification’ in meeting with Seoul envoys
North Korean leader desires for ‘new history of national reunification’ in meeting with Seoul envoys
US resumes sending weapons to Ukraine after Pentagon pause
- Weapons now moving into Ukraine include 155 mm munitions and precision-guided rockets known as GMLRS
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the pause last week to allow the Pentagon to assess its weapons stockpiles
WASHINGTON: The Trump administration has resumed sending some weapons to Ukraine, a week after the Pentagon had directed that some deliveries be paused.
The weapons now moving into Ukraine include 155 mm munitions and precision-guided rockets known as GMLRS, two US officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday. It’s unclear exactly when the weapons started moving.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the pause last week to allow the Pentagon to assess its weapons stockpiles, in a move that caught the White House by surprise. The Pentagon has denied that Hegseth acted without consulting President Donald Trump.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details that had not been announced publicly.
King Salman appoints Dr. Majid Al-Fayyad as advisor to the Saudi Royal Court
- Al-Fayyad has been executive general supervisor at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre since 2017
- He graduated in 1990 from King Saud University’s medical school and has amassed decades of clinical, academic and administrative experience
JEDDAH: In a royal order issued on Wednesday, King Salman appointed Dr. Majid Al-Fayyad as an advisor to the Saudi Royal Court.
Al-Fayyad is the executive general supervisor at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, which has facilities in Riyadh, Madinah and Jeddah. He graduated in 1990 from the medical school at King Saud University in Riyadh, and has amassed decades of clinical, academic and administrative experience.
In the US, he undertook specialized training in pediatrics at Tufts University, and in pediatric cardiology at Columbia University. He holds several certifications and degrees, including a master’s in medical administration awarded by the University of Southern California in 2015.
He was appointed in 2017 to his current position at King Faisal Specialist Hospital, where he has helped spearhead key reforms to the Saudi healthcare sector. He has also played important roles in national healthcare committees and initiatives, earning recognition for his contributions to research and administration.
Nobel: The prize for peace that leaders go to war for
- Israeli PM’s nomination of Trump has reopened debate over the Nobel Peace Prize’s meaning and credibility
- As Gaza burns and indictments loom, a wartime leader endorsing a recipient raises questions, says analyst
LONDON: In what supporters have called a symbol of solidarity and detractors a humiliating act of fealty, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week revealed he had nominated Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize — an award long sought by the US president.
The decision by Netanyahu appears designed to help bolster ties between the two long-term allies and ease reported tensions over Israel’s 21-month-long war in Gaza and its bruising 12-day conflict with Iran last month.
Netanyahu presented the nomination letter to Trump at the White House on Monday, and was met with a look of surprise from the US president.
“It’s nominating you for the Peace Prize, which is well deserved, and you should get it,” Netanyahu said.
“Wow, coming from you, in particular, this is very meaningful. Thank you very much, Bibi,” Trump responded.
Netanyahu is also seeking US guarantees relating to arms supplies, especially after Iran’s ballistic missile barrages last month placed substantial pressure on Israeli air defense systems, Khatib said.
“He wants to show Trump that he is the best ally he can have; he also knows that Trump is really looking after getting the Nobel Peace Prize,” she added
FASTFACTS:
• The Nobel Peace Prize was founded by Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite.
• Regret over his invention partly drove Nobel to create the prize to promote peace.
• Carl von Ossietzky, Aung San Suu Kyi, and Liu Xiaobo, were imprisoned when awarded.
• The youngest Nobel Peace laureate is Malala Yousafzai, who received it in 2014 at age 17.
For Dania Koleilat Khatib, a specialist in US-Arab relations, Netanyahu’s decision to nominate the president rests on his desire to “do anything to court Trump.”
She told Arab News that Netanyahu arrived in Washington with a set of demands covering almost every regional file of interest to Israel: Syria, Turkiye, Gaza, the West Bank and Iran.
IN NUMBERS:
• 142 Individuals and organizations have received the prize since 1901.
• 19 Women have been awarded.
• 28 Organizations received the award.
• 19 Years the prize was not awarded.
(Source: NobelPrize.org)
Trump has made no secret of his yearning for the prestigious prize, yet the nomination itself is only the first part of an extensive, secret process that winds up in the stately committee room of Oslo’s Nobel Institute.
The distinction and tradition of the Nobel name, however, is arguably a far cry from the reputation of Trump’s nominator.
Netanyahu, alongside former defense minister Yoav Gallant, is the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court over allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity relating to the conduct of Israel’s military in Gaza.
That fact would no doubt weigh on the minds of the five Norwegian Nobel Committee members who deliberate over the prize.
For Khatib, the ICC arrest warrant alone means that Netanyahu’s gesture is “worthless.”
She told Arab News: “I am not sure whether the nomination will be discarded but it is ironic that someone wanted by the ICC for alleged war crimes and potentially genocide nominates someone for the Nobel Peace Prize.”
GUIDELINES ON NOBEL NOMINATIONS
• Only nominees put forward by qualified nominators are considered.
• Self-nominations are not accepted.
• The prize may be awarded to individuals or organizations.
Upholding the reputation of the prize is a tall order, in part due to the strictness of its rules. The committee’s choice for the annual award effectively ties the Nobel name to the future reputation of any recipient. The Nobel Foundation’s Statutes also forbid the revocation of any award.
Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese icon of democracy, fell from grace over her treatment of the Rohingya Muslim minority in the decades since she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.
Former US President Barack Obama was controversially awarded the prize just nine months into his first term, to the dismay of figures including Trump, who called on the institution to retract the award.
The decision to award Obama for “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples” soon appeared foolish after it emerged the president had told aides, referring to his use of drone strikes: “Turns out I’m really good at killing people.”
The Nobel Committee’s then secretary, Geir Lundestad, later expressed regret over the decision. “Even many of Obama’s supporters believed that the prize was a mistake,” he said. “In that sense the committee didn’t achieve what it had hoped for.”
Khatib told Arab News that the most basic requirement of the prize is that the recipient contributes to peace.
“I personally don’t know why Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize,” she told Arab News. “What was the achievement for which he was awarded the prize?”
The Obama controversy may well have sparked Trump’s desire to win the prize. He has referred to the 2009 award numerous times since, and has regularly expressed frustration over an accomplishment that he feels has eluded him.
Netanyahu’s nomination of Trump, however, is only the most recent that the US leader has received. He was nominated separately by a group of House Republicans in the US and two Norwegian lawmakers for his work to defuse nuclear tensions with North Korea in 2018..
WHO CAN NOMINATE?
• Members of national assemblies and governments.
• Members of international courts.
• University rectors, professors, and directors of peace research or foreign policy institutes.
• Past laureates and board members of laureate organizations.
• Current and former Norwegian Nobel Committee members and former advisers.
In 2021, Trump was also nominated by one of the two Norwegian lawmakers and a Swedish official for his peace efforts in the Middle East, including the Abraham Accords, which established formal relations between Israel and several Arab states.
Shinzo Abe, the late former prime minister of Japan, also nominated Trump in 2019
Earlier this year, Pakistan said that it had nominated Trump for the prize in recognition of his work to end the country’s brief conflict with India. New Delhi later denied that Washington played a role in mediation.
Trump is also working toward a diplomatic solution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which has so far defied his negotiators.
A day after Monday’s White House meeting, Netanyahu’s office released a copy of the nomination letter — dated July 1 — seen by Trump.
“President Trump has demonstrated steadfast and exceptional dedication to promoting peace, security and stability around the world,” it said.
“In the Middle East, his efforts have brought about dramatic change and created new opportunities to expand the circle of peace and normalization.”
The prime minister’s letter singled out the Abraham Accords as Trump’s “foremost achievement” in the region.
“These breakthroughs reshaped the Middle East and marked a historic advance toward peace, security and regional stability,” it said.
The description of the region as having experienced a historic advance toward peace will raise eyebrows in many parts of the Middle East.
Yet the strange circumstances of an alleged war criminal acting as a peace prize nominator has parallels with the Nobel name’s own peculiar past.
The prizes were established through the will of Alfred Nobel, a Swedish chemist, inventor and industrialist who amassed a fortune after inventing and patenting dynamite. The explosive was rapidly adopted for industrial use but was also soon prized for its utility as a tool of warfare.
The first awards bearing the Nobel name were handed out just after the turn of the century in 1901, five years after the Swedish visionary had died.
They cover medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and peace. An economics prize was later established by the Swedish Central Bank in 1968, but it is not considered a Nobel prize in the same manner.
Nobel’s wishes were for the peace prize to go to “the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”
The strict codification of Nobel’s will resulted in the Nobel Statutes, a set of rules followed by the Nobel Foundation, which oversees the secretive process behind the five prizes. Judges are forbidden from discussing their deliberations for half a century after they take place.
The peace committee is the sole Nobel prize body in Norway, and its five members are appointed by the country’s parliament.
Nominations for the revered prize can only be submitted by specific people and organizations, including heads of state, national politicians, academic professors and company directors, among others. It is forbidden for people to nominate themselves.
Prominent Arab politicians have been awarded the peace prize.
Yasser Arafat was given the award in 1994 for his efforts toward reaching a peaceful settlement to the Israel-Palestine conflict. In 1978, Egypt’s Anwar Sadat was recognized for signing the Camp David Accords, which were witnessed by Jimmy Carter, the US president at the time, who was later awarded the prize in 2002 for his work to promote human rights after leaving office.
For Trump, however, hopes for his long-desired prize will have to wait until next year; nominations must be submitted before February for the prize to be awarded in the same year.
At the time of publishing, the Nobel Committee had not commented on Netanyahu’s nomination, whether they had any reservations, or whether they would accept it.
Saudi deputy FM receives UK ambassador in Riyadh
Saudi Deputy Minister for International Multilateral Affairs Abdulrahman Al-Rassi was visited by UK Ambassador to the Kingdom Neil Crompton in Riyadh on Wednesday.
The ambassador visited to bid farewell on the occasion of the end of his tenure in the Kingdom, the Foreign Ministry wrote in a post on X.
Al-Rassi praised the ambassador’s efforts in strengthening and advancing relations between the two countries.
Starmer, Macron agree on need for new deterrent against boat crossings, UK says
LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed on Wednesday on the need to go further and develop a new deterrent to tackle irregular migration and small boat crossings across the Channel.
“The leaders agreed tackling the threat of irregular migration and small boat crossings is a shared priority that requires shared solutions,” a British readout of a meeting between the two in London said.
“The two leaders agreed on the need to go further and make progress on new and innovative solutions, including a new deterrent to break the business model of these gangs.”
