WASHINGTON: Donald Trump holds a high-stakes meeting with South Korea’s president at the White House Tuesday, talks that could decide whether the US president’s much-vaunted summit with the North’s leader Kim Jong Un goes ahead.
Moon Jae-in jets into Washington on a mission to salvage a rare diplomatic opening between the US and North Korea that is in trouble almost before it begins.
Trump had agreed to meet inscrutable “Supreme Leader” Kim in Singapore on June 12, but the first-ever US-North Korea summit is now in serious doubt, with both sides expressing reservations.
South Korea — worried about Kim’s bellicose weapons testing and Trump’s similarly bellicose warnings about a looming war — was instrumental in convincing the two Cold War foes to sit down and talk.
Moon sent his own national security adviser to the White House in March, carrying an offer of talks and word that North Korea may be willing to abandon nuclear weapons, an enticing prospect.
Trump surprised his guests, his own aides and the world by summarily accepting the meeting, seeing an opportunity to “do a deal” and avoid military confrontation.
Pyongyang is on the verge of marrying nuclear and missile technology allowing it to hit the continental United States with a nuke, a capability Washington sees as wholly unacceptable.
Since then, there has been a landmark series of intra-Korean meetings, two trips to Pyongyang by Mike Pompeo — first as CIA director then as America’s top diplomat — and three American citizens have been released from the North.
But after several Trumpian victory laps, North Korea’s willingness to denuclearize is now in serious doubt.
Earlier this month, North Korea denounced US demands for “unilateral nuclear abandonment” and canceled at the last minute a high-level meeting with the South in protest over joint military drills between Seoul and Washington.
Trump responded by saying the meeting may or may not take place.
Vice President Mike Pence warned in an interview on Monday night that there was “no question” that Trump would be prepared to walk away from the talks with Kim if it looks like they won’t yield results and that the president was not just after a public relations triumph.
Pence said that both the Clinton and Bush administrations “got played” by North Korea when Washington previously tried to get Pyongyang to denuclearize but the current administration would not make the same mistakes.
“It would be a great mistake for Kim Jong Un to think he could play Donald Trump,” he told Fox News.
Trump also surprised many by offering Kim an upfront security guarantee, allowing him to stay in power, and suggested that Kim’s apparent about-face may have been at the behest of Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
“It could very well be that he’s influencing Kim Jong Un,” Trump said, citing a recent meeting between the pair, their second in a month’s time. “We’ll see what happens.”
Analysts saw North Korea’s perceived slow peddling as evidence of what they feared all along, that Pyongyang may have been playing for time — hoping to ease sanctions and “maximum pressure” or of South Korea overtorquing the prospects of a deal.
“The current episode of tension reflects a wide and dangerous expectation gap between the United States and North Korea,” said Eric Gomez of the CATO Institute.
“Denuclearization is not off the table for the North, but it expects the United States to end the so-called ‘hostile policy’ as a precondition for denuclearization.”
It is far from clear what that means concretely, but it could include the forced withdrawal of 30,000 US troops from the Korean peninsula.
With just weeks to go and little clarity on what will be discussed or what happens if talks fail, some Korea watchers predict fireworks during Trump’s talks with Moon.
“It increasingly looks like the Moon administration overstated North Korea’s willingness to deal. Moon will probably get an earful over that,” said Robert Kelly of Pusan National University.
Yonhap news agency quoted a Blue House official as saying Moon would “likely tell President Trump what to expect and what not to expect from Kim.”
Trump-Kim summit in play as Moon visits White House
Trump-Kim summit in play as Moon visits White House
2 Russian firefighters died in blaze caused by Ukraine drone: governor
MOSCOW: Two Russian firefighters died on Wednesday fighting a blaze caused by a Ukrainian drone attack, the local governor said, after Kyiv said it hit an oil depot that supplies Russia’s air force.
“Unfortunately, as a result of the liquidation (of the fire), there are two dead — employees of the emergency situations ministry’s fire department,” Roman Busagrin, governor of the Saratov region where the strike happened, said on Telegram.
UK police investigating suspicious vehicle in central London, carry out controlled explosions
- Road closures are in place in the vicinity of Regent Street and New Burlington Street in central London, police said on X
LONDON: British police carried out a number of controlled explosions as a precaution in central London as they investigated a suspicious vehicle on Wednesday, the city’s police force said on social media.
Road closures are in place in the vicinity of Regent Street and New Burlington Street in central London, police said on X.
Sri Lanka vows crackdown on illegal activities by Israeli tourists
- Government reacts to complaints over emergence of Israeli-run businesses and place of worship in Arugam Bay
- Last month, Sri Lankan civil groups demanded screenings of Israeli visitors to keep out potential war criminals
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka will crack down on reported illegal activities carried out by Israeli tourists, its prime minister said on Wednesday, following a series of complaints since last year regarding their arrivals in the country.
A total of 25,514 Israelis visited Sri Lanka in 2024, according to government data. One of their favorite destinations is Arugam Bay, a small town on the southeastern coast, which is widely recognized as one of the world’s best surfing spots.
The predominantly Muslim region made international headlines in October last year, when US and Israeli authorities warned visitors of what they said was a “terrorist threat” focused on tourist areas and beaches. The alleged threat followed a series of altercations between Israelis and local residents.
Social media posts by visitors to Arugam Bay and complaints by locals themselves indicate that many of the arriving Israelis come for vacations after taking part in the ongoing deadly onslaught on Palestinians in Gaza.
Residents have also complained over the emergence of Israeli businesses in the area and the establishment of a Chabad house — a Jewish community center and place of worship.
Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya said during Wednesday’s parliament session that Sri Lankan authorities have not granted “any permission for Israeli citizens to build religious places of worship or related buildings” and “the government will take prompt action to stop it.”
Responding to questions raised by opposition lawmaker Mujibur Rahman, she also addressed reports regarding Israelis running businesses in the area.
“We have identified this as a problem. Action will be taken against this, and steps will be taken to hold talks regarding it and stop such business activities,” Amarasuriya said.
“The government has not issued any visa for Israelis to engage in business activities in Sri Lanka, especially under tourist visas. They are engaging in such activities by violating our laws.”
The government’s reaction follows last month’s protests in Sri Lanka’s capital and a petition by civil society groups demanding special screenings of Israelis arriving in the country.
The direct trigger for the protest was the identification of at least one Israeli tourist as a soldier accused of war crimes.
The man was spotted in Sri Lanka by the Hind Rajab Foundation, a nongovernmental organization based in Belgium, which pursues legal action against Israeli military personnel involved in the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza over the past 15 months.
Swasthika Arulingam, a human rights lawyer and leader of the People’s Struggle Movement, which helped organize the protest, slammed the former Israeli personnel.
She said those “coming here after/between service rounds, taking rest or time off from attacking Palestinians in the ongoing genocide,” and their “sympathizers who hold vigils and events for their genocidal comrades” were the most problematic groups of tourists arriving in the country and often spotted in Arugam Bay.
“We are also hearing stories of illegal tourist businesses being carried out by Israelis in Sri Lanka,” she told Arab News.
“The local economy is impacted by the factor these people are running operations in Sri Lanka making use of resources here and not paying their dues.”
The recent “terrorist threat” warning by the US has also affected the local community.
“Local residents and local tourism providers have told us that in the last couple of weeks, the advisories and threats have meant their own properties are subject to surveillance and checking from the military,” Arulingam said.
“As citizens of Sri Lanka, we are yet to know if there were actual security concerns or was this simply bullying tactics by the US to keep Sri Lanka in check. We are concerned regarding what’s transpiring in Arugam Bay.”
French minister calls for hijab ban on school trips
- Bruno Retailleau: ‘The veil is a banner for Islamism, a marker of the subordination of women to men’
- Islamists seek to ‘overturn our institutions and undermine national cohesion to impose Shariah law’
LONDON: French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau has called for a ban on Muslim women wearing hijabs while accompanying children on school outings, The Times reported.
French state schools already have a ban on religious head coverings, while the senate approved a bill mandating the removal of headscarves on school outings in 2019, but it did not become law.
“The threat of attack has never been so great as now,” said Retailleau. “It is now primarily endogenous — young individuals radicalized through social media. Last year alone, our services foiled nine attacks, the highest number since 2017.”
Political Islam poses a national threat as it seeks to “overturn our institutions and undermine national cohesion to impose Shariah law in the long term,” he added.
To combat this, the French state must curtail the spread of Islamism in public spaces, sports and education, he said.
“Women accompanying them (students) should not be veiled,” Retailleau added. “The veil is a banner for Islamism, a marker of the subordination of women to men.”
He said his views target a new tolerance for Islamism on the French political left, adding: “Today antisemitism has two faces: Political Islam and also the face of those who use the Palestinian tragedy to court the Muslim vote.”
Afghanistan’s trade doubles, but deficit and sanctions hinder growth
- Afghan exports increased from $850 million in 2021 to $1.8 billion last year
- It may take Afghanistan 10 years to return to pre-Taliban growth levels, World Bank says
KABUL: Afghanistan’s trade has doubled since the Taliban took over in 2021, the latest government data shows, but experts warn there is no evidence of economic growth as the import-export deficit continues to soar amid Western-imposed sanctions.
In 2024, Afghanistan’s trade value reached over $12.4 billion, more than twice the $6.1 billion recorded in 2021, according to data released by the National Statistics and Information Authority.
“The political change in the country in 2021 affected the country’s economy in all aspects … (But) Afghanistan’s trade, particularly exports, has seen a 100 percent progress,” Akhundzada Abdul Salam Jawad, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, told Arab News earlier this week.
Under the Taliban government, the South Asian country saw exports rise from $850 million in 2021 to about $1.8 billion last year. Imports, however, have also surged from $5.3 billion to $10.6 billion in the same period.
While according to Jawad it was “a sign that the country’s trade is going toward stability and growth,” experts are warning about the impacts of Afghanistan’s widening trade deficit in an already fragile economy which was severely affected by US-imposed sanctions and had suffered through two years of sharp economic contraction.
Despite a modest recovery of about 2.7 percent in 2023-24, the World Bank estimates it could take over a decade for the economy to return to pre-Taliban growth levels.
“Our imports are increasing every day, and this is hindering the progress in local production together with other problems such as shortage of electricity and a lack of infrastructure … Necessary actions must be taken to increase exports,” Khan Jan Alokozay, deputy head of the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment, told Arab News.
To reduce the trade gap the Afghan government must work toward strengthening its industrial sector, according to Amin Stanekzai, economist and lecturer at the Rokhan Institute of Higher Education in the eastern province of Nangarhar.
This means facilitating investment, supporting local businesses to enter international markets and encouraging people to use and support local products.
“In order to reduce the deficit, the country’s market needs should be met locally and domestic production is supported while domestic capacities need to be improved,” he told Arab News.
“Afghanistan is still completely an importing country and until this situation changes, speaking of economic growth is irrelevant.”
