TOKYO: When North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump hold their summit at an exclusive venue in Singapore, one of the priciest destinations in Asia, they will no doubt run up quite a bill. And if past precedent is any indication, expect Pyongyang to pay as little of it as possible.
Speculation over how North Korea will handle the costs for Kim’s June 12 meeting with Trump has taken off after a Washington Post report cited two anonymous US officials suggesting the Trump administration has been “seeking a discreet way” to help pay Kim’s hotel bill.
The report suggested host nation Singapore might take care of it.
But what exactly needs to be paid for isn’t yet clear.
Sure there are the costs of summit venue and the hotels, with one reported option, the Fullerton, coming with a $6,000-a-night price tag for its presidential suite. But that would hardly break the North Korean bank.
While Kim could decide to stay the night, or maybe even two, he might also be in a hurry to get back home, in which case the North wouldn’t need a room so much as a base camp. North Korea has an embassy in Singapore, but that likely wouldn’t be good enough to meet the logistical and security demands of a full-on summit.
The North may want to send a large delegation to accompany Kim and provide its own security. If there are any feelers going out about cost-sharing, that’s a likely topic. But it would be more of a sweetener than a necessity.
Whatever the venue, it’s debatable why an outside party would need to pay.
North Korea’s government, which is no stranger to hosting lavish events like military parades and party congresses of its own, has ample funds to cover important meetings for Kim.
While highly speculative — Kim is even more averse to divulging details about his personal wealth than Trump — the North Korean leader is believed by some foreign experts to be worth well over $1 billion and have access to billions dollars more thanks to the full backing of his country.
But as history has shown, summits with the Kim family don’t come cheap.
Seoul reportedly spent somewhere in the range of $5 million to cover the costs of President Moon Jae-in’s first summit with Kim in April — a day-long affair that was held in publicly owned buildings on the South Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone.
And though this falls in a category all of its own, former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung’s administration secretly paid $500 million to just to get Kim Jong Un’s father to agree to the first-ever North-South Korea summit in 2000.
The South Korean president won that year’s Nobel Peace Prize, before the payment was made public. One of his aides was convicted and went to prison.
Hosting North Koreans at sports events can also have extra costs attached.
South Korea paid $2.5 million to cover the costs of more than 400 North Koreans, only 22 of whom were athletes, at the Pyeongchang Games in February.
The Olympics were the first big step of Kim’s ongoing diplomatic campaign, which he announced with great fanfare in January. But they weren’t the first time Seoul had shelled out in the name of Korean unity.
For the Asian Games in Busan in 2002, it gave about $1.3 million, then $836,000 for a Universiade in 2003 and another $385,000 for the Asian Games in 2014.
US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert has denied the US would pay for North Korea in Singapore and said Washington wasn’t asking anyone else to, either.
In keeping with normal practice, Singapore, as the host nation, will have to put out for general security and various other expenses.
Singapore announced Monday that it was declaring part of its city center a “special event area” from June 10 to 14 for the summit. The designation will allow for greater security in the area, which is near the US Embassy as well as several hotels, including the Shangri-Louisiana
The Shangri-La has been mentioned as a possible venue for the talks due to its experience as the site of an annual security conference that draws defense officials from around the globe.
Singapore’s Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen on Saturday confirmed the country would foot some costs, while steering clear of the details or whether Pyongyang or Washington had made any specifics requests.
“We want to contribute in our small way so that this summit can occur,” he told reporters.
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons has also offered to chip in a share of the million dollars it was awarded for winning the Nobel Peace Prize last year.
At Trump-Kim summit, don’t expect North Korea to foot the bill
At Trump-Kim summit, don’t expect North Korea to foot the bill
- The North may want to send a large delegation to accompany Kim and provide its own security
- Seoul reportedly spent somewhere in the range of $5 million to cover the costs of President Moon Jae-in’s first summit with Kim in April
Russia’s torture of Ukrainian civilians, prisoners is a crime against humanity, UN expert panel says
Russia’s torture of Ukrainian civilians, prisoners is a crime against humanity, UN expert panel says
Erik Møse, chair of the independent commission investigating human rights violations in Ukraine, told reporters that the panel previously described Russia’s widespread and systematic use of torture in Ukraine and Russia against civilians and prisoners, both men and women, as a war crime.
“Our recent findings demonstrate that Russian authorities have committed torture in all provinces of Ukraine that came under their control, as well as in the detention facilities that the commission has investigated in the Russian Federation,” he said.
Russia’s UN Mission said it had no comment on the press conference or the report by the commission, which is appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council.
Møse said the commission is an investigative body. He noted that Ukraine’s prosecutor general and the International Criminal Court are investigating possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine and the commission may be asked for evidence.
The commissioners examined reports from 41 different detention centers, from makeshift centers to well-established facilities, in nine occupied regions of Ukraine and eight areas in Russia, Møse said.
He said the commission identified further evidence that violent practices common in Russian detention facilities were also practiced in similar facilities in Russian-occupied areas in eastern Ukraine, he said.
The commission also found additional evidence of the recurrent use of sexual violence as a form of torture, Møse said.
Detainees were subjected to rape, long periods of forced nudity, body searches and more, commission member Vrinda Gover said. She said most prisoners of war reported being subjected to sexual violence and suffering long-lasting psychological trauma.
Ukrainians in detention facilities in Ukraine and in Russia also reported “a brutal so-called admission procedure,” Gover said.
“Harsh practices designed to scare, break, humiliate, coerce and punish detainees were used routinely,” she said.
Surveillance cameras were used to watch detainees and severe collective punishment of detainees was imposed for every breach of rules, while “interrogations were accompanied by some of the most violent treatment documented,” Gover said.
Commission member Pablo de Greiff told reporters it now has evidence of the Russian organizational structure that coordinated and enabled torture in the detention facilities.
“Moreover, the Commission now has evidence that the leadership of detention facilities or other higher ranking Russian authorities ordered, encouraged, tolerated or took no action to stop torture or ill treatment,” de Grieff said.
Møse said the commission’s investigation also found that the violent practices against detainees in Russia were transferred by Russian security forces and staff to detention facilities run by Russia in areas it occupied in Ukraine.
“Based on this body of evidence, we have concluded that the Russian authorities acted pursuant to a coordinated state policy of torturing Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war,” he said. “Therefore, in addition to torture as a war crime, they also committed torture as a crime against humanity.”
UN extends mandate for UN peacekeepers in Western Sahara, with Algeria protesting over human rights
UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council voted to extend the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force in the Western Sahara for another year Thursday with Algeria refusing to vote in protest at the resolution’s failure to include a reference to monitoring human rights in the disputed north African territory.
The vote was 12 countries in favor, Russia and Mozambique abstaining, and Al geria, which supports the Polisario Front, one of the parties to the nearly 50-year dispute, not voting.
Morocco annexed Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony in 1975, sparking a conflict with the Algerian-backed pro-independence Polisario Front. The region is believed to have considerable offshore oil deposits and mineral resources and is slightly larger than the United Kingdom.
The UN brokered a 1991 ceasefire and established a peacekeeping mission to monitor the truce and help prepare a referendum on the territory’s future. Disagreements over who is eligible to vote have prevented the referendum from taking place, and Morocco insists it will now only support autonomy for the Western Sahara.
The Polisario Front renewed armed conflict in 2020, ending a 29-year truce, and tensions have escalated.
Algeria’s UN Ambassador Amar Bendjama tried unsuccessfully to get two amendments inserted into the US-drafted resolution, and lashed out at the United States for reportedly not including its requests including for the UN mission known as MINURSO to monitor human rights in Western Sahara in the resolution.
US deputy ambassador Robert Wood said the resolution makes clear the Security Council’s support for Staffan de Mistura, the secretary-general’s personal envoy to Western Sahara, “as he intensifies efforts to advance an enduring and dignified resolution for Western Sahara without further delay.”
Wood said it is “more urgent than ever to reach a political solution for Western Sahara,” noting that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently reiterated that the US views Morocco’s autonomy proposal “as serious, credible, and realistic and one potential approach to satisfy the aspirations of the people of Western Sahara.”
Earlier this month, UN envoy de Mistura proposed dividing Western Sahara as one potential way to satisfy both sides and give residents a chance to decide under who they want to live, but he told the council that both Morocco and the Polisario Front showed “no sign of willingness to explore it further.”
German lawyers ask court to block ship allegedly carrying explosives to Israeli company
- German-based Lubeca Marine, which owns the MV Kathrin, said the ship “was never scheduled to make any port calls in Israel”
BERLIN: Human rights lawyers have filed a court appeal in Berlin seeking to block a 150-metric-ton shipment of military-grade explosives aboard German cargo ship MV Kathrin which they say is to be delivered to Israel’s biggest defense contractor. The European Legal Support Center said on Wednesday the action was filed on behalf of three Palestinians from Gaza, arguing that the shipment of primarily RDX explosives could be used in munitions for Israel’s war in Gaza, potentially contributing to alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Israel denies accusations that it has committed war crimes in the Gaza Strip, saying its forces abide by international humanitarian law while fighting Palestinian militants who operate in densely populated civilian areas.
German-based Lubeca Marine, which owns the MV Kathrin, said the ship “was never scheduled to make any port calls in Israel” and had recently discharged its cargo, originally destined for Bar, Montenegro, without disclosing where the discharge took place.
The company declined to disclose details of the cargo for contractual reasons, but said it complied fully with all international and EU regulations, ensuring necessary permits are obtained before any operations.
The ELSC said the RDX shipment was destined for Israeli Military Industries, a division of Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest defense contractor. Elbit Systems declined to comment.
“We never claimed that the Kathrin was bound for Israel (itself), it’s the cargo which is bound for Elbit Systems,” ELSC lawyer Ahmed Abed told Reuters regarding the group’s appeal filed at Berlin’s Administrative Court. “The company ignored all the warnings.”
LSEG data and vessel-tracking website Marine Traffic indicated that the MV Kathrin had docked in the major Egyptian Mediterranean port of Alexandria on Monday and was last seen there.
According to the port of Alexandria’s website, the ship, which it identified as German, unloaded military equipment in Alexandria and was set to depart on Nov. 5.
Blinken urges China to rein in Pyongyang amid warnings that North Korean troops were set to join Russia’s war against Ukraine
- Some 10,000 North Korean troops in Russia, 8,000 in Kursk region
- US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin believes Ukraine can hold Russian territory in Kursk
WASHINGTON: The United States expects North Korean troops in Russia’s Kursk region to enter the fight against Ukraine in the coming days, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday as he pressed China to use its influence to rein in Pyongyang.
Blinken spoke after North Korea conducted its longest-ever intercontinental ballistic missile test earlier on Thursday and South Korea warned that Pyongyang could get missile technology from Russia in exchange for helping with the war in Ukraine.
The top US diplomat said there were 10,000 North Korean troops in Russia, including as many as 8,000 in the Kursk region where Ukrainian forces continue to hold territory after fighting their way into the Russian border area in August.
At a press conference with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and their South Korean counterparts, Blinken said Russia has been training the North Korean soldiers in artillery, unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, and basic infantry operations, indicating they “fully intend” to use the forces in frontline operations.
They would become legitimate military targets if they enter the battlefield, Blinken said.
“We’ve not yet seen these troops deploy into combat against Ukrainian forces, but we would expect that to happen in the coming days,” he said.
During their meeting, the US and South Korea discussed a range of options for responding, Blinken added, saying Moscow’s use of North Korean soldiers in its “meat grinder” war against Ukraine was a “clear sign of weakness.”
Austin said the US would announce new security assistance for Ukraine in coming days.
Russia-North Korea Cooperation
Blinken and his South Korea and Japanese counterparts condemned the ICBM launch as a flagrant violation of UN Security Council resolutions. The flight-time of the missile was 87 minutes, according to South Korea, putting nearly all of the United States within range.
The Kremlin on Thursday declined to comment when asked if Russia was helping North Korea to develop its missile and other military technology.
Blinken said Beijing, like Washington, should be very concerned about what Russia might be doing in order to enhance North Korea’s military capacities because it was destabilizing to Asia.
Austin said the Pentagon was very early in its assessment phase of the launch “and we don’t see any indication at this point that there was Russian involvement.”
Blinken said the US and South Korea agreed China should do more to curb North Korea’s provocative actions and US officials had had a “robust conversation” with Beijing this week.
“They know well the concerns that we have, and the expectations that, both in word and deed, they’ll use the influence that they have to work to curb these activities,” Blinken said of Chinese officials.
Beijing, partners with both Moscow and Pyongyang, has so far repeated calls for deescalation by all sides and a political settlement to the Korean conflict.
The United States, France, Japan, Malta, South Korea, Slovenia and Britain requested a UN Security Council meeting over the ICBM launch and two diplomats said it would likely take place on Monday.
Washington says China, which entered a “no limits” partnership with Moscow ahead of Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, has been supporting the Kremlin’s war with dual use goods to prop up the Russian defense industrial base.
China rejects the US accusations about what it calls normal trade with Russia.
Austin said Ukraine could hold on to Russian territory in Kursk, and that the number of North Korean troops pales in comparison to casualties Russian forces recently have been suffering — some 1,250 a day.
“I do believe that they can hold on to the territory, if they choose to do that. They do have options,” Austin said of Ukrainian troops.
Many Western analysts argue China should be alarmed by any North Korean participation in Russia’s war, saying it’s a sign Pyongyang has reduced its reliance on Beijing and that its involvement would galvanize closer ties between Washington’s European and Asian allies.
Nonetheless, Sydney Seiler, a former US national intelligence officer for North Korea, said China was not disturbed enough to actively oppose the deployments.
“I don’t think China openly supports this. But at the same time, they’re not going to do what’s necessary to stop it,” he said.
Kamala Harris says Trump’s comment on women ‘is offensive to everybody’
- Trump had said he would "protect" women whether they “like it or not,” referring to abortion restrictions that he would push for if he becomes president again
- “This is just the latest on a long series of reveals by the former president of how he thinks about women and their agency,” Harris responded
PHOENIX, Arizona: Kamala Harris said Thursday that Donald Trump’s comment that he would protect women whether they “like it or not” shows that the Republican presidential nominee does not understand women’s rights “to make decisions about their own lives, including their own bodies.”
“I think it’s offensive to everybody, by the way,” Harris said before she set out to spend the day campaigning in the Western battleground states of Arizona and Nevada.
She followed up those remarks at her rally in Phoenix: “He simply does not respect the freedom of women or the intelligence of women to know what’s in their own best interests and make decisions accordingly. But we trust women.”
The comments by Trump come as he has struggled to connect with women voters and as Harris courts women in both parties with a message centered on freedom. She’s making the pitch that women should be free to make their own decisions about their bodies and that if Trump is elected, more restrictions will follow.
Trump appointed three of the justices to the US Supreme Court who formed the conservative majority that overturned federal abortion rights. As the fallout from the 2022 decision spreads, he has taken to claiming at public events and in social media posts that he would “protect women” and ensure they wouldn’t be “thinking about abortion.”
At a rally Wednesday evening near Green Bay, Wisconsin, Trump told his supporters that aides had urged him to stop using the phrase because it was “inappropriate.”
Then he added a new bit to the protector line. He said he told his aides: “Well, I’m going to do it whether the women like it or not. I am going to protect them.”
Harris said the remark was part of a pattern of troubling statements by Trump.
“This is just the latest on a long series of reveals by the former president of how he thinks about women and their agency,” she said.
Harris tied Trump’s comments to his approach to reproductive rights, but Trump generally speaks more of protecting women from criminals, terrorists and foreign adversaries, in keeping with the bleak picture he paints of a country in decline.
“I’m going to protect them from migrants coming in. I’m going to protect them from foreign countries that want to hit us with missiles and lots of other things,” Trump said during a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
He seemed to tie in abortion when he first used the “protector” language in a Truth Social post and at a rally in Indiana, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 20. He assured the women who would be “protected” that they “will no longer be thinking about abortion.”
The dispute showed signs Thursday of further entrenching each candidate’s supporters.
It was not only women who described Trump’s remarks as offensive. At the Harris rally in Phoenix, Edison Kinlicheenie, 50, said he sees Trump more as a threat than a protector, noting that the former president has a track record of preying on women.
“I have a wife and a daughter, so I wouldn’t let no predator like that come around” them, Kinlicheenie said.
At a Trump rally in Albuquerque, Sarah Pyle, 41, cited the opposition to allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s events to portray Trump as someone who helps women.
“I don’t want my girls to grow up in a world like this,” the Albuquerque mother said, referring to the controversy. “We fought for women’s rights for so long, and now we’re giving them back to men. It makes no sense.”
More broadly, Trump and Republicans have struggled with how to talk about abortion rights, particularly as women around the nation are grappling with obtaining proper medical care because of abortion restrictions that have had implications far beyond the ability to end an unwanted pregnancy.
Trump has given contradictory answers about his position on abortion, at some points saying that women should be punished for having abortions and showcasing the justices he appointed. During his successful 2016 campaign, he told voters that if he were elected, he would appoint justices to the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade and said he was “pro-life.”
But in recent weeks he’s promised to veto a national abortion ban, after repeatedly refusing to make such a pledge. He’s said the states should regulate care and said some laws were “too tough.”
Since 2022, the patchwork of state laws on abortion has created uneven medical care. Some women have died. Others have bled in emergency room parking lots or became critically ill from sepsis as doctors in states with strict abortion bans send pregnant women away until they are sick enough to warrant medical care. That includes women who never intended to end pregnancies. Both infant and maternal mortality has risen.
Harris’ campaign has highlighted Trump’s statements around women. In one campaign ad, a woman who became gravely ill with sepsis after a pregnancy complication stands in front of a mirror looking at a large scar on her abdomen, as audio plays of Trump’s comments about protecting women.
Harris hopes abortion will be a strong motivator for women at the ballot box.
In early voting so far, 1.2 million more women than men have voted across the seven battleground states, according to data from analytics firm TargetSmart.
That doesn’t necessarily translate into Democratic gains. But in the 2020 presidential election, there was a 9 percentage point difference between men and women in support for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 110,000 voters.
The Democratic ticket was supported by 55 percent of women and 46 percent of men. That was essentially unchanged from the 2018 midterms, when VoteCast found a 10-point gender gap, with 58 percent of women and 48 percent of men backing Democrats in congressional races.
