PYEONGTAEK, South Korea: North Korea on Friday returned the remains of what are believed to be US servicemen killed during the Korean War, the White House said, with a USmilitary plane making a rare trip from a US base in South Korea to a coastal city in the North to retrieve the remains.
The handover follows through on a promise Kim Jong Un made to President Donald Trump when the leaders met in June and is the first tangible result from the much-hyped summit.
An Associated Press journalist at Osan Air Base outside of Seoul saw the plane land, and the White House earlier confirmed that a US Air Force C-17 aircraft containing remains of fallen service members had departed Wonsan, North Korea, on its way to Osan. A formal repatriation ceremony will be held there Aug. 1.
At Osan, US servicemen and a military honor guard lined up on the tarmac to receive the remains, which were carried in boxes covered in blue United Nations flags.
Details of what specifically the US had picked up were unclear, but reports said previously that Pyongyang would return about 55 sets of remains from the 1950-53 Korean War.
About 7,700 US soldiers are listed as missing from the Korean War, and 5,300 of the remains are believed to still be in North Korea. The war killed millions, including 36,000 American soldiers.
Despite soaring rhetoric about denuclearization ahead of their meeting, Trump and Kim’s summit ended with only a vague aspirational goal for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula without describing when and how that would occur. Friday’s handover will be followed by a lengthy series of forensic examinations and tests to determine if the remains are human, and whether they are actually American or allied troops killed in the conflict.
Officials in North Korea had no immediate comment on the possible return of the remains Friday, the 65th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, which the country celebrates as the day of “victory in the fatherland liberation war.”
Friday’s repatriation could be followed by strengthened North Korean demands for fast-tracked discussions with the United States on reaching a declaration to formally end the war, which was stopped with an armistice and not a peace treaty. South Korea’s Defense Ministry also said that the North agreed to general-level military talks next week at a border village to discuss reducing tensions across the countries’ heavily armed border.
The remains are expected to be flown to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii for scientific testing to identify them.
The US military last month said that 100 wooden “temporary transit cases” built in Seoul were sent to the Joint Security Area at the Korean border as part of preparations to receive and transport remains in a dignified manner. US Forces Korea spokesman Col. Chad Carroll also said, at the time, that 158 metal transfer cases were sent to a US air base and would be used to send the remains home.
The remains are believed to be some of the more than 200 that North Korea has held in storage for some time, and were likely recovered from land during farming or construction. The vast majority of the war dead, however, have yet to be located and retrieved from cemeteries and battlefields across the countryside.
Efforts to recover American war dead had been stalled for more than a decade because of a standoff over North Korea’s nuclear program and a previous US claim that security arrangements for its personnel working in the North were insufficient.
From 1996 to 2005, joint US-North Korea military search teams conducted 33 recovery operations that collected 229 sets of American remains. The last time North Korea turned over remains was in 2007, when Bill Richardson, a former UN ambassador and New Mexico governor, secured the return of six sets.
The North marked Friday’s anniversary with ceremonies at war-related memorials; the capital Pyongyang and other cities were decked out in national flags and bright red banners. For the first time since 2015, Kim Jong Un has announced a general amnesty will be granted for prisoners who have committed crimes against the state.
North Korea has held out the return of remains as a symbol of its goodwill and intention to improve ties with Washington. Officials have bristled, however, at criticism from the US that it seeks to profit from the repatriations by demanding excessive fees for handling and transporting the remains.
Pyongyang has nevertheless expressed its willingness to allow the resumption of joint search missions in the country to retrieve more remains. Such missions had been held from 1996 until they were canceled by President George W. Bush amid heightening tensions over the North’s nuclear program in 2005.
Post Kim-Trump summit talks between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and senior North Korean officials got off to a rocky start earlier this month, with the North accusing the Americans of making “unilateral and gangster-like” demands on denuclearization. The North also said US officials came up with various “conditions and excuses” to backtrack on the issue of formally ending the war.
“The adoption of the declaration on the termination of war is the first and foremost process in the light of ending the extreme hostility and establishing new relations between the DPRK and the US,” the North’s Korean Central News Agency said in a statement on Tuesday, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. “Peace can come only after the declaration of the termination of war.”
Pompeo said Wednesday that a great deal of work remains ahead of a North Korea denuclearization deal, but he dodged requests to identify a specific denuclearization timeline in testimony to members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Experts say a declaration to officially end the war, which could also involve Seoul and Beijing, would make it easier for Pyongyang to direct the discussions with Washington toward a peace treaty, diplomatic recognition, security assurance and economic benefits. Some analysts believe that North Korea would eventually demand that the United States withdraw or dramatically reduce the 28,500 troops it keeps in South Korea as a deterrent.
Washington has maintained Pyongyang wouldn’t get sanctions relief and significant security and economic rewards unless it firmly commits to a process of completely and verifiably eliminating its nuclear weapons. There are lingering doubts on whether Kim would ever agree to fully relinquish his nukes, which he may see as a stronger guarantee of survival than whatever security assurance the United States could offer.
White House says North Korea returns remains of US war dead
White House says North Korea returns remains of US war dead
- North Korea transfers remains of soldiers from 1950-53 Korean War
- Transfer seen as positive gesture after landmark June summit
Germany welcomes release of German-Iranian rights activist from prison in Iran and her return home
- FM Annalena Baerbock: It’s ‘a great moment of joy that Nahid Taghavi can finally embrace her family again’
- Taghavi was arrested in October 2020 during a visit to Tehran and later sentenced to prison for alleged involvement in an ‘illegal group’
BERLIN: Germany’s foreign minister on Monday welcomed the release of a German-Iranian rights activist from prison in Iran and her return to Germany.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wrote on the social media platform X that it’s “a great moment of joy that Nahid Taghavi can finally embrace her family again.”
Baerbock retweeted a post by Taghavi’s daughter, Mariam Claren, with a photo of herself hugging her mother, which said: “It’s over. Nahid is free! After more than 4 years as a political prisoner in the Islamic Republic of Iran my mother Nahid Taghavi was freed and is back in Germany.”
The German Foreign Office expressed delight that Taghavi’s “time of suffering has come to an end and that she has been reunited with her family.”
“Ms. Taghavi and her family have endured unbearable hardship,” the ministry said, adding that the German government had worked hard for her “overdue release.”
Taghavi was sentenced to 10 years and eight months in prison in Iran in 2021.
Rights group Amnesty International, which lobbied for Taghavi’s release for years, said in a statement Monday that “after more than 1,500 days in arbitrary detention, Iranian-German women’s rights activist Nahid Taghavi has been released.”
“Since her arrest, Amnesty International had been campaigning for her unconditional release and an end to her persecution,” the group said, adding that Taghavi landed in Germany on Sunday.
Taghavi was arrested in October 2020 during a visit to Tehran and later sentenced to prison for alleged involvement in an “illegal group” and for “propaganda against the state” and was held incommunicado for months and tortured, Amnesty International said.
Afghanistan hails Saudi ties as Taliban FM meets Kingdom’s envoy in Kabul
- In 1996-2001, Taliban rule was recognized by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, UAE
- Saudi embassy in Kabul has been reopened since December
KABUL: Afghanistan’s acting foreign minister has said ties with Saudi Arabia were “invaluable” to the country, following his first meeting with Riyadh’s new envoy in Kabul.
Amir Khan Muttaqi held talks with the Saudi Ambassador to Afghanistan Faisal Torki Al-Buqam on Sunday, less than a month since the Kingdom reopened its embassy in the Afghan capital.
“The meeting underlined matters related to expanding bilateral relations between Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia,” foreign affairs ministry spokesperson Hafiz Zia Ahmad said in a statement.
“Welcoming the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia & calling Afghanistan-Saudi relations invaluable & historic, FM Muttaqi underscored the need to increase the exchange of delegations between the two countries.”
Saudi Arabia was among a host of nations that withdrew its diplomats from Kabul in August 2021, following the Taliban’s return to power and the withdrawal of US-led forces from Afghanistan.
Though the Taliban are not officially recognized by any country in the world, Saudi Arabia has joined a number of foreign governments in resuming the work of its diplomatic mission in Kabul.
The Kingdom has been providing consular services for Afghans since November 2021, and resumed sending aid through the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center later that same year.
“Our goal is to take advantage of the opportunities available to us,” Zakir Jalaly, director of the second political division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Arab News on Monday.
“We also welcomed the (reopening) of the Saudi embassy and expressed our desire to see increased cooperation between the two countries. Saudi Arabia’s religious, political, and regional position make relations with the country vital for Afghanistan.”
During the first Taliban stint in power in 1996-2001, their administration was recognized by three countries: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
Since they retook control of Afghanistan, the Taliban administration has been working to gain international recognition and dealing on a bilateral level with regional countries, including India, China, Central Asian republics, as well as Gulf nations.
“Resuming diplomatic relations with another country like Saudi Arabia means further steps toward legitimacy and recognition of the Islamic Emirate,” Abdul Saboor Mubariz, board member of the Center for Strategic and Regional Studies in Kabul, told Arab News.
“Cooperation between Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia can also be enhanced in other areas. For instance, Saudi Arabia needs a human workforce and Afghanistan can cooperate in this regard in case of an agreement and facilitation of work visas for Afghans … Afghanistan can also encourage Saudi Arabia to invest in the country.”
Azizullah Hafiz, a political science lecturer at the Ghalib University in the western city of Herat, said the Kingdom was a “very important country” at the global and regional level.
“Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan have had very long relations. Like other nations in the Muslim world, Afghans look at Saudi Arabia as a leader of the Islamic world and therefore, expect an active role from the country in Afghanistan,” Hafiz told Arab News.
Afghans also stand to benefit from critical humanitarian aid and development assistance, particularly through investment in infrastructure projects, he added.
“Presence of the Saudi ambassador in Kabul will facilitate direct engagement with the Afghan government and overcome concerns as it will also pave the way for enhanced cooperation in areas such as diplomacy, trade and investment.”
Mayor of opposition Istanbul stronghold arrested over bid-rigging claims
ISTANBUL: The mayor of one of Turkiye’s opposition strongholds was arrested Monday as part of a bid-rigging investigation, prosecutors in Istanbul said.
Riza Akpolat, who heads Besiktas municipality on the city’s European side, was detained at his summer house in Edremit on Turkiye’s west coast, private news agency DHA reported.
Besiktas has long been under the control of the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP. It is one of the city’s main entertainment centers and home to the famous soccer club of the same name.
“A criminal organization … organized the tender processes by bribing mayors and senior executives of municipalities and ensuring that their own companies were awarded the tenders,” the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.
CHP Chairman Ozgur Ozel described the arrest as “a new link in the chain of lawlessness in the politicized justice system” and vowed to stand by Akpolat.
The CHP mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, said the dawn raid on Akpolat’s home was part of an attempt to influence public opinion.
“The procedure of those who do not have legal intentions cannot be legal,” he said.
The prosecutor’s office said a three-month investigation led to arrest warrants for 47 people, including Akpolat and Ahmet Ozer, the CHP mayor of Istanbul’s Esenyurt district.
Ozer has been behind bars since October as part of a separate investigation into his alleged connections to the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.
The tender-rigging scheme was allegedly led by a man named Aziz Ihsan Aktas, prosecutors said. He and 24 other suspects were detained on charges of establishing and running a criminal organization, being members of a criminal organization, bribery, bid-rigging, violating tax laws and asset laundering.
Police set up barriers around Besiktas municipal offices while Akpolat’s office was searched and checked staff IDs before allowing workers to enter.
Akpolat, 42, was elected Besiktas mayor in 2019 with nearly three-quarters of the vote, having previously run unsuccessfully for parliament on the CHP ticket.
Along with other municipal officers, he was detained on charges of membership in a criminal organization, bid-rigging, bribery and unjust acquisition of property.
Since opposition parties successfully won control of major cities across Turkiye in 2019 — and retained them in last year’s local elections — local officials have often been arrested and removed from office. Members of the pro-Kurdish party have been the main targets over alleged ties to the PKK.
Two co-mayors from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party, or DEM, were jailed Monday pending trial on terrorism-related charges. A government-appointed trustee was placed to run the Akdeniz municipality in Mersin on Turkiye’s south coast.
Iran, European powers to hold nuclear talks ahead of Trump return
- The talks come as Iran’s nuclear program received renewed focus in light of Trump’s imminent return to the White House on January 20
GENEVA: Iran is set to hold nuclear talks with France, Britain and Germany on Monday, just a week before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
They are the second round of talks over Iran’s nuclear program in less than two months, following a discreet meeting held in Geneva, Switzerland, in November between Tehran and the three European powers, known as the E3.
“These are not negotiations,” the German foreign ministry told AFP. Iran has similarly emphasized that the talks are merely “consultations.”
The talks, scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, will cover a “wide range of topics,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said during a weekly press briefing.
“The primary objective of these talks is to remove the sanctions” on Iran, he noted, adding that Iran was also “listening to the... topics that the opposite parties want to raise.”
On Thursday, France’s foreign ministry said the meeting was a sign that the E3 countries “are continuing to work toward a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear program, the progress of which is extremely problematic.”
The talks come as Iran’s nuclear program received renewed focus in light of Trump’s imminent return to the White House on January 20.
During his first term, Trump had pursued a policy of “maximum pressure,” withdrawing the US from a landmark nuclear deal which imposed curbs on Iran’s nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.
Tehran adhered to the deal until Washington’s withdrawal, but then began rolling back its commitments.
Efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear pact have since faltered and European officials have repeatedly expressed frustrations over Tehran’s non-compliance.
’Breaking point’
Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron said the acceleration of Iran’s nuclear program is “bringing us very close to the breaking point.” Iran later blasted the comments as “baseless” and “deceitful.”
In December, Britain, Germany and France accused Tehran of growing its stockpile of high enriched uranium to “unprecedented levels” without “any credible civilian justification.”
“We reiterate our determination to use all diplomatic tools to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, including using snapback if necessary,” they added.
The snapback mechanism — part of the 2015 deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)-- allows signatories to reimpose United Nations sanctions on Iran in cases of the “significant non-performance” of commitments.
The option to trigger the mechanism expires in October this year, adding urgency to the ongoing diplomatic efforts.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear watchdog says Iran has increased its manufacturing of enriched uranium such that it is the only non-nuclear weapons state to possess uranium enriched to 60 percent.
That level is well on the way to the 90 percent required for an atomic bomb.
Iran maintains that its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes and denies any intention to develop atomic weapons.
It has also repeatedly expressed willingness to revive the deal.
President Masoud Pezeshkian, who took office in July, has favored reviving that agreement and called for ending his country’s isolation.
In a recent interview with China’s CCTV, foreign minister Abbas Araghchi also expressed willingness “to engage in constructive negotiations.”
“The formula that we believe in is the same as the previous JCPOA formula, namely, building trust on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions,” he added.
Brazil startup partners with agro firm to reforest degraded Amazon land
- Deal marks first time re.green restores farmer-owned land
- Reforestation business booming in Brazil ahead of COP30
SAO PAULO: Private equity-backed reforestation startup re.green has signed a partnership with Agro Penido to restore 600 hectares (1,482 acres) of land owned by the Brazilian agribusiness firm with native species from the Amazon rainforest, it said on Monday.
Their partnership is the latest deal for the nascent reforestation business in Brazil, home to most of the world’s largest rainforest and host of the COP30 UN climate summit this year in the Amazonian city of Belem.
Local startups including re.green, AXA-backed Mombak and Biomas — a firm established by Suzano, Santander, Vale, Marfrig, Rabobank and Itau — have been working to buy land or partner with local farmers to restore areas of the Amazon.
Turning degraded land into forests can generate carbon credits, which companies buy to offset their greenhouse gas emissions voluntarily or through regulated markets like the one Brazil has recently written into law.
Firms such as Alphabet’s unit Google, Microsoft , Facebook owner Meta and McLaren Racing have recently purchased carbon credits from Brazilian projects.
The new re.green deal represents the first time it is partnering to restore farmer-owned land, Chief Executive Thiago Picolo told Reuters, noting the firm has already bought 13,000 hectares from ranchers.
“Buying land is an important model, but we always knew that for re.green to reach the size it wants we would have to partner with landowners and involve them in this business,” Picolo said.
Re.green is backed by Brazilian billionaire Joao Moreira Salles and asset managers including Lanx Capital, Principia, Dynamo and Gavea Investimentos, which was founded by former Brazilian central bank governor Arminio Fraga.
Salles and Fraga are both on the board of re.green, whose goal is to restore 1 million hectares of land in Brazil, an area twice the size of Delaware. It announced a deal with Microsoft in May to restore 15,000 hectares in the Amazon.
The deal with Agro Penido covers areas near the Xingu Indigenous Park in Mato Grosso, Brazil’s largest grain-producing state. Picolo said re.green plans to restore forests in less productive parts of Agro Penido’s farms, some of which may yield lumber in addition to carbon credits.
Picolo said the first phase of their partnership has the potential to produce some 300,000 carbon credits over the next few decades, each representing the removal of a metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent from the atmosphere.
He said re.green can sell its reforestation-based credits at a premium, fetching some $50 to $100 in private deals.
Scientists consider the Amazon’s protection vital to curbing climate change because of the vast amount of climate-warming carbon dioxide its trees absorb. Some critics complain the offsets allow polluters to avoid reducing their emissions.
Agro Penido, which has a separate joint venture with grains powerhouse SLC Agricola, currently has nearly 40,000 hectares producing soybeans, corn and cotton, which it aims to expand to 65,000 hectares by 2027/28.
“This is a start,” said Caio Penido, one of the owners, about the re.green deal. He added they would now evaluate other areas owned by the firm, noting it was possible for the project to double its scope to 1,200 hectares. (Reporting by Gabriel Araujo Editing by Brad Haynes and Diane Craft)
