HANOI: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump both arrived in Vietnam on Tuesday, the eve of their second summit at which they will tackle how to implement a North Korean pledge to give up its nuclear weapons.
Trump flew into the capital Hanoi on Air Force One, touching down just before 9 p.m. local time.
Kim arrived by train earlier in the day after a three-day, 3,000 km (1,850 mile) journey from his capital, Pyongyang, through China. He completed the last stretch from a border station to Hanoi by car.
The two leaders, who seemed to strike up a surprisingly warm relationship at their first summit in Singapore last June, will meet for a brief one-on-one conversation on Wednesday evening, followed by a dinner, at which they will each be accompanied by two guests and interpreters, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters.
They will meet again on Thursday, she said.
Their talks come eight months after the historic summit in Singapore, the first between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader.
While the first meeting was all about breaking the ice after decades of war and bitter animosity between their countries, this time there will be pressure on both to move beyond the vaguely worded commitment they made in Singapore to work toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
Trump’s critics at home have warned him against cutting a deal that would do little to curb North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, urging specific, verifiable North Korean action to abandon the nuclear weapons that threaten the United States.
In return, Kim would expect significant US concessions such as relief from punishing sanctions and a declaration that the 1950-53 Korean War is at last formally over.
Vietnamese officials were on hand to greet Kim at the station in Dong Dang town after he crossed the border from China. He got a red-carpet welcome with honor guard, military band and fluttering North Korean and Vietnamese flags.
Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, who has emerged as an important aide, arrived with him.
About a dozen bodyguards briefly ran alongside Kim’s car as he set off for the two-hour journey to Hanoi, smiling and waving to children lining the route from his limousine.
Roads were closed with Vietnamese security forces in armored-personnel carriers guarding the route to the city’s Melia hotel where he is staying.
Vietnamese authorities have been tight-lipped about the summit and have yet to announce where the two will meet.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also arrived on Tuesday and met Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh for talks.
Trump told reporters before he left he and Kim would have “a very tremendous summit.”
Tweeting on Monday, he stressed the benefits to North Korea if it gave up its nuclear weapons. “With complete Denuclearization, North Korea will rapidly become an Economic Powerhouse. Without it, just more of the same. Chairman Kim will make a wise decision!” Trump said.
In a speech late on Sunday, Trump, however, appeared to play down the possibility of a major breakthrough, saying he would be happy as long as North Korea maintained its pause on weapons testing.
“I’m not in a rush,” he said. “I just don’t want testing. As long as there’s no testing, we’re happy.”
North Korea conducted its last nuclear test in September 2017 and its last intercontinental ballistic missile test in November 2017.
Analysts say the two leaders have to move beyond summit symbolism.
“The most basic yet urgent task is to come to a shared understanding of what denuclearization would entail,” said Gi-Wook Shin, director of Stanford’s Asia-Pacific Research Center.
“The ambiguity and obscurity of the term ‘denuclearization’ only exacerbates the skepticism about both the US and North Korean commitments to denuclearization.”
While the United States is demanding North Korea give up all of its nuclear and missile programs, North Korea wants to see the removal of the US nuclear umbrella for South Korea.
A South Korean presidential spokesman told reporters in Seoul the two sides might be able to agree to a formal end of the Korean War, which was concluded with an armistice not a peace treaty, a move North Korea has long sought.
Protesters in Seoul tore up photographs of Kim and threw them to the ground to highlight their dismay that North Korea’s grim human rights record was not expected to figure in talks.
Amnesty International said Trump had disregarded human rights to gain favor with Kim.
“His silence in the face of relentless and grave human rights violations has been deafening,” it said.
Donald Trump lands in Vietnam for second summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un
Donald Trump lands in Vietnam for second summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un
- Trump flew into the capital Hanoi on Air Force One
- Kim arrived by train earlier in the day after a three-day, 3,000 km (1,850 mile) journey from his capital, Pyongyang
Trump cabinet pick criticizes New York’s deal to rent Pakistan’s Roosevelt Hotel for $220 million
- Vivek Ramaswamy has been picked by Trump to co-lead ‘Department of Government Efficiency’
- New York’s iconic Roosevelt Hotel was repurposed into an arrival center for migrants last year
ISLAMABAD: Vivek Ramaswamy, US President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to co-lead a new government department, on Sunday criticized a deal by the New York City government to rent the Pakistan-owned Roosevelt Hotel for a whopping $220 million for what he said were “illegal migrants.”
Cash-strapped Pakistan rented out its iconic Roosevelt Hotel to the New York City government for three years, as per an agreement reached last year.
Pakistan’s then aviation minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said that the New York administration would pay a rent of as much as $210 for each of the 1,025 rooms of the century-old hotel owned by the state-run Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
The New York City administration has repurposed the Roosevelt Hotel as an arrival center for migrants where they can get access to vaccines, food and other resources.
“A taxpayer-funded hotel for illegal migrants is owned by the Pakistani government which means NYC taxpayers are effectively paying a foreign government to house illegals in our own country,” Ramaswamy wrote on social media platform X, responding to a post by American author John Lefevre.
“This is nuts.”
Roosevelt Hotel was closed by Pakistani authorities in October 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic, as the country’s economy weakened and the aviation sector faced significant losses.
However, the facility accumulated liabilities of around $25 million in taxes and other overheads.
Ramaswamy, a former Republican presidential candidate, will co-lead a newly created Department of Government Efficiency with billionaire Elon Musk. Trump has indicated the department will operate outside the confines of government.
Thailand protests Myanmar’s navy firing at Thai fishing boats
- Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra questioned claims that the fishing boats had intruded into Myanmar’s territorial waters
- Thailand seeking more details on the incident and a quick release of four Thai nationals who were among the 31 fishermen detained
BANGKOK: Thailand protested an incident involving Myanmar’s navy firing on Thai fishing vessels, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said on Sunday, after one fisherman drowned, two were injured and dozens were detained from one of the boats.
Shinawatra questioned claims that the fishing boats had intruded into Myanmar’s territorial waters when Myanmar’s navy opened fire on the vessels on Saturday.
The Thai defense ministry earlier said two of 15 Thai fishing vessels were fired on when they were 4-5.7 nautical miles (7.4-10.6 km) inside Myanmar’s territorial waters near the southern Thai province of Ranong.
“It is inconclusive,” Shinawatra said, when asked by reporters whether Thai fishing boats encroached on Myanmar’s territorial waters.
“We don’t support violence whatever the circumstances,” she said, adding that Thailand was seeking more details on the incident and a quick release of four Thai nationals who were among the 31 fishermen detained.
Myanmar’s ruling junta did not immediately respond to a telephone request for comment.
Thai Defense Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said a letter protesting the use of force was sent to Myanmar through a local border mechanism, demanding clear details about what happened and a quick return of the Thai boat and crew detained.
Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa also issued a letter of concern over the incident to the Myanmar government and summoned the Myanmar ambassador for a meeting on Monday, seeking clarification about what happened and a quick release of the four Thai nationals.
Myanmar has been in crisis since 2021 when the military seized power, toppling an elected government and sparking an armed rebellion by crushing protests with lethal force.
Pakistan national airline hopes to resume Europe flights soon after regulator lifts ban
- The European Union Aviation Safety Agency suspended PIA’s authorization to operate in the EU in June 2020
- Once PIA gets approval for UK flights, London, Manchester, and Birmingham would be the most sought-after destinations
KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) said on Sunday it expects to resume European routes soon and is eyeing several UK destinations after the EU aviation regulator lifted its bar on the flag carrier.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) suspended PIA’s authorization to operate in the EU in June 2020 over concerns about the ability of Pakistani authorities and its Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) to ensure compliance with international aviation standards.
“PIA plans to approach the UK’s Department for Transport (DfT) for UK route resumption, as EASA clearance is a prerequisite for their decision,” PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez Khan told Reuters.
EASA and UK authorities suspended permission for PIA to operate in the region after Pakistan began investigating the validity of pilots’ licenses following a deadly plane crash that killed 97 people.
Khan said the airline expects to resume flights to Europe, starting with Paris, within the next three to four weeks.
Once PIA gets approval for UK flights, Khan said London, Manchester, and Birmingham would be the most sought-after destinations.
PIA and the government, which is aiming to sell a 60 percent stake in the carrier, had urged EASA to lift the ban, even provisionally. The ban cost the airline 40 billion rupees ($144 million) annually in revenue.
Khan said the company has sufficient cash flow to add new routes. Decisions on leasing new aircraft will be made after the government finalizes privatization discussions, he said.
The loss-making national carrier has a 23 percent stake in Pakistan’s domestic aviation market, but its 34-plane fleet can’t compete with Middle Eastern carriers which hold a 60 percent market share, due to a lack of direct flights, despite having agreements with 87 countries and key landing slots.
The government’s attempt to privatize the airline fell flat when it received only a single offer, well below its asking price.
“With Europe now, and upcoming UK routes, we anticipate increased revenue potential and hence a rise in PIA’s value during the privatization process,” Khan said.
New EU chiefs visit Kyiv on first day of mandate
- The European Union’s new leadership team is keen to demonstrate it remains firm on backing Kyiv at a perilous moment for Ukraine
- Questions are swirling around the future of US support once Donald Trump assumes office in January
Kyiv: The EU’s new top diplomat Kaja Kallas and head of the European Council Antonio Costa arrived in Kyiv Sunday in a symbolic show of support for Ukraine on their first day in office.
“We came to give a clear message that we stand with Ukraine, and we continue to give our full support,” Costa told media outlets including AFP accompanying them on the trip.
The European Union’s new leadership team is keen to demonstrate it remains firm on backing Kyiv at a perilous moment for Ukraine nearly three years into its fight against Russia’s all-out invasion.
Questions are swirling around the future of US support once Donald Trump assumes office in January and there are fears he could force Kyiv to make painful concessions in pursuit of a quick peace deal.
Meanwhile, tensions have escalated as Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to strike government buildings in Kyiv with his new Oreshnik missile after firing it at Ukraine for the first time last month.
The Kremlin leader said the move is a response to Kyiv getting the green light to strike inside Russia with American and British missiles, and he has threatened to hit back against the countries supplying the weaponry.
As winter begins Russia has also unleashed devastating barrages against Ukraine’s power grid and on the frontline Kyiv’s fatigued forces are losing ground to Moscow’s grinding offensive.
“The situation in Ukraine is very, very grave,” Kallas, a former prime minister of Estonia, said. “But it’s clear that it comes at a very high cost for Russia as well.”
Ceasefire?
The new EU leaders — the bloc’s top officials along with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen — were set to hold talks with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky on Friday appeared to begin staking out his position ahead of any potential peace talks.
He called on NATO to offer guaranteed protections to parts of Ukraine controlled by Kyiv in order to “stop the hot stage of the war,” and implied he would then be willing to wait to regain other territory seized by Russia.
“If we speak ceasefire, (we need) guarantees that Putin will not come back,” Zelensky told Britain’s Sky News.
Kallas said that “the strongest security guarantee is NATO membership.”
“We need to definitely discuss this — if Ukraine decides to draw the line somewhere then how can we secure peace so that Putin doesn’t go any further,” she said.
Diplomats at NATO say there appears little prospect of the alliance granting Ukraine membership soon given opposition from a raft of members cautious of getting dragged into war with Russia.
Kallas said the EU “shouldn’t really rule out anything” in terms of the question of sending European troops to help enforce any ceasefire.
“We should have this strategic ambiguity around this,” she said.
’Transactional language’
Trump has cast doubt on continuing Washington’s vast aid for Ukraine and called on EU countries to do more.
Europe together has spent around $125 billion on supporting Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion, while the United States alone has coughed up over $90 billion, according to a tracker from the Kiel Institute.
Kallas said the EU would use a “transactional language” to try to convince Trump that backing Kyiv was in the interest of the US.
“Aid for Ukraine is not charity,” she said. “A victory for Russia definitely emboldens China, Iran, North Korea.”
The new EU foreign policy chief said the bloc would continue seeking to put Ukraine in the “strongest” position — if and when Kyiv chose it was time to negotiate with Moscow.
But she conceded that it was becoming “increasingly difficult” for the 27-nation bloc to agree on new ways to ramp up support for Ukraine.
“This war has been going on for quite some time and it is harder and harder to explain it to our own people,” she said. “But I don’t see any option.”
Russian drones target Kyiv in overnight strike
- Russia has regularly sent missiles and drones at Ukrainian settlements far beyond the front line
KYIV: Russia launched attack drones at Kyiv in its latest overnight air strike on the Ukrainian capital, city officials said on Sunday.
Air defenses destroyed around a dozen drones over the city, according to military administrator Serhiy Popko. No injuries were reported after debris fell on one city district, he said.
Reuters correspondents heard explosions above the city later in the morning during the second air-raid alert of the day.
Russia has regularly sent missiles and drones at Ukrainian settlements far beyond the front line of its nearly three-year-old invasion, targeting the energy grid in particular as winter sets in.
