SEOUL: South Korea has proposed semiofficial three-way talks with the United States and North Korea as it struggles to put nuclear diplomacy back on track after the collapse of a summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The proposal for the talks came during a National Security Council meeting on Monday led by South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who said it was Seoul's "outmost priority" to prevent nuclear negotiations between the US and North Korea from derailing.
At the meeting in Seoul's presidential palace, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said the proposed talks, which could include civilian experts from the US and South Korea, would help settle differences over how much sanctions relief Washington should provide North Korea in exchange for nuclear disarmament steps.
Last week's meeting between Trump and Kim in Vietnam broke down over what the Americans said were North Korea's excessive demands for sanctions relief in exchange for a limited offer to shut down its aging main nuclear complex in Yongbyon. North Korea reportedly has other sites producing weapons-grade uranium hidden around the country.
Kang said the core issue is determining what disarmament steps North Korea could be persuaded to take in exchange for sanctions relief.
Moon lobbied hard for the revival of nuclear diplomacy between the US and North Korea following elevated tensions in 2017 over North Korea's missile and nuclear tests and Trump's threats to bring "fire and fury" on the North. Some experts say the breakdown of the Trump-Kim talks in Vietnam raised further doubts about Moon's claim that Kim is genuinely interested in dealing away his nuclear weapons and about Moon's role as mediator.
"We hope that both countries will continue their dialogue and that their leaders meet again quickly to reach an agreement that was held off this time," Moon said at Monday's meeting, which was also attended by the prime minister, spy chief and ministers of defense and inter-Korean affairs.
"In the process, our role has become important once again," Moon said. "While I believe the United States-North Korea negotiations will eventually reach an agreement, it's never desirable for a vacuum in dialogue or stalemate to be prolonged," he said, urging South Korean officials to find ways for the US and North Korea to narrow their differences.
Moon said South Korea will continue to push ahead with engagement with North Korea within the boundaries of US-led international sanctions against the North.
Moon has prioritized stabilizing bilateral relations with North Korea amid the larger nuclear negotiations between the US and North Korea, saying inter-Korean reconciliation will drive progress in nuclear talks. But his call for partial sanctions relief to encourage nuclear disarmament steps by North Korea has caused disagreements with Washington, which does not want to give up what it sees as its main leverage with the North.
Moon's government plans to hold discussions with the United States over the possibility of restarting operations at a joint Korean factory park in the North Korean border town of Kaesong and tours by South Koreans to the North's Diamond Mountain resort. These projects provided much-needed cash to North Korea before the South shut them down during past periods of tensions.
While Moon's spokesman said South Korea will see if there's any possible way to restart the projects under the "framework" of current U.N. and US sanctions, experts say that would be impossible.
The U.N. Security Council has so far restricted sanctions exemptions to non-commercial infrastructure projects and would likely need to pass an entirely new resolution on North Korea for inter-Korean economic activities to resume, which is difficult to imagine until Kim takes deeper steps toward completely and verifiably relinquishing his nuclear weapons, said Lim Soo-ho, an analyst at the Seoul-based Institute for National Security.
Under US laws, Trump would need to go through an involved process to soften US unilateral sanctions against the North, which would put South Korean companies doing business in the North under the threat of US boycotts.
Moon helped set up the first summit between Trump and Kim last June in Singapore, where they issued a vague aspirational statement about a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula, without describing how or when it would occur.
Moon said the collapse of the second Trump-Kim summit was "very regrettable," but the talks were still meaningful because they included specific discussions of disarmament steps, sanctions and the possible establishment of liaison offices.
Washington and Seoul announced on Sunday that they will eliminate massive annual springtime military drills and replace them with smaller exercises, in what they called an effort to support diplomacy with North Korea.
On Monday, their militaries began a new computer-simulated exercise dubbed "Dong Maeng," or "Alliance," which runs until next Tuesday.
Some analysts say the conversion to smaller exercises and simulations will weaken the allies' military readiness when North Korea has yet to take real steps toward disarmament.
Seoul calls for three-way talks after Trump-Kim collapse
Seoul calls for three-way talks after Trump-Kim collapse
- Moon Jae-in said Seoul's "outmost priority" to prevent nuclear negotiations between the US and North Korea from derailing
Taiwan says 41 Chinese military aircraft, ships detected ahead of Lai US stopover
- The figure was the highest in more than three weeks, according to a tally of figures released daily by Taiwan’s defense ministry
TAIPEI: Taiwan said Friday it had detected 41 Chinese military aircraft and ships around the island ahead of a Hawaii stopover by President Lai Ching-te, part of a Pacific tour that has sparked fury in Beijing.
The figure was the highest in more than three weeks, according to an AFP tally of figures released daily by Taiwan’s defense ministry.
China insists self-ruled Taiwan is part of its territory, which Taipei rejects.
To press its claims, China deploys fighter jets, drones and warships around Taiwan on a near-daily basis, with the number of sorties increasing in recent years.
In the 24 hours to 6:00 a.m. on Friday, Taiwan’s defense ministry said it had detected 33 Chinese aircraft and eight navy vessels in its airspace and waters.
That included 19 aircraft that took part in China’s “joint combat readiness patrol” on Thursday evening and was the highest number since November 4.
Taiwan also spotted a balloon — the fourth since Sunday — about 172 kilometers west of the island.
UN plastic treaty talks push for breakthrough as deadline looms
- South Korea is hosting the fifth and final UN Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee meeting to agree globally binding rules on plastics this week
BUSAN, South Korea: Negotiators at the fifth round of talks aimed at securing an international treaty to curb plastic pollution were striving on Friday to speed up sluggish proceedings and reach a deal by a Dec. 1 deadline.
South Korea is hosting the fifth and final UN Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) meeting to agree globally binding rules on plastics this week.
Until Thursday, several delegates from around 175 countries participating had expressed frustration about the slow pace of the talks amid disagreements over procedure, multiple proposals and some negotiations even returning to ground covered in the past.
In an attempt to speed up the process, INC Chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso is holding informal meetings on Friday to try and tackle the most divisive issues.
These issues include curbing plastic products and chemicals of concern, managing the supply of primary polymers, and a financial mechanism to help developing countries implement the treaty.
Petrochemical-producing nations such as Saudi Arabia strongly oppose efforts to target a cap on plastic production, over the protests of countries that bear the brunt of plastic pollution such as low- and middle-income nations.
While supporting an international treaty, the petrochemical industry has also been vocal in urging governments to avoid setting mandatory plastic production caps, and focus instead on solutions to reduce plastic waste, like recycling.
The INC plans an open a plenary session at 7 p.m. (1000 GMT) on Friday that will provide an indication of how close the talks have moved toward a treaty.
New Zealand navy vessel hit reef, sank after ‘autopilot’ error: inquiry
- Dozens of sailors were rescued from the HMNZS Manawanui in October after it struck a reef
- Vessel burst into flames and finally sank south of Samoa’s most populous island Upolu
WELLINGTON: A New Zealand navy vessel plowed into a reef near Samoa and sank because its crew mistakenly left it on “autopilot,” a military inquiry found on Friday.
Dozens of sailors were rescued from the HMNZS Manawanui in October after it struck a reef, burst into flames and finally sank south of Samoa’s most populous island Upolu.
One of just nine commissioned ships in New Zealand’s small naval fleet, the Manawanui had been dispatched to map the ocean floor.
A military court of inquiry on Friday found the survey vessel had been scuttled because its “autopilot was not disengaged when it should have been.”
“Remaining in autopilot resulted in the ship maintaining a course toward land, until grounding and eventually stranding.”
Crewmembers noticed the ship had veered off course and tried to change direction, believing they had lost control due to a “thruster control failure.”
But they forgot to check if the autopilot had been disengaged first, the tribunal found.
Rather than steering away from danger, the ship “started to accelerate toward the reef.”
Defense Minister Judith Collins said the debacle had “really knocked Navy for six.”
“It was a terrible day. The navy and the defense force are not shying away from this.
“It was extremely disappointing. But that’s what has happened.”
The shipwreck settled on a stable section of reef some 30 meters below the surface.
It was carrying 950 tonnes of diesel when it sank, stirring fears of an oil slick that could kill wildlife and taint crucial food sources.
New Zealand’s navy has said previously that the main fuel tanks appeared to be intact.
Salvage crews were working to retrieve the fuel without major leaks.
No one died in the incident, although a small number of sailors suffered minor injuries.
Protesters clash with police in Georgia over government’s EU application delay
- Government suspends EU accession talks until 2028
- Georgian Dream has deepened ties with Russia amid EU tensions
TBILISI: Police clashed with protesters in the Georgian capital Tbilisi early on Friday, after the country’s ruling party said the government would suspend talks on European Union accession and refuse budgetary grants until 2028.
The country’s interior ministry said three police officers were injured.
Police ordered protesters to disperse, fired water cannon and deployed pepper spray and tear gas as masked young people tried to smash their way into the parliament. Some protesters tossed fireworks at police while shouting “Russians” and “Slaves!“
Georgia’s relations with the EU have deteriorated sharply in recent months as Brussels has alleged that the government had resorted to authoritarian measures and adopted pro-Russian stands.
Thousands of pro-EU protesters had blocked streets in the capital before the altercations began. The country’s figurehead president accused the government of declaring “war” on its own people and confronted riot police, asking whether they served Georgia or Russia.
The Georgian Dream governing bloc accused the EU of “a cascade of insults,” saying in a statement it was using the prospect of accession talks to “blackmail” the country, and to “organize a revolution in the country.”
As a result, it said: “We have decided not to put the issue of opening negotiations with the European Union on the agenda until the end of 2028. Also, we refuse any budgetary grant from the European Union until the end of 2028.”
The South Caucasus country of 3.7 million has the aim of EU accession written into its constitution and has long been among the most pro-Western of the Soviet Union’s successor states.
With months of downturn in relations between Tbilisi and Brussels, the EU had already said that Georgia’s application for membership was frozen.
Georgian Dream says it is not pro-Russian, and that it is committed to democracy and integration with the West.
It says it still wants to join the EU eventually, but has repeatedly engaged in diplomatic feuds with Brussels in recent years, whilst deepening ties with neighboring Russia.
There was no immediate formal comment from the EU on Georgian Dream’s statement. But an EU official said the impact of Thursday’s move was huge, adding the government was doing what the EU had feared and had hoped it would not.
Opinion polls show that around 80 percent of Georgians support EU membership, and the bloc’s flag flies alongside the national flag outside virtually all government buildings in the country.
The pro-Western opposition reacted to Georgian Dream’s announcement with fury as protesters massed. Local media reported that protests that erupted in provincial cities.
’WAR’ AGAINST PEOPLE
Giorgi Vashadze, a prominent opposition leader, wrote on Facebook: “the self-proclaimed, illegitimate government has already legally signed the betrayal of Georgia and the Georgian people.”
President Salome Zourabichvili, a pro-EU critic of Georgian Dream whose powers are mostly ceremonial, said the ruling party had “declared not peace, but war against its own people, its past and future.”
Zourabichvili’s term ends in December, and Georgian Dream has nominated a former lawmaker with hard-line anti-Western views to replace her.
The opposition says that an October election, in which official results gave the Georgian Dream bloc almost 54 percent of the vote, was fraudulent and have refused to take their seats. Western countries demand a probe into irregularities.
Both Georgian Dream and the country’s election commission say the election was free and fair.
Earlier on Thursday, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze told journalists that EU membership might harm Georgia’s economy, as it would require Tbilisi to cancel visa-free agreements and trade deals with other countries.
The EU gave Georgia candidate status in December 2023, but has said that a raft of laws passed since by Georgian Dream, including curbs on “foreign agents” and LGBT rights, are authoritarian, Russian-inspired, and obstacles to EU membership.
Foreign and domestic critics of Georgian Dream say the party, which is seen as dominated by its billionaire founder, ex-prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, is steering Georgia back toward Moscow, from which it gained independence in 1991.
Russia and Georgia have had no formal diplomatic relations since Moscow won a brief 2008 war, but have had a limited rapprochement recently.
Opinion polls show most Georgians dislike Russia, which continues to back two breakaway Georgian regions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking during a visit to Kazakhstan, praised the “courage and character” he said Georgian authorities had shown in passing the law on foreign agents, which domestic critics have likened to Russian legislation. (Reporting by Felix Light Additional reporting by Lili Bayer in Brussels Editing by Mark Trevelyan, Andrew Osborn, William Maclean, Frances Kerry and Ron Popeski)
Russian air defenses destroy, down 30 Ukrainian drones in Rostov region
Russian air defenses destroyed or downed 30 Ukrainian drones in southern Rostov region early on Friday, Regional Governor Yuri Slyusar said.
Slyusar, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said some private homes in two villages had sustained some damage, but there were no casualties.
