SEOUL: US President Joe Biden and South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol said after meeting Saturday that they will consider expanded military exercises to deter the nuclear threat from North Korea at a time when there’s little hope of real diplomacy on the matter.
Yoon affirmed in remarks at a news conference that their shared goal is the complete denuclearization of North Korea. The US and South Korea issued a joint statement that said they were committed to a “rules-based international order” following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The statement likely sets the stage for how the US and its allies will address any challenges with North Korea.
The statement may draw an angry response from North Korea, which had defended its nuclear weapons and missile development on what it perceives as US threats and long described the U.S-South Korea military exercises as invasion rehearsals, although the allies have described the drills as defensive.
Yet Biden also reiterated his offer of vaccines to North Korea as the coronavirus spreads at a dangerously fast speed through that country. He also said he’s prepared to meet with Kim Jong Un provided the North Korean leader is “sincere” and “serious.”
“Yes, we’ve offered vaccines, not only to North Korea but China as well,” Biden said. “We’re prepared to do that immediately. We’ve gotten no response.”
The division of the Korean peninsula after World War II has led to two radically different countries. In South Korea, Biden is touring factories for computer chips and next-generation autos in a democracy and engaging in talks for greater cooperation. But in the North, there is a deadly coronavirus outbreak in a largely unvaccinated autocracy that can best command the world’s attention by flexing its nuclear capabilities.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One as Biden flew to South Korea, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the US has coordinated with Seoul and Tokyo on how they’ll respond should the North conduct a nuclear test or missile strike while Biden is in the region or soon after. Sullivan also spoke with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi earlier in the week and urged Beijing to use its influence to persuade the North to cease the tests.
As part of a five-day visit in Asia, Biden spent Saturday developing his relationship with Yoon, who assumed office little more than a week ago.
In advance of the meeting, there have been worries in Seoul that Washington is slipping back to the Obama administration’s “strategic patience” policy of ignoring North Korea until it demonstrates seriousness about denuclearization, an approach that was criticized for neglecting the North as it made huge strides in building its nuclear arsenal.
The US president opened Saturday by laying a wreath at Seoul National Cemetery, wearing white gloves and a somber expression as he also burned incense and then signed a guest book. Biden then greeted Yoon at the People’s House for a nearly two-hour meeting and brief public remarks. The pair will also hold a joint news conference and attend a leaders’ dinner at the National Museum of Korea.
In addition to North Korea, both leaders emphasized economic security and growing trade relations as two Korean industrial stalwarts — Samsung and Hyundai — are opening major plants in the US
Biden faces growing disapproval within the US over inflation near a 40-year high, but his administration sees one clear economic win in the contest with China for influence in the Pacific. Bloomberg Economics Analysis estimates that the US economy will grow faster this year than China for the first time since 1976, a forecast that White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre credited to Biden’s spending on coronavirus relief and infrastructure that led to faster job growth.
The national security event that is galvanizing broader discussions between the two countries has been Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a war that has led to an unprecedented set of sanctions by the US and its allies.
South Korea joined the US in imposing export controls against Russia and blocking Russian banks from the SWIFT payments system. Its participation was key to stopping Russia’s access to computer chips and other technologies needed for weapons and economic development.
At the start of the administration, many White House officials thought that Kim’s nuclear ambitions would prove to be perhaps the administration’s most vexing challenge and that the North Korean leader would aim to test Biden’s mettle early in his time in office.
Through the first 14 months of Biden’s administration, Pyongyang held off on missile tests even as it ignored efforts by the administration to reach out through back channels in hopes of restarting talks that could lead to the North’s denuclearization in return for sanctions relief.
But the quiet didn’t last. North Korea has tested missiles 16 separate times this year, including in March, when its first flight of an intercontinental ballistic missile since 2017 demonstrated a potential range including the entire US mainland.
The Biden administration is calling on China to restrain North Korea from engaging in any missile or nuclear tests. Speaking on Air Force One, Sullivan said Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping could hold a phone call in the coming weeks.
Biden has fiercely criticized Beijing over its human rights record, trade practices, military harassment of the self-ruled island of Taiwan and more. And while Biden has made clear that he sees China as the United States’ greatest economic and national security competitor, he says it is crucial to keep the lines of communication open so the two powers can cooperate on issues of mutual concern. North Korea is perhaps highest on that list.
White House officials said Biden won’t visit the Demilitarized Zone dividing the Korean peninsula during his trip — something that’s become standard for presidents during Seoul visits dating back to Ronald Reagan. Biden visited the DMZ in 2013 as vice president. Sullivan said the president’s decision to skip the stop this time wasn’t driven by security concerns.
Instead, Biden on Sunday will visit the Air Operations Center’s Combat Operations Floor on Osan Air Base, south of Seoul. The US sees it as one of the most critical installations in Northeast Asia.
US, South Korea open to expanded military drills to deter North Korea
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US, South Korea open to expanded military drills to deter North Korea
- One mission will be reassuring South Korea about the US commitment to countering North Korea’s Kim Jong Un
French prisons attacked in response to government’s narco crackdown, minister says
“Attempts have been made to intimidate staff in several prisons, ranging from burning vehicles to firing automatic weapons,” Darmanin wrote on X
PARIS: Multiple French prisons have been attacked in recent nights, including with automatic weapons, in what the justice minister said on Tuesday was a response to a government clamp-down on a drug trade turbocharged by a surge in cocaine trafficking.
Military-grade weapons were fired at entrance to Toulon prison, in southern France, the prison officials’ union UFAP said.
Vehicles were also set on fire outside the jails in Villepinte, Nanterre, Aix-Luynes, and Valence, UFAP said. In Nancy, a prison officer was threatened at their home, while in Marseille there was an attempted arson attack.
Years of record South American cocaine imports to Europe have metastasised local drug markets, sparking a wave of drug violence across the continent.
France has not been spared, with record cocaine seizures, and gangs reaping windfalls from the white powder as they expand from traditional power bases in cities such as Marseille into smaller regional towns unaccustomed to drug violence.
Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin, who plans to build new high-security prisons to crack down on gangsters who run their empires from behind bars, said he would travel to Toulon.
“Attempts have been made to intimidate staff in several prisons, ranging from burning vehicles to firing automatic weapons,” Darmanin wrote on X. “The French Republic is facing up to the problem of drug trafficking and is taking measures that will massively disrupt the criminal networks.”
The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) said it had taken charge of the probe into the attacks, which also targeted the National School of Prison Administration. The PNAT said officers from France’s domestic intelligence agency DGSI would assist in the investigation.
It was not immediately clear why the PNAT, rather than organized crime prosecutors, was in charge. The letters “DDPF” — apparently an acronym for “French prisoners’ rights” — were tagged on many of the sites that were attacked, leading to some media speculation it could be the work of a militant group.
Wilfried Fonck, national secretary of the UFAP, told Reuters he was unaware of any such movement operating in French jails, but said that was almost certainly why PNAT had taken charge of the investigation.
RECORD COCAINE SEIZURES
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said he had instructed local prefects, alongside the police and gendarmerie, to immediately step up the protection of staff and prisons.
“These targeted, cowardly, and heinous attacks aim to terrorize those who embody the authority of the State and ensure the safety of all on a daily basis, even at the cost of their own peace of mind,” UFAP said. “Prison staff are not cannon fodder.”
The rise in gang crime has lifted support for the far-right National Rally party, and helped drag French politics rightward.
Darmanin, a former interior minister, and Retailleau have prioritized tackling drug trafficking.
In February — as he announced record cocaine seizures of 47 tons in the first 11 months of 2024, versus 23 tons in all of 2023 — Retailleau said France had been hit by a “white tsunami” that had rewritten the rules of the criminal landscape.
Darmanin has proposed a series of measures to tighten prison security, including building high-security jails to isolate the country’s top 100 kingpins.
Lawmakers are also close to approving a sweeping new anti-drug trafficking law that would create a new national organized crime prosecutors’ office and give greater investigative powers to police probing narcos.
French authorities scored a win against drug crime in February, when they recaptured Mohamed Amra, a French fugitive known as “The Fly.” His escape as he was being transported from prison to a court hearing resulted in the deaths of two prison guards and was seized upon by right-wing politicians as evidence that France had lost its grip on drug crime.
Multiple French prisons have been attacked in recent nights, including with automatic weapons, in what the justice minister said on Tuesday was a response to a government clamp-down on a drug trade turbocharged by a surge in cocaine trafficking. (AFP/File)
Maldives ban Israelis to protest Gaza war
- President Mohamed Muizzu ratified the legislation shortly after it was approved by parliament on Tuesday
- Official data showed that only 59 Israeli tourists visited the archipelago in February, among 214,000 other foreign arrivals
MALE, Maldives: The Maldives announced Tuesday it was banning the entry of Israelis from the luxury tourist archipelago in “resolute solidarity” with the Palestinian people.
President Mohamed Muizzu ratified the legislation shortly after it was approved by parliament on Tuesday.
“The ratification reflects the government’s firm stance in response to the continuing atrocities and ongoing acts of genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinian people,” his office said in a statement.
“The Maldives reaffirms its resolute solidarity with the Palestinian cause.”
The ban will be implemented with immediate effect, a spokesman for Muizzu’s office said.
The Maldives, a small Islamic republic of 1,192 strategically located coral islets, is known for its secluded white sandy beaches, shallow turquoise lagoons and Robinson Crusoe-style getaways.
Official data showed that only 59 Israeli tourists visited the archipelago in February, among 214,000 other foreign arrivals.
The Maldives had lifted a previous ban on Israeli tourists in the early 1990s and briefly moved to restore relations in 2010.
Opposition parties and government allies in the Maldives have been pressuring Muizzu to ban Israelis as a statement of opposition to the Gaza war.
Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged its citizens last year to avoid traveling to the Maldives.
The Gaza war broke out after Palestinian militant group Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Gaza’s health ministry said on Sunday that at least 1,613 Palestinians had been killed since March 18, when a ceasefire collapsed, taking the overall death toll since the war began to 50,983.
China’s top Hong Kong official warns US ‘hillbillies’ over tariffs
- Top Hong Kong official: Imposing tariffs on the city is ‘hegemonic and shameless in the extreme’
- Xia Baolong: US sanctions and tariffs would not shake the determination of Beijing and Hong Kong governments
HONG KONG: Beijing’s top official overseeing Hong Kong slammed US tariffs on China as “hegemonic” and attacked American “hillbillies” on Tuesday, as the world’s two largest economies face off in a trade war that has battered global markets.
Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office, said in a speech that the Chinese finance hub has never levied taxes on imports and that the United States enjoyed a $272 billion trade surplus in the city over the past decade.
US President Donald Trump has increased the levies imposed on China to 145 percent, while Beijing has set a retaliatory 125 percent toll on American imports – a move not followed by Hong Kong.
Imposing tariffs on the city is “hegemonic and shameless in the extreme,” and shows that the United States does not want Hong Kong to thrive, Xia said.
The United States, he said, “is the greatest culprit in undermining Hong Kong’s human rights, freedom, rule of law, prosperity and stability.”
“It is not after our ‘tariffs’ – it wants to take our ‘lives’.”
Xia said the US sanctions and tariffs would not shake the determination of Beijing and Hong Kong governments and that “victory must belong to the great Chinese people.”
“Let those American ‘hillbillies’ wail before the 5,000-year-old civilization of the Chinese nation!” he said, adding that anyone seeking to bring China into poverty was an “enemy.”
The comments were part of a pre-recorded speech at a Hong Kong event to mark the 10th iteration of China’s annual national security education day.
Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong after the city saw huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Last year, the city passed another homegrown security law, which officials say is needed to restore order.
The United States imposed a fresh round of sanctions this month on Hong Kong’s outgoing police chief, justice secretary and other officials over human rights concerns.
China’s market regulator is looking into a deal by Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison to offload 43 ports in 23 countries – including its two on the Panama Canal – to a US-led consortium.
The sale was seen as a political victory for Trump, who earlier vowed to “take back” the crucial waterway from alleged Chinese control.
Echoing earlier criticisms of the deal, Xia said on Tuesday “those who sell out the nation’s interest during key moments... will not meet a good end.”
Hong Kong leader John Lee also criticized the US tariffs as “absurd,” saying at the event that the correct reciprocal levy would be “zero” as Hong Kong is a free port.
Pakistan aims to deport millions of Afghans but local ties and resistance stall the campaign
- The provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa appears reluctant to repatriate Afghans
- More than 35,000 Afghans have left Pakistan since the start of April
- Many recent deportations have been from eastern Punjab, which is hundreds of kilometers from the border and home to some 200,000 Afghans with documents
PESHAWAR: Akber Khan is seeing a brisk trade at his restaurant in the northwest Pakistani city of Peshawar. Staff fan skewers of grilled meats and dole out rice and salad.
As an Afghan, Khan ought to be leaving as part of a nationwide crackdown on foreigners the Pakistani government says are living in the country illegally. But the only heat he feels is from the kitchen.
“I have been here for almost 50 years. I got married here, so did my children, and 10 of my family members are buried here. That’s why we have no desire to leave,” he said.
Khan is one of more than 3 million Afghans that Pakistan wants to expel this year. At least a third live in the northwest province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and that’s just those with documents like an Afghan Citizen Card or proof of registration.
It is not clear how many undocumented Afghans are in the country.
Shared cultural, ethnic and linguistic ties
The provincial government — led by the party of imprisoned former premier Imran Khan — appears reluctant to repatriate Afghans. Mountainous terrain, sectarian violence and an array of militant groups have also challenged the central government's expulsion ambitions.
“Afghans can never be completely repatriated, especially from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as they return using illegal channels or exploiting loopholes in the system despite fencing at the border,” said Abdullah Khan, managing director of the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies. “Many villages along the border are divided between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and people in the past three or four decades were never stopped from visiting either side.”
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s proximity to Afghanistan, together with shared ethnic, cultural and linguistic ties, make it a natural destination for Afghans. The province has hosted significant numbers since the 1980s.
Many Afghans have integrated, even marrying locals. The region feels familiar and it’s easier to access through legal and illegal routes than other parts of Pakistan.
While the provincial government was cooperating with federal counterparts, policy implementation remained slow, analyst Khan told The Associated Press.
“The (local) government is sympathetic to Afghans for multiple reasons," he said. "They share the same traditions and culture as the province, and former Prime Minister Imran Khan during his days in power consistently opposed coercive measures toward Afghan refugees.”
Authorities are also wary about unrest, with Afghans living in almost all of the province’s cities, towns and villages.
A slow repatriation rate
Although police were raiding homes in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and other cities in Punjab and Sindh province farther from the border, the “lack of aggressive enforcement” was the main reason for the slow repatriation rate, analyst Khan said.
Pressure on Pakistan to have a change of heart — from rights groups, aid agencies and Afghanistan's Taliban government — could also be a factor.
More than 35,000 Afghans have left Pakistan since the start of April through the northwest Torkham crossing. It’s a far cry from the volume seen in the early phases of the expulsion campaign in 2023, when hundreds of thousands fled to beat a government-imposed deadline to leave.
Many recent deportations have been from eastern Punjab, which is hundreds of kilometers from the border and home to some 200,000 Afghans with documents.
‘We are going under duress’
At a highway rest stop on the outskirts of Peshawar, a truck carrying 30 Afghans stopped to give passengers a break before they left Pakistan for good. They had come from Punjab. Families nestled among furniture, clothes and other items. A woman in a burqa, the covering commonly seen in Afghanistan, clambered down.
Ajab Gul said the actions of Pakistani officials had forced them to leave: “We didn’t want to go. They raided our houses two or three times. We are going under duress.”
Another truckload of passengers from Punjab pulled over by the Torkham border crossing to speak to the AP.
Jannat Gul outlined the dilemma that awaited many. “Our children’s education (in Afghanistan) has been destroyed. We’re going there, but we have no connections, no acquaintances. In fact, people often call us Pakistanis. No one regards us as Afghan.”
‘If they take him, I will stop them’
There were happier scenes at the Kababayan refugee camp in Peshawar, where children played and ate ice cream in the sunshine. The camp, established in 1980 shortly after the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, is home to more than 15,000 people and has schools, a health center, electricity and drinking water.
School is a crucial reason Afghans want to stay in Pakistan, because the Taliban have barred girls from education beyond sixth grade.
Muhammad Zameer, a camp resident, said girls’ education was “non-existent” across the border.
Other camp residents have a different concern: their Afghan husbands. Afghan men face deportation, and their local wives are unhappy.
Some are fighting to get their husbands a Pakistani identity card, which unlocks basic public services as well as indefinite stay, property ownership, bank account access and employment.
Some wives said they are willing to fight anyone deporting their husbands.
“I never imagined the government would treat my husband like this,” said one, Taslima. “If they take him, I will stop them."
US flies long-range bomber for drill with South Korea, as Pyongyang marks key anniversary
- North Korea often reacts to the US deployment of B-1B bombers and other powerful military assets
- Tuesday’s flyover of the US bombers could draw an angrier response
SEOUL: The United States flew long-range B-1B bombers in a show of force against North Korea on Tuesday, days after the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to resist a US-led push to eliminate the North’s nuclear program.
North Korea often reacts to the US deployment of B-1B bombers and other powerful military assets with missile tests and fiery rhetoric. Tuesday’s flyover of the US bombers could draw an angrier response because it happened when North Korea was marking a key anniversary – the 113th birthday of state founder Kim Il Sung, the late grandfather of the current leader.
South Korea’s Defense Ministry said the US bombers participated in a South Korea-US aerial drill over the Korean Peninsula to strengthen the allies’ combined operational capability and demonstrate their deterrence capability against North Korea’s advancing nuclear program.
A ministry statement said South Korean F-35 and F-16 fighter jets and American F-16 fighter jets also took part in the training. It said South Korea and the US will continue to expand their joint military exercises to respond to North Korean nuclear threats.
It was the second time a US B-1B’s had participated in a drill with South Korea since President Donald Trump began his second term in January.
In February, North Korea’s Defense Ministry slammed the B-1B’s earlier flyover as proof of intensifying US-led provocations since Trump’s inauguration. It pledged to counter the strategic threat of the US with strategic means. Days later, North Korea test-fired cruise missiles in what it called an attempt to show its nuclear counterattack capability.
Trump has repeatedly said he will reach out to Kim Jong Un to revive diplomacy. North Korea hasn’t directly responded to Trump’s outreach.
Last Wednesday, Kim Yo Jong – Kim’s sister and a senior official – derided the US and its Asian allies over what she called their “daydream” of denuclearizing the North, insisting that the country will never give up its nuclear weapons program. Her statement came as a response to a recent meeting among the top diplomats of the United States, South Korea and Japan where they reaffirmed their commitment to push for the North’s denuclearization.
The Kim Il Sung birthday, called “the Day of Sun,” is one of the most important holidays in North Korea, where a state-sponsored cult of personality treats key members of the ruling Kim family like gods. On Tuesday, the country’s main Rodong Sinmun newspaper issued an editorial urging the public to rally behind Kim Jong Un to achieve a national prosperity. In recent days, North Korea has held seminars, performances and other events commemorating the founder’s achievements.
