North Korean leader Kim Jong-il said yesterday that the communist nation could return to international nuclear disarmament talks as early as next month -- ending its year-long boycott -- if it can reach an agreement with the US.
"If it is certain that the United States is respecting the North as a partner, North Korea could come to the six-party talks as early as July, but it has to be further negotiated with the United States,'' Kim was quoted as saying by South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, who met the North Korean leader yesterday in Pyongyang.
The North has boycotted six-nation nuclear talks for nearly a year, citing "hostile" US policies. The arms negotiations include China, Japan, Russia, the US and the two Koreas.
"North Korea has never given up or refused the six-party talks," Chung quoted Kim as saying.
Kim added that a 1992 declaration between the two Koreas calling for denuclearization of the peninsula remained valid.
Chung was the first top South Korean official to see the reclusive Kim in more than three years. He was leading a South Korean government delegation that has been in Pyongyang since Tuesday for anniversary celebrations of a landmark summit between Kim and former South Korean president Kim Dae-jung in June 2000 -- the first and only such talks between leaders of the Koreas that remain technically at war.
During yesterday's meeting, Kim and Chung agreed on the need to resume military talks between the two sides. They also said family reunions between relatives separated by the heavily fortified inter-Korean border -- which have been stalled for 11 months -- would be continued on Aug. 15 at North Korea's Diamond Mountain tourist resort.
North Korea will also send a government delegation to the Aug. 15 celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of the Korean Peninsula's liberation from Japanese colonial rule.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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