North Korea reached a modest deal with the South, but didn't ease its rhetoric yesterday against Seoul's allies.
South Korea prepared to start shipping 200,000 tonnes of fertilizer across the border today as part of an agreement reached between the two rivals Thursday night after three days of hard bargaining in their first face-to-face meetings in 10 months.
Seoul couldn't convince the North to return to six-nation negotiations on Pyongyang's worrisome nuclear weapons program -- or even mention the issue in a joint final statement -- but did obtain agreement on a followup meeting in Seoul in a month with Cabinet-level officials.
South Korean officials also considered it a modest victory that the final statement committed both sides to "cooperate for peace on the Korean Peninsula."
"The North Korean side listened with a very serious attitude, and what was delivered was a message that could affect the North's decision-making process," South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted Unification Minister Chung Dong-young as saying.
The North made no change in its anti-US and Japanese rhetoric.
Its official Korean Central News Agency scoffed at Washington's recognition of the North's sovereignty as a "lie" and repeated claims that the Bush administration is plotting to overthrow Kim Jong Il.
It targeted Japan with even harsher criticism for suggesting it would seek UN sanctions if the North were to hold a nuclear test.
"Our republic has made it clear numerous times that we will consider any sanctions against our country tantamount to a declaration of war," KCNA quoted a commentary by the North's state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper.
Noting relations between Pyongyang and Tokyo have soured to "a dangerous stage on the verge of explosion," the commentary said: "Our republic will respond with strong retaliatory measures to Japan's move to impose economic sanctions."
It was possible that Pyongyang was reacting to subtle pressure on a separate front.
The North has been dependent on outside food aid since the 1990s, when more than 1 million people are estimated to have died from famine.
The Wall Street Journal yesterday quoted officials at the US Agency for International Development as saying the Bush administration has halted all food-aid shipments to North Korea so far this year.
US officials said there was no link to rising diplomatic tensions, attributing the curbs instead to an inability to monitor how the assistance is being used, as well as competing demands from famine-ravaged countries in Africa.
Still, the mood was generally upbeat in Seoul. North Korea, which has shunned direct talks with the South on the nuclear issue, didn't walk out when South Korea repeatedly brought up the subject this week.
"Not only did the North listen, but they have expressed understanding of our government's stance, and said that it will give the issue more study," said Rhee Bong-jo, the South's chief delegate. "Those five words, `peace on the Korean peninsula' succinctly reflect the southern government's will and the North's understanding of our stance."
The North also is believed to be pondering an overture from Washington, which sent diplomats to a secret meeting last Friday at Pyongyang's UN office.
The six-nation talks -- involving the two Koreas, the US, China, Japan and Russia -- are aimed at getting the North to abandon its nuclear arms program. Pyongyang said Feb. 10 that it has nuclear weapons and would stay away from the talks until Washington dropped its "hostile" policy.
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
BORDER SERVICES: With the US-funded International Rescue Committee telling clinics to shut by tomorrow, Burmese refugees face sudden discharge from Thai hospitals Healthcare centers serving tens of thousands of refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have been ordered shut after US President Donald Trump froze most foreign aid last week, forcing Thai officials to transport the sickest patients to other facilities. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which funds the clinics with US support, told the facilities to shut by tomorrow, a local official and two camp committee members said. The IRC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump last week paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development for 90 days to assess compatibility with his “America First” policy. The freeze has thrown
PINEAPPLE DEBATE: While the owners of the pizzeria dislike pineapple on pizza, a survey last year showed that over 50% of Britons either love or like the topping A trendy pizzeria in the English city of Norwich has declared war on pineapples, charging an eye-watering ￡100 (US$124) for a Hawaiian in a bid to put customers off the disputed topping. Lupa Pizza recently added pizza topped with ham and pineapple to its account on a food delivery app, writing in the description: “Yeah, for ￡100 you can have it. Order the champagne too! Go on, you monster!” “[We] vehemently dislike pineapple on pizza,” Lupa co-owner Francis Wolf said. “We feel like it doesn’t suit pizza at all,” he said. The other co-owner, head chef Quin Jianoran, said they kept tinned pineapple
RSS