North Korea stunned South Korea yesterday by rejecting a Seoul offer to send emergency aid for train blast victims directly through the tense inter-Korean border.
In what appeared to be a setback for inter-Korean relations, North Korea turned down the offer that would have brought early relief to victims of last week's explosion in which at least 161 people died and 1,300 were injured.
"North Korea rejected our proposed overland transportation of emergency relief goods," said Moon Won-il, spokesman for South Korea's National Red Cross.
"The North's rejection was made during a border contact between liaison officials of Red Cross authorities from both sides. North Korea did not elaborate on the reason."
The border between the two Koreas is the world's most heavily fortified frontier, dividing some 600,000 South Korean troops from North Korea's 1.1 million-strong army.
North Korea's decision surprised South Koreans who have been mobilized by feelings of brotherly compassion to stage a major relief effort for disaster victims in the Stalinist state.
"We do not know the exact reason, but we just presume that North Korea might be concerned about security issues involved in allowing cross-border transportation," a Unification Ministry official who declined to be named said.
Red Cross officials said delivering aid by road to the blast site at Ryongchong would take about four hours. The alternative, sea transportation, would take some 48 hours.
The Red Cross spokesman said the refusal by North Korea may not be the final word.
North Korea has asked for a meeting of Red Cross officials from the two sides to discuss "technical details" of the proposed transportation at the town of Kaesong, just over the border inside North Korea, today.
South Korea has pledged US$1 million worth of disaster aid for Ryongchong and acting president Goh Kun earlier yesterday called for swift deployment of the aid.
Relations between the two Koreas have improved steadily in recent years following a summit between the leaders of North and South in 2000 that reversed decades of enmity and laid the foundations for reconciliation.
Tension still surfaces occasionally and North Korea's official media often accuses South Korea of supporting the US hard line on the North Korean nuclear standoff and chides Seoul for hosting 37,000 US troops, a legacy of the 1950-1953 Korean War.
Pyongyang has also criticized South Korea for agreeing to send troops to Iraq at the request of Washington.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in