A convoy of 15 South Korean dump trucks rumbled across the heavily fortified border yesterday, returning home with North Korean sand in a symbolic trip that raised hopes for breaching a Cold War frontier for the sake of trade.
North Korea has been extremely reluctant to open its land border with South Korea. The Koreas remain divided following the 1950-'53 Korean War, which ended in a ceasefire, not a peace treaty. Their border is guarded by barbed wires, battle-ready military units and mine fields.
Yesterday's truckloads were yet another sign of North Korea's willingness to open its border with South Korea for commercial profit. South Korean tourists are already crossing the eastern border to visit the North's scenic Diamond Mountain.
PHOTO: REUTERS
South Korea, suffering a shortage of construction materials, has imported over 33,000 tonnes of North Korean sand since 2002. But until yesterday, all the raw material shipments from North Korea came through China or by ship.
After a historic 2000 inter-Korean summit, South Korea began sanctioning trade with North Korea, which badly need trade and investment from the outside to help rebuild its shattered economy.
Last month, North Korea allowed South Korean trucks to cross the border to deliver relief goods for the victims of a deadly train explosion in the impoverished north.
Yesterday's trucks were hired by a South Korean construction company that has recently signed a deal to import 1,000 tonnes of sand from a North Korean river near the border. The cross-border transport will continue through tomorrow. No further details of the deal were immediately available.
Following the 2000 summit, inter-Korean trade picked up the pace. The south's imports totaled US$61.59 million in the first three months of this year.
Shipments to the north amounted to US$42.7 million.
END OF AN ERA: The vote brings the curtain down on 20 years of socialist rule, which began in 2005 when Evo Morales, an indigenous coca farmer, was elected president A center-right senator and a right-wing former president are to advance to a run-off for Bolivia’s presidency after the first round of elections on Sunday, marking the end of two decades of leftist rule, preliminary official results showed. Bolivian Senator Rodrigo Paz was the surprise front-runner, with 32.15 percent of the vote cast in an election dominated by a deep economic crisis, results published by the electoral commission showed. He was followed by former Bolivian president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga in second with 26.87 percent, according to results based on 92 percent of votes cast. Millionaire businessman Samuel Doria Medina, who had been tipped
ELECTION DISTRACTION? When attention shifted away from the fight against the militants to politics, losses and setbacks in the battlefield increased, an analyst said Recent clashes in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Jubaland region are alarming experts, exposing cracks in the country’s federal system and creating an opening for militant group al-Shabaab to gain ground. Following years of conflict, Somalia is a loose federation of five semi-autonomous member states — Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West — that maintain often fractious relations with the central government in the capital, Mogadishu. However, ahead of elections next year, Somalia has sought to assert control over its member states, which security analysts said has created gaps for al-Shabaab infiltration. Last week, two Somalian soldiers were killed in clashes between pro-government forces and
Ten cheetah cubs held in captivity since birth and destined for international wildlife trade markets have been rescued in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. They were all in stable condition despite all of them having been undernourished and limping due to being tied in captivity for months, said Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is caring for the cubs. One eight-month-old cub was unable to walk after been tied up for six months, while a five-month-old was “very malnourished [a bag of bones], with sores all over her body and full of botfly maggots which are under the
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability
RSS