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.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday vowed that those behind bogus flood control projects would be arrested before Christmas, days after deadly back-to-back typhoons left swathes of the country underwater. Scores of construction firm owners, government officials and lawmakers — including Marcos’ cousin congressman — have been accused of pocketing funds for substandard or so-called “ghost” infrastructure projects. The Philippine Department of Finance has estimated the nation’s economy lost up to 118.5 billion pesos (US$2 billion) since 2023 due to corruption in flood control projects. Criminal cases against most of the people implicated are nearly complete, Marcos told reporters. “We don’t file cases for
A feud has broken out between the top leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on whether to maintain close ties with Russia. The AfD leader Alice Weidel this week slammed planned visits to Russia by some party lawmakers, while coleader Tino Chrupalla voiced a defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The unusual split comes at a time when mainstream politicians have accused the anti-immigration AfD of acting as stooges for the Kremlin and even spying for Russia. The row has also erupted in a year in which the AfD is flying high, often polling above the record 20 percent it
Ecuadorans are today to vote on whether to allow the return of foreign military bases and the drafting of a new constitution that could give the country’s president more power. Voters are to decide on the presence of foreign military bases, which have been banned on Ecuadoran soil since 2008. A “yes” vote would likely bring the return of the US military to the Manta air base on the Pacific coast — once a hub for US anti-drug operations. Other questions concern ending public funding for political parties, reducing the number of lawmakers and creating an elected body that would
‘ATTACK ON CIVILIZATION’: The culture ministry released drawings of six missing statues representing the Roman goddess of Venus, the tallest of which was 40cm Investigators believe that the theft of several ancient statues dating back to the Roman era from Syria’s national museum was likely the work of an individual, not an organized gang, officials said on Wednesday. The National Museum of Damascus was closed after the heist was discovered early on Monday. The museum had reopened in January as the country recovers from a 14-year civil war and the fall of the 54-year al-Assad dynasty last year. On Wednesday, a security vehicle was parked outside the main gate of the museum in central Damascus while security guards stood nearby. People were not allowed in because
RSS