The two Koreas yesterday extended their first direct talks in 10 months for an additional day as South Korea tried to convince the communist North to return to the nuclear bargaining table.
The North was clearly resisting any commitment. Vice Unification Minister Rhee Bong-jo, head of the South's delegation, told reporters that Pyongyang's delegation was listening to his entreaties without comment. South Korea's Yonhap news agency, quoting an unidentified Seoul official, said the North did not want any mention of the nuclear issue in a joint final statement.
Concern over North Korea's nuclear program intensified last week when Pyongyang said it had taken a step that could lead to harvesting weapons-grade plutonium. US officials warned of unspecified action if the North conducts a nuclear test, with Japan saying it would respond by seeking UN sanctions. North Korea has indicated it would view sanctions as a declaration of war.
"As the North Korean nuclear issue is at a crucial phase, the resumption of six-party talks is very important for peace on the Korean Peninsula," South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon told a news conference yesterday, referring to negotiations involving the US, China, Japan, Russia and the two Koreas.
Talks between the two Koreas were to have ended Tuesday. But the delegations remained at the North Korean border village of Kaesong overnight, then met briefly yesterday morning before announcing they would hold more talks today.
The reclusive, impoverished North -- which often uses brinksmanship to wring aid from the West -- had sought food and 453,592 tonnes of fertilizer, but South Korea linked that to Pyongyang rejoining talks on its worrisome nuclear weapons program.
Drug lord Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, alias “Fito,” was Ecuador’s most-wanted fugitive before his arrest on Wednesday, more than a year after he escaped prison from where he commanded the country’s leading criminal gang. The former taxi driver turned crime boss became the prime target of law enforcement early last year after escaping from a prison in the southwestern port of Guayaquil. Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa’s government released “wanted” posters with images of his face and offered US$1 million for information leading to his capture. In a country plagued by crime, members of Fito’s gang, Los Choneros, have responded with violence, using car
OVERHAUL: The move would likely mark the end to Voice of America, which was founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda and operated in nearly 50 languages The parent agency of Voice of America (VOA) on Friday said it had issued termination notices to more than 639 more staff, completing an 85 percent decrease in personnel since March and effectively spelling the end of a broadcasting network founded to counter Nazi propaganda. US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) senior advisor Kari Lake said the staff reduction meant 1,400 positions had been eliminated as part of US President Donald Trump’s agenda to cut staffing at the agency to a statutory minimum. “Reduction in Force Termination Notices were sent to 639 employees at USAGM and Voice of America, part of a
Canada and the EU on Monday signed a defense and security pact as the transatlantic partners seek to better confront Russia, with worries over Washington’s reliability under US President Donald Trump. The deal was announced after a summit in Brussels between Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa. “While NATO remains the cornerstone of our collective defense, this partnership will allow us to strengthen our preparedness ... to invest more and to invest smarter,” Costa told a news conference. “It opens new opportunities for companies on both sides of the
The team behind the long-awaited Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile yesterday published their first images, revealing breathtaking views of star-forming regions as well as distant galaxies. More than two decades in the making, the giant US-funded telescope sits perched at the summit of Cerro Pachon in central Chile, where dark skies and dry air provide ideal conditions for observing the cosmos. One of the debut images is a composite of 678 exposures taken over just seven hours, capturing the Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula — both several thousand light-years from Earth — glowing in vivid pinks against orange-red backdrops. The new image