South Korea's foreign minister was to hold talks with Japanese officials beginning yesterday to discuss plans for an Asia-Pacific leaders' summit next month and efforts to convince North Korea to halt its nuclear weapons program, officials said.
Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon was to arrive in Tokyo late yesterday. The South Korean government said in a statement, released on Tuesday, that Ban will discuss plans for next month's APEC forum, and how to convince North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions, ahead of a multilateral talks, also scheduled for next month.
Ban was to meet with his counterpart Nobutaka Machimura yesterday and hold talks with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi today.
His three-day trip comes as the relations between the two countries have soured over Koizumi's Oct. 17 visit to Yasukuni Shrine. South Korea and China have strongly urged Koizumi to stop his annual visits there saying that the shrine glorifies Japan's wartime invasions of East Asia.
Ban has said that a summit between the two countries was put on hold, and Tokyo's response will be taken into account in deciding whether to go ahead with the plan later this year.
It was unclear whether Ban's trip would lead to a meeting between South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and Koizumi. Roh's office has said a summit would be difficult "unless there is a significant change in the situation."
Since last year, the two leaders have met twice a year. It's Roh's turn to visit Japan before the end of this year. They may also meet on the sidelines of international conferences, including a summit of the 21-member APEC forum in the South Korean city of Busan on Nov 18-19.
South Korea and Japan are key trading partners and have closely cooperated in efforts to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions. A new round of multilateral talks on the North's nuclear issue is scheduled for early next month.
Meanwhile, North Korea said yesterday the US military presence in South Korea was a cancer, adding the withdrawal of US troops was needed to secure a deal at six-party talks aimed at curbing Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.
North Korea has in the past attached conditions to implementing a deal such as demanding a civilian reactor up front before it scraps its atomic weapons programs.
In a report in its official media yesterday, North Korea said removing US troops from the Korean peninsula was fundamental for progress at the next round, saying the troops were part of Washington's plans to take North Korea by force.
There are about 32,500 US troops in South Korea. The North has demanded for years they be taken off the peninsula. Washington has pledged not to attack North Korea and is reducing its troop contingent but has no plans to pull out completely.
Last month, at six-party talks in Beijing, North Korea agreed in principle to dismantle its nuclear programs in exchange for economic assistance, security guarantees and greater diplomatic recognition. Washington and others said conditions, such as the civilian reactor up front, were not part of the outline deal.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
Africa has established the continent’s first space agency to boost Earth observation and data sharing at a time when a more hostile global context is limiting the availability of climate and weather information. The African Space Agency opened its doors last month under the umbrella of the African Union and is headquartered in Cairo. The new organization, which is still being set up and hiring people in key positions, is to coordinate existing national space programs. It aims to improve the continent’s space infrastructure by launching satellites, setting up weather stations and making sure data can be shared across