North Korean leader Kim Jong-il rejected South Korea's proposal at this week's summit for troop cuts along their heavily fortified border, the South's defense minister said yesterday.
"The issue was off the table, as Chairman Kim Jong-il said it was still premature to have it discussed," minister Kim Sang-joo said.
Reports before the summit in Pyongyang had said President Roh Moo-hyun would push for the complete withdrawal of troops and weapons from the frontier buffer zone.
The 4km demilitarized zone (DMZ) surrounding the borderline was established after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice. Only light infantry were supposed to patrol inside it, but scores of guard posts have sprung up.
Kim accompanied Roh to the summit, becoming the first South Korean defense chief to visit the communist state. The two nations remain technically at war.
The defense minister, quoted by Yonhap news agency, also said he raised the issue of South Korean prisoners of war during private talks with his North Korean counterpart Kim Il-chol.
"I focused on the POW issue. I asked for the North to consider the confirmation of their fate, exchange of letters, reunion with families [in the South], and eventual repatriation as a humanitarian gesture for reconciliation and cooperation," he said.
But the North Korean defense chief gave no direct answer and instead reiterated a call for the withdrawal of US troops on the peninsula, the minister said.
Kim's remarks signaled he will raise the issue again when the two countries' defense ministers hold talks in Pyongyang next month, Yonhap said.
Seoul says 485 of its citizens have been kidnapped since the end of the war, along with more than 500 prisoners of war who were not sent home.
The North denies holding South Koreans against their will even though 38 prisoners of war and at least five kidnapped fishermen have escaped and returned home.
Abductee family representatives expressed disappointment that the summit brought them no hope.
"What we asked for was only to let us know if our families there are alive," said Choi Sung-yong, head of a group representing kidnap victims.
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
RSS