North Korea has proposed a cutback in a cross-border railway freight service launched with much fanfare last month, citing a lack of cargo, a South Korean military official said yesterday.
The first regular service for half a century across the heavily fortified frontier began on Dec. 11, with trains carrying goods and raw materials to and from a Seoul-funded industrial precinct at Kaesong just north of the border.
However, the service, which operates five days a week, has been carrying little cargo because factory owners find it more convenient to use truck traffic.
At military talks on Friday the North Koreans proposed reducing the frequency, according to the unidentified South Korean official quoted by Yonhap news agency.
"It is better to reduce the runs than keep the service going without cargo," Colonel Pak Rim-su, head of the North's delegation, was quoted as saying.
The South rejected the proposal but offered to bring it up at a separate inter-Korean panel on railway cooperation, the official said.
Officials from both sides had hailed the start of the railway service as a landmark in reconciliation moves between two countries which remain technically at war following their 1950 to 1953 conflict.
But on some days last month the train was running empty, South Korean state railway officials said at the time.
The officials said it would be continued because of its symbolic significance.
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
Two people died and 19 others were injured after a Mexican Navy training ship hit the Brooklyn Bridge, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said yesterday. The ship snapped all three of its masts as it collided with the New York City landmark late on Saturday, while onlookers enjoying the balmy spring evening watched in horror. “At this time, of the 277 on board, 19 sustained injuries, 2 of which remain in critical condition, and 2 more have sadly passed away from their injuries,” Adams posted on X. Footage shared online showed the Mexican Navy ship Cuauhtemoc, its sails furled