South Korea and the US expressed solidarity yesterday over the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship they blame on North Korea, with a senior US diplomat saying the allies face Pyongyang from a position of “profound strength.”
Tension is high on the Korean Peninsula, with North Korea warning any moves to punish it at the UN would mean armed conflict, and possibly even nuclear war.
South Korea and the US have urged Pyongyang to avoid fresh provocations and vowed to hold the regime accountable for the March sinking that killed 46 South Korean sailors. North Korea vehemently denies any role.
“We face North Korean provocation from a position of profound strength,” US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell told reporters yesterday after meeting with officials in Seoul.
Campbell said the countries will demonstrate their strengthened resolve in a number of ways in coming days including at the UN Security Council where he said they “are completely aligned.”
At the bilateral level, the US will also continue to stand with South Korea on such measures as “appropriate and responsible joint military activities,” he said.
South Korea and the US have announced plans for joint naval exercises near the site of the sinking.
South Korea has taken the issue to the Security Council, where both sides stated their case on Monday over Seoul’s request to punish Pyongyang over the sinking.
Campbell said the international community must take a “strong stance” and the US would boost cooperation with Seoul.
“We are determined to show that our alliance is standing very firmly together during an absolutely critical period,” Campbell said in opening remarks at a meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan.
Yu said South Korea was “satisfied with the watertight coordination at various levels.”
Campbell and South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Chun Yung-woo both called the current situation a “defining moment” for the US-South Korean alliance.
“We will demonstrate to the world how well our alliance works,” Chun said.
Meanwhile, a small group of peace activists protested outside the Foreign Ministry, where the meetings with Campbell were held. Some activists and civic groups have questioned the results of the investigation that concluded Pyongyang was responsible for the ship sinking.
“If we apply sanctions on North Korea, peace on the Korean Peninsula will be destroyed,” protester Yu Young-jae said. “So we came here to insist they [Campbell and South Korean officials] stop discussing sanctions on North Korea.”
Also See: US man still being investigated: Cuba
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS