North Korea said yesterday a pro-unification activist who visited Pyongyang without Seoul’s permission would return home in the coming week, an event likely to deepen inter-Korean tensions.
Reverend Han Sang-ryol will walk across the border to the South on Friday, five days later than originally scheduled, the North’s Red Cross Society said in a notice to its South Korean counterpart.
He will cross the military demarcation line at Panmunjom at 3pm on Friday, the notice said, according to Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Panmunjom, the Joint Security Area that straddles the border between the two Koreas, is controlled by North Korea and the US-led UN Command.
Crossing through Panmjunjom is rare.
Han, who traveled to Pyongyang on June 12 on an unauthorized trip, was initially set to come home today through Panmjunjom to underline his wish for inter-Korean reconciliation and to mark the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the Korean Peninsula from Japanese rule.
The delay came after a Seoul official said the pastor’s border-crossing at Panmunjom would constitute a breach of the armistice as it would require UN Command approval, a remote possibility. Prosecutors have obtained a warrant to arrest Han the moment he sets foot on South Korean soil.
Han visited the North for celebrations to mark the 10th anniversary of the 2000 inter-Korean summit. He also gave speeches praising North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and denouncing South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese