North Korea slammed South Korea yesterday for dismissing a peace overture by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, accusing Seoul of “pouring cold water” on its attempt to mend ties.
During his New Year address on Wednesday last week, Kim Jong-un hailed the execution last month of his once-powerful uncle, and accused the US and South Korea of maneuvering for a nuclear war.
However, he also called for a “favorable climate” to ease tension with Seoul, and said it was “high time” to improve ties that had been strained for years.
The South Korean government described the move as an empty gesture on Friday, urging the communist state to scrap its nuclear programs to show it is committed to mending relations.
“Peace and reconciliation cannot be achieved merely by words,” Seoul said in a statement, adding that “In order to improve ties between the South and the North, North Korea must show sincerity in building trust and above all, it must make genuine efforts for denuclearization.”
The North yesterday responded to the cool reaction by the South by calling it “undesirable” and saying it would result in further raising tensions on the peninsula.
“Seoul ... answered Pyongyang’s call for defending security and peace of the nation with bellicose remarks and provocative saber-rattling,” the North’s spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, in charge of cross-border affairs, told state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
KCNA described the move as “pouring cold water” on efforts to improve relations.
“This just indicates that South Korea has no will to improve the relations with the North, but will keep to the confrontation and war this year,” the spokesman said.
The prospect for future cross-border ties now “entirely depends on the attitudes of the South Korean authorities,” the spokesman said.
Seoul said on Friday that Kim had made similarly conciliatory comments in last year’s New Year speech, but the following months saw the North launch a series of provocations.
Pyongyang staged a third nuclear test in February last year — its most powerful to date — and later issued threats of atomic attacks on Washington and Seoul for staging joint military exercises south of the border.
It also unilaterally shut down an inter-Korean industrial zone in April last year, further escalating tensions.
After months of negotiation, the two Koreas agreed in September last year to reopen the Kaesong industrial complex.
South Korean Minister of Defense Kim Kwan-jin cautioned last week that the apparent peace overtures from the North could be a “smoke screen” aimed at hiding a fresh provocation, and urged the military to remain alert.
Kim Jong-un last month executed his uncle, Jang Song-thaek, who had played a key role in cementing his leadership, for charges including treason and corruption.
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
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was