The rival Koreas are discussing the possible relocation of North Korea’s long-range artillery systems away from the tense Korean border, South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon said yesterday as the countries forge ahead with steps to lower tensions and extend a recent detente.
North Korea has deployed an estimated 1,000 artillery pieces along the border, posing a significant threat to Seoul and the metropolitan area.
In a speech marking the 68th anniversary of the outbreak of the 1950-1953 Korean War, Lee said that “moving [North Korea’s] long-range artillery to the rear is under discussion,” as he explained what types of goodwill steps between the sides have been taken in the past few months.
Lee’s comments appear to be Seoul’s first official confirmation of media reports that South Korea demanded that the North reposition its forward-deployed artillery pieces during inter-Korean military talks this month.
The South Korean Ministry of Defense, which has denied the reports, said it had no immediate comment on Lee’s speech.
A 2016 South Korean defense white paper described the North’s long-range artillery as one of the country’s biggest threats, along with its nuclear and missile programs.
Seoul, a city of about 10 million people, is about 40km to 50km from the border.
South Korean media speculated that during the June 14 military talks, the North likely demanded that South Korea and the US withdraw their own artillery systems from the border as a reciprocal measure.
About 28,500 US soldiers are deployed in South Korea.
Also yesterday, military officers from the two Koreas met to discuss how to fully restore their military hotline communication channels, the ministry said.
The results of the talks were expected later yesterday.
The talks came a day after Seoul said it would “indefinitely suspend” two small-scale annual military drills with the US.
The drills involving marines from the allies were supposed to occur from next month to September, the ministry said in a statement.
South Korea is willing to take unspecified additional measures if North Korea is continuously engaged in “productive” negotiations, it said.
Last week, South Korea and the US announced the suspension of their larger, annual military exercises called the Ulchi Freedom Guardian, part of their efforts to increase the chances of successful nuclear diplomacy with North Korea.
Some experts have said the drills’ suspension could weaken the allies’ combined defense posture against North Korea.
‘GRAVE CONCERN’: A critic of the government died immediately following his complaints of torture at the hands of security forces, a human rights group said Students on Friday clashed with police in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, as anger mounted at the death of a writer and government critic in a high-security jail. At least 18 police and an unknown number of protesters were injured in the clashes, authorities and witnesses said, amid international demands for an independent investigation into the death of Mushtaq Ahmed. An Agence France-Presse correspondent witnessed police using batons and firing tear gas at students who staged a torchlight march calling for “justice” near the University of Dhaka. At least six students who allegedly attacked security forces with torches were detained, police said. More protests were planned
LEGAL ORDEAL: The heavy caseload involving 47 defendants and the vagaries of a Beijing-imposed security law made it difficult for the court to rule on bail requests Dozens of Hong Kong democracy advocates charged with subversion yesterday returned to court to complete a marathon bail hearing that was adjourned overnight when four defendants were rushed to hospital after hours of legal wrangling. Police on Sunday arrested 47 of the territory’s best-known dissidents for “conspiracy to commit subversion” in the broadest use yet of a sweeping National Security Law that Beijing imposed on the territory last year. The defendants represent a broad cross-section of Hong Kong’s opposition, from veteran former pro-democracy lawmakers to academics, lawyers, social workers and youth advocates. Hundreds of supporters gathered outside a courthouse on Monday for the
China, under growing global pressure over its treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang, is mounting an unprecedented and aggressive campaign to push back, including explicit attacks on women who have made claims of abuse. As allegations of human rights violations in Xinjiang mount, with a growing number of Western lawmakers accusing China of genocide, Beijing is focusing on discrediting the female Uighur witnesses behind reports of abuse. Chinese officials have named women, disclosed medical data and information on their fertility, and accused some of having affairs and one of having a sexually transmitted disease. Officials said that the information was evidence of bad character,
The plane laden with vaccines had just rolled to a stop at Santiago’s airport in late January and Chilean President Sebastian Pinera was beaming. “Today is a day of joy, emotion and hope,” he said. The source of that hope: China — a country that Chile and dozens of other nations are depending on to help rescue them from the COVID-19 pandemic. China’s vaccine diplomacy campaign has been a surprising success: It has pledged about 500 million doses of its vaccine to more than 45 countries, according to a country-by-country tally by The Associated Press (AP). With just four of China’s many
RSS