Trump accepts invitation to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un

Donald Trump has accepted an invitation from the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to hold an unprecedented summit meeting to discuss the future of the embattled regime s nuclear and missile programme. North Korea open to relinquishing nuclear weapons says Seoul Read more In a stunning development following months of tension and mutual sabre-rattling senior South Korean officials appeared outside the White House to announce the news having verbally conveyed Kim s invitation to Trump. The White House confirmed that Trump was ready to meet Kim by May at a exact time and location yet to be determined. If the meeting takes place it would be the first ever between leaders of the two countries. Pyongyang has long sought a summit with the US to reflect what the regime sees as its status as a regional military power. Bill Clinton came close to agreeing to a meeting with Kim s father Kim Jong-il in 2000 but arrangements had not been made by the time he left office in January 2001. Administration officials on Thursday portrayed the invitation as a victory for Trump s policy of maximum pressure and stressed that the US would not relax its stringent sanctions regime before North Korea began disarming. Unlike previous administrations a senior official said Trump is not prepared to reward North Korea in exchange for talks . Trump himself confirmed the meeting in a tweet adding that US sanctions against North Korea would remain in place until a deal on denuclearisation was https://food52.com/users/1438278-robert-vadra achieved. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) Kim Jong Un talked about denuclearization with the South Korean Representatives not just a freeze. Also no missile testing by North Korea during this period of time. Great progress being made but sanctions will remain until an agreement is reached. Meeting being planned! March 9 2018 The development was announced by South Korean national security director Chung Eui-yong who was flanked by intelligence chief Suh Hoon and Cho Yoon-je South Korea s ambassador to US. The invitation to talks Chung said was accompanied by an offer to suspend North Korean missile and nuclear tests while talks are underway the condition that US officials have laid down for the start of any substantive talks. The White House confirmed the news in a statement later saying: President Trump greatly appreciates the nice words of the South Korean delegation and President Moon. He will accept the invitation to meet with Kim Jong-un at a place and time to be determined. We look forward to the denuclearisation of North Korea. In the meantime all sanctions and maximum pressure must remain. The delegation of senior South Korean officials had met the North Korean leader in Pyongyang on Monday and flown to Washington to brief the White House on Thursday. Announcing the delivery of the invitation in a hastily arranged press statement outside the White House Chung praised Trump s leadership and his policy of maximum pressure . Play Video 0:41 South Korean president meets Kim Yo-jong - video I told President Trump that in our meeting the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said he is committed to denuclearisation Chung said. Kim Jong-un pledged that North Korea will refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests. He understands the routine joint military exercises between the Republic of Korea and the United States must continue. He added that the North Korean leader had expressed his eagerness to meet President Trump as soon as possible . President Trump appreciated the briefing and said he would meet Kim Jong-un by May to achieve permanent denuclearisation. White House officials said the US national security adviser HR McMaster would brief the UN security council on the new developments on Monday. Q&A Why does the North Korean regime pursue a nuclear programme? Show Hide Much of the regime s domestic legitimacy rests on portraying the country as under constant threat from the US and its regional allies South Korea and Japan. To support the claim that it is in Washington s crosshairs North Korea cites the tens of thousands of US troops lined up along the southern side of the demilitarised zone the heavily fortified border dividing the Korean peninsula. Faced with what it says are US provocations North Korea says it has as much right as any other state to develop a nuclear deterrent. North Korea s leader Kim Jong-un is also aware of the fate of other dictators who lack nuclear weapons. Was this helpful? Thank you for your feedback. There have been no significant negotiations between the US and North Korea since 2012 when the two sides agreed a short-lived deal exchanging a moratorium on long range missiles and nuclear weapons activity in return for food aid. The agreement fell apart after Pyongyang launched a satellite with a powerful rocket that could be used in a missile. An earlier deal struck in 1994 lasted considerably longer but fell apart as a result of mutual distrust. It is far from clear that any new deal would be any more enduring. North Korean view of denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula has historically entailed the dissolution of US guarantees to defend South Korea that it would defend its ally with nuclear weapons if necessary. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Chung Eui-Yong South Korea s national security adviser made the announcement outside the White House on Thursday. Photograph: Leah Millis/Reuters Mintaro Oba a former state department official involved in North Korean policy under the Obama administration urged caution. This is a welcome step that will help us de-escalate dangerous tensions on the Korean Peninsula in the near term and hopefully lead to progress toward denuclearisation Oba said. That said we must manage our expectations given our knowledge of North Korea s interests and past behavior. There is a long and complicated road ahead. When President Trump meets with Kim Jong-un he should not allow the meeting to be purely about optics. He should bring a bold proposal for progress toward denuclearisation putting the onus on North Korea to respond in good faith. At best this meeting will lead to real progress. At worst it is an important opportunity to shed light on North Korea s real motivations and probe its flexibility. Jon Wolfsthal who was special assistant to Obama on arms control and non-proliferation said: The US must pursue this idea. Skepticism is healthy but the chance for progress is too good to pass up. But Wolfsthal added that the May deadline for the talks was almost incredible . Topics North Korea South Korea Trump administration Donald Trump Nuclear weapons Asia Pacific news Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Google Share on WhatsApp Share on Messenger Reuse this content
The Paralympics opens on Friday in Pyeongchang in what will be the largest winter Games to date with 240 medals up for grabs and North Korea making its debut part of a wider cooling of tensions. The Games will run over 10 days and 670 athletes will compete over 100 more than in Sochi four years ago across six sports: para Alpine skiing para biathlon para cross-country skiing sleigh hockey para snowboarding and wheelchair curling. All eyes will likely be on the North Korean athletes who arrived on Wednesday as part of a 24-member delegation. It will be the first time North Korea has participated in the Winter Paralympics. It sent just one athlete to the summer edition in London and two to the Games in Rio de Janeiro. Six athletes have travelled to Pyeongchang but only two will actually compete both in Nordic skiing events. However South and North Korea will not march together at the opening ceremony of the Winter Paralympics as they did at the Olympics last month because they cannot agree on a united flag that erases islands disputed with Japan officials said. The athletes and officials from the North said little on arrival in South Korea one senior official said only: I am pleased before they were rushed on to buses bound for Pyeongchang. North Korea s participation is part of a wider rapprochement on the Korean peninsula and comes after it sent a delegation of more than 500 people to the Olympics including cheerleaders and performers. Pyongyang has gone from issuing threats of war to saying it is willing to relinquish its nuclear weapons as part of negotiations with the US. But North Korea s presence at the Paralympics has raised eyebrows due to a history of claims of official discrimination against disabled people. People are routinely sent to prison camps because of their disability according to a UN report and North Koreans who have fled the country have described harassment by the authorities. But adversity has led to some inspiring stories among the competitors. There are a wide range of disabilities including amputated limbs blindness learning disabilities and spinal injuries. Athletes in the same sport compete in different categories based on their disability to ensure an even playing field. Choi Kwang-hyouk fled North Korea shortly after his left foot was amputated without anaesthesia and will represent South Korea in para ice hockey. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Niels de Langen of the Netherlands starts the men s downhill training run. Photograph: Simon Bruty/AP Brenna Huckaby became the first Paralympian photographed for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition and will compete in the two snowboard events. She lost her leg when she had cancer as a child and hopes the publicity will raise awareness of the Paralympics and encourage more people to participate. We work just as hard as the Olympians she said in an interview with the Salt Lake Tribune. Two of the UK s athletes lost limbs while serving with the military in Afghanistan with Scott Meenagh s appearance in Nordic skiing the first for a British athlete in two decades. Owen Pick will be one of Team GB s first Paralympic snowboarders. The Paralympics organisers have said 275 000 tickets have been sold about 89% of those made available so far. It s a huge rise from a number that barely registered in October 2017. But many South Koreans are unaware of the Games and just days before the opening ceremony a poll showed only about a third of people knew when the Paralympics would begin. They ll think I m a traitor : North Korean defector makes Winter Paralympics debut Read more Attracting an audience has been one of the main goals of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and internet streaming services mean more people can watch events than in previous years. What is greatly encouraging is that not only do we have more broadcasters but many of them are also dedicating more airtime across all platforms than previous Games editions Alexis Schaefer the IPC s commercial and marketing director said in a statement. We have more broadcasters than ever before set to cover the Winter Paralympics which shows the growing global interest in para sport. As in the Olympics Russian athletes will not compete under the Russian flag but instead as individuals and grouped under the term neutral Paralympic athlete . Russia s Olympic and Paralympic committees were banned following revelations of a state-sponsored doping programme. The Paralympics have not been without controversy and in recent years organisers have struggled with questions about how athletes are grouped according to their disability. Bethany Woodward a British sprinter with cerebral palsy quit competing and handed back a medal after saying more able-bodied athletes were allowed to race against her. Topics Paralympics Disability sport South Korea North Korea Asia Pacific news Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Google Share on WhatsApp Share on Messenger Reuse this content
NEW YORK U.S. stock futures fell more than 1 percent late Tuesday after the resignation of U.S. President Donald Trump s top economic adviser Gary Cohn fueled fears that the administration would follow through with plans to impose steel and aluminum tariffs possibly triggering a trade war.White House officials said the dispute over tariffs contributed to Cohn s decision to resign but was not the only reason.S&P 500 e-mini futures were down 1.5 percent in trading for the overnight session. Dow futures were down 1.7 percent.Investors said the news which creates more uncertainty over the administration s economic agenda will likely weigh on the market in Wednesday trading as well. Advertisement Continue reading the main story It s a very significant deal for the markets. The markets don t like tariffs ... Gary Cohn was one of Wall Street s guys and an endorser of conventional economic policy said Michael Purves chief global strategist at Weeden & Co in New York. Continue reading the main story
Photo Credit Jenn Liv To the Editor:Re Some Hope From North Korea (editorial March 7):President Moon Jae-in of South Korea deserves great credit for bringing North Korea to the table. But the talks hold peril as well as promise.North Korea appears to see its nuclear arsenal as essential to regime survival keeping it from becoming another Libya and in return would likely demand full United States withdrawal from the Korean Peninsula. At that point talks could break down giving President Trump an excuse to unleash fire and fury in a war that could kill hundreds of thousands or millions if it went nuclear.To have a greater chance of success talks should start with modest aims such as a freeze in North Korean testing in return for a freeze in United States-South Korean military exercises.Meanwhile we must urge Congress to pass legislation sponsored by Senator Chris Murphy and Representative Ro Khanna barring the president from attacking North Korea without congressional authorization. The ball is not only in President Trump s court but in ours as well to prevent a disastrous war. Advertisement Continue reading the main story DAVID KEPPEL BLOOMINGTON IND.To the Editor:The announcement that North Korea is willing to put its nuclear arms program on hold is incredibly important. It looks as if President Trump s clenched fist and open palm method of negotiating is paying dividends. Continue reading the main story
Indian women slipped to their first defeat of the South Korea tour when they went down 2-1 against the hosts in the third match of the five-match series at the Jinchun National Athletic Centre in Seoul on https://www.razoo.com/user/l8l67g Thursday.Seul Ki Cheon (12th) and Yirum Lee (14th) found the net for the hosts in the first quarter and though India fought back with a goal from Lalremsiami two minutes later it was not enough to avoid a defeat.Despite the loss India lead the series 2-1.India started the game determined to take an unassailable lead in the series and started the match at a strong pace. But the hosts managed to keep the Indian strikers at bay and Cheon pounced on the first penality corner the team got to break the deadlock. Two minutes later India s defence was breached again through a peanlty corner as Yurim Lee continued her goal-scoring form to make it 2-0 in the 14th minute to claim the bragging rights in the first quarter.India responded immediately after the break as Lalremsiami reduced the deficit in the 16th minute. The visitors then continued to pound the South Korean goal in search of an equaliser but their goalkeeper Haebin Jung came up with timely saves to keep the series alive.The fourth match of the series will be played on Friday.