WORLD Koreas on the starting line of a new chapter
THOUSANDS of people gathered in Mexico’s secondlargest city yesterday to protest the deaths of three film students who were killed and dissolved in acid in a case that has highlighted the disappearance of the country’s youth amid a vicious drug war.
The students were abducted March 19 on the outskirts of Guadalajara after working on a film project for school at a location that authorities say was being watched by members of the Jalisco New Generation cartel. Their disappearance had become emblematic of Mexico’s 35,000 missing people. THE Security Council is heading to Asia for a firsthand look at the plight of 700,000 Rohingya Muslims who fled a military crackdown in Myanmar and the several hundred thousand who remain in the country’s northern Rakhine State.
Britain’s UN ambassador, Karen Pierce, said that the most important thing was that the body charged with maintaining international peace and security “can see for itself the situation on the ground in a very desperate case of alleged human rights violations and abuses and crimes against humanity.” KIM Jong- un has stepped across the border with South Korea for historic talks with President Moon Jae- in.
The meeting marks the first time one of the ruling Kim leaders has crossed over to the southern side of the Demilitarised Zone since fighting in the Korean War stopped in 1953.
The two Koreas are technically still at war given no peace treaty was ever signed.
Holding hands, the two leaders met face- to- face for the first time in a moment that seemed impossible just months ago.
Walking over the world’s most heavily armed border to greet his rival, Mr Kim invited Mr Moon to cross briefly north with him before they returned to the southern side.
Mr Moon shook hands with his North Korean counterpart, telling him: “I am happy to meet you.”
Mr Kim said he was ready for “heartfelt, sincere and honest” talks and that the Koreas must not repeat the past where they were “unable to fulfil our agreements”.
“I came here determined to send a starting signal at the threshold of a new history,” Mr Kim told Mr Moon promising a “frank, serious and honest mindset”.
Mr Kim also joked that he hoped Mr Moon would enjoy North Korea’s famous cold noodles that will be brought to the banquet after the summit, saying it was difficult to bring the noodles from capital Pyongyang. He then turned to his sister sitting to his left and said “maybe I shouldn’t have said ( Pyongyang) was far”.
The first round of the closed door talks ended with the two leaders set to meet again yesterday afternoon.
The North Korean delegation headed back across the border to break for lunch and were expected to continue the summit in the afternoon.
Mr Kim thanked Mr Moon for greeting him at a “historic place” at the border truce village and said that his heart “keeps throbbing”.
Mr Moon replied to Mr Kim’s thanks by saying that the North Korean leader made a “very courageous decision” to come to the South.
The two leaders were then escorted by South Korean honour guards to a welcoming ceremony before beginning official proceedings at Peace House, a South Korean building inside the border village of Panmunjom.
Mr Kim’s promise to wind down his weapons program was due to be at the top of the agenda during the meeting.
The two leaders were expected to release a joint statement, possibly called the Panmunjom Declaration, which could address denuclearisation and peace.
The meeting is only the third time that the leaders of the divided Koreas have met in the 65 years.