N. Korea still nuclear threat: Trump

US moves 100 coffins to border for war remains

WASHINGTON, June 23, (Agencies): US President Donald Trump cited “an unusual and extraordinary threat” from North Korea’s nuclear arsenal to extend sanctions on Kim Jong Un’s regime, despite touting the success of a historic summit earlier this month.

After flying back to Washington last week, boasting of success, the US leader tweeted: “There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea.”

“Sleep well tonight!” he added on June 13, a day after the Singapore meeting.

But a presidential declaration sent to Congress on Friday struck a different note as it explained why the administration would keep in place tough economic restrictions first imposed by former president George W. Bush.

“The existence and risk of proliferation of weapons-usable fissile material on the Korean Peninsula and the actions and policies of the Government of North Korea continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States,” it said.

“I am continuing for one year the national emergency with respect to North Korea,” added the statement.

Though the notice is considered pro forma, the disparity in tone reflects the work that US officials concede remains to be done as negotiators thrash out the details of Pyongyang’s disarmament.

At their summit, Kim and Trump signed a pledge “to work towards complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” a stock phrase favored by

two months old,” he added. “The officials explained that marijuana seeds can be carried by wind and bird excrement, and they said they will visit us again to ensure” the plants were unrooted completely and hadn’t spread. (AFP)

Chinese man with knife hurts 8:

APyongyang that stopped short of longstanding US demands for North Korea to give up its atomic arsenal in a “verifiable” and “irreversible” way.

Critics have pointed to the vague wording of the non-binding summit document and raised fears that the summit could weaken the international coalition against the North’s nuclear program.

Also, the US and South Korea agreed to indefinitely suspend two exchange program training exercises, to support diplomatic negotiations with North Korea, the Pentagon said.

The move came after the two countries had previously announced the shelving of the large-scale Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercises slated for August, making good on a pledge by Trump during his summit.

The decision followed a meeting between Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joe Dunford, and National Security Advisor John Bolton.

“To support implementing the outcomes of the Singapore Summit, and in coordination with our Republic of Korea ally, Secretary Mattis has indefinitely suspended select exercises,” Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in a statement.

Also: SEOUL, South Korea:

The US military said it moved 100 wooden coffins to the inter-Korean border on Saturday to prepare for North Korea’s returning

man attacked and wounded eight people Friday in a frenzied knife attack that began on a public bus in northern China, state media said.

The assault occurred in Xi’an, the former imperial city where tourists flock to see China’s famed Teracotta Army.

The suspected attacker was arrested by of the remains of American soldiers who have been missing since the 1950-53 Korean War.

US Forces Korea spokesman Col Chad Carroll also said 158 metal transfer cases were sent to a US air base near Seoul, South Korea’s capital, and would be used to send the remains home.

North Korea agreed to return US war remains during the June 12 summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump.

While the US military preparations suggest that the repatriation of war remains could be imminent, it remains unclear when and how it would occur.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and South Korean President Moon Jae-in agreed to support “efforts to establish complete denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula” following the US-North Korea summit last week.

A joint statement signed by the two leaders during a state visit by Moon to Russia was released by South Korea’s presidential Blue House. Moon arrived in Russia on Thursday, the first official visit by a South Korean president since 1999.

The Russian and South Korean leaders agreed that last week’s historic summit in Singapore between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would contribute to denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

police, the People’s Daily reported on its Twitter account, posting video of a man being restrained by officers as a siren wailed in the background.

“Suspect that slashed and injured multiple people on and off the bus has been arrested by local police,” the paper wrote. (AFP)