In the dock
Korean Air chief indicted for embezzlement.
SEOUL: North and South Korea continued their push for peace with high-level talks that saw a host of agreements, including a plan by the rivals for a ground-breaking ceremony this year on an ambitious project to connect their railways and roads.
Yesterday’s agreements come amid unease in Washington over the speed of inter-Korean engagement.
Many outsiders believe that US-led efforts to rid the North of its nuclear-tipped missiles are lagging significantly behind the Koreas’ efforts to move past decades of bitter rivalry.
A series of weapons tests by the North last year, and an exchange of insults and threats between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, had many on the Korean Peninsula fearing war.
But there has since been a surprising peace initiative, with three inter-Korean summits and a June meeting in Singapore between Trump and Kim.
Washington and Pyongyang are working on plans for a second sum- mit of its kind.
Still, there is widespread scepticism that the North will disarm.
And, despite the proposed fanfare for the railway and road projects, the Koreas cannot move much further along without the lifting of international sanctions against North Korea, which isn’t likely to come before Pyongyang takes firmer steps toward relinquishing its nuclear weapons and missiles.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry said the rivals also agreed yesterday to hold general-level military talks soon to discuss reducing border tensions and setting up a joint military committee that’s meant to maintain communication and avoid crises and accidental clashes. — AP