S. Korean minister proposes US-North Korea tradeoff
WASHINGTON (AFP) – An end to the Korean War in return for the verified dismantling of its major North Korean nuclear facility: South Korea's foreign minister on Wednesday proposed this tradeoff to unblock stalled negotiations between the United States and North Korea.
North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump held a groundbreaking summit in Singapore in June, where they reached a vague agreement to denuclearize the Korean peninsula, but there has been little movement since.
The North, which is under United Nations sanctions, has carried out six nuclear tests and says it has missiles that can hit the United States.
''What North Korea has indicated is they will permanently dismantle their nuclear facilities in Yongbyon, which is a very big part of their nuclear program,'' Seoul's Foreign Minister Kang
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – Rosmah Mansor, the luxury-loving wife of Malaysia's former prime minister, was Thursday charged with money laundering and tax evasion linked to a multi-billion-dollar scandal that helped bring down his government.
The 66-year-old pleaded not guilty to 17 charges of money laundering and tax evasion at a court complex where her husband Najib Razak was also making a separate appearance in connection with the alleged plunder of state funds.
Rosmah was allowed to post bail of two million ringgit ($480,00) and ordered to surrender her passport. She was also barred from contacting any witness.
Prosecutors had sought 10 million ringgit in bail, citing the seriousness of the charges, which could result in Rosmah spending the rest of her life in prison. Kyung-wha said in an interview with The Washington Post.
Her comments came ahead of a visit on Sunday by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to North Korea, where he will meet strongman Kim Jong Un in an effort to further the denuclearization effort.
During a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in September, Kim expressed his readiness to close the Yongbyon facility, which is capable of uranium enrichment, if Washington took ''corresponding measures.''
''If they do that in return for America's corresponding measures, such as the end-of-war declaration, I think that's a huge step forward for denuclearization,'' Kang told the Post.
Trump, who has sounded optimistic about holding a second summit with Kim, has not ruled out declaring an end to the 1950-1953 war, which concluded only with an armistice.
Pompeo has refused to comment on
Lead prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram told the court that Rosmah ''had approached a witness with a request to give a statement in her favor."
In the charge sheets, prosecutors said ''you engaged directly in a transaction that involves proceeds of unlawful activity'' in violation of laws against money laundering.
The first 12 charges involved deposits to a single bank account belonging to her from 2013-2017 totaling more than seven million ringgit, and the five other charges were for dodging taxes on the deposits.
Prosecutor Gopal told the court Rosmah's alleged offences were ''very serious'' as he justified the high bail amount sought.
Defence lawyers sought bail of 250,000 ringgit.
Rosmah, wearing an orange dress the declaration option.
Referring to a previous verification effort in 2008, Kang said that demanding an inventory of North Korea's nuclear assets risks, at this stage, derailing the process.
''I think the last time things broke down precisely as we were working out a detailed protocol on verification after we had gotten the list,'' she said.
''We want to take a different approach,'' she said.
''We will have to see an inventory at some point, but that some point can be reached more expeditiously by action and corresponding measures that give the two sides sufficient trust.''
At the same time, she dismissed fears of those who think that a formal end to the war will open the door to US disengagement from South Korea, where it bases around 30,000 troops.
Kang told the Post that a declaration would be a purely ''political'' document and ''not a legally binding treaty.'' and scarf, arrived under heavy security at the court complex after being arrested Wednesday and held overnight at the headquarters of the country's anti-corruption agency, which had subjected her to three rounds of questioning.
At court on Thursday, she sat quietly in the dock and did not look at the gallery, where her family members were seated.
Rosmah's love of designer handbags, jewellery and other trappings of wealth became a target for critics ahead of last May's election, won by a disparate coalition led by former leader Mahathir Mohamad.
While she was being charged on Thursday, her husband – also out on bail – made a separate court appearance in connection with some of the more than two dozen charges lodged against him.