Asia

Trump’s vow to end US-SKorea drills catches Pentagon off guard

by Thomas WATKINS Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States – Pentagon officials were surprised Tuesday after President Donald Trump vowed at his summit with the North’s leader Kim Jong Un to cancel “provocative” joint military drills with South Korea. Following the unprecedented meeting in Singapore, Trump stunned observers when he said continuing the exercises routinely held between the US and South Korea would be “inappropriate” while Washington fleshes out a comprehensive deal with Pyongyang. “We will […]

Continue Reading →

Trump says he will stop ‘war games’ with S. Korea

  Singapore (AFP) — The US will stop holding joint military exercises on the Korean peninsula, President Donald Trump said Tuesday, making a major concession to North Korea after his summit with Kim Jong Un. Washington and Seoul are security allies, with 28,500 US troops stationed in the South to defend it from its neighbor which invaded in 1950. They hold joint military exercises every year that infuriate Pyongyang, which has long demanded an end […]

Continue Reading →

Korean Air heiress probed for illegal hiring of Pinay maids

  SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — The matriarch of the troubled Korean Air dynasty was grilled Monday over allegations she used company resources to illegally hire foreign housekeepers, as a probe into the scandal-hit family widened. Lee Myung-hee, 69, who was questioned by police twice last month over multiple assault allegations, was interrogated by immigration authorities over suspicions she hired more than 10 Filipina maids to work at her family home on false pretences, by […]

Continue Reading →

Japan PM hails Trump-Kim agreement as ‘first step’

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday welcomed a document signed by North Korea’s leader at an unprecedented summit with US President Donald Trump as a “first step” towards denuclearisation. Speaking briefly hours after Kim Jong Un and Trump held historic talks in Singapore, Abe also said he was pleased that the US leader had raised the emotive issue of Japanese abducted by Pyongyang. “Through this US-North Korea summit, Chairman Kim […]

Continue Reading →

Kim vows to ‘leave the past behind’

SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — North Korea and the US have decided to “leave the past behind”, Pyongyang’s leader Kim Jong Un said after his summit with President Donald Trump. “Today, we had a historic meeting and decided to leave the past behind and we are about to sign a historic document,” Kim said, thanking Trump for making the meeting happen and adding: “The world will see a major change.” © Agence France-Presse

Continue Reading →

China urges ‘full denuclearization’ as Kim-Trump meet

BEIJING, China (AFP) — China on Tuesday praised the summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as historic and called for “full denuclearisation” to resolve tensions on the Korean peninsula. The fact that the two leaders “can sit together and have equal talks has important and positive meaning, and is creating a new history,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters. “The crux of the peninsula nuclear issue is […]

Continue Reading →

Trump says ‘a lot of progress’ made in historic Kim meeting

by Andrew BEATTY / Richard CARTER Agence France Presse SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — US President Donald Trump said Tuesday there had been a “lot of progress” in his historic talks with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un, and the pair were expected to sign a document together. The first-ever summit between sitting leaders of the two Cold War foes went “better than anybody could have expected”, Trump said as he strolled in the gardens of […]

Continue Reading →

France challenges Beijing in South China Sea

by Daphné BENOIT Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — France is increasing its military presence in the Indo-Pacific region, sending warships through the South China Sea and planning air exercises to help counter China’s military build-up in disputed waters. In late May, the French assault ship Dixmude and a frigate sailed through the disputed Spratly Islands and around a group of reefs that China has turned into islets to push back against Beijing’s claim […]

Continue Reading →

Warm words from North Korea on Cold War frontier

by Ed JONES Agence France Presse PANMUNJOM, North Korea (AFP) — On the world’s last Cold War frontier, where troops have long faced off at the truce village that divides the two Koreas, propaganda broadcasts have fallen silent and soldiers from the North are hopeful a historic summit will herald a new era for their country. The blue huts of Panmunjom are emblematic of the truce that stopped the fighting in the Korean War, and […]

Continue Reading →

Tearful Rodman claims vindication for Kim ties

SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Basketball star and improbable North Korean envoy Dennis Rodman broke down in tears live on television Tuesday as he recounted the hostility he faced for meeting dictator Kim Jong Un. Amid a landmark summit between President Donald Trump and the young North Korean strongman, Rodman appeared on CNN to voice hope, and vindication. “I got death threats,” Rodman said breaking down in tears. “I couldn’t even go home … I had […]

Continue Reading →

In photos: Trump, Kim handshake starts historic summit; Trump predicts “terrific relationship” ahead

  United States President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made history on Tuesday, June 12, becoming the first sitting US and North Korean leaders to meet and shake hands, as they seek to end a tense decades-old nuclear stand-off. Trump predicted he would have a “terrific relationship” with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un Tuesday, as the pair met for a historic Singapore summit. “We will have a terrific relationship, I have […]

Continue Reading →

Trump, Kim share historic handshake

by Andrew BEATTY / Richard CARTER Agence France Presse SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un made history Tuesday, becoming the first sitting US and North Korean leaders to meet and shake hands, as they seek to end a tense decades-old nuclear stand-off. The two men strode toward each other and shared the momentous handshake beneath the white-washed walls of an upscale hotel in neutral Singapore, before sitting down for a half-day […]

Continue Reading →
1 … 530 531 532 533 534 … 843