Asia

Explosion risk for oil tanker ablaze off China: authorities

BEIJING, China (AFP) — An Iranian oil tanker ablaze off the Chinese coast is at risk of exploding or sinking, authorities said Monday, as they reported there was no sign of survivors 36 hours after the vessel erupted in flames. A huge fire was still raging around the stricken ship, which had been carrying 136,000 tons of light oil, with fierce heat and thick black smoke billowing from the vessel and the surrounding sea. Rescuers […]

Seoul seeks to put family reunions on N. Korea talks agenda

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea will seek discussions on resuming reunions of separated families at this week’s inter-Korean talks, Seoul’s top delegate said Monday, as the North trumpeted the importance of achieving reunification. The two Koreas agreed last week to hold their first official dialogue in more than two years and will meet Tuesday at the truce village of Panmunjom. The talks will largely focus on the North’s participation in next month’s Winter […]

North Korea names delegates for inter-Korean talks

https://youtu.be/s6GK9-tyUio   SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea has named its delegation for a rare high-level meeting with the South this week, the unification ministry in Seoul said Sunday, as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe cautiously welcomed the talks. The two Koreas agreed Friday to hold their first official dialogue in more than two years and are expected to discuss the North’s participation in next month’s Winter Olympics in South Korea. The North Korean […]

Tanker ablaze, 32 missing after collision off China

BEIJING, China (AFP) — Thirty-two people, mostly Iranians, were missing Sunday after an oil tanker collided with a cargo ship off the coast of east China, the transport ministry said. The tanker, carrying 136,000 tonnes of oil condensate, caught fire following the collision Saturday night and its crew of 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis were missing, the ministry said in a statement. The other vessel had been damaged but “without jeopardizing the safety of the ship” and […]

N. Korea names delegates for inter-Korean talks

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea has sent a list of its delegation for a rare high-level meeting with the South this week, the unification ministry in Seoul said Sunday. The two Koreas agreed Friday to hold their first official dialogue in more than two years and are expected to discuss the North’s participation in next month’s Winter Olympics in South Korea. The North Korean delegation for Tuesday’s meeting in the truce village of Panmunjom will […]

North Korea ‘likely’ to join Winter Games, says IOC official

Beijing, China (AFP) — North Korea’s Olympic representative said Saturday the reclusive nation was “likely to participate” in next month’s Winter Games in South Korea, Kyodo news agency reported, in the latest sign of a thaw in tensions on the peninsula. The comments by Chang Ung, Pyongyang’s representative to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), come a day after the North and South agreed to hold rare talks next week and follow Seoul and Washington’s announcement […]

North and South Korea agree to first talks in two years

  by Park Chan-Kyong Agence France Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North and South Korea agreed on Friday to hold their first talks in more than two years, hours after Seoul and Washington decided to defer joint military exercises which always infuriate Pyongyang until after the Winter Olympics. The meeting, the first since December 2015, will take place in Panmunjom, the truce village in the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone that divides the peninsula. South […]

13 dead in Indonesia’s second fatal boat accident in a week

  PALEMBANG, Indonesia (AFP) — At least 13 people died after a passenger boat capsized off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, two days after another ferry accident in the archipelago killed at least nine, police said Friday. The boat was carrying 55 people along the Musi river when it hit a large wave and sank amid bad weather Wednesday, South Sumatra water police chief Robinson Siregar said. He said the police were still searching for […]

‘Don’t fear death’: China’s Xi urges blunt call to PLA

BEIJING, China (AFP) — President Xi Jinping has issued a blunt call for China’s military to be ready for war and unafraid to die defending the country, as geopolitical tensions mount in Asia. Xi’s exhortation to the world’s largest fighting force, parts of which were revealed only late Thursday, came during what state media characterized as a rare address by the Chinese leader to the country’s entire military. Xi cemented his status as China’s most […]

Delaying drills does not reduce pressure on N.Korea: Japan

TOKYO., Japan (AFP) — Japan stressed Friday that a decision by the US and South Korea to delay a huge military drill was not tantamount to an easing of the pressure on North Korea. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Tokyo, Washington, and Seoul remained committed to applying maximum pressure on the secretive regime. The three allies “have confirmed a shared policy to further increase pressure against North Korea,” Suga told a regular press briefing. […]

N.Korea accepts South’s offer of talks next week: Seoul

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) —  Nuclear-armed North Korea on Friday accepted the South’s offer of talks next week, said Seoul’s Unification ministry, which oversees relations with Pyongyang. The meeting will take place in Panmunjom, the truce village in the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone that divides the peninsula. Tensions have been high after the North carried out multiple missile launches in 2017, including a number of ICBMs, and its sixth atomic test, by far its most powerful […]

US, S. Korea agree to suspend military drills during Olympics

by Park Chan-Kyong Agence France-Presse SEOUL, South Korea –  The United States and South Korea agreed Thursday to delay their joint military exercises until after the Winter Olympics next month in an apparent move to de-escalate tensions with Pyongyang. The announcement came just hours after US President Donald Trump said that high-level talks set for next week between North and South Korea were “a good thing.” Tensions have spiralled in recent months after North Korea held multiple […]