PYONGYANG, North Korea: Reunification Highway runs all the way from the North Korean capital of Pyongyang to the Demilitarized Zone that divides the North from South Korea, 170 kilometers (100 miles) away. It starts under a giant concrete arch depicting two women in traditional gowns reaching out to each other and holding up a map of a unified Korea. Road signs along the way show the distance to Seoul, though it’s impossible to actually drive there.
The highway is one of the best in North Korea. It’s paved — a rarity in the North. It’s broad and visibility is generally good. But it’s also riddled with cracks and potholes. Lanes aren’t marked well, if at all. At night it’s pitch black, unless there are oncoming headlights. If it were on the South side, it wouldn’t be one of the best, it would be among the very worst.
Could fixing it help pave the way to denuclearization?
When South Korean President Moon Jae-in travels to Pyongyang this week for his third summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, he will have two major tasks: He needs to keep Pyongyang’s talks with Washington on denuclearization from breaking down so that his own efforts at rapprochement can continue, and he needs to speed up a series of inter-Korean cooperation and engagement projects to keep frictions with the North low and his domestic critics at bay.
With each summit, the stakes get higher. It’s still unclear what Kim, riding a wave of successes in his debut on the world stage and fresh off a major celebration marking North Korea’s 70th anniversary, intends to do with his nuclear weapons. And pressure is mounting in the administration of President Donald Trump for quick and concrete progress.
Moon’s gamble has consistently been to pursue increased engagement on such things as joint projects to improve roads, railways and the North’s decrepit electricity grid with the big-ticket items that generally get all the headlines — denuclearization and a formal peace agreement for the Korean War, which ended in 1953 with what was intended to be a temporary armistice.
Moon’s approach hinges on the belief that better inter-Korean relations will naturally lower tensions and that joint projects to improve the North’s infrastructure are an investment in Korea’s future that has the potential to benefit both sides significantly in the long term.
Kim has been all ears.
His push this year to pursue better relations with the North’s neighbors, resulting in a flurry of summits with Moon and Chinese leader Xi Jinping and his meeting with Trump in June, was based on his claim that he had sufficiently built up his arsenal of long-range missiles and nuclear weapons and could shift his primary focus to improving the domestic economy.
Fixing the country’s infrastructure is a big part of that, and the reason why is telling.
Since assuming power after the death of his father in late 2011, Kim has allowed a market-based economy to grow significantly. The North remains decidedly socialist, and the role of the central government in economic planning and policies continues to be key. But the role of markets and capitalist-style entrepreneurialism has also become an established fact of daily life and an important income source for the regime.
Better roads and railways, and the ability to move goods and people quickly and reliably, would help such economic activity grow.
Kim has been surprisingly open about the sad state of his country’s transportation system. In his first summit with Moon, he expressed his “embarrassment” about the “poor transit infrastructure.” That same month, he conveyed his “uncontrollable grief” over the death of dozens of Chinese tourists whose bus plunged off a bridge near the city of Kaesong, which is close to the South Korean border.
Proposals to boost the North’s infrastructure go way back. They were an important part of the South’s “Sunshine” policies of the late 1990s to 2009, when the North conducted a nuclear test that sent relations into a rapid downward spiral. Seoul declared the policies a failure the following year, but Moon has wasted no time in trying to revive them.
In their first meeting, Moon laid out his plans for North Korean development on a USB memory stick.
Ultimately, South Korea wants to see a high-speed train linking its capital of Seoul to Pyongyang and farther north to Sinuiju, an important trade hub on the Chinese border. The price tag is a reported $35 billion. By the time the summit was over, both sides had agreed to work together to improve the roads and railways in what is called the eastern transportation corridor, and from Pyongyang to Sinuiju.
How far they will get remains to be seen. Similar plans have been kicking around for years, if not decades. Connecting the rail systems was on the agenda of a North-South summit in 2000 as well.
Moon’s vision goes well beyond Korea’s borders.
At an event last month, he said he wants to see the establishment of road and rail links with the North to deepen regional economic integration with China, the Russian Far East and even Mongolia. He said he wants this to get underway before the end of the year.
The biggest obstacle, however, might be the United States.
The US-led United Nations Command, which monitors activity around the DMZ, blocked plans for the North and South to conduct a field study of the North’s railroads last month. The plan was to run a train along a railway linking Seoul to Sinuiju.
The command reportedly refused to approve the plan because Seoul did not supply enough details.
Officials in Washington have also expressed concern that Seoul may be moving too fast and undermining support for trade sanctions that the US sees as one of its best means of keeping the pressure on Pyongyang high. The Trump administration says it will keep its “maximum pressure” policy and sanctions in place until the North demonstrates it is serious about denuclearization.
When Moon meets Kim: Can roads pave way to denuclearization?
When Moon meets Kim: Can roads pave way to denuclearization?
- Since assuming power after the death of his father in late 2011, Kim has allowed a market-based economy to grow significantly
- Korea’s 70th anniversary, intends to do with his nuclear weapons
Using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine must align with law, Japan says
TOKYO: Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Friday it is important that discussions will be aligned with international law when asked about a US proposal for using the interest derived from frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine.
“Japan plans to join the discussions at the upcoming Group of Seven meeting from this basic standpoint,” Suzuki said.
Senegalese prime minister criticizes French military bases on territory
- “I reiterate here the desire of Senegal to have its own control, which is incompatible with the lasting presence of foreign military bases in Senegal," PM Sonko said
- Neighbours Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have pushed out French troops and turned to Russia for help fighting jihadist insurgencies on their territory
DAKAR: Senegal’s prime minister Ousmane Sonko raised the possibility of closing French military bases in the West African country on Thursday in a wide-ranging speech that also touched on the euro-backed CFA franc currency, oil and gas deals and LGBTQ rights.
Sonko, a firebrand politician who gained power when his hand-picked presidential candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye won a decisive victory in March, is known for criticizing perceived overreach by France in its former colony.
France has about 350 troops in Senegal.
“More than 60 years after our independence ... we must question the reasons why the French army for example still benefits from several military bases in our country and the impact of this presence on our national sovereignty and our strategic autonomy,” Sonko said at a joint conference with the French left-wing politician Jean-Luc Melenchon in the capital Dakar.
“I reiterate here the desire of Senegal to have its own control, which is incompatible with the lasting presence of foreign military bases in Senegal ... Many countries have promised defense agreements, but this does not justify the fact that a third of the Dakar region is now occupied by foreign garrisons.”
Neighbours Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have pushed out French troops and turned to Russia for help fighting jihadist insurgencies on their territory.
They have also turned away from West African bloc ECOWAS — which condemned their coups — and formed their own alliance of Sahel states.
But Sonko had friendly words for them on Thursday.
“We will not let go of our brothers in the Sahel and we will do everything necessary to strengthen the ties,” he said.
He also said Senegal, which shares the euro-pegged CFA franc currency with seven countries, would like a flexible currency pegged to at least two currencies to help absorb shocks and support export competitiveness.
During the election campaign, Faye had initially pledged to abandon the CFA franc but later backed off his promise.
Sonko reiterated promises to renegotiate oil and gas contracts in Senegal, where production is due to begin this year.
He also called on Western countries to show “restraint, respect, reciprocity and tolerance” on social matters including LGBTQ rights and gender equality.
He said homosexuality had always existed in Senegal, but the country had “managed” it and would continue to do so according to its socio-cultural realities.
“Senegal and many other African countries cannot accept any truth in legalizing this phenomenon.”
China and Russia reaffirm their close ties as Moscow presses its offensive in Ukraine
- Putin and Xi said they were seeking an end to the war in Ukraine, but they offered no new proposals in their public remarks
- China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for weapons production
BEIJING: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday reaffirmed their “no-limits” partnership that has deepened as both countries face rising tensions with the West, and they criticized US military alliances in Asia and the Pacific region.
At their summit in Beijing, Putin thanked Xi for China’s proposals for ending the war in Ukraine, which have been rejected by Ukraine and its Western supporters as largely following the Kremlin’s line.
Putin’s two-day state visit to one of his strongest allies and trading partners comes as Russian forces are pressing an offensive in northeastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region in the most significant border incursion since the full-scale invasion began on Feb. 24, 2022.
China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia was provoked into attacking Ukraine by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for weapons production.
China, which hasn’t criticized the invasion, proposed a broadly worded peace plan in 2023, calling for a ceasefire and for direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv. The plan was rejected by both Ukraine and the West for failing to call for Russia to leave occupied parts of Ukraine.
China also gave a rhetorical nod to Russia’s narrative about Nazism in Ukraine, with a joint statement Thursday that said Moscow and Beijing should defend the post-World War II order and “severely condemn the glorification of or even attempts to revive Nazism and militarism.”
Putin has cited the “denazification” of Ukraine as a main goal of the military action, falsely describing the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is Jewish and lost relatives in the Holocaust, as neo-Nazis.
The largely symbolic and ceremonial visit stressed partnership between two countries who both face challenges in their relationship with the US and Europe.
“Both sides want to show that despite what is happening globally, despite the pressure that both sides are facing from the US, both sides are not about to turn their backs on each other anytime soon,” said Hoo Tiang Boon, who researches Chinese foreign policy at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.
While Putin and Xi said they were seeking an end to the war, they offered no new proposals in their public remarks.
“China hopes for the early return of Europe to peace and stability and will continue to play a constructive role toward this,” Xi said in prepared remarks to media in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People. His words echoed what China said when it offered a broad plan for peace.
Earlier, Putin was welcomed in Tiananmen Square with military pomp. After a day in Beijing, the Russian leader arrived in Harbin, where he was expected to attend a number of events on Friday.
On the eve of his visit, Putin said China’s proposal could “lay the groundwork for a political and diplomatic process that would take into account Russia’s security concerns and contribute to achieving a long-term and sustainable peace.”
Zelensky has said any negotiations must include a restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, the withdrawal of Russian troops, the release of all prisoners, a tribunal for those responsible for the aggression and security guarantees for Ukraine.
After Russia’s latest offensive in Ukraine last week, the war is in a critical stage as Ukraine’s depleted military waits for new supplies of anti-aircraft missiles and artillery shells from the United States after months of delay.
The joint statement from China and Russia also criticized US foreign policy at length, hitting out at US-formed alliances, which the statement called having a “Cold War mentality.”
China and Russia also accused the US of deploying land-based intermediate range missile systems in the Asia-Pacific under the pretext of joint exercises with allies. They said that the US actions in Asia were “changing the balance of power” and “endangering the security of all countries in the region.”
The joint statement demonstrated China’s support to Russia.
China is “falling over themselves to give Russia face and respect without saying anything specific, and without committing themselves to anything,” said Susan Thornton, a former diplomat and a senior fellow at the Paul Tsai China Center at Yale Law School.
The meeting was yet another affirmation of the friendly “no-limits” relationship China and Russia signed in 2022, just before Moscow invaded Ukraine.
Since then, Russia has become increasingly dependent economically on China as Western sanctions cut its access to much of the international trading system. China’s increased trade with Russia, totaling $240 billion last year, has helped the country mitigate some of the worst blowback from sanctions.
Moscow has diverted the bulk of its energy exports to China and relied on Chinese companies for importing high-tech components for Russian military industries to circumvent Western sanctions.
“I and President Putin agree we should actively look for convergence points of the interests of both countries, to develop each’s advantages, and deepen integration of interests, realizing each others’ achievements,” Xi said.
US State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said that China can’t “have its cake and eat it too.
“You cannot want to have deepened relations with Europe … while simultaneously continuing to fuel the biggest threat to European security in a long time,” Patel said.
Xi congratulated Putin on starting his fifth term in office and celebrated the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the former Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China, which was established following a civil war in 1949. Putin has eliminated all major political opponents and faced no real challenge in the March election.
“In a famous song of that time, 75 years ago — it is still performed today — there is a phrase that has become a catchphrase: ‘Russians and Chinese are brothers forever,’” Putin said.
Russia-China military ties have strengthened during the war. They have held a series of joint war games in recent years.
China remains a major market for Russian military, while also massively expanding its domestic defensive industries, including building aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines.
Putin has previously said that Russia has been sharing highly sensitive military technologies with China that helped significantly bolster its defense capability.
Ethiopia protests US ambassador’s speech after he calls for release of political prisoners
- Ethiopia's federal forces are engaging in fighting with several rebel groups in its regions as well as ethnic-related insurgencies, which have led to deaths and the displacement of people
NAIROBI, Kenya: Ethiopia lodged a complaint Thursday over statements by the US ambassador after he said the release of political prisoners could help the country engage in a productive dialogue and that detaining critics won’t resolve the country’s issues.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement that Ambassador Ervin Massinga’s speech on policy and human rights contained “allegations” and “unsolicited advice,” and that it would work with the Embassy to correct the “errors and inconsistencies” in his statement.
“The statement is ill advised and contains uniformed assertions. It is contrary to the historic and friendly relations between Ethiopia and the United States,” the ministry wrote.
Massinga had said in his speech that detaining critics would not resolve Ethiopia’s outstanding issues and that “the political dialogue the Ethiopians need could be helped by releasing key political figures.”
He urged the government and rebel groups to agree to dialogue and that “the country has far more to gain through peace than on the battlefield.”
Federal forces in Ethiopia are engaging in fighting with several rebel groups in its regions as well as ethnic-related insurgencies, which have led to deaths and the displacement of people. Human rights groups have accused federal soldiers of rights abuses in regions like Amhara, where rebel groups are based.
A prominent opposition figure was gunned down last month after his release from prison, and a state-appointed rights group has called for an investigation into his death.
US bars imports from 26 Chinese textile firms over suspected Uyghur forced labor
- US officials believe Chinese authorities have established labor camps for Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups in China’s western Xinjiang region
WASHINGTON: The United States blocked imports from 26 Chinese cotton traders or warehouse facilities on Thursday as part of its effort to eliminate goods made with the forced labor of Uyghur minorities from the US supply chain.
The companies are the latest additions to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List that restricts the import of goods tied to what the US government has characterized as an ongoing genocide of minorities in China’s Xinjiang region.
US officials believe Chinese authorities have established labor camps for Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups in China’s western Xinjiang region. Beijing denies any abuses.
Many of the cotton companies listed are based outside of Xinjiang but source their cotton from the region, the US Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
The designations help “responsible companies conduct due diligence so that, together, we can keep the products of forced labor out of our country,” Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, said in the statement.
A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington criticized the move. “The so-called ‘Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act’ is just an instrument of a few US politicians to disrupt stability in Xinjiang and contain China’s development,” the spokesperson said.
Washington has restricted imports from 65 entities since the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List law was passed in 2021, according to the department.
“We enthusiastically endorse DHS’s action today to nearly double the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act’s ‘Entity List’ — while recognizing that the current list remains only a fraction of the businesses complicit in forced labor,” Rep. Chris Smith and Sen. Jeff Merkley, chairs of the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China, said in a statement.
The lawmakers want DHS to blacklist Chinese companies in the polysilicon, aluminum, PVC and rayon industries and any company in other parts of Asia making goods for the US market with inputs sourced from Xinjiang.
