SEOUL: South Korea’s resumption of small-scale military drills with the United States violated a recent agreement aimed at lowering tensions on the Korean peninsula, North Korean state media said on Monday.
About 500 United States and South Korean marines began military drills last week that were among joint exercises indefinitely suspended in June as Seoul and Washington focused on engaging with North Korea.
The Korean Marine Exchange Program (KMEP) violated a Sept. 19 agreement signed by North and South Korea that called for a halt to “all hostile acts,” said the Rodong Sinmun, North Korea’s official party newspaper.
The joint two-week drills are “directly against the inter-Korean military agreement that promised to eliminate practical threats of war and fundamental hostile relations from the Korean peninsula,” the newspaper said.
A spokesman for South Korea’s defense ministry on Monday rejected the North’s criticism, saying they are defensive exercises involving small units under the size of a battalion.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump pledged to work toward denuclearization at their landmark June summit in Singapore, where Trump promised to end joint, US South Korea military exercises.
But the agreement was short on specifics and negotiations have made little headway.
Last week North Korea called off a planned meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in New York “because they weren’t ready,” US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Friday.
North Korean media mentioned the canceled meeting for the first time on Saturday, when the Chosun Sinbo website reported that the talks could still be productive. But it repeated North Korean warnings that the country could restart its nuclear weapons development if the US does not make more concessions.
The biggest combat-readiness war game ever staged in and around Japan also went ahead last week, with the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan joining Japanese destroyers and a Canadian warship in the ocean off Japan — another key player in the effort to pressure North Korea.
“It’s an anachronistic military move to openly hold war drills aimed at others while the United States naval forces residing in Japan are also participating,” Rodong Sinmun said.
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South Korea-US military drills violate agreements — Pyongyang media
South Korea-US military drills violate agreements — Pyongyang media
- About 500 United States and South Korean marines began military drills last week
- The biggest combat-readiness war game ever staged in and around Japan went ahead last week
Ex-Syrian intelligence officer appears in UK court charged with crimes against humanity
LONDON: A former member of Syria's Air Force Intelligence attended a British court hearing via videolink on Tuesday charged with crimes against humanity and torture relating to the suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations in Damascus in 2011.
Salem Michel Al-Salem, 58, who now lives in Britain, appeared virtually at the hearing at London's Westminster Magistrates' Court from his home. He was wearing a breathing apparatus mask and the court was told he suffered from degenerative motor neurone disease.
Al-Salem is charged with three counts of murder as a crime against humanity relating to deaths in April and July 2011 "as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population with knowledge of the attack".
He is also accused of three charges of torture relating to incidents in 2011 and 2012, and one of conduct ancillary to murder as a crime against humanity. He did not speak during the hearing and there was no indication as to how he would plead.
His lawyer Sean Caulfield told the court that Al-Salem was too unwell to confirm his name.
The seven charges were brought under a British law that allows the prosecution of serious international crimes committed abroad. The Crown Prosecution Service said it was the first time it had brought charges of murder as crimes against humanity.
In 2005, Afghan warlord Faryadi Zardad was convicted by a British court of torture that had taken place in Afghanistan.
Al-Salem, who has sought indefinite leave to remain in Britain, was a colonel in the Syrian Air Force Intelligence department with oversight of the Information Branch in the district of Jobar, to the east of central Damascus, British prosecutors say.
He is accused of leading a group tasked with quelling the demonstrations, which mostly occurred during Friday afternoon prayers. Prosecutors say he gave his men orders to open fire on protesters, which led to the deaths of some individuals.
Prosecutors say he was also present at, or took part in, the torture of men at the Information Branch building.
Al-Salem was first arrested in central England in December 2021. His lawyer had sought an order to withhold his name, arguing it could pose a risk to his safety. England's Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring rejected the application but ordered that his address not be made public.
He will next appear on Friday at London's Old Bailey court.
Salem Michel Al-Salem, 58, who now lives in Britain, appeared virtually at the hearing at London's Westminster Magistrates' Court from his home. He was wearing a breathing apparatus mask and the court was told he suffered from degenerative motor neurone disease.
Al-Salem is charged with three counts of murder as a crime against humanity relating to deaths in April and July 2011 "as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population with knowledge of the attack".
He is also accused of three charges of torture relating to incidents in 2011 and 2012, and one of conduct ancillary to murder as a crime against humanity. He did not speak during the hearing and there was no indication as to how he would plead.
His lawyer Sean Caulfield told the court that Al-Salem was too unwell to confirm his name.
The seven charges were brought under a British law that allows the prosecution of serious international crimes committed abroad. The Crown Prosecution Service said it was the first time it had brought charges of murder as crimes against humanity.
In 2005, Afghan warlord Faryadi Zardad was convicted by a British court of torture that had taken place in Afghanistan.
Al-Salem, who has sought indefinite leave to remain in Britain, was a colonel in the Syrian Air Force Intelligence department with oversight of the Information Branch in the district of Jobar, to the east of central Damascus, British prosecutors say.
He is accused of leading a group tasked with quelling the demonstrations, which mostly occurred during Friday afternoon prayers. Prosecutors say he gave his men orders to open fire on protesters, which led to the deaths of some individuals.
Prosecutors say he was also present at, or took part in, the torture of men at the Information Branch building.
Al-Salem was first arrested in central England in December 2021. His lawyer had sought an order to withhold his name, arguing it could pose a risk to his safety. England's Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring rejected the application but ordered that his address not be made public.
He will next appear on Friday at London's Old Bailey court.
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