SEOUL: Seoul began a unilateral effort to excavate Korean War remains along the border Monday as silence from Pyongyang stymied a previously agreed joint operation with the North.
The joint excavation along the Demilitarised Zone of remains from the 1950-53 conflict was part of a military agreement signed at a Pyongyang summit in September between the South’s President Moon Jae-in and the North’s leader Kim Jong Un.
Under the deal — aimed at defusing military tensions — around 100 personnel from the two sides were to jointly carry out the recovery operation from April 1 to October 31.
But progress on the key issue of the North’s nuclear weapons has since stalled, with Kim’s Hanoi summit with US President Donald Trump breaking up in February without agreement, raising doubts over the future of inter-Korean projects.
Seoul’s defense ministry said the North had not responded to its calls and the South Korean military would begin preparatory excavation work Monday on the southern side of the DMZ.
“We are making preparations so that it can be immediately shifted to a South-North joint excavation once North Korea responds,” Roh Jae-cheon, the ministry’s deputy spokesman, told reporters.
Moon — who met Kim three times last year — has long backed a policy of engagement with nuclear-armed, sanctions-hit Pyongyang and was instrumental in brokering talks between the US and North Korea.
At a meeting with his top aides on Monday, Moon said the failed US-North Korean summit in Vietnam posed a “temporary difficulty” but added: “It is clearly being confirmed that the South, the North, and the US all do not wish to go back to the past.”
Moon, who will fly to Washington next week, said his rapidly arranged summit with the US president showed the allies wanted to revive the “momentum for dialogue at an early date.”
Since Hanoi, Pyongyang and Washington have both sought to blame each other for the deadlock.
Pyongyang said it had proposed dismantling the Yongbyon complex — a sprawling site covering multiple different facilities — in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions that have isolated the North.
But US officials have said the North wanted all significant sanctions removed while not making clear exactly which facilities at Yongbyon it was willing to give up — and Trump has said that “the weapons themselves need to be on the table.”
Seoul begins war remains excavation without North Korea
Seoul begins war remains excavation without North Korea
- The joint excavation along the Demilitarised Zone of remains from the 1950-53 conflict was part of a military agreement signed at a Pyongyang summit in September
- Pyongyang said it had proposed dismantling the Yongbyon complex — a sprawling site covering multiple different facilities — in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions that have isolated the North
Airspace closed, flights canceled as US-Iran conflict flares
- Major carriers from the Middle East, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the US announced widespread cancelations
- FlightAware said more than 19,000 flights had been delayed globally and more than 2,600 were canceled as of Sunday
PARIS: Thousands of flights have been delayed or canceled in the biggest disruption to global air transport since the Covid pandemic as airlines suspend services to the Middle East following the US and Israeli attacks on Iran.
Iran, Iraq, Israel, Syria, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates all announced at least partial closures of their skies after Saturday’s strikes and Iran launching missiles at capital cities around the wealthy Gulf region.
Major carriers from the Middle East, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the United States announced widespread cancelations, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.
Notable airlines that canceled services included Emirates, Etihad, Air France, British Airways, Air India, Turkish Airlines, and Lufthansa.
According to aviation analytics company Cirium, of around 4,218 flights scheduled to land in Middle Eastern countries on Saturday, 966 (22.9 percent) were canceled, with the figure rising above 1,800 if also including outbound flights.
For Sunday, 716 flights out of 4,329 scheduled to the Middle East have been canceled, Cirium said.
Flight tracking website FlightAware meanwhile said more than 19,000 flights had been delayed globally and more than 2,600 were canceled as of 0230 GMT Sunday.
Airspace closures
Iran swiftly closed its airspace as the strikes began “until further notice,” said the spokesman of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization, quoted by the Tasnim news agency.
Israel also closed its airspace to civilian flights, Transport Minister Miri Regev announced.
Qatar’s civil aviation authority said it had temporarily closed the Gulf state’s airspace.
Iraq shut down airspace, state media said.
The United Arab Emirates said it was closing its skies “partially and temporarily.”
Syria closed part of its airspace in the south along the border with Israel for 12 hours, the Civil Aviation Authority said.
Jordan’s air force was conducting drills to “defend the kingdom’s skies,” its military said.
Kuwait closed its airspace.
Middle East and North Africa airlines
Gulf carriers Emirates and Etihad canceled 38 percent and 30 percent of their flights respectively, Cirium said.
Qatar Airways suspended all flights from Doha. It canceled 41 percent of total flights, according to Cirium.
Syria Air, the country’s national carrier, canceled all flights until further notice.
Egypt’s national airline, EgyptAir, announced the suspension of its flights to cities across the Middle East, including Dubai, Doha, Manama, Abu Dhabi, Beirut and Baghdad among others.
European airlines
Russia’s air transport authority Rosaviatsia said all commercial flights to Israel and Iran were canceled “until further notice.”
Turkish Airlines canceled flights to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Jordan until March 2.
Air France canceled its Dubai, Riyadh and Beirut flights for Saturday, and flights to Tel Aviv until Sunday.
British Airways said it was not flying to Tel Aviv and Bahrain until March 4, and canceled flights to the Jordanian capital Amman on Saturday.
Swiss International Air Lines suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv until March 7, and canceled flights from Zurich to Dubai scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.
Germany’s Lufthansa, which comprises Swiss and ITA Airways, canceled its flights to and from Tel Aviv, Beirut, Amman, Irbil and Tehran until March 7.
The airline group and its subsidiaries suspended flights to and from Dubai and Abu Dhabi until Sunday.
North America airlines
Delta Air Lines suspended New York-Tel Aviv flights until Sunday.
American Airlines “temporarily suspended” Doha-Philadelphia flights.
United flights to Tel Aviv are canceled until Monday, and flights to Dubai until Sunday.
Air Canada said it canceled flights from Canada to Israel until March 8 and to Dubai until March 3.
Asia-Pacific airlines
India’s two largest private carriers IndiGo and Air India suspended flights to all destinations in the Middle East.
Pakistan International Airlines, the flag carrier of the country that borders Iran, said it had suspended flights to the UAE, Bahrain, Doha and Kuwait.
Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific suspended flights to Dubai and Riyadh.
Garuda Indonesia, Indonesia’s flag carrier, temporarily suspended flights to and from Doha “until further notice,” the company said in a statement Sunday.
Singapore Airlines and Singapore’s Scoot canceled six flight routes in the region until the end of Sunday, local media reported.
Philippine Airlines flights from Manila to Doha, Riyadh to Manila, and Dubai to Manila were canceled on Saturday, as well as one Doha-Manila flight on Sunday.
Other major airlines including Australia’s Qantas and Japan’s All Nippon Airways did not announce any flight cancelations.
Africa airlines
Ethiopian Airlines canceled its flights to Amman, Tel Aviv, Dammam, and Beirut.
Kenya Airways has suspended its flights to Dubai and Sharjah until further notice.
