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
Kyiv under ‘massive’ missile attack, Russian village evacuated after drone strike
- "A mass attack on the capital is still underway," Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced on Telegram early Thursday
- Simultaneously, a Ukrainian drone attack deep inside Russia ignited a fire at a Ministry of Defense facility in the Volgograd region
KYIV/MOSCOW: The conflict between Russia and Ukraine escalated sharply early Thursday as both sides launched significant aerial assaults, targeting critical infrastructure and residential areas.
The Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, came under a “massive” attack from Russian missiles, officials said, while Russian authorities ordered the evacuation of a village in the Volgograd region following a drone strike on a military facility.
"A mass attack on the capital is still underway," Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced on Telegram early Thursday. He reported hits on both residential and non-residential buildings on both sides of the Dnipro River, which bisects the city.
According to preliminary reports, falling fragments struck near two residential buildings in one district. While no fires broke out and no immediate casualties were reported, emergency medical teams were dispatched to the affected areas.
Tymur Tkachenko, head of the capital’s military administration, confirmed at least one hit in an eastern suburb, as witnesses reported explosions resounding across the city.
The southeastern city of Dnipro was also targeted. Regional governor Oleksandr Ganzha stated that while some private homes and cars sustained damage, there were no indications of casualties. Air raid alerts remained in effect in both Kyiv and Dnipro well after midnight.
Drone Strike in Russia
Simultaneously, a Ukrainian drone attack deep inside Russia ignited a fire at a Ministry of Defense facility in the Volgograd region.
"Falling debris caused a fire on the grounds of a Ministry of Defense facility near the village of Kotluban," Governor Andrey Bocharov posted on Telegram.
Authorities declared an immediate evacuation of the nearby village "to ensure civilian safety from the threat of detonation during firefighting," Bocharov added.
The exchange of strikes follows a deadly day in eastern Ukraine. On Wednesday, a Russian strike on the city of Bogodukhiv in the Kharkiv region killed four people, including three young children.
Regional military head Oleg Synegubov reported that two one-year-old boys and a two-year-old girl were killed, along with a 34-year-old man. A 74-year-old woman and a 35-year-old pregnant woman were also wounded in the attack. The Kharkiv region has seen intensified Russian attacks on transport and energy infrastructure in recent weeks.
The ongoing violence stands in stark contrast to diplomatic efforts. Ukrainian and Russian officials have been holding US-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi aimed at ending the four-year invasion. While the two sides successfully conducted a prisoner swap last week, a comprehensive agreement to end the conflict remains elusive.
The human toll continues to mount. According to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU), approximately 15,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed since Russia invaded in February 2022. The agency noted that 2025 was the deadliest year of the conflict so far, with more than 2,500 civilians killed.
