SEOUL: North and South Korea are in a “very dangerous situation” where an accidental clash is possible any time and it was crucial for Seoul to engage Pyongyang in dialogue, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Monday, according to Yonhap News.
North Korea is refusing to answer calls by Seoul to establish contact and putting up barbed wire fences along the military border, something that had not been done since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, Lee was quoted as saying.
“Inter-Korean ties have become very hostile and confrontational, and in the absence of even the basic level of trust, the North is showing some very extreme behavior,” Lee said, according to Yonhap.
Lee was speaking to reporters on a flight from South Africa, where he attended a G20 summit, to Turkiye for the last leg of his trip.
South Korea proposed military talks with North Korea on November 17 to discuss drawing up a clear boundary along the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) to prevent armed clashes along the border which could potentially trigger a wider conflict.
North Korea has not responded or reacted to the proposal.
There have been more than 10 border intrusions by North Korean soldiers this year, some leading to South Korean troops firing warning shots under an established protocol.
Lee said winning peace with North Korea will be a long-term effort, but when a firm peace regime is established, “it would be better” for South Korea and the US to cease joint military drills.
Pyongyang has condemned such exercises by the allies, calling them dress rehearsals for a nuclear war against it. About 28,500 US troops and weapons systems are stationed in South Korea.
North, South Korea in ‘very dangerous’ standoff, Yonhap quotes Lee saying
https://arab.news/yf2td
North, South Korea in ‘very dangerous’ standoff, Yonhap quotes Lee saying
- North Korea is refusing to answer calls by Seoul to establish contact and putting up barbed wire fences along the military border
- That is something that had not been done since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War
Bangladesh begins exhuming mass grave from 2024 uprising
- The United Nations says up to 1,400 people were killed in crackdowns as Hasina attempted to cling to power — deaths that formed part of her conviction last month for crimes against humanity
DHAKA: Bangladeshi police began exhuming on Sunday a mass grave believed to contain around 114 unidentified victims of a mass uprising that toppled autocratic former prime minister Sheikh Hasina last year.
The UN-supported effort is being advised by Argentine forensic anthropologist Luis Fondebrider, who has led recovery and identification missions at mass graves worldwide for decades.
The bodies were buried at the Rayerbazar Graveyard in Dhaka by the volunteer group Anjuman Mufidul Islam, which said it handled 80 unclaimed bodies in July and another 34 in August 2024 — all people reported to have been killed during weeks of deadly protests.
The United Nations says up to 1,400 people were killed in crackdowns as Hasina attempted to cling to power — deaths that formed part of her conviction last month for crimes against humanity.
Criminal Investigation Department (CID) chief Md Sibgat Ullah said investigators believed the mass grave held roughly 114 bodies, but the exact number would only be known once exhumations were complete.
“We can only confirm once we dig the graves and exhume the bodies,” Ullah told reporters.
- ‘Searched for him’ -
Among those hoping for answers is Mohammed Nabil, who is searching for the remains of his brother Sohel Rana, 28, who vanished in July 2024.
“We searched for him everywhere,” Nabil told AFP.
He said his family first suspected Rana’s death after seeing a Facebook video, then recognized his clothing — a blue T-shirt and black trousers — in a photograph taken by burial volunteers.
Exhumed bodies will be given post-mortem examinations and DNA testing. The process is expected to take several weeks to complete.
“It’s been more than a year, so it won’t be possible to extract DNA from the soft tissues,” senior police officer Abu Taleb told AFP. “Working with bones would be more time-consuming.”
Forensic experts from four Dhaka medical colleges are part of the team, with Fondebrider brought in to offer support as part of an agreement with the UN rights body the OHCHR.
“The process is complex and unique,” Fondebrider told reporters. “We will guarantee that international standards will be followed.”
Fondebrider previously headed the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team, founded in 1984 to investigate the tens of thousands who disappeared during Argentina’s former military dictatorship.
Authorities say the exhumed bodies will be reburied in accordance with religious rites and their families’ wishes.
Hasina, convicted in absentia last month and sentenced to death, remains in self-imposed exile in India.
