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omonatheydidWhite House urges N. Korea to take steps for denuclearization, mend ties with S. Korea , Delegates from NK, U.S. agree to solve problems via dialogue
WASHINGTON, March 30 (Yonhap) -- The United States has repeated calls for North Korea to take significant denuclearization steps and address South Korea's grievances before any resumption of the six-party talks that could lead to aid.
"What we are insisting upon is that negotiations not repeat the old pattern, but rather that North Korea first needs to engage with the South and address issues surrounding its military provocation and then take significant and irreversible steps toward the goal of denuclearization," Thomas Donilon, President Barack Obama's national security adviser, told the Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference in Washington Tuesday, according to a transcript released by the White House Wednesday.
BERLIN, March 30 (Yonhap) -- A North Korean high-ranking diplomat said Wednesday that delegates from North Korea and the United States have reached an agreement to solve their ongoing problems through dialogue and negotiations in an unofficial meeting held here.
"Both sides have agreed that concerns (over North Korea's nuclear issue) should be resolved through dialogue and negotiations, not confrontation," said Ri Gun, director general of the North American affairs bureau of North Korea's foreign ministry.
Resolute but cool countering required against Japan's attempt to plunder sovereignty over Dokdo
SEOUL, March 30 (Yonhap) -- Despite South Korea's strong opposition, Japan authorized on Wednesday a dozen new school textbooks renewing territorial claims to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo. The approval represented a bolstering of Tokyo's claims over Dokdo because only 10 of the 23 textbooks currently in use in Japan have territorial descriptions of the islets. In particular, the number of textbooks claiming South Korea is "illegally occupying" Dokdo rose from one to four.
We cannot but interpret Japan's move as clear evidence that Tokyo is developing its attempt openly and systematically to plunder our sovereignty over Dokdo. We also cannot help but question the real intention of Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who dared to announce the approval of the controversial textbooks at a time when Japan is facing the worst crisis in its history following the disastrous earthquake and subsequent tsunami, as well as problems from a trouble nuclear power plant. The latest move could be seen as even more frustrating to South Koreans as it came at a time when they have been pouring out sympathy and support for the former colonial ruler suffering from the natural disasters.
WFP to soon unveil humanitarian steps on N. Korea: Asian chief
SEOUL, March 31 (Yonhap) -- The World Food Program (WFP) plans to announce in two weeks a series of concrete humanitarian steps the international community should take in a bid to ease the ongoing food crisis in North Korea, its top Asian official has said.
Kenro Oshidari, regional director for Asia, said in an interview on Wednesday with Yonhap News Agency that North Korea needs "a little over 1 million tons" more food than what it currently has in order to feed its people.
His comments come after a trio of U.N. agencies -- WFP, FAO and UNICEF -- said in a joint report this week that North Korea needs 434,000 tons of outside food aid to support its most vulnerable groups, which include children, pregnant women, and nursing mothers, among others.
"Even if we came in with donor support to provide 400,000 tons or so of humanitarian assistance, there's 600,000 tons that the government has to, either commercially or from bilateral assistance, secure," Oshidari said. "North Korea suffered a very harsh winter."
North Korea, which has relied heavily on international handouts since a massive famine swept the country in the mid 1990s, has seen little food assistance from its southern neighbor since 2008.
International assistance has also dried up significantly in the wake of a series of nuclear and missiles tests Pyongyang has conducted in defiance of warnings. Critics also say the North may also be hoarding food ahead of 2012, during which it plans to celebrate the centenary of the birth of its charismatic late founder, Kim Il-sung.
"Arithmetically, I can't see how it is feasible to stock up any food from the exterior," Oshidari said, citing field observations and data that his organization has procured from various countries.
Pledging to demand "maximum monitoring," should food aid resume to North Korea, Oshidari said the WFP is in the midst of finalizing a proposal for international assistance to the communist nation.
"We are in the process of right now getting the details down, devising that plan of how many people exactly we should be assisting, how much food it takes, what kind of food would be most suitable," he said, expecting disclosure "within two weeks."
Oshidari, who visited Seoul on Monday with missions that included briefing officials here on the food crisis in the North, said Pyongyang guaranteed "unprecedented access" when U.N. researchers were there to conduct their assessment earlier this year.
"When the assessment mission went in, we had unprecedented, flexible access we never saw before in our 15 years of presence in (North Korea)," he said. "They were able to much more flexibly select where they want to go, which household they want to (see), schools they want to visit, also visiting markets."
"So that type of flexibility we would request if we're going to have operations" in the nation with a 24-million population, he said, calling the North Korean behavior a "good sign."
Oshidari, however, said he noticed a lack of enthusiasm among South Korean foreign and unification ministry officials over possible food aid to the North when he met them here.
The relations between the Koreas remain at the worst point in years after a series of incidents that claimed a total of 50 South Korean lives last year. South Korea also demands the North roll back its nuclear arms programs for improvement in cross-border exchanges.
"The message I got was it would be very, very difficult given the present circumstances and background" for Seoul to consider large-scale food aid, Oshidari said, adding the humanitarian measures the WFP plans to soon announce would be addressed to the international community, rather than specific countries like South Korea.
Oshidari, who has traveled frequently to North Korea according to his spokesman, did not participate in the joint U.N. fact-finding mission to North Korea that took place between February and March. He is a Japanese national.
Sources: Yonhap News 1 , 2 , 3
WASHINGTON, March 30 (Yonhap) -- The United States has repeated calls for North Korea to take significant denuclearization steps and address South Korea's grievances before any resumption of the six-party talks that could lead to aid.
"What we are insisting upon is that negotiations not repeat the old pattern, but rather that North Korea first needs to engage with the South and address issues surrounding its military provocation and then take significant and irreversible steps toward the goal of denuclearization," Thomas Donilon, President Barack Obama's national security adviser, told the Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference in Washington Tuesday, according to a transcript released by the White House Wednesday.
BERLIN, March 30 (Yonhap) -- A North Korean high-ranking diplomat said Wednesday that delegates from North Korea and the United States have reached an agreement to solve their ongoing problems through dialogue and negotiations in an unofficial meeting held here.
"Both sides have agreed that concerns (over North Korea's nuclear issue) should be resolved through dialogue and negotiations, not confrontation," said Ri Gun, director general of the North American affairs bureau of North Korea's foreign ministry.
Resolute but cool countering required against Japan's attempt to plunder sovereignty over Dokdo
SEOUL, March 30 (Yonhap) -- Despite South Korea's strong opposition, Japan authorized on Wednesday a dozen new school textbooks renewing territorial claims to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo. The approval represented a bolstering of Tokyo's claims over Dokdo because only 10 of the 23 textbooks currently in use in Japan have territorial descriptions of the islets. In particular, the number of textbooks claiming South Korea is "illegally occupying" Dokdo rose from one to four.
We cannot but interpret Japan's move as clear evidence that Tokyo is developing its attempt openly and systematically to plunder our sovereignty over Dokdo. We also cannot help but question the real intention of Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who dared to announce the approval of the controversial textbooks at a time when Japan is facing the worst crisis in its history following the disastrous earthquake and subsequent tsunami, as well as problems from a trouble nuclear power plant. The latest move could be seen as even more frustrating to South Koreans as it came at a time when they have been pouring out sympathy and support for the former colonial ruler suffering from the natural disasters.
WFP to soon unveil humanitarian steps on N. Korea: Asian chief
SEOUL, March 31 (Yonhap) -- The World Food Program (WFP) plans to announce in two weeks a series of concrete humanitarian steps the international community should take in a bid to ease the ongoing food crisis in North Korea, its top Asian official has said.
Kenro Oshidari, regional director for Asia, said in an interview on Wednesday with Yonhap News Agency that North Korea needs "a little over 1 million tons" more food than what it currently has in order to feed its people.
His comments come after a trio of U.N. agencies -- WFP, FAO and UNICEF -- said in a joint report this week that North Korea needs 434,000 tons of outside food aid to support its most vulnerable groups, which include children, pregnant women, and nursing mothers, among others.
"Even if we came in with donor support to provide 400,000 tons or so of humanitarian assistance, there's 600,000 tons that the government has to, either commercially or from bilateral assistance, secure," Oshidari said. "North Korea suffered a very harsh winter."
North Korea, which has relied heavily on international handouts since a massive famine swept the country in the mid 1990s, has seen little food assistance from its southern neighbor since 2008.
International assistance has also dried up significantly in the wake of a series of nuclear and missiles tests Pyongyang has conducted in defiance of warnings. Critics also say the North may also be hoarding food ahead of 2012, during which it plans to celebrate the centenary of the birth of its charismatic late founder, Kim Il-sung.
"Arithmetically, I can't see how it is feasible to stock up any food from the exterior," Oshidari said, citing field observations and data that his organization has procured from various countries.
Pledging to demand "maximum monitoring," should food aid resume to North Korea, Oshidari said the WFP is in the midst of finalizing a proposal for international assistance to the communist nation.
"We are in the process of right now getting the details down, devising that plan of how many people exactly we should be assisting, how much food it takes, what kind of food would be most suitable," he said, expecting disclosure "within two weeks."
Oshidari, who visited Seoul on Monday with missions that included briefing officials here on the food crisis in the North, said Pyongyang guaranteed "unprecedented access" when U.N. researchers were there to conduct their assessment earlier this year.
"When the assessment mission went in, we had unprecedented, flexible access we never saw before in our 15 years of presence in (North Korea)," he said. "They were able to much more flexibly select where they want to go, which household they want to (see), schools they want to visit, also visiting markets."
"So that type of flexibility we would request if we're going to have operations" in the nation with a 24-million population, he said, calling the North Korean behavior a "good sign."
Oshidari, however, said he noticed a lack of enthusiasm among South Korean foreign and unification ministry officials over possible food aid to the North when he met them here.
The relations between the Koreas remain at the worst point in years after a series of incidents that claimed a total of 50 South Korean lives last year. South Korea also demands the North roll back its nuclear arms programs for improvement in cross-border exchanges.
"The message I got was it would be very, very difficult given the present circumstances and background" for Seoul to consider large-scale food aid, Oshidari said, adding the humanitarian measures the WFP plans to soon announce would be addressed to the international community, rather than specific countries like South Korea.
Oshidari, who has traveled frequently to North Korea according to his spokesman, did not participate in the joint U.N. fact-finding mission to North Korea that took place between February and March. He is a Japanese national.
Sources: Yonhap News 1 , 2 , 3
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no subject
Date: 2011-03-30 10:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-30 10:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-30 10:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-30 10:47 pm (UTC)put an end to this drama
no subject
Date: 2011-03-30 11:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-31 02:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-31 02:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-31 02:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-30 10:24 pm (UTC)And USA saying NK should start talking with SK is nice and all but I don't see any reason for NK too. Their government doesn't care about their citizens, and if you think about it from the government's perspective, why would they want to? I'm sure they are all perfectly content ruling with no problems, especially since they have nuclear power.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-30 11:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-30 10:36 pm (UTC)And international community: Stop calling the East/Blue sea "Sea of Japan". It gives Japan the wrong idea.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-30 11:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-31 02:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-31 04:03 pm (UTC)When i had Japan geography/sociology classes, nobody understood why i was complaining about our maps that said "Sea of Japan". Teachers and studdents both included. Even when i told them about it. "It's closer from Japan". Oh well my bad.....
no subject
Date: 2011-03-30 10:46 pm (UTC)japan why do this now with everything that just happened.
sigh.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-31 04:00 pm (UTC)Japan never fails to amaze me..
A yangyo for you.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-31 12:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-31 06:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-31 01:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-31 04:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-31 07:27 am (UTC)enough of that drama, there are greater things to worry about that ego tripping states
no subject
Date: 2011-03-31 02:39 pm (UTC)Ughhhhhhhhhh my sixth graders were talking about this today and were like, "Japan says we stole Dokdo from them! Why are we even helping them with this earthquake?? Japan sucks!!! They should die!"
FUCKING HELL, KOREA. COME ON. IT'S A CHUNK OF ROCK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FUCKING OCEAN VERSUS 12,000 INNOCENT DEAD. GET YOUR PRIORITIES IN ORDER FFS.
And yes, I understand the Dokdo issue. It should belong to Korea. Japan shouldn't be doing this. BUT SERIOUSLY. Nothing makes me rage more than when my kids say shit like, "Japan deserves this tsunami/earthquake. They stole Dokdo from us/invaded us/are our enemies/etc" I get that there's bad blood between the two countries, but come on.
no subject
Date: 2011-04-01 10:53 am (UTC)I mean I'd get the whole fuss if it was somehow like the dispute between China, Vietnam, and Philippines over the Spratly Islands. Now those islands have large amounts of deep sea oil in it.
Raising this issue amidst Japan's natural disaster is distasteful in my opinion. I don't like how it's fueling unnecessary hate on both sides.