South Korea's Lee to restore pact halting military activity on North Korean border
In a speech to mark the 80th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule, Lee said he will seek to restore the so-called September 19 Military Agreement, which was signed at an inter-Korean summit in 2018 and was designed to de-escalate tension along their shared border.
Pyongyang later effectively tore up the agreement and said it would restore all military measures after Seoul suspended parts of the agreement amid a spike in tensions.
President Lee, who won a snap election in June, has sought to re-engage Pyongyang after a period of cross-border tension and shown a willingness to return to dialogue.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
4 hours ago
- The Independent
South Korean and US militaries begin annual summertime drills to cope with North Korean threats
South Korea and the United States began their annual large-scale joint military exercise on Monday to better cope with threats by nuclear-armed North Korea, which has warned the drills would deepen regional tensions and vowed to respond to 'any provocation' against its territory. The 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield, the second of two large-scale exercises held annually in South Korea, after another set in March, will involve 21,000 soldiers, including 18,000 South Koreans, in computer-simulated command post operations and field training. The drills, which the allies describe as defensive, could trigger a response from North Korea, which has long portrayed the allies' exercises as invasion rehearsals and has often used them as a pretext for military demonstrations and weapons tests aimed at advancing its nuclear program. In a statement last week, North Korean Defense Minister No Kwang Chol said the drills show the allies' stance of 'military confrontation' with the North and declared that its forces would be ready to counteract 'any provocation going beyond the boundary line.' Ulchi Freedom Shield comes at a pivotal moment for South Korea's new liberal President Lee Jae Myung, who is preparing for an Aug. 25 summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington. Trump has raised concerns in Seoul that he may upend the decades-old alliance by demanding higher payments for the American troop presence in South Korea and possibly reducing it as Washington shifts its focus more toward China. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula remain high as North Korea has brushed aside Lee's calls to resume diplomacy with its war-divided rival, with relations having soured in recent years as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un accelerated his weapons program and deepened alignment with Moscow following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Seoul's previous conservative government responded to North Korean threats by expanding military exercises with the United States and seeking stronger U.S. assurances for nuclear deterrence, drawing an angry reaction from Kim, who last year renounced long-term reconciliation goals and rewrote the North's constitution to label the South a permanent enemy. In his latest message to Pyongyang on Friday, Lee, who took office in June, said he would seek to restore a 2018-inter-Korean military agreement designed to reduce border tensions and called for North Korea to respond to the South's efforts to rebuild trust and revive talks. The 2018 military agreement, reached during a brief period of diplomacy between South Korea's former liberal President Moon Jae-in and Kim, created buffer zones on land and sea and no-fly zones above the border to prevent clashes. But South Korea suspended the deal in 2024, citing tensions over North Korea's launches of trash-laden balloons toward the South, and moved to resume frontline military activities and propaganda campaigns. The step came after North Korea had already declared it would no longer abide by the agreement. When asked whether the Lee government's steps to restore the agreement would affect the allies' drills, the South's Defense Ministry said Monday that there are no immediate plans to suspend live-fire training near the Koreas' disputed maritime border. While the allies have postponed half of Ulchi Freedom Shield's originally planned 44 field training programs to September, U.S. military officials denied South Korean media speculation that the scaled-back drills were meant to make room for diplomacy with the North, citing heat concerns and flood damage to some training fields. Dating back to his first term, Trump has regularly called for South Korea to pay more for the 28,500 American troops stationed on its soil. Public comments by senior Trump administration officials, including Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby, have suggested a push to restructure the alliance, which some experts say could potentially affect the size and role of U.S. forces in South Korea. Under this approach, South Korea would take a greater role in countering North Korean threats while U.S. forces focus more on China, possibly leaving Seoul to face reduced benefits but increased costs and risks, experts say. In a recent meeting with reporters, Gen. Xavier Brunson, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, stressed the need to 'modernize' the alliance to address the evolving security environment, including North Korea's nuclear ambitions, its deepening alignment with Russia, and what he called Chinese threats to a 'free and open Indo-Pacific.'
Telegraph
14 hours ago
- Telegraph
Macron makes a splash on holiday in south of France
Emmanuel Macron has been pictured making a splash during his surfing holiday in the south of France. The images, which have been shared widely by the media in France, mark a stark departure from the usual sobriety of the French president's usual crisp attire and serious demeanour. Instead of his signature dark blue suit, Mr Macron was captured in a wetsuit, riding a hydrofoil board and grinning widely during sunset. 'But what a handsome grandpa,' read the cover of Voici, a weekly celebrity and gossip magazine that posted the photos of Mr Macron on its cover on Thursday. Brigitte Macron, the French first lady, was also captured riding a jetski with one of her grandchildren while following her husband on the hydrofoil. The pictures were taken earlier this month at Fort de Bregancon, the French president's summer residence, a medieval fortress and the official retreat where French leaders have been holidaying since 1968. The fort is located about 100 feet above sea level on a rocky islet near the Mediterranean in the South of France in Bormes-les-Mimosas. TMZ, the celebrity tabloid news site, also commented on the president's athletic physique under the headline 'Flexing political muscles'. It said: 'French Prez Emmanuel Macron looks like he's been hitting the gym ... because he just showed us what he's been packing under his suits – and he's got a six-pack of abs.' It is not the first time Mr Macron has been praised for his athleticism. In 2024, official photos showed the French president with bulging biceps as he boxed a punching bag. Between hydrofoil sessions on the open water and excursions into town for a stage show with French comedian Dany Boon, Mr Macron has also been spending his summer holidays conducting state and international business. On Sunday, the president engaged in high-level talks with Sir Keir Starmer and Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, in a video conference to discuss the next stage of peace talks in Ukraine. The trio will be part of a delegation of European leaders who will join Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian leader, in Washington on Monday to meet with Donald Trump. An unnamed source close to the president told Le Figaro: 'It's non-stop. He's making calls from Bregancon and spending his days exchanging messages with his counterparts.' Residents said the French president kept a lower profile than usual in the area. The owner of a bar-restaurant told Le Parisien: 'Sarkozy used to come and get his freshly squeezed orange juice, Chirac and Hollande used to come and see us, but we don't see Macron anymore. 'I think he is no longer very popular.'
The Guardian
15 hours ago
- The Guardian
Israeli plan to displace 1m Palestinians spreads fear in Gaza
Palestinians were gripped by fear and anxiety on Sunday after the Israeli military said it was preparing for the forcible displacement of 1 million people from Gaza City. The announcement came days after Israel said it intended to launch a new offensive to seize control of the enclave's largest urban centre, in a plan that raised international alarm, and ahead of the IDF's latest attacks in the Palestinian territory which Gaza's health officials said had killed at least 40 people on Saturday including a baby in a tent and people seeking aid. 'Based on the directives of the political leadership, and as part of the Israel Defense Forces' preparations to transfer civilians from combat zones to the southern Gaza Strip for their safety, starting tomorrow (Sunday), the provision of tents and shelter equipment for Gaza residents will resume,' read a statement by the Israeli Coordination of Government Activities in the Palestinian Territories (COGAT). 'The equipment will be transferred through the Kerem Shalom crossing by the United Nations and international relief organizations, after undergoing thorough inspection by the Land Crossings Authority of the Ministry of Defense,' it added. Meanwhile, new recordings broadcast by an Israeli TV station showed the Israeli general who headed military intelligence on 7 October 2023 saying that 50 Palestinians 'must die' for every person killed that day, and 'it does not matter now if they are children'. The channel said the undated conversations were recorded 'in recent months'. And in the US the state department announced that it would stop issuing visas to children from Gaza in desperate need of medical care after an online pressure campaign from Laura Loomer, a far-right influencer close to Donald Trump who has described herself as 'a proud Islamophobe'. Following Israel's announcement, Palestinians in Gaza – displaced repeatedly, forced to live in tent camps or amid the ruins of their homes, stricken by hunger and deprived of medical supplies – are bracing for another humanitarian disaster as a new offensive would force them toward the south of the territory and an uncertain future. 'We are already destroyed and exhausted, physically and psychologically, from repeated displacement, from the lack of food and water,' Akram Shlabia, 85, told the Guardian from the Shuja'iyya neighbourhood of Gaza City. 'And now they want us to go to the south! Into nothingness, into the unknown, into a place without shelter or the basic means of life, even safety.' 'We will face many problems in displacement,' said Mazen Hasaneh, 40, from al-Tuffah neighbourhood, who has been displaced six times during the war. 'First, securing a way to transport the necessary items like a tent and other basics, and of course many drivers will exploit people's desperation and raise prices, while people have no money to pay. 'The second problem is finding a place to set up the tent and settle, along with the difficulty of finding and providing water and food. Everything about displacement is suffering, especially in our current conditions.' Some families have already begun moving south to secure shelter in anticipation of possible evacuation, while others are contacting relatives to ask about available space should the relocation plan proceed. Yet many say they will remain in Gaza City, declaring they would rather stay than face the hardships of displacement. 'If the plan is carried out, I will look for a safe place for myself and my children within Gaza, and I will not consider moving to the south of the Strip,' said Asma Al-Barawi, 34, from al-Tuffah, the mother of seven children. 'I didn't leave the first time, and I won't leave this time. The experiences and suffering I heard from the displaced who went south were harsh and unbearable.' 'I lost everything because of this war,' she added. 'I lost two of my brothers, two of my maternal aunts with their families, my cousin, and my father-in-law. And, I lost my new home, which I only left with some clothes.' In recent days, heavy explosions have echoed from areas east of Gaza, where Israeli forces have intensified operations, including artillery barrages and the start of an incursion on the outskirts of the Sabra neighbourhood. On Saturday a baby girl and her parents were killed when an Israeli airstrike hit a tent in al-Muwasi, previously designated a humanitarian zone by Israel, in southern Gaza, Nasser hospital officials and witnesses said. 'Two and a half months old, what has she done?' a neighbour, Fathi Shubeir, asked. 'They are civilians in an area designated safe.' Israel's military said it could not comment on the strike without more details. Al-Muwasi is now one of the most heavily populated areas in Gaza after Israel pushed people into the desolate area. But the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said last week that Israel planned to widen its coming military offensive to include the area, along with Gaza City and 'central camps' – an apparent reference to the built-up Nuseirat and Bureij refugee camps in central Gaza. According to the civil defence agency, at least 13 of the Palestinians killed on Saturday were shot by troops as they were waiting to collect food aid near distribution sites in the north and the south. There were also another 11 malnutrition-related deaths in Gaza over the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Saturday, including at least one child. That brought malnutrition-related deaths due to the Israeli blockade on aid to 251. Meanwhile in Israel police blasted crowds with water cannons and made dozens of arrests on Sunday as thousands of protesters in Jerusalem demanded a deal to free hostages in Gaza. The demonstrators aimed to shut down the country with a one-day strike that blocked roads and closed businesses. Groups representing families of hostages organised the demonstrations as frustration grows in Israel over plans for the new military offensive, which many fear could further endanger the remaining hostages, about 20 of whom are believed to still be alive. 'We don't win a war over the bodies of hostages,' protesters chanted in one of the largest and fiercest protests in 22 months of war. Protesters gathered at dozens of places including outside politicians' homes, military headquarters and on major highways. They blocked lanes and lit bonfires. Police said they arrested 38 people. Israel's military offensive has killed at least 61,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, most of them civilians. The figure does not include the thousands believed to be buried under rubble or the thousands killed indirectly as a consequence of the war.
