Tuesday, April 16, 2019

THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA: Memorial service to be held in Ansan Tuesday on 5th anniversary of Sewol-ho ferry sinking



South Korea marks the fifth anniversary of the Sewol-ho ferry sinking on Tuesday.

A memorial service will be held at 3pm, Korea time, at a park in Ansan, just south of Seoul,
where Danwon High School is located.

More than 260 students and teachers from that school died when the ferry capsized in waters off Korea's southwestern coast
on April 16th, 2014.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in says the truth will be revealed about the 2014 sinking of the Sewol-ho ferry,...and those responsible will be punished.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday to mark the fifth anniversary of the sinking, President Moon said the tragedy is and will always be remembered.

He said the people who carry it with their hearts are changing the world.

Meanwhile,after the Sewol-ho ferry disaster in 2014, the government has designated April 16th as National Safety Day to take a lesson from the accident and make a safer country.

To mark the 5th anniversary of the Sewol-ho ferry accident and the National Safety Day, a government-led event was held at the government complex in Sejong city.

Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon attended the event along with some 300 government officials, civic groups and citizens.



South Korea's foreign ministry will establish a new bureau specializing on China affairs and a division focused on implementing UN Security Council sanctions on North Korea.

The ministry has put on public notice, a proposed revision to the current enforcement regulations on its organizational structure.

There had been increasing calls for setting up a separate bureau in charge of China to boost its diplomatic capability on the four major powers - the U.S., China, Japan and Russia.

The process is expected to be completed by early May.




U.S. President Donald Trump says "talk is okay" with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, adding he does not need the process to move too quickly.

During a speech in Minnesota on Monday local time, President Trump reiterated North Korea's denuclearization is moving along and his relationship with Kim is very good.

He added talks with Pyeongyang are moving along "perfectly", saying there's a lot of "constructive things" going on.




U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is calling for North Korea to carry out its denuclearization pledge before the end of the year.

Such remark is seen as a response to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's speech last week, during which he said Pyeongyang will wait until the end of 2019 for Washington to come up with a decision.

Speaking in Texas on Monday local time, Pompeo praised Kim's mentioning of a possible third summit between the two sides.

He stressed dialogue is happening all the time with North Korea, without going into details.




President Moon Jae-in embarks on an eight-day trip to three Central Asian nations in the coming hours.

President Moon Jae-in will be on the road for more than a week visiting Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

He hopes to improve relations on the economic and political fronts, while earning support for his administration's peace drive on the Korean Peninsula.

Kim Hyun-chong, Deputy Director of Presidential National Security Office said "The three Central Asian nations the president will tour are some of the major partners of the administration's New Northern Policy drive."

For three days from Tuesday, the president will be in capital, Turkmenistan's capital, Ashgabat, where he will sit down with President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov for talks on strengthening strategic partnerships, including making it easier for South Korean firms to make inroads into the country.

President Moon continues on to Uzbekistan on Thursday for a four-day stay.

The last stop of President Moon's three-nation trip ends in Kazakhstan.

On his first trip to the region, the President hopes to help strengthen friendly relationships with the three countries and lay the groundwork for future partnerships under the New Northern Policy drive.

Source: Arirang News

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