UN chief welcomes reopened Korean hotline

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday welcomed the reopening of a hotline between North and South Korea, and voiced hope for more diplomatic initiatives to end the peninsula's nuclear standoff.

North and South Korea earlier Wednesday reopened the communication channel that had been shut since 2016, following an offer from North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un to send a team to next month's Winter Olympics in South Korea.

"It is always a positive development to have a dialogue between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea," said UN spokesman Farhan Haq.

Guterres "welcomes the reopening of the inter-Korean communication channel," he added.

UN Security Council resolutions call for the de-nuclearization of the Korean peninsula and "we hope that enhanced diplomatic initiatives will help to achieve that goal," said Haq.

South Korea has offered to hold talks with the North on January 9 to discuss "matters of mutual interest" including the North's Olympic participation.

Guterres' support for inter-Korean dialogue stood in contrast to remarks from US Ambassador Nikki Haley, who on Tuesday dismissed the overtures between Pyongyang and Seoul as a "Band-Aid".

The United States, backed by Japan, is pushing for sanctions and total isolation of Kim's regime in response to a series of missile launches and nuclear tests.

Russia, and North Korea's sole major ally China, have repeatedly called for talks to de-escalate tensions, but the United States has been adamant that Pyongyang must first freeze its military programs.

Haley warned on Tuesday that if Pyongyang carries out another missile test, it would face the likelihood of even more sanctions.

The Security Council adopted a new raft of sanctions on December 22 to restrict oil supplies to North Korea -- the third set of measures imposed on Pyongyang in a year.

Pyongyang to reopen inter-Korean hotline after Seoul proposes talks
Seoul (AFP) Jan 3, 2018 - North Korea said Wednesday it will reopen a hotline with the South to discuss attending the Winter Olympics, forging ahead with peace overtures despite taunts from US President Donald Trump who said he has a "much bigger" nuclear button than Kim Jong-Un.

The hotline, which was cut by the North in 2016, is to be restored at 0630 GMT after Seoul proposed high-level talks in response to an olive branch from the North's leader ahead of next month's Pyeongchang Games.

Kim's overtures to the South marked a rare softening in tone, as tensions over its banned weapons programme have surged in recent months following a flurry of missile launches and its most powerful nuclear test yet.

Seoul responded with an offer to hold talks on January 9 -- the first since 2015 -- to discuss "matters of mutual interest" including Kim's suggestion that the reclusive nation could participate in the Olympics.

But Kim's New Year address also included a warning to the US that he has a "nuclear button" on his table, prompting a furious response from President Trump via Twitter.

"North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the 'Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.'

"Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!" he said.

Trump's remarks came as his ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley dismissed Seoul's offer to hold talks, calling it a "band-aid".

US State Department spokesman Heather Nauert also warned that Kim "may be trying to drive a wedge of some sort between the two nations -- between our nation and the Republic of Korea".

But the rapprochement seemed to be moving ahead on Wednesday, with Kim welcoming Seoul's support for his overtures, according to Ri Son-gwon, the head of North Korea's agency handling inter-Korean affairs.

- Hotline 'very significant' -

The two countries, which are divided by a Demilitarized Zone since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, last held high-level talks in 2015 to try to ease tensions.

The hotline, located in the truce village of Panmunjom, remained operational until February 2016, with operators from both countries checking it twice a day.

The channel was shut down when relations deteriorated over a dispute involving the Kaesong industrial complex, which was jointly operated by both countries.

Seoul welcomed Pyongyang's decision to reopen the hotline as "very significant", with chief presidential press secretary Yoon Young-chan saying "it creates an environment where communication will be possible at all times".

South Korean President Moon Jae-In has long favoured engagement with the nuclear-armed North, but the Trump administration insists the regime must give up its weapons drive before any negotiations can take place.

Ambassador Haley told reporters that Washington could not take the talks seriously "if they don't do something to ban all nuclear weapons in North Korea".

North Korea has shrugged off a raft of new sanctions and heightened rhetoric from Washington as it drives forward with its weapons program, which it says is for defence against US aggression.

Pyongyang claims it needs nuclear weapons to protect itself from a hostile Washington and has striven to create a warhead capable of targeting the US mainland with an atomic warhead.

Moon on Tuesday welcomed Kim's olive branch as a "positive response" to Seoul's hopes that the Pyeongchang Olympics would be a "groundbreaking opportunity for peace".

But any rapprochement between the two countries will take place against a backdrop of suspicion, if not outright hostility, by Washington, with Trump and Kim exchanging angry insults since the US leader took office a year ago.

Trump has mocked Kim as "fat" and a "little rocket man." Kim, for his part has described Trump as a "mentally deranged US dotard."

Hundreds of North Koreans still working in Poland
Warsaw (AFP) Jan 3, 2018
Around 400 North Koreans are still working in Poland but the EU member has not issued any new work permits since August last year in compliance with a UN resolution, the Polish labour minister said Wednesday. New UN sanctions passed against North Korea last month ban the supply of nearly 75 percent of refined oil products to Pyongyang, cap crude deliveries and order all North Koreans working ... read more

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