 Trump: US has conceded 'nothing' to N.Korea Washington (AFP) April 22, 2018 - President Donald Trump asserted Sunday that North Korea has agreed to "denuclearization" and a halt to testing while the United States had so far conceded "nothing" in return. North Korea pledged this week to halt nuclear and missile tests as the two countries prepare for a summit between Kim Jong Un and Trump, but has not committed to giving up its nuclear weapons -- which Pyongyang views as a shield against the Western overthrow of its government. "We haven't given up anything & they have agreed to denuclearization (so great for World), site closure, & no more testing!" Trump wrote on Twitter, apparently responding to remarks made by an NBC news host. "We are a long way from conclusion on North Korea, maybe things will work out, and maybe they won't - only time will tell....But the work I am doing now should have been done a long time ago!" Kim said Saturday that his country would halt testing and close a nuclear test site, which Trump hailed as "big progress." But observers warn those concessions could be easily reversed if Kim decides to do so. Some experts meanwhile view the planned summit itself -- and the legitimacy a meeting with a sitting US president confers on Kim and his government -- as a win for Pyongyang. "This is a great public relations effort by Kim Jong Un and I think people recognize that. I think everyone within the administration and Congress approaches this with skepticism and caution," Bob Corker, the Republican chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said on CNN's State of the Union. "You can easily reverse that and all of us know that," said the senator, noting that Kim has begun "the meetings in a way that almost put the United States on the defensive."
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South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Monday praised the declaration of a moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests by the North's leader Kim Jong Un, days before a summit between the two men.
Pyongyang's move was "a significant decision towards total denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula", Moon said in a meeting with aides.
Kim declared that Pyongyang had no further need for nuclear tests or intercontinental ballistic missile launches, and no further use for its atomic test site, the North announced at the weekend.
The statement was immediately welcomed by US President Donald Trump, who is expected to hold a summit of his own with Kim soon.
But analysts warned that Pyongyang had made no commitment to give up its nuclear arsenal.
Moon said Monday that the North's move was "a green light that improves the prospect of success of the inter-Korea and North-US summits".
"If the North takes a step towards denuclearisation, starting from nuclear moratorium, it could guarantee a bright future," he added.
The latest step, he said, "raises hopes that the pace will accelerate".
S. Korea halts border broadcasts ahead of Kim summit
Seoul (AFP) April 23, 2018 - South Korea's military on Monday switched off giant loudspeakers blasting messages towards the North's soldiers at the border, in a conciliatory gesture ahead of Friday's historic inter-Korea summit.
The South has long broadcast a mix of news, music and propaganda messages urging the North's soldiers to defect through huge speakers along the heavily-fortified border, with operations varying depending on the swings of volatile inter-Korea ties.
The North plays propaganda of its own.
Relations have improved markedly in recent months, with the North announcing at the weekend that it would not conduct any more nuclear tests or long-range missile launches.
The latest developments come ahead of a summit between the North's leader Kim Jong Un and the South's President Moon Jae-in on Friday, and with Kim expected to meet US President Donald Trump later.
"We stopped loudspeaker broadcasts... as of today in order to ease military tension and to create a peaceful climate... ahead of the 2018 inter-Korea summit," Seoul's defence ministry said in a statement.
The two neighbours remain technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice instead of a peace treaty, with tens of thousands of soldiers guarding the mine-infested land border.
Friday's meeting, to be held on the southern side of the border truce village of Panmunjom, is only the third summit ever between the two Koreas after encounters in Pyongyang in 2000 and 2007.
All eyes are on whether Kim will promise any concrete steps towards dismantling the North's nuclear arsenal.
The young leader, believed to be in his mid-30s, has overseen four of the country's six nuclear tests and Pyongyang hails its weapons as a "treasured sword" protecting the country from potential US invasion.
Kim has also overseen dozens of missile tests, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of reaching the US mainland.
North Korea road accident causes 'heavy casualties': China
Beijing (AFP) April 23, 2018 - A road accident in North Korea has caused "heavy casualties" among Chinese tourists, the foreign ministry in Beijing said on Monday.
The ministry provided few details but China's state broadcaster CGTN earlier tweeted that more than 30 people died when a tour bus fell from a bridge in North Korea. The tweet was later deleted.
China was informed about the accident on Sunday night, and its embassy personnel in Pyongyang rushed to the scene and are working to manage the situation, the foreign ministry statement said.
The vast majority of foreign tourists to North Korea are Chinese, with the Cold War-era allies sharing a long land border and operating flights between the two countries.
Western visitors to the North once averaged around 5,000 a year, but numbers have been hit recently by a US travel ban -- Americans accounted for around 20 percent of the market -- and official warnings from other countries.
Tens of thousands of Chinese tourists are believed to visit the North every year, with many crossing via train through the Chinese border city of Dandong. For some, North Korea provides a window into what Communist China may have looked like decades ago.
Chinese tourism to the North has continued even though Beijing has enforced a slew of United Nations sanctions over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme.
The accident occurred in North Hwanghae province, the foreign ministry said.
The province lies south of the capital and stretches to the border with the South, including the city of Kaesong, an ancient Korean capital with historical sites.
More recently, the area hosted a manufacturing complex operated with South Korea.
The tour group was travelling by bus from Kaesong to Pyongyang when the accident happened, according to the independent Seoul-based website NK News, which cited an unnamed source.
State broadcaster CCTV showed images of a large overturned vehicle with light rain falling on rescue vehicles and doctors attending to a patient in its news broadcast of the incident.
- Bad roads -
North Korean roads are largely poor and potholed, and in many areas they are dirt rather than tarmac.
Bridges are sometimes out of commission, requiring rivers to be forded or vehicles to take detours.
But the route from Pyongyang to Kaesong, where the accident reportedly happened, is one of the best in the country.
It runs north-south from Sinuiju on the Chinese border to the Demilitarized Zone on the border with the South, but nonetheless has little traffic, like all North Korean highways.
Tank traps have been installed along it in many locations towards the frontier -- sets of high concrete columns on either side of the road that can easily be blown up to create an obstruction for invading armour.
China's foreign ministry said it was still verifying details of the situation.
The ministry said it activated an emergency mechanism Sunday night and is "sparing no efforts" to handle the situation, the statement said.
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