President Moon Jae-in replaced Finance Minister, who also doubles the role as the deputy Prime Minister Kim Dong-yeon and the chief presidential policy chief Jang Ha-sung with Hong Nam-ki, currently the head of the government policy co-ordination office and Kim Soo-hyun, presidential social policy aide, respectively.
The key from Friday's face-off in the administration's economic sector, comes with the backdrop of the government sticking with the president's push to create 'inclusive nation' with 'one economic team'.
Meanwhile, reports of a discord between the top economic chief duos had been constantly looming, over their differing views on key economic policies and on the recent economic situation engulfing the nation.
The U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, says the planned high-level talks between U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his North Korean counterpart Kim Yong-chol, was postponed by the North, simply due to the regime's lack of readiness.
Despite the abrupt cancellation, Haley says she believes the talks will be rescheduled, and that President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong-un will meet next year.
But because the North hasn't taken any significant steps on denuclearization, Haley says sanctions have to remain in place.
Meanwhile, citing various officials following the negotiations, CNN reported that North Korea was "really angry" the U.S. has yet to give them any sanctions relief. It added the North probably decided it wouldn't get much out of the talks, without the U.S. making such a gesture.
South Korea's special presidential advisor Moon Chung-in also says the meeting was cancelled because of Pyeongyang and Washington's differences on the sanctions issue.
Emphasizing the importance of easing the sanctions to move forward, he called on China to play a bigger role, by discussing it with President Trump when they meet on the sidelines of the upcoming G20 summit in Argentina.
Scientists from 15 institutions in 6 countries including Seoul National University, the Institute for Basic Science in South Korea, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Liverpool in the UK have suggested that neutrino technology could be used to verify Pyeongyang's denuclearization.
Neutrinos are one of the lightest and smallest particles that travel at near light speed. Scientists say neutrino detectors can track power levels and fuel evolution in nuclear reactors.
Such neutrino technology has merits for all parties involved in the diplomatic talks with Pyeongyang. South Korea and the United States may value the tamper resistance of the neutrino signal and resilience of neutrino detectors, which can reconstruct a nuclear reactor's operational history from incomplete data.
Japanese politicians have been threatening to take legal action over the South Korean Supreme Court's ruling ordering a Japanese company to compensate workers forced to work for it with no pay during World War Two.
South Korea's Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon has expressed "deep regret" over those and other remarks he called "aggressive."
Lee said they were neither "reasonable" nor "wise," and that in a democracy like South Korea, the government cannot meddle in decisions by the judiciary.
The Prime Minister said the Supreme Court's decision did not deny the treaty signed by the two countries in 1965 on compensation, but only clarified its scope when it comes to individuals.
Lee criticized what he called an attempt to trigger a diplomatic dispute over the issue and urged a wise response from Japan.
Source: Arirang News
No comments:
Post a Comment