The South Korean government will come up with a plan to support vaccines for North Korea after comprehensively reviewing the domestic vaccine supply situation and the consensus of the people. Illustration. Earlier, at a press conference on the sidelines of the G7 Summit, South Korean President Moon Jae-in expressed that he will expedite the supply of vaccines to North Korea, emphasizing that South Korea will become a “global vaccine production center”. , contributing to the fight against Covid-19. According to President Moon Jae-in, the Covid-19 vaccine needs to be distributed fairly to low-income countries so that the whole world can escape the Covid-19 pandemic. As South Korea plays the role of a global vaccine production hub, North Korea is of course also subject to cooperation. If North Korea agrees, Seoul will actively promote cooperation in providing vaccines to Pyongyang. President Moon Jae-in said the United States also supports humanitarian assistance to North Korea.

Photo: Russian Ministry of Defense. Vadim Kozyulin, a professor at the Russian Academy of Military Sciences, said of the construction of this barracks: “The construction force of the army decided to recreate and preserve the old appearance of the building.” Despite being so ancient, the building still meets most of the modern requirements for safety and comfort. The building can accommodate up to 200 military personnel living in it. The building has full bedrooms with beds, drawers, a gym, and a relaxation room where soldiers can read books or watch TV. According to expert Kozyulin, the construction of this barracks has attracted the attention of the press throughout Russia and this is a good way to enhance the image of the country. Russian army in the public. Some more pictures of the new Russian army barracks: The building seen from the outside. Photo: Russian Ministry of Defense. Gym room. Photo: Russian Ministry of Defense. System of 2 bunk beds. Photo: Russian Ministry of Defense. This is perhaps a classroom or meeting room. Photo: Russian Ministry of Defense. The place to iron the clothes. Photo: Russian Ministry of Defense. Photo: Russian Defense Ministry.

Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim at the meeting at the demilitarized zone between North Korea and South Korea. (Image: Reuters) “North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, whom I know (and like) have never respected the current president of South Korea, Moon Jae-in,” Trump said in a statement. “President Moon is weak in leadership and negotiation, except regarding the severance of long military ties with the US … We’ve been treated like idiots for decades. But I have cost them billions of dollars to protect and enjoy our services, ”Mr. Trump said. “The Biden administration will not even ask for billions of dollars that South Korea has agreed to pay us,” Trump said. During his tenure, Mr. Trump has always identified himself as the leading peace negotiator on the Korean peninsula. Washington maintains about 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea to protect the country from North Korean nuclear weapons, as well as to protect American interests in Northeast Asia. Under the agreement, Seoul agrees to pay 1.18 trillion won ($ 1.03 billion) in 2021, and subsequent increases depend on the defense budget. That amount is equivalent to an increase of 13.9% from the roughly $ 920 million that Seoul paid under the 2019 expiration agreement, but far below the $ 5 billion per year amount initially claimed by Trump.

The former US president has criticized the South Korean president as “weak” as a leader and negotiator. “We have been treated like idiots for decades. However, I have made them pay billions of dollars more for the cost of the defense the US provides,” he stressed. “The Biden administration has not asked for the additional billions of dollars that Korea has agreed to pay us,” Mr. Trump added, referring to incumbent President Joe Biden. During his presidency, former President Trump has identified himself as the leading negotiator in peace talks on the Korean peninsula. He first met Mr. Kim during the first summit between the two countries in June 2018 in Singapore. The two later expressed good sympathy for each other. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and former US President Donald Trump. Photo: AFP. The two leaders have met twice again during Trump’s time in office, and North Korea has suspended nuclear and missile tests. However, analysts say Pyongyang will continue to push ahead with its weapons programs. In March, South Korea agreed to pay an additional 13.9% for the cost of maintaining US forces stationed in the country. Thus, the six-year “special measures agreement” will replace the previous US-Korean agreement that expired at the end of 2019. Under the new agreement, Seoul will agree to pay 1,180 billion won ($ 1.03 billion) for 2021. This is lower than the $ 5 billion required by Trump, but this is the largest annual increase in the near future. 2 decades. The financial dispute has rippled the two countries’ security alliances since Trump has repeatedly accused South Korea of ​​being a “stalker”. Washington currently has about 28,500 troops in South Korea to protect the country from its nuclear-armed neighbor North Korea, while also protecting US interests in Northeast Asia.

President Moon told The New York Times: “I hope Mr. Biden will become the historic president to take a substantial and irreversible step forward for complete denuclearization and reconciliation. vase on the Korean peninsula “. Mr. Donald Trump and Mr. Kim Jong-un met in Singapore in June 2018. Photo: The Straits Times Referring to the former US president, Mr. Moon said: “Mr. Trump has handled the roundabout and cannot be successful in this regard. The most important starting point for both governments is to have goodwill to dialogue and face to face with each other soon “. Moon also urged the United States to cooperate with China on North Korea and other issues, and warned that if tensions between the two world economic powers intensify, North Korea can take advantage of the situation. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the border between the two countries in 2018. Photo: Reuters The US-North Korean talks and the unprecedented diplomatic interaction between Trump and Kim quickly deteriorated after the two countries failed to reach a substantive agreement on denuclearization and sanctions lifted. After Mr. Biden took office, North Korea quickly rejected efforts to restart negotiations and warned the US should refrain if “wants to rest for the next four years”. North Korea also conducted its first major weapons test since Mr. Biden took office in March by firing two ballistic missiles into the sea.

Nikkei Asia newspaper quoted sources as saying that this employee was called “Mr. Y” in the Japanese intelligence community. He once told contacts in Tokyo that he was ill. Some government sources say Japan and North Korea have lost a “behind-the-scenes negotiation channel”.

Japan and North Korea have no diplomatic relations, and efforts to normalize relations have become strained because of the past abductions of Japanese citizens and Pyongyang’s nuclear program.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends a meeting with key officials in Pyongyang. Photo: KCNA

According to sources, “Mr. Y” is known to be a subordinate of “Mr. X” – a senior North Korean security official who paved the way for a first-ever bilateral summit. was held in 2002 between the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and then Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

Along with “Mr. X”, this liaison officer took part in negotiations regarding Mr. Koizumi’s 2002 visit to North Korea. He is also in charge of negotiating a 2014 bilateral agreement signed in Stockholm on negotiating principles aimed at addressing kidnapping in the past.

In 2014, he informed Japan that two men missing in the late 1970s were still living in North Korea. These two, Minoru Tanaka, went missing at the age of 28 after boarding a plane to Vienna at Narita Airport, and Tatsumitsu Kaneda working at the same ramen shop as Tanaka. Meanwhile, Pyongyang has repeatedly stated that Tanaka has never entered North Korea.

Japan officially lists 17 people kidnapped by North Korea, of which five were repatriated after the landmark 2002 summit in which leader Kim Jong-il admitted North Korea kidnapped. Japanese citizenship.

“Mr. Y” also acts as the mediator for a secret meeting in Mongolia in 2014 between Mr. Shigeru Yokota and Ms. Sakie Yokota, 85, the parents of the kidnapping victim Megumi Yokota and her niece. Megumi Kim Eun-gyong.

Megumi Yokota, who was kidnapped in 1977 at the age of 13, was on her way home from school. She has become the symbol of Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korea.

Along with the families of the other kidnapped people, Sakie Yokota met with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga last week to call for the early repatriation of their loved ones ahead of scheduled talks between the prime minister and US President Joe Biden. took place on April 16 in Washington.

The unidentified employee, the sources said, succeeded “Mr. X” about 10 years ago, and entered into negotiations with Japan in a third country such as China and Mongolia.

Fluent in Japanese, he communicated with Japanese officials on his anti-eavesdropping cell phone. He is believed to have had a disease related to the brain or circulatory system, but may have been fired amid negotiations between Japan and North Korea stalled.

Prime Minister Suga, who served as a kidnapping minister under his predecessor Shinzo Abe, said after taking office last September that he was ready to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong Il’s son without prerequisites.

But now, Mr. Suga is struggling to find a new negotiating channel when Pyongyang closes its border to the COVID-19 pandemic prevention.

What appears to be the only door of opportunity now closed after North Korea decided not to participate in the Tokyo Olympics this summer, also citing the need to prevent viral infections.

President Suga’s office declined to comment.

Mr. Song Il-ho is the Korean Ambassador in charge of negotiating the normalization of relations with Japan. However, the Japanese government source said he was not one of the secret negotiators with more decision-making power.