S. Korea offers north talks, with warning

S. Korea offers north talks, with warning

South Korean President Park Geun-hye and her government have formally offered North Korea talks on suspended operations at their joint Kaesong industrial zone. (AFP)

South Korea on Thursday formally offered North Korea talks on suspended operations at their joint Kaesong industrial zone, and hinted it might pull out entirely if Pyongyang declines.

The South said it was offering working-level talks to resolve the impasse over Kaesong, a rare symbol of inter-Korean cooperation that has become the most notable victim of escalating military tensions on the Korean peninsula.

But the offer came with an ultimatum of unspecified "significant measures" if Pyongyang fails to accept the proposal within 24 hours.

"There is no change on our stance to support the stable operation and improvement" of Kaesong, Unification Ministry Spokesman Kim Hyung-Seok said.

"But we cannot let this situation continue as it is," he added. "If North Korea rejects our proposal... we have no choice but to take significant measures."

Kim did not elaborate on what steps might be taken, but the ultimatum suggested South Korea was considering a permanent withdrawal from the zone, which normally employs 53,000 workers at 123 South Korean companies.

The talks proposed by Seoul would be between the respective heads of the North and South committees that oversee Kaesong operations.

The proposal came a day after Seoul announced pan-governmental action to help firms with factories in Kaesong deal with liquidity problems caused by lost production and the cancellation of orders.

Established in 2004 and lying 10 kilometers inside North Korea, Kaesong is a crucial hard currency source for the impoverished North, through taxes and revenues, and from its cut of the workers' wages.

The project was born out the "Sunshine Policy" of inter-Korean conciliation initiated in the late 1990s by South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung which led to a historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il in 2000.

It operates as a collaborative economic development zone that hosts South Korean companies attracted by its source of cheap, educated, skilled labor.

Turnover in 2012 was reported at $469.5 million, with accumulated turnover since 2004 standing at $1.98 billion.

The Korean peninsula was already engulfed in a cycle of escalating tensions - triggered by the North's nuclear test in February - when Pyongyang decided on April 3 to block all South Korean access to Kaesong.

Angered by the South's defense minister remarks on the existence of a "military" contingency plan to protect South Korean staff in Kaesong, the North then pulled out its entire workforce on April 9 and suspended operations.

Since then it has denied repeated requests to send food and other supplies to South Koreans who opted to remain in the zone to maintain their non-running production lines.

Even given the soaring tensions, the North's decision to suspend operations at Kaesong was unexpected, as neither side has allowed previous crises to significantly affect the complex.

Permanent closure would wipe out the last remaining point of contact and cooperation between North and South, which remain technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War was concluded with a ceasefire rather than a peace treaty.

There are currently 176 South Korean staff still in Kaesong, compared with the usual number of around 850.

"The South is likely to order all remaining personnel to pull out of Kaesong," predicted Cho Bong-Hyun of the IBK Economic Research Institute in Seoul.

"Both South and North Korea are reluctant to become the first one to mention the closure of Kaesong outright in order to avoid responsibility," Cho told AFP.

Usually hundreds of South Korean managers and other workers pass through the border crossing leading to Kaesong every day.

Some have continued to show up the border crossing on a daily basis in the unrealized hope that the North might lift the access ban.

The bulk of the 123 South Korean firms based in Kaesong are textile units, but there are also machinery, electronics and chemical manufacturers.

25 Apr, 2013

-
Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2013/04/25/S-Korea-offers-north-talks-with-warning-1449.html
--
Manage subscription | Powered by rssforward.com

تابع القراءة

U.N. urges quick follow-up to Obama Mideast opening

U.N. urges quick follow-up to Obama Mideast opening

Obama's visit to Israel and the West Bank last month led to renewed hopes of U.S. engagement. (AFP)

The U.N. political chief called Wednesday for a major international effort and bold leadership by the Israelis and Palestinians to break the political deadlock on peace talks and move ahead on an important opening by U.S. President Barack Obama.

Jeffrey Feltman told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday that Obama and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon agreed at a White House meeting on April 11 that there is "a window of opportunity" for the Israelis and Palestinians to resume peace negotiations.

He said the secretary-general reaffirmed the U.N.'s support for "a substantive initiative" to achieve a two-state solution, including through the Quartet of Mideast mediators - the U.S., U.N., European Union and Russia.

"Now is the time for the international community to work in a concerted manner and without delay," Feltman said. "The fragile hope triggered by the renewed U.S. engagement must be sustained and translated into serious efforts by the parties."

Obama's visit to Israel and the West Bank last month led to renewed hopes of U.S. engagement, which were reinforced by three quick follow-up visits by Secretary of State John Kerry.

He has been trying to get Israeli and Palestinian leaders to agree on a new and ambitious peace process that includes reviving parts of a long-dormant plan embraced by the Arab world. The 2002 Arab Peace Initiative would have provided Israel recognition throughout the Arab world in exchange for a pullout from territory conquered in 1967.

Feltman said the secretary-general spoke of the urgency of progress and reaffirmed the U.N.'s support for "a substantive initiative" to achieve a two-state solution at his meeting with Obama, including through the Quartet of Mideast mediators - the U.S., U.N., European Union and Russia.

In another follow-up, he said that on the sidelines of a meeting April 10, ministers from the G-8 major powers - the U.S., Britain, Russia, Japan, Germany, France, Italy and Canada - recommitted themselves to comprehensive peace in the Mideast and the need for a major international effort involving the Quartet and regional leaders "to drive the peace process forward." On April 28, he said, Arab leaders are sending a ministerial delegation to Washington to discuss the peace process.

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told the Security Council Wednesday that Moscow is convinced a ministerial meeting of the Quartet, preferably with the involvement of Arab states, Israel and the Palestinians, could help re-launch the negotiating process. He said this "must be achieved without preconditions."

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. observer, welcomed Obama's "important visit" and "the priority accorded to resolving the conflict, the renewed commitment to a just peace, and the efforts to create an atmosphere conducive for progress."

"We strongly hope that secretary Kerry succeeds in his efforts along with other regional and international partners to launch a credible peace process," he said.

But for a meaningful and successful political process, Mansour said, Israel must halt all settlement building.

"This would constitute a serious signal from Israel that it is ready to negotiate in good faith an end to the occupation," he said.

Israel must also accept the principle of withdrawal from land it seized in the 1967 war, release Palestinian political prisoners and detainees, end its "blockade" of the Gaza Strip, and allow Palestinian refugees to return, Mansour said.

Israel's U.N. Ambassador Ron Prosor made no mention of new settlements or the Obama visit but said peace must be built on three pillars - education to teach Palestinians the importance of tolerance and coexistence, recognition that Israel is the nation state of the Jewish people, and security.

He added that tolerance, mutual recognition and security are also essential for Israelis and all people in the Middle East if they are to live together in peace.

Prosor accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of claiming to march toward a peaceful two-state solution while building a monument in Bethlehem depicting the boundaries of a Palestinian state which would wipe Israel off the map.
 

25 Apr, 2013

-
Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/25/U-N-urges-quick-follow-up-to-Obama-Mideast-opening.html
--
Manage subscription | Powered by rssforward.com

تابع القراءة

Israel airport security ‘allowed to read tourists' email’

ACRI slammed the policy as a "drastic invasion of privacy" heaping scorn on the idea a tourist could freely give their consent while facing the threat of possible deportation if they refuse. (AFP)

Israeli security officials at Ben Gurion airport are legally allowed to demand access to tourists' email accounts and deny them entry if they refuse, the country's top legal official said on Wednesday.

Details of the policy were laid out by Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein in a written response to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), the group said in a statement.

In June 2012, ACRI's Lila Margalit wrote to the attorney general demanding clarification following media reports about security officials demanding access to tourists' email accounts before allowing them into the country.

"In a response dated April 24, 2013, the attorney general's office confirmed this practice," ACRI said, quoting sections of the document which said it was only done in exceptional cases where "relevant suspicious signs" were evident and only done with the tourist's "consent".

"However, the attorney general's office also noted that while a tourist may refuse such a search, 'it will be made clear to him that his refusal will be taken into consideration along with other relevant factors, in deciding whether to allow him entry to Israel'," it continued.

ACRI slammed the policy as a "drastic invasion of privacy" heaping scorn on the idea a tourist could freely give their consent while facing the threat of possible deportation if they refused.

"A tourist who has just spent thousands of dollars to travel to Israel, only to be interrogated at the airport by Shin Bet (domestic security) agents and told to grant access to their email account, is in no position to give free and informed consent," Margalit said.

"Such 'consent' -- given under threat of deportation -- cannot serve as a basis for such a drastic invasion of privacy," she said.

"Allowing security agents to take such invasive measures at their own discretion and on the basis of such flimsy 'consent' is not befitting of a democracy."

25 Apr, 2013

-
Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/25/Israel-airport-security-allowed-to-read-tourists-email-.html
--
Manage subscription | Powered by rssforward.com

تابع القراءة