UN Willing to Ease Tensions in Korean Peninsula, Says Pyongyang

UN Undersecretary General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman upon arrival at the Pyongyang International Airport in Pyongyang, North Korea, on December 5, 2017. (AP)
UN Undersecretary General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman upon arrival at the Pyongyang International Airport in Pyongyang, North Korea, on December 5, 2017. (AP)
TT
20

UN Willing to Ease Tensions in Korean Peninsula, Says Pyongyang

UN Undersecretary General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman upon arrival at the Pyongyang International Airport in Pyongyang, North Korea, on December 5, 2017. (AP)
UN Undersecretary General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman upon arrival at the Pyongyang International Airport in Pyongyang, North Korea, on December 5, 2017. (AP)

The United Nations was ready to exert efforts to ease tensions in the Korean peninsula, announced North Korean state media on Saturday shortly after the highest-level UN official concluded a five-day visit to the isolated country.

North Korea also said in a statement carried by its official KCNA news agency that UN envoy, Jeffery Feltman, acknowledged the negative impact of sanctions on humanitarian aid to North Korea.

Tensions had been high for months in the Korean peninsula as Pyongyang pursues a nuclear and missile program, putting it at loggerheads with US President Donald Trump and in defiance of UN sanctions.

Feltman’s trip -- the first by a UN diplomat of his rank since 2010 -- saw him meet Foreign Minister Ri Yong-Ho and vice foreign minister Pak Myong-Kuk, and visit medical facilities supported by the UN, KCNA said.

He had arrived in the Chinese capital Beijing on Saturday following his North Korea trip and did not speak to reporters upon his arrival.

“The United Nations expressed concerns over the heightened situation on the Korean peninsula and expressed willingness to work on easing tensions on the Korean peninsula in accordance with the UN Charter which is based on international peace and security,” KCNA said.

Speaking at an academic forum, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the situation on the Korean peninsula had entered a vicious circle of shows of strength and confrontation, and the outlook was not optimistic, China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“But at the same time it can be seen that hopes for peace have yet to extinguished. The prospects for negotiations still exist, and the option of resorting to force cannot be accepted,” Wang was quoted as saying. 

On November 29, North Korea test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile which it said was its most advanced yet, capable of reaching the mainland United States.

The United States and South Korea conducted large-scale military drills this week.

Pyongyang reiterated its view that these maneuvers were a provocation on Saturday, accusing the drills of "revealing its intention to mount a surprise nuclear preemptive strike against the DPRK", using the initials of the country's official name.

China, Pyongyang's sole major diplomatic and military ally, has called on the United States to freeze military exercises and on North Korea to halt weapons tests.

North Korea blamed US "nuclear blackmail" for soaring tensions over its weapons program following the meeting with Feltman, but agreed to regular communication with the organization, state media said Saturday.

Last month’s missile test prompted a US warning that North Korea’s leadership would be “utterly destroyed” if war were to break out. The Pentagon has mounted repeated shows of force after North Korean tests.

North Korea regularly threatens to destroy South Korea and the United States and says its weapons programs are necessary to counter US aggression. The United States stations 28,500 troops in the South, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.



4 Dead, 30 Missing after Ferry Sinks on Way to Indonesia's Bali

Family members wait at Ketapang Port in East Java for updates on the search for missing people after a ferry sank on its way to the popular Indonesian resort island of Bali. STR / AFP
Family members wait at Ketapang Port in East Java for updates on the search for missing people after a ferry sank on its way to the popular Indonesian resort island of Bali. STR / AFP
TT
20

4 Dead, 30 Missing after Ferry Sinks on Way to Indonesia's Bali

Family members wait at Ketapang Port in East Java for updates on the search for missing people after a ferry sank on its way to the popular Indonesian resort island of Bali. STR / AFP
Family members wait at Ketapang Port in East Java for updates on the search for missing people after a ferry sank on its way to the popular Indonesian resort island of Bali. STR / AFP

At least four people were dead and dozens unaccounted for Thursday after a ferry sank in rough seas on its way to Indonesian resort island Bali, according to rescue authorities who said 31 survivors had been plucked from the water so far.

Rescuers were racing to find 30 people still missing at sea after the vessel carrying 65 passengers and crew sank before midnight on Wednesday as it sailed to the popular holiday destination from Indonesia's main island Java.

"The ferry tilted and immediately sank," survivor Eka Toniansyah told reporters at a Bali hospital.

"Most of the passengers were from Indonesia. I was with my father. My father is dead."

Indonesia's national search and rescue agency chief Mohammad Syafii told a news conference Thursday that 31 survivors had been found, AFP reported.

"Four people died, so 30 people are still being searched for," he said, adding the national agency sent a helicopter to help the effort.

President Prabowo Subianto, who was on a trip to Saudi Arabia, ordered an immediate emergency response, cabinet secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya said in a statement Thursday, adding the cause of the accident was "bad weather".

Java-based Surabaya search and rescue agency head Nanang Sigit, who had earlier put the total number of missing at 38, said efforts to reach the doomed vessel were initially hampered by adverse weather conditions.

Waves as high as 2.5 meters (8 feet) with "strong winds and strong currents" had affected the rescue operation, he said, adding conditions have since improved

A rescue team of at least 54 personnel including from the navy and police were dispatched along with inflatable rescue boats, he said, while a bigger vessel was later sent from Surabaya city to assist the search efforts.

Following currents

Nanang said rescuers would follow currents and expand the search area if there were still unaccounted for people by the end of the day.

"For today's search, we are still focusing on search above the water where initial victims were found," the Surabaya search and rescue chief said.

The ferry's manifest showed 53 passengers and 12 crew members, he said, but rescuers were still assessing if there were more people onboard than the manifest showed.

It is common in Indonesia for the actual number of passengers on a boat to differ from the manifest.

Frequent accidents

The ferry crossing from Ketapang port in Java's Banyuwangi regency to Bali's Gilimanuk port -- one of the busiest in Indonesia -- is around 5 kilometers (3 miles) as the crow flies and takes around one hour.

It is often used by people crossing between the islands by car.

Four of the known survivors saved themselves by using the ferry's lifeboat and were found in the water early Thursday, the Surabaya rescue agency said.

It said the ferry was also transporting 22 vehicles, including 14 trucks.

It was unclear if any foreigners were onboard when the ferry sank.

Marine accidents are a regular occurrence in Indonesia, a Southeast Asian archipelago of around 17,000 islands, in part due to lax safety standards and sometimes due to bad weather.

In March, a boat carrying 16 people capsized in rough waters off Bali, killing an Australian woman and injuring at least one other person.

A ferry carrying more than 800 people ran aground in shallow waters off East Nusa Tenggara province in 2022 and remained stuck for two days before being dislodged with no one hurt.

And in 2018, more than 150 people drowned when a ferry sank in one of the world's deepest lakes on Sumatra island.