Tag Archives: North Korea

U.S. to hold accountable those who commit crimes against ‘innocents’

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, (C) talks to reporters during a ceremony at the Sant'Anna di Stazzema memorial, dedicated to the victims of the massacre committed in the village of Sant'Anna di Stazzema by the Nazis in 1944 during World War II, Italy

y Crispian Balmer and Steve Scherer

LUCCA, Italy (Reuters) – The United States will hold responsible anyone who commits crimes against humanity, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Monday, days after the U.S. military unexpectedly attacked Syria.

Tillerson is in Italy for a meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) major industrialized nations, with his counterparts from Europe and Japan eager for clarity from Washington on numerous diplomatic issues, especially Syria.

Before the April 7 missile strikes on a Syrian airbase, U.S. President Donald Trump had indicated he would be less interventionist than his predecessors and willing to overlook human rights abuses if it was in U.S. interests.

But Tillerson said the United States would not let such crimes go unchallenged. “We rededicate ourselves to holding to account any and all who commit crimes against the innocents anywhere in the world,” he told reporters while commemorating a 1944 German Nazi massacre in Sant’Anna di Stazzema.

Trump ordered his military to strike Syria in retaliation for what the United States said was a chemical weapons attack by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces which killed scores of civilians, including many children.

European ministers are eager to hear whether Washington is now committed to overthrowing Assad, who is backed by Russia. They also want the United States to put pressure on Moscow to distance itself from Assad.

Tillerson, who travels to Russia after the two-day G7 gathering, said at the weekend that the defeat of Islamic State remained the U.S. priority, while the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said that “regime change” in Syria was also a priority for Trump.

The mixed messages have confused and frustrated European allies, who are eager for full U.S. support for a political solution based on a transfer of power in Damascus.

“The Americans say they agree, but there’s nothing to show for it behind (the scenes). They are absent from this and are navigating aimlessly in the dark,” said a senior European diplomat, who declined to be named.

Italy, Germany, France and Britain have invited foreign ministers from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Qatar to sit down with the G7 group on Tuesday morning to discuss Syria. All oppose Assad’s rule.

SENSITIVE ISSUES

The foreign ministers’ discussions in Tuscany will prepare the way for a leaders’ summit in Sicily at the end of May.

Efforts to reach an agreement on statements ahead of time – a normal part of pre-meeting G7 diplomacy – have moved very slowly, partly because of a difficult transition at the U.S. state department, where many key positions remain unfilled.

Some issues, such as trade and climate change, are likely to be ducked this week. “The more complicated subjects will be left to the leaders,” said an Italian diplomat, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

However, the foreign ministers will talk about growing tensions with North Korea, as the United States moves a navy strike group near the Korean peninsula amid concerns over Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions.

They will also discuss Libya. Italy is hoping for vocal support for a United Nations-backed government in Tripoli which has struggled to establish its authority even in the city, let alone in the rest of the violence-plagued north African country.

The Trump administration has not yet defined a clear policy and Rome fears Washington may fall into step with Egypt and Russia, which support general Khalifa Haftar, a powerful figure in eastern Libya.

The struggle against terrorism, relations with Iran and instability in Ukraine will also come up for discussion, with talks due to kick off at 4.30 p.m. (10.30 a.m. ET) on Monday.

(Reporting by Crispian Balmer and Steve Scherer; editing by Andrew Roche)

U.S. Navy strike group to move toward Korean peninsula

FILE PHOTO - Sailors man the rails of the USS Carl Vinson, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, as it departs its home port in San Diego, California August 22, 2014.

By Idrees Ali

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. Navy strike group will be moving toward the western Pacific Ocean near the Korean peninsula as a show of force, a U.S. official told Reuters on Saturday, as concerns grow about North Korea’s advancing weapons program.

Earlier this month North Korea tested a liquid-fueled Scud missile which only traveled a fraction of its range.

The strike group, called Carl Vinson, includes an aircraft carrier and will make its way from Singapore toward the Korean peninsula, according to the official, who was not authorized to speak to the media and requested anonymity.

“We feel the increased presence is necessary,” the official said, citing North Korea’s worrisome behavior.

The news was first reported by Reuters.

In a statement late Saturday, the U.S. Navy’s Third Fleet said the strike group had been directed to sail north, but it did not specify the destination. The military vessels will operate in the Western Pacific rather than making previously planned port visits to Australia, it added.

This year North Korean officials, including leader Kim Jong Un, have repeatedly indicated an intercontinental ballistic missile test or something similar could be coming, possibly as soon as April 15, the 105th birthday of North Korea’s founding president and celebrated annually as “the Day of the Sun.”

Earlier this week U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Florida, where Trump pressed his counterpart to do more to curb North Korea’s nuclear program.

Trump’s national security aides have completed a review of U.S. options to try to curb North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. These include economic and military measures but lean more toward sanctions and increased pressure on Beijing to rein in its reclusive neighbor.

Although the option of pre-emptive military strikes on North Korea is not off the table, the review prioritizes less-risky steps and de-emphasizes direct military action.

Trump spoke with South Korea’s acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn on Friday, the White House said on Saturday in a statement which did not mention the strike group.

(Reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Richard Chang)

Little progress reining in North Korea, U.S. commander says before Trump-Xi summit

An underwater test-firing of a strategic submarine ballistic missile. KCNA via REUTERS

By Tim Kelly and Ju-min Park

TOKYO/SEOUL (Reuters) – Diplomatic and economic measures taken to rein in North Korea’s missile program have not had the desired effect, a senior U.S. military commander said on Thursday after the North’s latest test triggered a flurry of calls among world leaders.

U.S President Donald Trump led calls with leaders and senior officials from Japan and South Korea on Thursday to discuss the latest provocation from Pyongyang, hours before Trump begins a much-anticipated summit with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

“Up to this point I think it is fair to say … that economic and diplomatic efforts have not supported the progress people have been anticipating and looking forward to,” U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Scott Swift said in Tokyo, where he was meeting Japanese Self Defence Force commanders and foreign ministry officials.

North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs will be high on the agenda when Trump and Xi meet at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida later on Thursday, with anger in Beijing simmering over the deployment of an advanced U.S. anti-missile system in South Korea.

Analysts have said Wednesday’s launch of a ballistic missile from North Korea’s east coast probably took place with the Trump-Xi summit in mind as the reclusive state presses ahead in defiance of United Nations resolutions and sanctions.

In a phone call with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday, Trump again said that all options were on the table when it came to North Korea’s continued missile tests.

Swift said a military response remained among those options.

“That decision would be up to the president,” he told reporters. “The military was always an option.”

Tensions on the Korean peninsula and the Trump-Xi summit began to worry markets on Thursday, with the dollar and Wall Street shares slipping.

“The market is only starting to factor in recent developments regarding North Korea, and it now wants to figure out the geopolitical implications of the U.S.-China summit,” said Shusuke Yamada, a senior strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Tokyo.

“DANGEROUS PROVOCATION”

Abe said the two leaders had agreed that North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launch was “a dangerous provocation and a serious threat”.

He told reporters at his Tokyo residence he was watching to see how China would respond to Pyongyang after Xi meets Trump.

The White House said in a statement after the Abe call Trump “made clear that the United States would continue to strengthen its ability to deter and defend itself and its allies with the full range of its military capabilities”.

Trump has repeatedly said he wants China to do more to exert its economic influence over its unpredictable ally in Pyongyang to restrain its nuclear and missile programs, but China denies it has any overriding influence on North Korea.

On Sunday, Trump held out the possibility of using trade as a lever to secure Chinese cooperation, while suggesting Washington might deal with Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs on its own if need be.

Any launch of objects using ballistic missile technology is a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. The North has defied the ban, saying it infringes on its sovereign rights to self-defense and the pursuit of space exploration.

In another call on Thursday, Trump’s national security adviser H.R. McMaster told his South Korean counterpart that Washington remained committed to the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea.

South Korea and the United States say the sole purpose of the THAAD system is to defend against missile launches from North Korea but China says the system’s powerful radar could penetrate into its territory.

The United States began deploying the first elements of the THAAD system in South Korea last month, despite angry opposition from China.

South Korean officials said McMaster discussed the North’s latest missile launch and the Trump-Xi summit in a call with his counterpart in Seoul, Kim Kwan-jin.

“Both sides agreed to pursue … plans in order to substantially strengthen the international community’s sanctions and pressure on North Korea,” South Korea’s presidential Blue House said in a statement.

” … both agreed to push forward the deployment of THAAD by U.S. forces in Korea,” it said.

U.S. officials said the missile launched on Wednesday appeared to be a liquid-fueled, extended-range Scud missile that only traveled a fraction of its range before spinning out of control.

They said it flew about 60 km (40 miles) from its launch site near Sinpo, a port city on the North’s east coast where a submarine base is located.

As well as a growing list of ballistic missile launches, North Korea has also conducted two nuclear weapons tests since January 2016. (For a graphic on North Korea’s missile launches, see: http://tmsnrt.rs/2m9l4oj)

(This story has been refiled to correct spelling of Bank of America Merrill Lynch strategist’s first name to Shusuke in paragraph 10)

(Additional reporting by William Mallard, Kiyoshi Takenaka and Shinichi Saoshiro in TOKYO Eric Beech in WASHINGTON; Editing by Paul Tait)

Trade, North Korea pose challenges as Trump prepares to meet China’s Xi

Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/Aly Song

By Steve Holland and Matt Spetalnick

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump holds his first meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday facing pressure to deliver trade concessions for some of his most fervent supporters and prevent a crisis with North Korea from spiraling out of control.

The leaders of the world’s two biggest economies are to greet each other at the president’s Mar-a-Lago retreat in Palm Beach, Florida, late in the afternoon and dine together with their wives, kicking off a summit that will conclude with a working lunch on Friday.

Trump promised during the 2016 campaign to stop what he called the theft of American jobs by China and rebuild the country’s manufacturing base. Many blue-collar workers helped propel him to his unexpected election victory on Nov. 8 and Trump wants to deliver for them.

The Republican president tweeted last week that the United States could no longer tolerate massive trade deficits and job losses and that his meeting with Xi “will be a very difficult one.”

Trump, a former real estate magnate is still finding his footing in the White House and has yet to spell out a strategy for what his advisers called a trade relationship based on “the principal of reciprocity.”

White House officials have set low expectations for the meeting, saying it will set the foundation for future dealings.

U.S. labor leaders say Trump needs to take a direct, unambiguous tone in his talks with Xi.

“President Trump needs to come away from the meeting with concrete deliverables that will restore production and employment here in the U.S. in those sectors that have been ravaged by China’s predatory and protectionist practices,” said Holly Hart, legislative director for the United Steelworkers union.

International Association of Machinists President Robert Martinez said the United States continued to lose manufacturing jobs to the Chinese, saying: “It’s time to bring our jobs home now.”

Some Democratic lawmakers were eager to pounce on Trump on trade.

“We are eager to understand your plans to correct our current China trade policies and steer a new course,” said Democratic U.S. Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts.

DIFFERING PERSONALITIES

The summit will bring together two leaders who could not seem more different: the often stormy Trump, prone to angry tweets, and Xi, outwardly calm, measured and tightly scripted, with no known social media presence.

What worries the protocol-conscious Chinese more than policy clashes is the risk that the unpredictable Trump could publicly embarrass Xi, after several foreign leaders experienced awkward moments with the new U.S. president.

“Ensuring President Xi does not lose face is a top priority for China,” a Chinese official said.

The most urgent problem facing Trump and Xi is how to persuade nuclear-armed North Korea to halt unpredictable behavior like missile test launches that have heightened tensions in South Korea and Japan.

North Korea is working to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the United States.

Trump has threatened to use trade to try to force China to exert influence over Pyongyang. Beijing says its influence is limited and that it is doing all it can but that it is up to the United States to find a way back to talks with North Korea.

A senior White House official said North Korea was a test for the U.S.-Chinese relationship.

“The clock is very, very quickly running out,” the official said. “All options are on the table for us.”

Trump consulted on Wednesday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who said he and the president agreed by phone that North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launch was “a dangerous provocation and a serious threat.”

A White House strategy review is focusing on options for pressuring Pyongyang economically and militarily. Among measures under consideration are “secondary sanctions” against Chinese banks and firms that do the most business with Pyongyang.

A long-standing option of pre-emptive strikes remains on the table, but despite the tougher recent U.S. talk, the internal review “de-emphasizes direct military action,” the U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Analysts believe any military action would likely provoke severe North Korean retaliation and massive casualties in South Korea and Japan and among U.S. troops stationed there.

(Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom in Washington, Gui Qing Koh in New York, Ben Blanchard in Beijing and William Mallard in Tokyo; Editing by Caren Bohan and Peter Cooney)

Is North Korea putting a nuclear-tipped bargaining chip on the table?

North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un. KCNA/via REUTERS

By James Pearson and Ju-min Park

SEOUL (Reuters) – As the leaders of China and the United States sit down for a summit on Thursday, North Korea has made sure it also has something on the negotiating table: A nuclear-tipped bargaining chip.

North Korea launched a projectile on Wednesday, which U.S. officials said appeared to be a liquid-fueled, extended-range Scud missile that only traveled a fraction of its range before spinning out of control and crashing into the sea.

The launch was North Korea’s latest in a long series of missile and nuclear tests that have accelerated in their variation and intensity over the last two years.

And now, experts agree, North Korea is closing in on the ability to hit the United States with a missile, a goal that for decades has been the subject of Pyongyang’s vivid propaganda posters.

“They’ve been able to put a nuke on a missile for a while now,” said Jeffrey Lewis of the California-based Middlebury Institute of International Studies.

“The stated purpose of the last test was to validate the nuclear weapon design that would arm all of North Korea’s missiles,” Lewis said of North Korea’s September 2016 nuclear test – its fifth and largest to date.

Since then, North Korea has further ramped up its tests and rhetoric, emphasizing a consistent message: To create a nuclear device small enough to mount on an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), and fire it at the United States.

“If we push the button, the bombs will be fired and reduce the U.S. to ashes,” an editorial in the ruling Workers’ Party newspaper the Rodong Sinmun said on Wednesday.

North Korea now has the strength to “wipe out” the United States “in a moment” with an H-bomb, the editorial said.

“This is again our warning”.

BARGAINING CHIP

From last year, North Korea took the rare step of publicizing images of its missile equipment tests, convincing analysts that Pyongyang’s banned program was further along toward successfully testing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) than first thought.

“The first few tests might fail, but that’s not good news because they’ll learn,” said Lewis. “How long it takes to make it work is anyone’s guess. Maybe a couple of years, maybe the first time”.

North Korea has been pursuing its nuclear and missile programs at an unprecedented pace since last year, with an aim to expand its deterrence against Washington and diversify its line-up of nuclear-equipped missiles, another expert said. (See FACTBOX)

“They have been doing so many test launches last year and this year to develop systems to transport nuclear warheads,” said Kim Dong-yub, a professor at Kyungnam University’s Institute of Far Eastern Studies in Seoul.

“The whole thing is about expanding their deterrence and continuing to keep upgrading their missiles to deliver nuclear warheads,” said Kim.

It was not clear if Wednesday’s launch was deliberately timed to coincide with Thursday’s summit between China’s President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida, where North Korea is expected to be a prime topic of discussions.

Some experts think North Korea has tried to make sure the two world leaders are aware Pyongyang has a bargaining chip in any forthcoming moves to clam down on its weapons programs.

Cheong Seong-chang, a senior research fellow at Sejong Institute outside Seoul, said that could come in the form of another nuclear or ICBM test after the summit. Perhaps first with a low-level show of force – enough not to upset China – followed by a period of intensified weapons testing.

“Then, next month when a new (South Korean) government gets under way, North Korea is expected to try to turn the situation around into a phase of appeasement and, use its moratorium of nuclear and ballistic missile tests to find middle ground with South Korea and the United States,” Cheong said.

This year, North Korea officials, including young leader Kim Jong Un, have repeatedly indicated an ICBM test, or something similar, could be coming, possibly as soon as April 15, the 105th birthday of North Korea’s founding president and celebrated annually as “the Day of the Sun”.

(Editing by Bill Tarrant)

North Korea test-fires missile into sea ahead of Trump-Xi summit

FILE PHOTO: A North Korean flag flies on a mast at the Permanent Mission of North Korea in Geneva October 2, 2014. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

By Ju-min Park and Jack Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile into the sea off its east coast on Wednesday, South Korea’s military said, ahead of a summit between U.S. and Chinese leaders who are set to discuss Pyongyang’s increasingly defiant arms program.

The missile flew about 60 km (40 miles) from its launch site at Sinpo, a port city on North Korea’s east coast, the South Korean Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. Sinpo is home to a North Korean submarine base.

The launch comes just a day before the start of a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, where talks about adding pressure on the North to drop its arms development will take center stage.

“The launch took place possibly in consideration of the U.S. -China summit, while at the same time it was to check its missile capability,” a South Korean official told Reuters about the military’s initial assessment of the launch.

The missile was fired at a high angle and reached an altitude of 189 km (117 miles), the official said.

Any launch of objects using ballistic missile technology is a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. The North has defied the ban, saying it infringes on its sovereign rights to self-defense and the pursuit of space exploration.

The launch drew swift condemnation from Japan, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe saying further provocative action was possible.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga described the launch as “extremely problematic” and said Tokyo had lodged a strong protest.

South Korea’s foreign ministry also condemned the launch as a blunt challenge to a series of U.N. Security Council resolutions targeting North Korea’s nuclear and missile program. Seoul called a National Security Council meeting and vowed to respond strongly in case of further provocations.

In a terse statement, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said: “The United States has spoken enough about North Korea. We have no further comment.”

Trump wants China to do more to exert its economic influence over unpredictable Pyongyang to restrain its nuclear and missile programs.

China has denied it has any outsized influence on Pyongyang and Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying ruled out the chance of a link between the launch and the summit, saying, “I can’t see any certain connection between these two things.”

Ahead of the U.S.-China summit in Florida, Trump had threatened to use crucial trade ties with China to pressure Beijing into more action on North Korea.

A senior U.S. White House official said Trump wanted to work with China and described the discussions over North Korea as a test for the U.S.-Chinese relationship.

ICBM THREAT

North Korea could choose to continue with missile-related activities through next week, when the isolated and impoverished country celebrates the 105th anniversary of the birth of the state’s founder, Kim Il Sung.

It has used the anniversary in previous years to test-fire the intermediate-range Musudan ballistic missile and to launch long-range rockets to try to put satellites into orbit.

An expert on the North’s political strategy warned against reading too much political significance into the timing of the tests ahead of the U.S-China summit.

“They may have taken the summit into account to pick a day but, to me, it is more likely to catch up with its own missile development roadmap for their technical needs,” said Kim Dong-yub, a military expert at Kyungnam University’s Institute of Far Eastern Studies in Seoul.

North Korea failed in an attempt to launch a ballistic missile from its east coast two weeks ago. Earlier in March, it fired four missiles towards Japan, some of which came as close as 300 km (190 miles) to the Japanese coast.

It has also conducted two nuclear weapons tests since January 2016, all in defiance of U.N. sanctions.

The U.S. and South Korean militaries said initial assessments indicated the latest launch was of a KN-15 medium-range ballistic missile, which would be the same kind North Korea test-launched in February.

Pyongyang tested a new type of medium- to long-range ballistic missile in February, which it later said was an upgraded, extended-range version of its submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM).

North Korea has carried out several SLBM tests near Sinpo.

“While it is entirely possible it was the land-based KN-15, it very well could have been a test of their SLBM system that was conducted on land,” said Dave Schmerler, an expert at the California-based James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.

The North is believed to be developing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that could hit the United States and its leader, Kim Jong Un, has vowed to test-launch one at any time.

Experts and officials in the South and the United States believe Pyongyang is still some time away from mastering all the technology needed for an operational ICBM system, such as re-entry into the atmosphere and subsequent missile guidance.

– For a graphic on ‘North Korea’s missile launch’ click : https://tinyurl.com/mb6ennc

– For a graphic on ‘Nuclear North Korea’ click : https://tinyurl.com/mpxs45r

(Additional reporting by James Pearson in Seoul, Kaori Kaneko in Tokyo and Idrees Ali in Washington; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Clarence Fernandez)

North Korean murder suspects go home with victim’s body as Malaysia forced to swap

Hyon Kwang Song (R), the second secretary at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Kim Uk Il, a North Korean state airline employee, arrive in Beijing intentional airport to board a flight returning to North Korea, in Beijing. Kyodo via REUTERS

By Rozanna Latiff and James Pearson

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Three North Koreans wanted for questioning over the murder of the estranged half-brother of their country’s leader returned home on Friday along with the body of victim Kim Jong Nam after Malaysia agreed a swap deal with the reclusive state.

Malaysian police investigating what U.S. and South Korean officials say was an assassination carried out by North Korean agents took statements from the three before they were allowed to leave the country.

“We have obtained whatever we want from them…They have assisted us and they have been allowed to leave,” police chief Khalid Abu Bakar told a news conference in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, saying there were no grounds to hold the men.

Kim Jong Nam, the elder half-brother of the North’s young, unpredictable leader Kim Jong Un, was killed at Kuala Lumpur’s airport on Feb. 13 in a bizarre assassination using VX nerve agent, a chemical so lethal the U.N. has listed it as a weapon of mass destruction.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the remains of a North Korean citizen killed in Malaysia were returned to the North via Beijing along with “relevant” North Korean citizens.

Malaysian authorities released Kim’s body on Thursday in a deal that secured the release of nine Malaysian citizens held in Pyongyang after a drawn out diplomatic spat.

Malaysian police had named eight North Koreans they wanted to question in the case, including the three given safe passage to leave.

Television footage obtained by Reuters from Japanese media showed Hyon Kwang Song, the second secretary at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Kim Uk Il, a North Korean state airline employee on the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

The police chief confirmed they were accompanied by compatriot Ri Ji U, also known as James, who had been hiding with them at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysian prosecutors have charged two women – an Indonesian and a Vietnamese – with killing Kim Jong Nam, but South Korean and U.S. officials had regarded them as pawns in an operation carried out by North Korean agents.

Kim Jong Nam, who had been living in exile in the Chinese territory of Macau for several years, survived an attempt on his life in 2012, according to South Korean lawmakers.

They say Kim Jong Un had issued a “standing order” for the assassination in order to consolidate his own power after the 2011 death of the father of both.

The other North Koreans named by Malaysian investigators are all back in North Korea.

Police believe four fled Malaysia on the same day as the murder and another was held for a week before being released due to insufficient evidence.

Angered by the probe, North Korea ordered a travel ban on Malaysians this month, trapping three diplomats and six family members – including four children – in Pyongyang.

Malaysia, which previously had friendly ties with the unpredictable nuclear-armed state, responded with a ban of its own, but was left with little option but to accede to the North’s demands for the return of the body and safe passage for the three nationals hiding in the embassy.

“CLEAR WINNER”

Malaysia will not snap diplomatic ties with North Korea following the row, Prime Minister Najib Razak said during an official visit to India, state news agency Bernama reported.

“We hope they don’t create a case like this again,” Najib told reporters in the southern city of Chennai. “It will harm the relationship between the two countries.”

On Thursday, Najib had announced the return of the body, but did not mention Kim by name.

“Following the completion of the autopsy on the deceased and receipt of a letter from his family requesting the remains be returned to North Korea, the coroner has approved the release of the body,” Najib said, adding that the murder investigation would continue but the travel ban on North Koreans was lifted.

North Korea has maintained that the dead man is not Kim Jong Nam, saying instead the body is that of Kim Chol, the name on the victim’s passport.

Malaysian police used a DNA sample to establish the victim was Kim Jong Nam. Police chief Khalid said the North Korean embassy had at first confirmed the identity, but changed its stance the next day.

The swap agreement brings to an end a diplomatic standoff that has lasted nearly seven weeks.

Both countries managed to “resolve issues arising from the death of a DPRK national,” a North Korean statement said on Thursday, referring to the country by the abbreviation of its official name.

“It is a win (for North Korea), clearly,” Andrei Lankov, North Korea expert at Seoul’s Kookmin University, said on the swap deal. “I presume the Malaysians decided not to get too involved in a remote country’s palace intrigues, and wanted their hostages back.”

SIMULTANEOUS TAKE-OFF

The nine Malaysians who had been trapped in Pyongyang arrived in Kuala Lumpur early on Friday on board a small Bombardier business jet operated by the Malaysian air force.

Pilot Hasrizan Kamis said the crew dressed in civilian clothes as a “precautionary step” for the mission.

The Plane Finder tracking website showed the Bombardier took off from Pyongyang at the same time the Malaysian Airlines flight MH360 left Kuala Lumpur for Beijing.

Mohd Nor Azrin Md Zain, one of the returning diplomats, said it had been an anxious period but they “were not particularly harassed” by the North Korean authorities.

The episode, however, is likely to have cost North Korea one of its few friends.

“I think this relationship is going to go into cold storage for a very long time,” said former Malaysian diplomat Dennis Ignatius.

(Additional reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi, Joseph Sipalan, Emily Chow and Praveen Menon in KUALA LUMPUR and Christian Shepherd in BEIJING; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

Bangladesh Bank heist was ‘state-sponsored’: U.S. official

Lamont Siller, the legal attache at the U.S. embassy in the Philippines speaks during a cyber security forum in Manila, Philippines March 29, 2017. REUTERS/Karen Lema

MANILA (Reuters) – The heist of $81 million from the Bangladesh central bank’s account at the New York Federal Reserve last year was “state-sponsored,” an FBI officer in the Philippines, who has been involved in the investigations, said on Wednesday.

Lamont Siller, the legal attache at the U.S. embassy, did not elaborate but his comments in a speech in Manila are a strong signal that authorities in the United States are close to naming who carried out one of the world’s biggest cyber heists.

Last week, officials in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, blamed North Korea.

“We all know the Bangladesh Bank heist, this is just one example of a state-sponsored attack that was done on the banking sector,” Siller told a cyber security forum.

An official briefed on the probe told Reuters in Washington last week that the FBI believes North Korea was responsible for the heist. The official did not give details.

The Wall Street Journal reported U.S. prosecutors were building potential cases that would accuse North Korea of directing the heist, and would charge alleged Chinese middlemen.

The FBI has been leading an international investigation into the February 2016 heist, in which hackers breached Bangladesh Bank’s systems and used the SWIFT messaging network to order the transfer of nearly $1 billion from its account at the New York Fed.

The U.S. central bank rejected most of the requests but filled some of them, resulting in $81 million being transferred to bank accounts in the Philippines. The money was quickly withdrawn and later disappeared in the huge casino industry in the country.

There have been no arrests in the case.

A Chinese casino owner in the Philippines told that Senate inquiry he took millions of dollars from two Chinese high-rollers in February. He said the two men were responsible for transferring the stolen money from Dhaka to Manila.

Philippine investigators have filed criminal charges against several individuals and a remittance company for money laundering in connection with the heist at the country’s Department of Justice (DOJ).

None of these cases have yet been filed in court, however.

Siller said the FBI was working closely with the Philippines government “to ensure those responsible for the attack do not go unpunished.”

“So for us in the FBI, it is never over. We are going to bring these individuals to justice so that we can show others, that you maybe be able to muster such attacks, even state-sponsored, but you will not get away with it in the end.”

(Reporting by Karen Lema; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Exclusive: Malaysia inspects North Korean coal ship for possible U.N. sanctions breach

An Eikon ship-tracking screen shows the position of the North Korean ship Kum Ya off Penang March 29, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas White/Illustration

By James Pearson, Rozanna Latiff and Tom Allard

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia briefly prevented a North Korean ship carrying coal from entering its port in Penang because of a suspected breach of United Nations sanctions, a port worker and Malaysian maritime officials told Reuters on Wednesday

The KUM YA, was carrying 6,300 metric tonnes of anthracite coal, according to a worker at Penang Port who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity. It was later allowed to dock, where an inspection team accompanied by an armed escort boarded the ship.

A December 2016 U.N. Security Council resolution placed a cap on exports of North Korean coal, and urged member states to apply extra scrutiny on North Korean ships.

Production of coal in North Korea is state-controlled and its exports are a key source of hard currency for the isolated country’s banned nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Relations between North Korea and Malaysia, which have been friendly for decades, have soured following the February assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s half-brother at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

The North Korean ship had been initially prevented from entering Penang Port due to a possible breach of U.N. sanctions, MMEA deputy director-general of operations Zulkifli Abu Bakar, told Reuters without offering further details.

It was unclear what the inspectors were checking on.

The United Nations in its annual reports on how members have complied with sanctions have cited a number of instances over the past decade in which North Korean missile parts and coal connected to sanctioned entities were trans-shipped through Malaysia.

Malaysia is one of the few countries in the world which buys North Korean coal, with China by far the biggest importer.

LUCKY STAR

The KUM YA was recently re-flagged as a North Korean ship, changing its name from Lucky Star 7 in November last year, according to the Equasis shipping database.

It was registered on Feb. 13 to North Korean shipping company Sonchonggang Water Transport, according to copies of the ship’s registration documents, which were issued by North Korea’s Maritime Administration, and seen by Reuters.

The ship was carrying 20 crew members, and was scheduled to sail onto Singapore, the port worker said.

The ship listed its port of origin as Busan, South Korea. However, shipping data in Thomson Reuters Eikon shows the cargo was loaded at the Huaneng Shandong Power Station Weihai, a coal-fired power plant. It then sailed to Penang through the South China Sea and the Malacca Strait, the data shows. (http://tmsnrt.rs/2ofxNXe)

China halted all coal imports from North Korea starting on Feb. 26, amid growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula following one of a series of Pyongyang’s missile tests.

Malaysia’s foreign ministry told officials at Penang Port not to let the ship dock before an inspection team had it “declared safe,” the port worker said.

The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) confirmed the ship had been stopped following instructions from Malaysia’s foreign ministry, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

“Many North Korean ships call on our ports and we never had problems. Just over the recent months, there have been problems,” the port worker told Reuters. “We have never received directives to stop North Korean ships before.”

NOT CONFISCATED

The KUM YA was first stopped at sea before being allowed to dock in port where it was immediately cordoned off, the port worker said.

“Minerals and Geoscience Department officials were then called to inspect the cargo on board. The department officers were told to confirm it was indeed coal on board,” the port worker said.

The coal was being unloaded on Wednesday afternoon and has not been confiscated, the port worker said.

Since 2011, Malaysia has imported over 2 million metric tonnes of coal a year, according to government statistics, which are not broken down by country of origin.

The KUM YA shipment was handled by Malaysian freight forwarding company Alim Maritime Sdn Bhd, the port worker said. An Alim Maritime official reached by telephone declined to comment.

The KUM YA can hold up to 6,843 metric tonnes of cargo, according to Equasis, meaning it was 92 percent full when it arrived in Penang.

(Additional reporting by Emily Chow in KUALA LUMPUR and Henning Gloystein in SINGAPORE; Editing by Bill Tarrant)

U.N. broadens inquiry into North Korea ‘crimes against humanity’

Mun Jong Chol, counselor at the North Korea mission to the U.N. in Geneva, talks with journalists aside of a meeting of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland March 24, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA (Reuters) – The top United Nations human rights body agreed on Friday to widen its investigation into widespread violations in North Korea with a view to documenting alleged crimes against humanity for future prosecution.

North Korea said it “categorically and totally rejects” the resolution adopted by the U.N. Human Rights Council. The text had been framed by the United States and “other hostile forces” for political reasons “to strangle the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea),” its envoy said after boycotting the debate.

The 47-member state Geneva forum adopted a resolution, brought by Japan and the European Union and backed by the United States, on the final day of its four-week session without a vote.

The U.N. human rights office in Seoul will be strengthened for two years with international criminal justice experts to establish a central repository for testimony and evidence “with a view to developing possible strategies to be used in any future accountability process”, the text said.

The Seoul office deploys six staff who conduct in-depth interviews with dozens of North Korean defectors each week, recording their testimony, a U.N. official based there told Reuters. Some 1,400 North Koreans arrive each year in South Korea, most via China, he said.

DEFECTORS’ TESTIMONY

“This not only brings North Koreans one step closer to justice for human rights crimes they have suffered, but should also make North Korean government officials think twice before inflicting more abuse,” John Fisher of the group Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

A U.N. commission of inquiry, in a landmark 2014 report based on interviews and public hearings with defectors, cataloged massive violations in North Korea – including large prison camps, starvation and executions – that it said should be brought to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“The ‘resolution’ is nothing more than a document for interference in internal affairs of sovereign states and represents the culmination of politicization, selectivity and double standards of human rights,” Mun Jong Chol, a counselor at North Korea’s mission to the U.N. in Geneva, told reporters.

It was a fraudulent document full of “lies, fabrications and plots”, Mun said.

China said it “dissociated” itself from the council’s decision and called for dialogue.

The situation on the divided Korean peninsula is “complex and sensitive” and all sides should avoid provocation by an act or words that might lead to an escalation”, China’s delegation said.

“China hopes we can focus on the bigger picture,” it said.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; editing by Ralph Boulton)