Tuesday 26 February - DAILY NEWS SUMMARY
Pretoria News (www.pretorianews.co.za)
Page 6 – IFP wants death penalty back on national agenda Page 8 – Kim impersonator kicked out of Vietnam (North Korea) Page 11 – The rand is clawing back lost ground
The Star (www.iol.co.za)
Page 2 – Housing plan under fire
Page 9 – Summit may herald peace (North Korea)
Page 14 – BAIC sets new timelines for projected SA vehicle plant Business Day (www.businesslive.co.za)
Page 2 – SA wool sector reels after China freezes imports Page 3 – State worries about higher wheat imports
Page 5 – Washington will ‘not rush’ North Korea on denuclearisation (North Korea)
Citizen (www.citizen.co.za)
Page 4 – Pretoria court ‘filing’ system a dangerous mess Page 5 – AfriForum will defend old flag
News24 (www.news24.co.za)
Kim Jong Un is taking a long train ride to meet Trump in Vietnam, and it could be because he’s too embarrassed to borrow a plane from China
Korean War could be declared over at Hanoi summit – Seoul Vietnam vows ‘maximum level’ security for Trump-Kim summit Trump departs US for Vietnam, summit with North Korea’s Kim 연합뉴스 (www.yonhapnews.co.kr)
아프리카돼지열병 주의…”소시지.육포 등 반입 자제”
B U S I N E S S I N S I D E R | T R E N D I N G
Kim Jong Un is taking a long train ride to meet Trump in Vietnam, and it could be because he’s too embarrassed to borrow a plane from China
Alexandra Ma , Business Insider US Feb 25, 2019, 06:25 PM
Trump wants the US to treat him like North Korea treats Kim Jong Un.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is in the middle of a three-and-a-half-day train trip to Hanoi, Vietnam, where he will meet US President Donald Trump for their second summit.
Experts say his reason for taking such a slow means of transport may be to show he is not overly reliant on China.
Kim took an Air China plane to the first Trump summit in Singapore, which led to commentary emphasising his inability to fly himself there.
Those comments reportedly didn't sit well with Kim.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is taking a 3,218-km, three-and-a-half day train ride to meet US President Donald Trump in Vietnam this Wednesday, likely to save face because he doesn't want to ask China to lend him a plane.
Kim boarded his family's armored train from Pyongyang Station on Saturday evening, and plans to arrive in Hanoi on Tuesday, the day before his summit with Trump.
Kim crossed into Dandong, a Chinese city bordering North Korea, via bridge on late Saturday, the Associated Press reported. The rest of the trip will take him through southeastern China before he eventually arrives in Hanoi.
He passed by the southeastern Chinese city of Hengyang around Monday afternoon local time, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.
A map roughly outlining Kim Jong Un's train journey from Pyongyang to Hanoi via China on his way to his summit with US President Donald Trump.
Google Maps/INSIDER
According to INSIDER's calculations, the entire trip will be at least 3,218 long.
The specifics of his trip are not clear. Citing Vietnamese officials,The New York Times reported on Sunday that Kim will leave his train at China's border with Vietnam and travel the last 169 km or so to Hanoi by car.
While Kim's laborious, three-day-long train ride will undoubtedly give him a good look at China's cities and countryside, experts say his reason for the journey is more likely pride than tourism.
A photo of Kim's armored train in Beijing in March 2018.
Jason Lee
Last year, Kim borrowed a Boeing-747 plane from the Air China, majority-owned by the Chinese state, to get himself to to Singapore for his first summit with Trump last year.
His 40-year-old, Soviet-made Ilyushin Il-62 plane was deemed unsafe for the voyage at the time.
Kim's use of a Chinese plane last year highlighted his apparent reliance on Beijing, which didn't have any delegates at Singapore but saw its global vision dominant at the summit.
The North Korean leader did not appreciate remarks about his reliance on China last year, Cheng Xiaohe, a North Korea expert at Beijing's Renmin University, told The New York Times.
Cheng told The Times: "He does not want to show the world his heavy reliance on China by waving his hand in front of China's national flag on a Chinese plane as he did at the Singapore airport."
"Traveling by train is a forced choice."
It's not clear what mode of transport Kim will take home.
Trump has characterized the upcoming summit as a follow-up to their first meeting last June, during which Kim made a vague pledge to work toward denuclearization.
Pyongyang appears not to have made much progress on this front.
US intelligence and North Korea experts have warned that Pyongyang is unlikely to give up its nuclear arms. An intelligence report published last month said the country's leaders view nuclear arms as "critical to regime survival."
Trump has repeatedly played down hopes for any new breakthroughs with North Korea, and told the Governors' Ball on Sunday that he was "not pushing for speed"
with North Korea's denuclearization.
"I'm not in a rush. I don't want to rush anybody," he said. "I just don't want testing. As long as there's no testing, we're happy."
He added that US sanctions on North Korea would remain for the time being. Beijing has been urging the United Nations to relax some of its sanctions on North Korea for months.
Korean War could be declared over at Hanoi summit - Seoul
2019-02-25 21:38
Play Video 1m 33s
Trump on Kim Jong Un: 'very good relationship'
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he is looking forward to this week's summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam, saying there is "a chance to do something very, very special".
Hopes that US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will formally declare an end to the 1950-53 Korean War at the Hanoi summit rose on Monday, after South Korea said the two leaders could reach an agreement.
The devastating conflict between communist North Korea, backed by China, and the capitalist South, aided by the United States, ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, leaving Pyongyang and Washington still technically at war.
"I believe that the possibility is there," the South's presidential Blue House spokesperson Kim Eui-kyeom told reporters about a formal declaration.
"There is no way of knowing what kind of declaration it might be, but I believe the US and North Korea may reach an agreement."
Play Video 3m 5s
Trump and Kim head to Hanoi ahead of historic summit
Kim and Trump will meet for the second time this week after their historic meeting in Singapore last year led to general commitments to improve relations and denuclearise the Korean peninsula, but no concrete agreements.
President Moon Jae-in said in October "it was only a matter of time" before Washington and Pyongyang declared an end to the war.
The US has also struck an upbeat tone. Stephen Biegun, the US special envoy for North Korea, said earlier this month that Trump was "ready to end this war", fuelling speculation that the formal end of the conflict may be near.
Kim, the leader of North Korea, is due to meet the US president in the Vietnamese capital on Wednesday and Thursday, where it is hoped the pair will make progress in talks on
denuclearisation, and a possible peace treaty.
But Blue House spokesperson Kim said even if the US and North Korean leaders declare the end of the Korean War, a formal peace treaty will likely be signed at the "last stage of the denuclearisation process" of the Korean peninsula – and may take a long time to materialise.
"A peace treaty and a declaration of end of war are different," he said, adding that the treaty must be a "multilateral effort" involving South Korea and China.
North Korea, the US-led United Nations Command and China were all signatories to the armistice.
The Hanoi summit comes after Trump and Kim met in June in Singapore, producing a vaguely worded agreement on denuclearisation, but progress has since stalled, with the two sides disagreeing over what the agreement meant.
Observers say tangible progress is needed in Hanoi to avoid the talks being dismissed as a publicity stunt.
Meanwhile the respected US-based website 38 North reported on Monday there is no indication Pyongyang is operating its nuclear reactors at the Yongbyon complex.
The dismantling of the complex is expected to be among the key denuclearisation steps that the US and North Korean leaders will likely discuss in Hanoi.
"There is no steam venting from the generator hall, nor is there any hot water effluent at the cooling water outfall pipe," the website said.
Vietnam vows 'maximum level' security for Trump- Kim summit
2019-02-25 22:44
Play Video 1m 33s
Trump on Kim Jong Un: 'very good relationship'
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he is looking forward to this week's summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam, saying there is "a chance to do something very, very special".
Vietnamese police officers stand guard in front of the Melia Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam. (Vincent Yu, AP)
With North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on an armored train barreling through China toward Vietnam's capital, and US President Donald Trump about to board a jet for Hanoi,
Vietnamese officials scrambled on Monday to finish preparation for a rushed summit that will capture global attention.
Officials in Hanoi said they had about 10 days to prepare for the summit – much less than the nearly two months they said Singapore was given for the first Trump-Kim meeting last year – but still vowed to provide airtight security for two leaders.
"Security will be at the maximum level," Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung told reporters at a briefing meant to showcase the nation's efforts to welcome Kim and Trump.
Another official, Nguyen Manh Hung, the leader of the information ministry, said that the 3 000 journalists from 40 countries expected in Hanoi could rely on his agency as "you'd count on a family member".
Play Video 1m 7s
Hanoi kids prepare to welcome Kim Jong Un
Children at a kindergarten in Hanoi have been practicing dancing, hoping to show off their talents to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un when he comes to town for his second summit with President Donald Trump.
The world will be watching as the Trump and Kim deal with one of Asia's biggest security challenges: North Korea's pursuit of a nuclear programme that stands on the verge of viably threatening any target on the planet.
Although many experts are skeptical that Kim will give up the nukes he likely sees as his best guarantee of continued rule, there was a palpable, carnival-like excitement among many in Hanoi as the final preparations were put in place.
T-shirts were being sold that bear Kim's face, along with the phrase "Rocket Man", a nod to the insulting nickname Trump gave Kim in 2017, when North Korean weapons tests and back-and-forth threats by the leaders had many fearing war. Kindergarteners dressed in traditional Korean Hanbok were practicing songs meant to welcome Kim. Grinning tourists were posing in front of the hundreds of US and North Korean flags around the city.
The ultra-tight security will be appreciated by North Korean authorities, who are extremely vigilant about the safety of Kim, the third member of his family to rule the North in absolute power. Kim's decision to take a train, not a plane, may have been influenced by a better ability to control security. When Kim flew to Singapore, the North borrowed a Chinese plane.
Vietnam is eager to show off its huge economic and development improvements since the destruction of the Vietnam War, but the country also tolerates no dissent and is able to provide the kind of firm hand not allowed by more democratic potential hosts.
Take the reaction to two men impersonating Kim and Trump who'd been posing for pictures with curious onlookers ahead of the summit.
Last week, the Kim lookalike, whose name is Lee Howard Ho Wun, posted on Facebook that about 15 police or immigration officers demanded a mandatory "interview" and threatened him with deportation. He said officials later told him that his visa was invalid and he had to leave the country.
"I feel a little bit annoyed," the Hong Kong-based impersonator, who uses the name Howard X, said as he checked out of his hotel. "But what is to be expected of a one-party state with no sense of humour?"
Vietnam has also announced an unprecedented traffic ban along a possible arrival route of for Kim. The Communist Party's Nhan Dan newspaper quoted the Roads Department as saying the ban will affect the 169km stretch of Highway One from Dong Dang, on the border with China, to Hanoi.
Hundreds of soldiers guarded the area near the Dong Dang railway station Monday ahead of Kim's expected arrival. Kim may get off his train in Dong Dang and finish his journey to Hanoi by car.
There are high expectations for the Hanoi summit after a vague declaration at the first meeting, in June in Singapore, that disappointed many.
Trump, via Twitter, has worked to temper those expectations, predicting before he left for Hanoi a "continuation of the progress" made in Singapore but adding a tantalising nod to
"Denuclearization?" He also said that Kim knows that "without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World".
North Korea has spent decades, at great political and economic sacrifice, building its nuclear programme, and there is widespread skepticism among experts that the North will give away that program cheaply.
South Korean media has reported that Trump and Kim might strike a deal that stops short of a hoped-for roadmap for full North Korean denuclearisation.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on "Fox News Sunday" that he was hoping for a
"substantive step forward". He cautioned, "it may not happen, but I hope that it will".
Trump departs US for Vietnam, summit with North Korea's Kim
2019-02-26 05:34
(File, Evan Vucci, AP)
Donald Trump departed Washington on Monday bound for Vietnam and a second historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with the US president saying he will push for Korean denuclearisation.
Shortly before his departure from the White House, Trump spoke optimistically about what he expected would be a "very tremendous summit," adding that "we want denuclearisation"
on the Korean peninsula.
He fleshed out his approach with a tweet, saying: "With complete Denuclearisation, North Korea will rapidly become an Economic Powerhouse. Without it, just more of the same."
Trump last met Kim eight months ago in their historic talks in Singapore, where the two signed a largely symbolic joint agreement.
Play Video 1m 30s
Kim Jong Un sets off to meet Trump - amid warnings of a food crisis
The North Korean leader is set to meet the U.S. President for their second summit in Vietnam as the Asian nation say they've been forced to slash food rations by half. Saskia O'Donoghue reports At a White House event on Sunday, Trump appeared to temper any expectations of a major breakthrough at the follow-up in Hanoi, saying sanctions imposed over Pyongyang's missile and nuclear tests would remain.
"The sanctions are on. Everything is on. But we have a special feeling and I think it will lead to something very good. Maybe not," Trump said.
"I don't want to rush anybody. I just don't want testing. As long as there's no testing, we're happy."
Pyongyang insists it has already taken such steps, by not testing ballistic missiles or nuclear weapons for more than a year, and blowing up the entrances to its atomic test site.
But at the same time, North Korea says it has completed the development of its arsenal and the facilities are no longer needed.
At Joint Base Andrews near Washington, Trump boarded Air Force One, turning to deliver a crisp wave before the presidential jet departed at 12:34 pm (1734 GMT) bound for a
Wednesday-Thursday summit in Hanoi.
Arrival in the Vietnamese capital is expected Tuesday evening local time.
His departure came as an armored train carrying Kim Jong Un and members of his delegation trundled southward through China to Vietnam, in a journey cloaked in secrecy.
At last June's summit the two leaders signed a joint agreement in which their countries committed to work towards "a complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula".
But the lack of progress since then has drawn criticism that the leaders were only after headlines and short-term gains.
아프리카돼지열병 주의 …"소시지·육포 등 반입 자제"
송고시갂 | 2019-02-25 17:39
중국·러시아 등 45 개국서 발병…식약처, 해외직구 자제 당부
2018 년 8 월 이후 중국의'아프리카돼지열병'발생 현황[식약처 제공]
(서울=연합뉴스) 강애란 기자 = 식품의약품안전처는 25 일 중국, 남아프리카공화국, 러시아 등 아프리카돼지열병(ASF) 발생국가를 방문한 뒤 귀국할 때 축산물 반입을 자제해달라고 당부했다.
아프리카돼지열병은 바이러스 출혈성 돼지 전염병으로 치사율이 100%에 이르기 때문에 양돈 사업 등에 피해를 주는 동물질병이다. 사람이나 다른 동물은 감염되지 않는다.
지금까지 러시아, 벨기에 등 유럽과 아프리카지역에서 주로 발생했지만, 지난해 8 월 아시아 국가에서는 최초로 중국에서 생겨났고 최근에는 베트남, 몽골에서도 발병했다. 현재
아프리카돼지열병 발생국은 총 45 개국으로 집계됐다.
국내에서도 지난해 8 월과 9 월 각각 인천공항과 제주공항으로 반입된 중국산 만두와 순대, 소시지 등에서 아프리카돼지열병 바이러스 유전자가 검출된 바 있다.
식약처는 아프리카돼지열병 발생국가를 방문한 뒤 귀국할 경우 돼지고기와 돈육가공식품 반입을 자제하고 인터넷을 통한 직접 구매도 하지 말라고 당부했다.
아프리카돼지열병 발생국 현황[식약처 제공]
aeran@yna.co.kr
<저작권자(c) 연합뉴스, 무단 전재-재배포 금지> 2019/02/25 17:39 송고
