U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, making his first trip to Japan, South Korea and China as the top United States diplomat this week, is expected to expand the effort to find new options for dealing with North Korea and the nuclear and military threat it poses to the region and to the world.

Pyongyang’s provocative gestures, such as firing multiple missiles into the Sea of Japan this month in a rehearsal for a potential “attack” against U.S. military bases in Japan, have been so strident that Washington has ruled out any thought of direct dialogue with the North Koreans and their mercurial young leader, Kim Jong-Un.  

Other factors complicating the secretary of state’s discussions in Seoul and Beijing are the complex political situation in South Korea, which has just impeached its president, and China’s resentment about the deployment in South Korea of a controversial U.S. defensive missile system.

Following President Park Guen-hye’s departure from the Blue House in Seoul, Tillerson will meet for the first time with South Korea’s acting president, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who is obliged to call new elections within 60 days.

Close partners in South Korea

A senior State Department official told reporters in an advance briefing the United States will continue to work with Hwang for the remainder of his tenure, and added that Tillerson would not be meeting with opposition factions in Seoul.  

“What we’re seeing play out now is a manifestation of the democratic process in South Korea.  This is the kind of institution that makes us such close partners, and friends with people in South Korea,” the senior official said.

“The United States continues to be a steadfast ally, friend, and partner to the ROK (South Korea).  The U.S.-ROK alliance will continue to be a linchpin of regional stability and security,” she added.

‘Reach out to all sides’

“Tillerson should make every effort to reach out to all sides in South Korea that have a vested interested in a strong ROK-U.S. alliance,” Harry Kazianis of  the Center for the National Interest told VOA.

“This is the only way to ensure that if Seoul in the near future does seek a détente with Pyongyang, which is very possible under a more leftist government, America and South Korea can work together to coordinate policy and take some sort of joint approach,” he added.

The United States has also become embroiled in a dispute with China over the deployment of a controversial American missile-defense system in South Korea.

The first elements of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile system, known as THAAD, arrived in South Korea last week, one day after North Korea launched at least four ballistic missiles in rapid succession, sending the rockets over the Sea of Japan, within 350 kilometers of Japanese territory.  

US: THAAD is no threat to China

Washington said the proximity of those events demonstrated the U.S. action was defensive in nature, and intended exclusively to counter the threat from Pyongyang.

“We’ve been very clear in our conversations with China that this is not meant to be a threat.  Not a threat to them or any other power in the region.  It is a defensive system,” Mark Toner, the State Department’s acting spokesperson, has told reporters.

Nevertheless, Beijing has strongly opposed deployment of the advanced U.S. weapons system near its borders, declaring THAAD is an unnecessary and provocative military escalation.  The basis of China’s opposition is its military leaders’ belief the powerful radar the U.S. system uses to track missiles launched by North can also look deep into China.

“I believe that they will sustain this pressures during the next few months, in the hope the new leader of South Korea can be convinced to reverse the decision,” said Dennis Wilder, an adviser to former President George W. Bush and currently a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s U.S.-China Initiative.

Groundwork for Xi’s trip to US

In China, where Tillerson will meet with President Xi Jinping, one of his primary tasks is preparing for a visit to the United States by the Chinese leader expected later this year.

Washington is intent on pursuing a constructive relationship with China, while remaining determined to ensuring that China abides by international rules, and that trade between the two countries is conducted on a so-called level playing field – under conditions that favor neither side unfairly.

Wilder of Georgetown’s U.S.-China Initiative told VOA that Chinese officials “will be looking for indications of how seriously President Trump will pursue economic issues such as redressing the trade balance and seeking more opportunities for U.S. firms to export goods and services to China.”
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Officials in Pakistan say that arrangements are in place to conduct a national census for the first time in 19 years starting Wednesday, and more than 200,000 troops will assist civilian enumerators in collecting the data.

Information minister Maryam Aurangzeb told a news conferences in Islamabad Sunday the 70-day door-to-door campaign will be concluded in two phases at a financial cost of around $185-million.

The minister explained that nearly 120,000 specially trained government workers have been deployed to undertake the much-needed census. She called on citizens to cooperate with the counters and warned against “willfully” giving false information, saying those found guilty would face a six-month jail term and a financial penalty of around $500.

“Pakistan is ready for the sixth housing and population survey … As we all know it has been after 19 years that we are going into this census process. We all know how distribution of resources, evidence-based legislation and policy-making are important for policy of the country for social service provisions,” she said.

Army spokesman Major-General Asif Ghafoor told reporters that his institutions has been tasked to provide security and ensure the census is conducted in a “smooth” and “transparent” manner.

“A solider will accompany every civil enumerator and will also collect his own data during the door-to-door campaign. We have put in place a system to immediately verify the information,” Ghafoor said. He added that more than 200,000 soldiers involved in the activity have undergone special training sessions.

Pakistan’s population has exploded since its first consensus in 1951, when it had around 34 million inhabitants.

The World Bank estimated in 2015 the country’s population at 190 million, but Pakistani officials still use the figure of 134.7 million from the census conducted in 1998 for planning development programs. An estimated 60 percent of Pakistanis are under the age of 30.

Activists blame the lack of census, among major factors, for depleting health and education services, increasing malnutrition and stunting and pressure on scarce water resources.

Pakistan has been battling an Islamic militancy for more than 13 years that officials cite as a major reason for the long delay in holding the census.

The population census is also used to assign electoral seats in Pakistan’s parliament.

Critics say mainstream and regional political parties have influenced previous census exercises in the country, leading to over-representations of some regions in the parliament.

Officials say that around three million registered and unregistered Afghan refugees in Pakistan will also be counted in the census.

The decision has outraged leaders, particularly in southwestern Baluchistan province where the ethnic Baluch population fears it would turn them into a minority in their native region.

Parities in southern Sindh province, particularly in its capital, Karachi, have also opposed the inclusion of Afghans and have demanded the census be postponed until all the refugees return to their country.

But government officials have dismissed those concerns as unfounded and politically-motivated.

Pakistan’s transgender community would also be included in the census for the first time in the country’s history. Officials say the U.N. Population Fund has agreed to assign international observers to oversee the administration of the census.
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Malaysia’s deputy prime minister said Sunday that 315 North Koreans are in the country and barred from leaving amid a diplomatic dispute over the killing of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s estranged half brother.

The figure is lower than an estimate previously given by a government official, who had told The Associated Press that some 1,000 North Koreans were believed to be in Malaysia.

Malaysia says Kim Jong Nam died after two women smeared his face with the banned VX nerve agent at Kuala Lumpur’s airport on Feb. 13, but North Korea – which is widely suspected to be behind the attack – rejects the findings.

Relations have steadily deteriorated, with each country expelling the other’s ambassador. On Tuesday, North Korea blocked all Malaysians from leaving the country until a “fair settlement” of the case was reached. Malaysia then barred North Koreans from exiting its soil.

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told local media on Sunday that 2,453 North Koreans came to Malaysia from 2014 to 2017, but that the latest record showed only 315 remained. 

Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said Saturday that the government hopes to begin formal talks with North Korea in the “next few days” on the release of the nine Malaysians who are in Pyongyang, comprising three embassy workers and their family members.

Anifah also said the return of Kim’s body would be part of the talks’ agenda.

North Korea has demanded the body back from Day One and objected to Malaysia’s autopsy. Pyongyang also has refused to acknowledge that Kim Jong Nam was the victim and has referred to him as Kim Chol, the name on the passport Kim was carrying when he was attacked in a crowded airport terminal.

On Friday, Malaysian police confirmed that Kim Chol and Kim Jong Nam was the same person, but refused to say how they identified Kim.

Although Malaysia has never directly accused North Korea of being behind the attack, many speculate that Pyongyang must have orchestrated it. Experts say the VX nerve agent used to kill Kim was almost certainly produced in a sophisticated state weapons laboratory, and North Korea is widely believed to possess large quantities of chemical weapons.

Four of the seven North Korean suspects being sought by Malaysia are believed to have left the country the day Kim was killed. Police say the other three suspects, including a North Korean diplomat, are believed to be in hiding at the North Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

The attack was caught on surveillance video that shows two women going up to Kim and apparently smearing something on his face. He was dead within 20 minutes, authorities say. Two women – one Indonesian, one Vietnamese –   have been charged with murder but say they were duped into thinking they were playing a harmless prank.
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The risk of a steep slide in China’s economy has reduced, the head of a government research center said on Sunday, adding the country had moved through an “L-shaped” pattern of slowing to now “horizontal” growth.

China’s economy grew 6.7 percent last year, according to the government, the slowest pace in 26 years. The country met its growth target with support from record bank loans, a speculative housing boom and billions in government investment.

But as Beijing moves to cool the housing market, slow new credit and tighten its purse strings, China will have to depend more on domestic consumption and private investment.

The government last week trimmed its economic growth target to about 6.5 percent for this year. Li Wei, the director of the Development Research Center of the State Council, China’s cabinet, said many positive economic signs were emerging domestically and internationally, and the risk of a large slide in economic growth had “clearly lowered”.

China’s economic development has gone from a “downward stroke in the L-shape to the horizontal stroke,” the official Xinhua news agency said, citing Li’s comments on the sidelines of China’s annual session of parliament.

The horizontal trend points to long-term steady development, but does not eliminate the possibility of short-term fluctuations, or mean the economic transformation is complete, Li said.

“Our economy still has many difficulties to resolve, so we must prepare to respond to the emergence of possibly relatively large risks,” Li said.

Earlier on Sunday, a vice chairman of the state economic planner said China’s industrial output grew more than 6 percent in January and February, and that the survey-based unemployment rate in 31 major cities was about 5 percent for the two months.

National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) Vice Chairman Ning Jizhe gave the approximations, which were in line with expectations for official data set to be issued on Tuesday.

Fixed asset investment growth kept pace with the final few months of last year, Ning said.

“China’s economic growth still mainly relies on domestic demand,” he said.

January and February data will be released together in a bid to smooth out seasonal factors caused by the timing of the long Lunar New Year holidays, which began in late January this year but fell in February last year.

China unexpectedly posted its first trade gap in three years in February as a construction boom pushed imports much higher than expected. That upbeat import reading reinforced the growing view that economic activity in China picked up in the first two months of the year.
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South Korea’s ousted former president Park Geun-hye apologized Sunday to her supporters for “failing to fulfill my duty as president.”

Park Geun-hye left the presidential Blue House two days after the Constitutional Court issued a verdict removing her from office over a corruption scandal.

She arrived Sunday to her private home in Seoul where hundreds of supporters have been protesting her ouster.

Park did not speak to reporters but a spokesperson read a statement where Park reaffirmed her innocence and said “Although it will take time, I believe the truth will certainly come out” while expressing gratitude for those who supported her.

The Constitutional Court on Friday upheld a parliamentary vote to impeach and remove her from office over allegations that a multimillion dollar influence-peddling scandal was being run out of the Blue House.

The court’s ruling also removed Park’s presidential immunity to criminal indictment.

Live footage showed Park smiling and speaking briefly with supporters and members of her political party before going inside her current private home.  

In December, 234 members of the 300-seat National Assembly voted to impeach Park.

The president’s image as a strong and incorruptible leader crumbled under allegations her longtime friend, Choi Soon-sil, secretly exploited her close relationship with Park to force Korean conglomerates to donate some $65 million to two dubious foundations, while at the same time funneling some of the funds and lucrative side contracts to companies owned by herself and her friends.

A new presidential election must be held 60-days after the court’s ruling. Local media reports that it might take place on May 9.

Reports say former Democratic Party leader Moon Jae-In has 36 percent of popular support and might become South Korean new leader.

On Sunday, Moon told reporters the power of weekly candlelight “brought us this farm we now have to work together for a complete victory. … South Korea will make new history through a regime change.”

 
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