Moon, Kim take historic trip to sacred North Korean mountain
Pyongyang, Sep 20 : South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un embarked on a historic trip on Thursday to the summit of Mount Paekdu, a sacred mountain on the country's border with China, at the end of their three-day bilateral summit.
Kim and Moon, together with the respective first ladies Ri Sol-ju and Kim Jong-sook, took off in their presidential jets from Sunan airport in Pyongyang and landed about an hour later at the Samjiyon airfield the mountain, reports Efe news.
A vehicle then took the two leaders to the foothills of the mountain, an inactive volcano, and they are expected to reach Chonji, the famous crater considered the greatest national symbol in both the North and South of the Korean peninsula.
The highest mountain on the peninsula, Mount Paekdu is believed to be the place where the Korean people were born, according to traditional folklore.
Very few South Koreans have managed to climb the crater from the South Slope, located in North Korea, due to the prolonged conflicts between the two countries.
In the framework of the three bilateral summits that have been held this year, Moon, who was born in the South and is the son of North Korean refugees fleeing the war, had expressed to Kim his wish to visit Mount Paekdu from the North Korean side.
Thursday's visit shows again the good harmony between the two leaders as well as the growing rapprochement between the two countries, as on Wednesday Kim and Moon signed a joint declaration to strengthen bilateral ties and a treaty to reduce military tensions.
The statement on Wednesday also reflects that North Korea is willing to dismantle more nuclear facilities in exchange for the US promise to implement what was agreed at the summit in Singapore in June, mainly in terms of guaranteeing the survival of the North Korean regime.
One of the main objectives of this summit was to get North Korea and the US to resume their stagnant dialogue on denuclearization which was initiated in June.
Moon's mediation and Kim's commitment at the summit have so far satisfied Washington, as US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo welcomed the result of the inter-Korean meeting.
Moon on Thursday will fly directly back to Seoul from Samjiyon and will meet Trump on September 24 in the US to discuss the summit in detail.
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Deve Gowda planned escape of his grandson Prajwal, says Siddaramaiah
Yadgir (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday alleged that former Prime Minister and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda planned the escape of his grandson and Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna abroad.
Prajwal is accused in an alleged sex scandal which is being investigated by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Karnataka government. He is believed to have escaped to Germany shortly after polling in the first phase of elections in the state got over on April 26, in which Prajwal was the JD(S)-BJP combine's candidate from Hassan.
“Who gives passport and visa for travelling abroad? It’s the Centre. Can he go without the Centre’s knowledge? It was former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda who planned and sent him abroad,” the Chief Minister told reporters.
He was replying to a query on BJP’s allegation that the state government allowed him to escape.
The Chief Minister also slammed Home Minister Amit Shah and asked why his party gave ticket to its alliance partner candidate if BJP was pro "Matru Shakti" (women power).
The SIT headed by Additional Director General of Police B K Singh was formed after a huge cache of explicit videos, allegedly featuring Prajwal, went viral on social media. The team has two other IPS officers of SP rank.
Gowda’s son and former minister H D Revanna and his son Prajwal are facing sexual harassment allegations after a case was registered against them.
On Amit Shah’s statement that his party "respected Matru aur Nari Shakti", Siddaramaiah sought to know why it gave Prajwal a ticket when it had information about his videos beforehand.
“Why did BJP give ticket to him if it was ‘Pro-Matru-Shakti’? When they were aware of the video why the ticket was given to him? Why did they form an alliance when they knew that there were such videos? What does it mean? What does it indicate? Please explain to me,” the Chief Minister said.
He also ruled out his deputy D K Shivakumar’s involvement in leaking the videos as has been alleged by JD(S) second-in-command H D Kumaraswamy.
“Kumaraswamy says that these videos were leaked. Karthik is Prajwal Revanna’s driver. He has said he gave it (pen drive comprising videos and photos) to BJP leader G Devaraje Gowda. Did he say that he gave it to D K Shivakumar? How can he (Kumaraswamy) say that D K Shivakumar released it,” Siddaramaiah said.
He underlined that Devaraje Gowda had said that he received it but denied releasing it.
“If such is the case then, who released it (videos)? Whom did he give the pen drive to? D K Shivakumar has no connection with this case,” the Chief Minister said.
He asked reporters to wait for the outcome of the investigation into the case.
He said the investigation will be transparent and his party will not interfere with the SIT or its probe.
