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South Korea says ‘not ruling out’ supplying weapons to Ukraine

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South Korea says ‘not ruling out’ supplying weapons to Ukraine

South Korea is not ruling out providing weapons directly to Ukraine, President Yoon Suk-yeol has said, following North Korea’s deployment of troops to support Russia in its war.

Pyongyang’s involvement in the conflict presented a threat to Seoul, as the reclusive state’s soldiers get much-needed combat experience, which its military lacks, and additionally gets rewarded by Moscow with sensitive military technology transfers, Yoon told a news conference on Thursday.

South Korea, a major arms exporter, has a longstanding policy of not providing weapons to countries in conflict.

“Now, depending on the level of North Korean involvement, we will gradually adjust our support strategy in phases,” Yoon said.

“This means we are not ruling out the possibility of providing weapons.”

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Yoon said he discussed North Korea with United States president-elect Donald Trump in a phone conversation that laid the groundwork for a face-to-face meeting in the “near future”.

North Korea has become one of the most vocal and important backers of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

South Korea and the West have long accused Pyongyang of supplying artillery shells and missiles to Moscow for use in Ukraine.

But intelligence reports from Seoul, Washington and NATO have revealed that North Korea has deployed 10,000 troops to Russia, indicating an even deeper involvement in the conflict.

Yoon said his office would monitor the unfolding developments related to the operations of North Korean soldiers, and if he decided to provide weapons to Ukraine, the initial batch would be defensive.

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“If we proceed with weapons support, we would prioritise defensive weapons as a first consideration,” he said, without elaborating.

Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov told South Korean broadcaster KBS that the Ukrainian military had its first confrontation with North Korean soldiers.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has criticised the West’s lack of response to the arrival of the North Korean soldiers on the front lines, said these “first battles with North Korea open a new chapter of instability in the world”.

South Korea supplies weapons to Poland, including rocket launchers, tanks and FA-50 fighter aircraft.

In a defence exhibition in Seoul in October 2023, Yoon said that he wants his country to become the “world’s fourth-largest defence equipment exporter”.

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Compared with his dovish predecessor Moon Jae-in, Yoon has taken a tough stance with the nuclear-armed North while improving ties with security ally Washington.

Since North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s second summit with then-president Trump collapsed in Hanoi in 2019, Pyongyang has abandoned diplomacy, doubling down on weapons development and rejecting Washington’s offers of talks.

While in office, Trump met with Kim three times, beginning with a landmark summit in Singapore in June 2018, though the pair failed to make much progress on efforts to denuclearise the North.

Trump has previously accused South Korea of getting a “free ride” on US military power and demanded it pay far more of the cost of keeping US troops in the country to counter the threat of aggression by North Korea.

On Monday, a day before the US election, South Korea and the US signed a five-year plan under which Seoul agreed to an 8.3 percent jump in its 2026 contribution to the cost of maintaining US bases in the country to 1.52 trillion won ($1.09bn), with future increases capped at 5 percent.

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Yoon on Thursday said: “We will be building a perfect security posture together with the new administration in Washington and safeguard our freedom and peace.”

On Wednesday, the Federation Council of Russia, the upper house of parliament, ratified a landmark mutual defence pact with North Korea. The treaty was signed in Pyongyang on June 19 during a state visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The unanimous vote in the upper house formalises months of increasing security cooperation between the two nations, the largest since the time they were communist allies during the Cold War.

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Video: I.C.C. Issues Arrest Warrant for Netanyahu Over War in Gaza

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Video: I.C.C. Issues Arrest Warrant for Netanyahu Over War in Gaza

The International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, were issued for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. The court also sought to arrest Hamas’s military chief, Muhammad Deif, for crimes against humanity.

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US citizen among 4 dead in Laos after suspected alcohol poisoning

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US citizen among 4 dead in Laos after suspected alcohol poisoning

An American, two Danes and one Australian tourist died after drinking tainted alcohol in Laos following reports that several people had been sickened in a town popular with backpackers.

The only victim’s identity publicly released so far is 19-year-old Bianca Jones of Australia.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Parliament on Thursday that Jones had died after being evacuated from Vang Vieng, Laos, for treatment in a Thai hospital. Her friend, also 19, remains hospitalized in neighboring Thailand.

“This is every parent’s very worst fear and a nightmare that no one should have to endure,” Albanese said, according to The Associated Press. “We also take this moment to say that we’re thinking of Bianca’s friend Holly Bowles, who is fighting for her life.”

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A notice displayed at the bar of Nana Backpack hostel in Vang Vieng, Laos, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Shaun Bowles told reporters outside Bangkok Hospital on Wednesday that his daughter remained in critical condition and on life support.

“We just like to thank everyone from back home for all of the support and love that we’re receiving,” he said. “But we’d also like the people to appreciate right now, we just need privacy so we can spend as much time as we can with Holly.”

Australian media said Jones was the fourth foreign tourist to die after consuming the contaminated alcohol.

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Man play pool in Laos

A man plays pool at Nana Backpack hostel in Vang Vieng, Laos, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

“The physician who examined her said the cause of death was a methanol poisoning, from fake liquor,” Phattanawong Chanphon, a police official in the Thai city, told Reuters. “The amount of methanol in her body was high, leading to swelling of the brain.”

Counterfeit liquor is a problem in Laos, with the governments of Australia and Britain warning citizens to be cautious when having drinks there.

Methanol is a toxic alcohol that is used industrially as a solvent, pesticide and alternative fuel source, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Laos bar November 2024

Foreign tourists have a drink at a nightclub at Nana Backpack hostel in Vang Vieng, Laos, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

The U.S. Department of State did not respond to a Fox News Digital inquiry, but told the AP that local authorities were investigating the case and were responsible for providing any details. The State Department noted that the U.S. was providing consular assistance.

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“At this time I would say to parents, to young people, please have a conversation about risks, please inform yourselves, please let’s work together to ensure this tragedy doesn’t happen again,” Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said after receiving news of Jones’ death.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this request. 

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UK imposes sanctions on Isabel dos Santos, Ukrainian oligarch Firtash

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UK imposes sanctions on Isabel dos Santos, Ukrainian oligarch Firtash

The measures are a part of the Labour government tightening Britain’s anti-corruption sanctions regime.

The United Kingdom has barred Angolan billionaire Isabel dos Santos and Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash and frozen their UK assets, the government announced, in what it said was part of a new crackdown on “dirty money”.

The measures on Thursday were the first step in tightening Britain’s anti-corruption sanctions regime as promised in July’s election, the Labour government said.

“These unscrupulous individuals selfishly deprive their fellow citizens of much-needed funding for education, healthcare and infrastructure – for their own enrichment,” Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in a statement.

Dos Santos, whose father Jose Eduardo dos Santos served as Angola’s president for 38 years until 2017, is Africa’s first female billionaire and has faced corruption accusations in Angola and elsewhere for years. She denies the allegations and says she is the target of a long-running political vendetta.

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She was sanctioned by the United States in 2021 for “involvement in significant corruption” and is barred from entering the country.

Britain said dos Santos abused her positions at Angolan state oil firm Sonangol and telecoms company Unitel to embezzle at least 350 million pounds ($440m).

Dos Santos lost an appeal to overturn an order freezing up to 580 million pounds of her assets in September as part of a lawsuit at London’s High Court brought by Unitel. Global police agency Interpol has issued a red notice for her.

In a statement cited by the Reuters news agency, dos Santos said that the British sanctions were “incorrect and unjustified”.

“I was not given the opportunity to defend myself against these allegations,” she said. “I intend to appeal and I hope that the United Kingdom will give me the opportunity to present my evidence.”

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Dmytro Firtash, one of Ukraine’s most influential oligarchs, at a trial in Vienna, Austria [File: Samuel Kubani/AFP]

Firtash is wanted by Ukrainian and US authorities on suspicion of embezzling nearly $500m involving Ukraine’s gas transit system. He says the charges are without legal foundation.

He is currently in Austria fighting extradition to the US.

In June 2021, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree imposing sanctions on Firtash, including the freezing of his assets and withdrawal of licences from his companies, after accusing him of selling titanium products to Russian military companies.

Britain said Firtash had extracted “hundreds of millions of pounds from Ukraine through corruption”, and hidden tens of millions of pounds of ill-gotten gains in the UK property market alone.

Britain also sanctioned his wife Lada Firtash, who it said held UK assets on his behalf including the site of the old Brompton Road rail station of the London Underground.

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Latvian businessman and politician Aivars Lembergs, who was put on a US sanctions list in 2019 for alleged corruption, was also sanctioned, as was his daughter Liga Lemberga. The British government said Lembergs had “abused his political position to commit bribery and launder money.”

Lammy said the penalties were the start of a crackdown.

“I committed to taking on kleptocrats and the dirty money that empowers them when I became foreign secretary, and these sanctions mark the first step in delivering this ambition,” he said.

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