Briefly

DPRK

Call to declare end of Korean War 'premature'

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea on Friday rejected a proposal from the Republic of Korea's President Moon Jae-in to declare a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War, saying such a declaration would be meaningless if the United States' "hostile policy" remains unchanged. The DPRK's Vice-Foreign Minister Ri Thae-song voiced the rejection in a statement, calling the declaration in the current situation as "something premature", according to the official Korean Central News Agency. Earlier this past week, Moon in a United Nations speech proposed the two neighbors and the US declare a formal end to the war. Ri in his statement again urged Washington to change its hostile policy toward Pyongyang, saying that the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile test-launches at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in February and August, the hasty declaration of the termination of the US-ROK missile guidelines in May and the US approval of the sale of military hardware worth billions of dollars to Japan and the ROK "are all targeted against the DPRK".

UNITED STATES

Quad leaders' meeting first after pact agreed

Leaders of the US, Japan, India and Australia were scheduled to meet in person as a group for the first time on Friday for a summit expected to bring progress on COVID-19 vaccines, infrastructure and technological cooperation. The meeting of the Quad was taking place just over a week after the US, Britain and Australia announced a security pact under which Australia will be provided with nuclear-powered submarines, a move that has been denounced by China. Beijing has denounced the Quad as a Cold War construct and said that the AUKUS alliance would intensify an arms race in the region.

2 dead, 12 injured in grocery store attack

A gunman killed one person, wounded 12 and then apparently killed himself at a Tennessee supermarket on Thursday, pursuing panicked shoppers and employees as they fled down the aisles while some took refuge in store freezers, police said. Of the 12 wounded, one was in surgery and another in intensive care after the shooting in the Memphis suburb of Collierville, Police Chief Dale Lane told reporters. "We found people hiding in freezers and in locked offices. They were doing what they had been trained to do－run, hide, fight," Lane added, calling the gun violence "the most horrific event that has occurred in Collierville history".

Xinhua - Agencies