North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited a hospital where people are being treated after a bus crash killed 32 Chinese tourists and four North Koreans.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited a hospital where people are being treated after a bus crash killed 32 Chinese tourists and four North Koreans.

Two other Chinese were seriously injured following the crash on Sunday evening when a tourist bus fell from a bridge in North Hwanghae province in southern North Korea.

Photos provided by the North Korean government on Tuesday showed Kim meeting with Ambassador Li Jinjun at the hospital and at the Chinese Embassy. Kim Jong-un, left, meets China's ambassador to North Korea Li Jinjun, second from right (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP) China’s Foreign Ministry said a medical team and diplomats were sent to help. It described the North Korean casualties as “workers”. All visitors to North Korea must be accompanied by minders.

Chinese tourists make up the vast majority of visitors to North Korea, where they often pay homage at sites related to China’s participation in the 1950-53 Korean War. China and North Korea share a lengthy border and a traditional friendship. China remains Pyongyang’s largest trading partner, although commerce has dropped off by about 90% under United Nations sanctions.

The bus overturned after an accident in North Hwanghae province (CCTV via AP Video) Only about 5,000 Westerners visit the isolated, hard-line communist state each year. Americans have been banned from travelling to North Korea without special permission from the US State Department since September amid concerns about the fate of those detained there in the past. The cause of the crash was not mentioned. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showed the mangled wreckage in the dark with rain falling and rescue vehicles on the scene.

North Korean roads are often bumpy and poorly maintained. There is usually no lighting other than headlights at night, even on major roads outside of the cities. Drivers tend to travel at whatever speed they feel is safe, making the roads even more dangerous, particularly when the weather is bad.</s>North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited a hospital where people are being treated after a bus crash killed 32 Chinese tourists and four North Koreans.

Two other Chinese were seriously injured following the crash on Sunday evening when a tourist bus fell from a bridge in North Hwanghae province in southern North Korea.

Photos provided by the North Korean government on Tuesday showed Kim meeting with Ambassador Li Jinjun at the hospital and at the Chinese Embassy.

China’s Foreign Ministry said a medical team and diplomats were sent to help. It described the North Korean casualties as “workers”. All visitors to North Korea must be accompanied by minders.

Chinese tourists make up the vast majority of visitors to North Korea, where they often pay homage at sites related to China’s participation in the 1950-53 Korean War.

China and North Korea share a lengthy border and a traditional friendship. China remains Pyongyang’s largest trading partner, although commerce has dropped off by about 90% under United Nations sanctions.

Only about 5,000 Westerners visit the isolated, hard-line communist state each year. Americans have been banned from travelling to North Korea without special permission from the US State Department since September amid concerns about the fate of those detained there in the past.

The cause of the crash was not mentioned. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showed the mangled wreckage in the dark with rain falling and rescue vehicles on the scene.

North Korean roads are often bumpy and poorly maintained. There is usually no lighting other than headlights at night, even on major roads outside of the cities. Drivers tend to travel at whatever speed they feel is safe, making the roads even more dangerous, particularly when the weather is bad.</s>Group of Seven foreign ministers affirmed Sunday they will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea and pledged to maintain “maximum pressure” on Pyongyang until it rids itself of nuclear weapons, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said.

“We fully agreed that we will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea,” Kono said on the first day of a two-day meeting in Toronto, Canada, suggesting Pyongyang’s announcement that it will suspend nuclear tests and long-range missile launches was insufficient to meet the demands of the international community.

“We shared the view that (the North’s announcement) made no reference to the abandonment of (the North’s) nuclear programme,” Kono told reporters. His comment came after US President Donald Trump incorrectly asserted over Twitter on Sunday morning that North Korea had agreed to denuclearisation.

But Kono added, “Compared to North Korea’s behaviour thus far, it marks one step forward. We welcome it as a positive step.”

The G-7 ministers called for North Korea to abandon all weapons of mass destruction, including biological and chemical weapons, and its ballistic missile programmes, including short- and medium-range missiles capable of hitting South Korea and Japan, according to Kono.

The other G-7 members – Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United States plus the European Union – meanwhile backed Kono’s call for the immediate resolution of North Korea’s abduction of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s.

The ministers met a day after North Korea said it will suspend nuclear tests and long-range missiles launches, as well as dismantle its only known nuclear test site, a pronouncement seen as leader Kim Jong-un playing a card ahead of his meetings with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday, and with US President Donald Trump, expected in late May or early June.

The move by Kim falls short of the G-7’s demand that his regime abandon all weapons of mass destruction and missiles in a complete, verifiable and irreversible way.

On Iran, the G-7 ministers were apparently at odds over the 2015 deal curtailing Tehran’s nuclear capabilities. Washington is calling for the deal to be revised, while European nations vowed to promote it as way of preventing Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.

With Trump threatening to withdraw the United States if an agreement to revamp the deal cannot be reached before a May 12 deadline, Kono said “many ministers” sought “continuous and complete implementation” of the existing deal.

The deal was struck in 2015 between Iran and six major powers – Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States under the administration of Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama.

The G-7 ministers also discussed the Syria crisis following US-led air strikes earlier this month on sites associated with the country’s chemical weapons capabilities.

The military action by the United States, Britain and France came after the alleged use by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime of chemical weapons on Syrian citizens.

The G-7 exchanged views on Myanmar’s human rights situation, Russia’s intervention in Ukraine and other regional issues, as well, according to Kono.

The Toronto session will lay the groundwork for a G-7 leaders’ summit slated for June 8-9 in Charlevoix, Quebec.</s>BEIJING—North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited survivors of a deadly tour-bus crash, which killed dozens of Chinese tourists, and personally offered condolences to China’s ambassador in Pyongyang, state media said.

Mr. Kim arrived at the Chinese Embassy at 6:30 a.m. Monday, the day after the crash, to “express his deep sympathy” and extend his condolences to Chinese President Xi Jinping, the official Korean Central News Agency said in a Tuesday report.

Later Monday, Mr. Kim visited the hospital where survivors are being treated, KCNA said. The agency published photos showing Mr. Kim holding hands with patients.

The tour bus fell from a bridge Sunday evening in North Hwanghae province, leaving 32 Chinese and four North Koreans dead and two Chinese severely injured, according to China’s Foreign Ministry. Raw vision of a bus crash, which left dozens dead according to authorities, appeared on Chinese state television. Most of the dead were reportedly Chinese tourists. Video also shows rescue vehicles on site and the injured being treated in hospital. Photo: AP Mr. Kim’s reported attention to the accident comes as China-North Korea ties are thawing. Relations had soured in recent years as Pyongyang pushed ahead with its nuclear and missile programs and Beijing backed United Nations efforts to tighten sanctions against its neighbor and ally. But things improved in recent months as Mr. Kim signaled a willingness to denuclearize, earning Mr. Xi’s approval during Mr. Kim’s visit to Beijing in March. During his visit to the Chinese Embassy on Monday, Mr. Kim told Ambassador Li Jinjun that the accident “brought bitter sorrow to his heart,” and pledged “follow-up measures” to alleviate the pain of bereaved families, according to the KCNA report. Chinese tourists account for the vast majority of foreign visitors to North Korea, a source of much-needed foreign currency for Pyongyang. More than 237,000 Chinese traveled to North Korea in 2012, the most recent figure published by Chinese tourism authorities. Mr. Kim’s trip to Beijing last month was his first trip outside North Korea since coming to power in late 2011. His visit with Mr. Xi aimed to strengthen relations ahead of a planned summit between Mr. Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump.</s>At least 36 people have died in a bus crash in North Korea, according to Chinese officials who described it as a “major traffic accident”.

Among the dead were 32 Chinese tourists and four North Koreans, China's foreign ministry said in a statement.

Another two Chinese tourists were badly injured and were in “acutely serious condition”, it added.

We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. From 15p €0.18 $0.18 USD 0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras.

A Chinese medical team accompanied by diplomats to assist the North Korean side, it said.

Footage on Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showed the mangled wreckage of a blue bus in the dark with rain falling. Rescue vehicles were on the scene, and the injured were shown being treated in a hospital.

In a Twitter post, the channel which also broadcasts in English, said a tour bus had fallen off a bridge, killing more than 30 people, but it later deleted the message.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the accident happened in in North Hwanghae province, south of North Korean capital Pyongyang.

The four North Koreans who died were described as “workers". The secretive communist state requires that all visitors are accompanied by minders and it is thought this was the case with those who were killed.

Other details about those killed and injured and the circumstances of the accident were not immediately disclosed.

The countries share a lengthy border and a friendship dating back to China’s military intervention on the side of the North in the 1950-53 Korean War.

Shape Created with Sketch. North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border Show all 20 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border 1/20 People have their picture taken with North Korea in the background, in Tumen, China. In the Chinese city of Dandong, signs of neighbouring North Korea are pervasive. REUTERS 2/20 A North Korean woman is photographed from the Chinese side of the Yalu River near the town of Changbai, China as she walks between houses in the North Korean town of Hyesan. A week-long road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea revealed stark contrasts between China's bright towns and North Korea's dark villages. REUTERS 3/20 North Korean souvenirs are displayed for sale on the banks of the Yalu River in Dandong in Liaoning province, China. In the Chinese city of Dandong, signs of neighbouring North Korea are pervasive. Reuters 4/20 A large screen, which faces North Korea, broadcasts propaganda videos on an island on the Yalu River between North Korea and China, in the town of Linjiang in Jilin province, China. A week-long road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea revealed stark contrasts between China's bright towns and North Korea's dark villages. REUTERS 5/20 A piece of clothing is used to make a gap in barbed wire near the closed bridge over the Yalu River on the Chinese side of the border with North Korea between towns of Ji'an and Linjiang, China. A week-long road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea showed places where it is porous. Reuters 6/20 A tourist uses binoculars to look across to North Korea from a tower built on the Chinese side of the border between Russia (L), China (C) and North Korea (R) near the town of Hunchun in China. Reuters 7/20 North Koreans are photographed from the Chinese side of the border as they stand next to the freezing Yalu River near the town of Linjiang, China. On a road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea, reporters found a group of North Koreans diving in the Yalu river who the Chinese locals said were searching for gold. REUTERS 8/20 Women participate in a group dance exercise close to the Yalu River which runs between China and North Korea, in the town of Linjiang in Jilin province, China. A week-long road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea revealed stark contrasts between China's bright towns and North Korea's dark villages. REUTERS 9/20 A sign reading, "Take the initiative to preserve order along the border," stands in a field at the border between China and North Korea just outside Dandong, Liaoning province, China. Reuters 10/20 A couple prepare for a wedding photography session on a boat which takes tourists on sightseeing tours from the Chinese side of the Yalu River, close to the shores of North Korea, near Dandong, Liaoning province, China. In the Chinese city of Dandong, signs of neighbouring North Korea are pervasive. REUTERS 11/20 Tourists travel on a boat taking them from the Chinese side of the Yalu River for sightseeing close to the shores of North Korea, near Dandong, Liaoning province, China. In the Chinese city of Dandong, signs of neighbouring North Korea are pervasive. REUTERS 12/20 North Koreans are photographed from the Chinese side of the border as they stand next to the freezing Yalu River near the town of Linjiang, China. On a road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea, reporters found a group of North Koreans diving in the Yalu river who the Chinese locals said were searching for gold. REUTERS 13/20 Women walk across a bridge from an island on the Yalu River, dividing North Korea and China, in the town of Linjiang in Jilin province, China. A week-long road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea revealed stark contrasts between China's bright towns and North Korea's dark villages. REUTERS 14/20 A North Korean soldier and locals are photographed from the Chinese side of the border north of Dandong, China as they stand on the banks of the Yalu River, north of Sinuiju, North Korea. A week-long road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea revealed stark contrasts between China's bright towns and North Korea's dark villages. REUTERS 15/20 North Korean girls are photographed from the Chinese side of the border as they collect water from the frozen Yalu River near Linjiang, China. A week-long road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea revealed stark contrasts between China's bright towns and North Korea's dark villages. REUTERS 16/20 A man looks through binoculars towards North Korea on the Broken Bridge over the Yalu River that connects the North Korean town of Sinuiju and Dandong in Liaoning Province, China. In the Chinese city of Dandong, signs of neighbouring North Korea are pervasive. REUTERS 17/20 North Koreans are photographed from the Chinese side of the border as they stand next to the freezing Yalu River near the town of Linjiang, China. On a road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea, reporters found a group of North Koreans diving in the Yalu river who the Chinese locals said were searching for gold. REUTERS 18/20 North Korean fishermen are seen as a Chinese flag flutters from the Broken Bridge as the sun sets over the Yalu River between the North Korean town of Sinuiju and Dandong in Liaoning Province, China. In the Chinese city of Dandong, signs of neighbouring North Korea are pervasive. REUTERS 19/20 North Koreans are photographed from the Chinese side of the border as they stand in the freezing Yalu River near the town of Linjiang, China. On a road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea, reporters found a group of North Koreans diving in the Yalu river who the Chinese locals said were searching for gold. REUTERS 20/20 Women, photographed from the Chinese side of the border, are seen through binoculars fixed on a building on the Chinese side of the border for sightseers to look across to North Korea, as they cross the bridge from Namyang in North Korea towards the town of Tumen in China, Reuters 1/20 People have their picture taken with North Korea in the background, in Tumen, China. In the Chinese city of Dandong, signs of neighbouring North Korea are pervasive. REUTERS 2/20 A North Korean woman is photographed from the Chinese side of the Yalu River near the town of Changbai, China as she walks between houses in the North Korean town of Hyesan. A week-long road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea revealed stark contrasts between China's bright towns and North Korea's dark villages. REUTERS 3/20 North Korean souvenirs are displayed for sale on the banks of the Yalu River in Dandong in Liaoning province, China. In the Chinese city of Dandong, signs of neighbouring North Korea are pervasive. Reuters 4/20 A large screen, which faces North Korea, broadcasts propaganda videos on an island on the Yalu River between North Korea and China, in the town of Linjiang in Jilin province, China. A week-long road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea revealed stark contrasts between China's bright towns and North Korea's dark villages. REUTERS 5/20 A piece of clothing is used to make a gap in barbed wire near the closed bridge over the Yalu River on the Chinese side of the border with North Korea between towns of Ji'an and Linjiang, China. A week-long road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea showed places where it is porous. Reuters 6/20 A tourist uses binoculars to look across to North Korea from a tower built on the Chinese side of the border between Russia (L), China (C) and North Korea (R) near the town of Hunchun in China. Reuters 7/20 North Koreans are photographed from the Chinese side of the border as they stand next to the freezing Yalu River near the town of Linjiang, China. On a road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea, reporters found a group of North Koreans diving in the Yalu river who the Chinese locals said were searching for gold. REUTERS 8/20 Women participate in a group dance exercise close to the Yalu River which runs between China and North Korea, in the town of Linjiang in Jilin province, China. A week-long road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea revealed stark contrasts between China's bright towns and North Korea's dark villages. REUTERS 9/20 A sign reading, "Take the initiative to preserve order along the border," stands in a field at the border between China and North Korea just outside Dandong, Liaoning province, China. Reuters 10/20 A couple prepare for a wedding photography session on a boat which takes tourists on sightseeing tours from the Chinese side of the Yalu River, close to the shores of North Korea, near Dandong, Liaoning province, China. In the Chinese city of Dandong, signs of neighbouring North Korea are pervasive. REUTERS 11/20 Tourists travel on a boat taking them from the Chinese side of the Yalu River for sightseeing close to the shores of North Korea, near Dandong, Liaoning province, China. In the Chinese city of Dandong, signs of neighbouring North Korea are pervasive. REUTERS 12/20 North Koreans are photographed from the Chinese side of the border as they stand next to the freezing Yalu River near the town of Linjiang, China. On a road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea, reporters found a group of North Koreans diving in the Yalu river who the Chinese locals said were searching for gold. REUTERS 13/20 Women walk across a bridge from an island on the Yalu River, dividing North Korea and China, in the town of Linjiang in Jilin province, China. A week-long road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea revealed stark contrasts between China's bright towns and North Korea's dark villages. REUTERS 14/20 A North Korean soldier and locals are photographed from the Chinese side of the border north of Dandong, China as they stand on the banks of the Yalu River, north of Sinuiju, North Korea. A week-long road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea revealed stark contrasts between China's bright towns and North Korea's dark villages. REUTERS 15/20 North Korean girls are photographed from the Chinese side of the border as they collect water from the frozen Yalu River near Linjiang, China. A week-long road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea revealed stark contrasts between China's bright towns and North Korea's dark villages. REUTERS 16/20 A man looks through binoculars towards North Korea on the Broken Bridge over the Yalu River that connects the North Korean town of Sinuiju and Dandong in Liaoning Province, China. In the Chinese city of Dandong, signs of neighbouring North Korea are pervasive. REUTERS 17/20 North Koreans are photographed from the Chinese side of the border as they stand next to the freezing Yalu River near the town of Linjiang, China. On a road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea, reporters found a group of North Koreans diving in the Yalu river who the Chinese locals said were searching for gold. REUTERS 18/20 North Korean fishermen are seen as a Chinese flag flutters from the Broken Bridge as the sun sets over the Yalu River between the North Korean town of Sinuiju and Dandong in Liaoning Province, China. In the Chinese city of Dandong, signs of neighbouring North Korea are pervasive. REUTERS 19/20 North Koreans are photographed from the Chinese side of the border as they stand in the freezing Yalu River near the town of Linjiang, China. On a road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea, reporters found a group of North Koreans diving in the Yalu river who the Chinese locals said were searching for gold. REUTERS 20/20 Women, photographed from the Chinese side of the border, are seen through binoculars fixed on a building on the Chinese side of the border for sightseers to look across to North Korea, as they cross the bridge from Namyang in North Korea towards the town of Tumen in China, Reuters

China remains Pyongyang’s largest trading partner, although commerce between the two nations has dropped off by about 90 per cent under United Nations sanctions.

Chinese tourists are among the largest groups of visitors to the isolated state, where they often pay homage at sites related to China’s participation in the war.

Visitors from the country make up about 80 percent of all foreign tourists to North Korea, according to South Korean think-tank the Korea Maritime Institute, which estimates that tourism generates revenue of about $44m (£31m) each year.</s>Chinese tourists have been involved in a major transportation accident in North Korea and there are a large number of casualties, China's foreign ministry said on Monday.

Chinese diplomats have rushed to the scene of the accident in North Hwanghae province, which happened on Sunday evening, the ministry added, without saying how many people had either been injured or died.

Chinese state television's English-language channel had tweeted earlier on Monday that a tour bus had fallen off a bridge, killing more than 30 people, but later deleted the tweet.

North Hwanghae province borders South Korea and is the location of Kaesong, a well-visited tourist destination and ancient Korean capital.

North Korea is a popular, if offbeat, tourist destination for Chinese, especially from northeastern China.

South Korean think-tank the Korea Maritime Institute estimates that tourism generates about $44 million in annual revenue for North Korea. About 80 percent of all North Korea's foreign tourists are Chinese, it says.

China said more than 237,000 Chinese visited in 2012, but it stopped publishing the statistics in 2013.

China is North Korea's most important economic and diplomatic backer, despite Beijing's anger at Pyongyang's repeated nuclear and missile tests and support for strong United Nations sanctions against North Korea.

North and South Korea are in the final stages of preparations for a summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-In at the border truce village of Panmunjom on Friday.</s>Kim Jong-un expressed his “bitter sorrow” over the deaths of dozens of Chinese tourists after their bus plunged off a bridge in North Korea.



The state-run KCNA news agency reported on Tuesday that the North Korean leader had visited two Chinese survivors of the crash on Sunday in which 32 Chinese and four North Koreans died.

In his first reported visit to the Chinese embassy on Monday, Kim was quoted as saying he felt “uncontrollable grief” over the accident in North Hwanghae province.

The display is another sign that Kim is attempting to portray himself as a conventional leader – equally at ease offering sympathy to victims of tragedies as making fiery pronouncements – ahead of Friday’s summit with the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, and another planned meeting with Donald Trump in late May or early June.

The agency quoted Kim as saying the North Korean people “take the tragic accident as their own misfortune”. North Korean authorities would do all they could “to alleviate the pain of the bereaved families”.

Li Jinjun, China’s ambassador to North Korea, thanked Kim and said his visit to the embassy demonstrated the two countries “unbreakable and great friendship”, according to an account of the meeting by Yonhap news agency.

Having spent the first six years of his leadership appearing at North Korean factories and military units, as well as making occasional forays to concerts, amusement parks and sports facilities, Kim made a surprise trip to China in March, amid a thaw in relations between Pyongyang and Beijing.

While the former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was a regular visitor to the Chinese embassy, his son reportedly avoided direct contact with Beijing’s officials in Pyongyang as bilateral ties were tested by the North’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes and China’s support for UN security council sanctions.

Last week Kim took another step towards normalising his country’s image ahead of the summits when he gave his wife, Ri Sol-ju, the title of first lady, putting her on a par with Moon’s wife, Kim Jung-sook, and Melania Trump.

North Korean media had previously referred to Ri as “comrade”. It is reportedly the first time the title of first lady has been given to the wife of a North Korean leader since 1974, when it was used to refer to Kim Song-ae, the second wife of the regime’s founding leader, Kim Il-sung.

The Chinese tour group was travelling from Kaesong, near the border with South Korea, to Pyongyang when the accident occurred, according to NK News.

China’s health ministry said it was sending a team of medical experts, equipment and drugs to the hospital, where two Chinese were said to be in a critical condition.



While many North Korean roads are poorly maintained, the stretch between Kaesong and Pyongyang is among the best in the country and sees little traffic.

Chinese tourists make up about 80 percent of all foreign visitors to North Korea, according to the Korea Maritime Institute think tank. Tourism generates revenues estimated at 44 million USD a year for the country’s economy.</s>BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese tourists have been involved in a major bus accident in North Korea that caused a large number of casualties, China’s state media and the government said on Monday, without giving a precise break-up.

Chinese visitors account for about 80 percent of all foreign tourists to North Korea, says a South Korean think-tank, the Korea Maritime Institute, which estimates that tourism generates about $44 million each year in revenue for the isolated country.

Chinese diplomats have rushed to the scene of Sunday’s accident in North Hwanghae province, the foreign ministry said.

In a Twitter message earlier on Monday, Chinese state television’s English-language channel said a tour bus had fallen off a bridge, killing more than 30 people, but later deleted the message.

State television’s main Chinese-language news channel later showed images of a crashed blue bus with its wheels in the air, in footage taken in pouring rain in the dark.

It showed at least one person being treated in hospital, but also gave no details of casualties.

The North Hwanghae province that borders South Korea is home to Kaesong, an ancient Korean capital thronged by tourists.

North Korea is a popular, if offbeat, tourist destination for Chinese, especially those from the country’s northeast.

China said more than 237,000 Chinese visited in 2012, but stopped publishing the figures in 2013.

China is North Korea’s most important economic and diplomatic backer, despite Beijing’s anger at Pyongyang’s repeated nuclear and missile tests and support for strong United Nations sanctions against North Korea.

North and South Korea are in the final stages of preparations for a summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-In at the border truce village of Panmunjom on Friday.</s>US media coverage of the warming relations between South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in the north has been overwhelmingly negative, and the closer the Friday meeting between South Korean president Moon Jae In and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un draws, the more alarmist it grows. The New York Times this week has warned of Kim's "fearsome nuclear stockpile" as he walks to the negotiating table, and of China's supposed ire at being left out of negotiations.

"I think there's a fear that the South Koreans could drift into the Chinese orbit and out of the US orbit," Gowans said.

"[The US is] afraid that the South Koreans, if they meet and talk with the North Koreans, will conclude or are concluding that the problem is not the North Koreans; the problem is the United States," Gowans, author of "Washington's Long War on Syria," told Loud & Clear. "And they'll seek to conclude a deal with the North Koreans, which from the South Korean perspective will be beneficial because it will lift the threat of war, so they hope."

"The South Koreans may agree to what the United States doesn't want and the US media doesn't want under any circumstances and that's the withdrawal of US troops from the peninsula," Gowans said.

Gowans suggests that the process itself raises questions that the powers that be don't want asked. "If we talk about a peace treaty, then you also have to talk about the question of why there's a US military presence on the Korean Peninsula," Gowans continued. "If you have peace between North and South, why do you need a US military presence?"

Gowans told Radio Sputnik that the media likely sees the talks as having been manipulated by Kim, while in reality, "the North Koreans were pushing Washington, or had been for at least a year, to have some kind of summit, some kind of talk, and Washington pushed back and said ‘no,' they're not interested because they're pursuing… this coercive policy of forcing the North Koreans to surrender."

Now that Kim has made peace overtures to Seoul, the southern half of the peninsula might see them as the beginning of a path out of the constant threat of war. "So I think looking at this from Washington's perspective, one of their strategic errors was creating fear in South Korea," Gowans said.

While US media frequently characterizes Kim as reckless and crazy, Gowans said that it is actually the US strategy that is erratic and unproductive. "Certainly the North Korean strategy isn't a rogue or irrational one. Even Washington will now acknowledge that the North Koreans have been ‘cooly rational,' as they put it. But the policy of forcing the North Koreans to surrender is certainly out of sync and doesn't seem to be a particularly effective one; this is one that the United States has been pursuing since 1948 and it hasn't succeeded," Gowans said.</s>BEIJING (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has met with China’s ambassador and visited a hospital where Chinese tourists were being treated after a deadly bus crash.

The crash Sunday evening killed 32 Chinese and four North Koreans, and two Chinese were seriously injured. China’s official Xinhua News Agency said late Monday that the tourist bus fell from a bridge in North Hwanghae province in southern North Korea.

Photos provided by the North Korean government on Tuesday showed Kim meeting with Ambassador Li Jinjun at the hospital and at the Chinese Embassy.

China’s Foreign Ministry said a medical team and diplomats were sent to help. It described the North Korean casualties as “workers.” All visitors to North Korea must be accompanied by minders.

Chinese tourists make up the vast majority of visitors to North Korea, where they often pay homage at sites related to China’s participation in the 1950-53 Korean War.

China and North Korea share a lengthy border and a traditional friendship. China remains Pyongyang’s largest trading partner, although commerce has dropped off by about 90 percent under United Nations sanctions.

Only about 5,000 Westerners visit the isolated, hard-line communist state each year. Americans have been banned from traveling to North Korea without special permission from the U.S. State Department since September amid concerns about the fate of those detained there in the past.

The cause of the crash wasn’t mentioned. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showed the mangled wreckage in the dark with rain falling and rescue vehicles on the scene.

North Korean roads are often bumpy and poorly maintained. There is usually no lighting other than headlights at night, even on major roads outside of the cities. Drivers tend to travel at whatever speed they feel is safe, making the roads even more dangerous, particularly when the weather is bad.
A bus crash in North Hwanghae, North Korea, kills 32 Chinese tourists and four North Koreans. A further two people are seriously injured.