JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia has invited North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to attend the opening ceremony of the Asian Games in Jakarta in August following a similar invitation to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, officials said.
North and South Korea are likely to be a focal point of the Games, particularly amid recent doubts over Kim’s promise to work toward denuclearization made during a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore in June.
Ministers from the two Koreas agreed in April to push for a unified delegation from both countries to parade together in the opening ceremony at the Asian Games, to be staged in August and September.
Indonesian officials led by Coordinating Human Development and Cultural Affairs Minister Puan Maharani visited North Korea this week, meeting with Kim Yong Nam, the nominal head of state and president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly.
“The main reason for us coming (to Pyongyang) is to convey an official invitation to the President of North Korea to attend the Asian Games Opening Ceremony on August 18,” Maharani said in a release issued by the National Police.
A Sri Lankan man was apprehended at Suvarnabhumi airport for attempting to smuggle wildlife out of the country after three ball pythons were found hidden in his underwear, the Bangkok post reported.
Read these and more on tomorrow’s edition of the Sunday Times
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