SEOUL - The Republic of Korea (ROK)'s foreign ministry said Wednesday that it will place its focus on talks for the denuclearized Korean Peninsula after the end of the 23rd Winter Olympics, which are going on in the country's east county of Pyeongchang.According to the ministry report submitted to the National Assembly, the ROK will focus its diplomatic efforts at a dialogue momentum, created by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s participation in the Winter Olympics, leading to the peace settlement on the peninsula and the peaceful resolution of the DPRK's nuclear issue.The ROK will stably manage situations after the end of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics to create conditions for continued dialogue based on a firm alliance with the United States, while seeking dialogue to resolve the DPRK's nuclear issue, the report said.The DPRK sent athletes, cheerleaders, and a high-ranking delegation to the ROK-hosted winter sports event, boosting hopes for a thaw in ties between the two Koreas.The high-ranking DPRK delegation, which included Kim Yo-jong, a younger sister of top DPRK leader Kim Jong-un, attended the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics earlier this month and met with ROK's?President Moon Jae-in.During the meeting with Moon, Kim Yo-jong delivered the DPRK leader's invitation to the ROK's leader to visit Pyongyang at his convenient time.In response, Moon said the two Koreas should create conditions to make it happen, asking the DPRK side to more actively seek dialogue with the United States.The foreign ministry report said ROK will continue efforts at the resumption of dialogue between the DPRK and the United States, while deterring the DPRK's provocation by maintaining a strongly combined defense posture with the US forces.During a telephone conversation in January, President Moon and US President Donald Trump shared a possibility for the ongoing inter-Korean talks naturally leading to talks between the DPRK and the United States.Since the DPRK leader showed his willingness to improve ties with ROK during his New Year's address, the first senior-level inter-Korean dialogue in over two years was held on Jan 9 in the truce village of Panmunjom. wristbands canadacustom silicone bracelets canadarubber bracelets canadasilicone bracelets canadasilicone wristbands canadacustom wristbands canadacanadian wristbandswristbands canada
Representatives of the world's major snow leopard range countries signed a consensus on global snow leopard conservation in Shenzhen on Wednesday.It was signed during the International Conference for Snow Leopard Conservation, held Tuesday and Wednesday. More than 200 officials, experts and representatives from the big cat's habitat countries shared their latest achievement.China has established 26 nature reserves for snow leopards, covering more than half of the big cat's habitats, said Li Chunliang, vice administrator of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.He noted that snow leopard protection is in direct relation to the stability and integrity of the plateau and mountain ecosystem as it is at the top of the food chain there."Having its largest habitat in the world, China has made a tremendous effort to protect the snow leopard," Li noted, adding the country has provided a strict protection zone of more than 200,000 square kilometers.But he warned the species still faces increasing risks globally, such as poaching, habitat fragmentation, and climate change.He pledged China will enhance investment to protect the animal and explore cross-border habitat protection programs, especially in the Belt and Road area.Koustubh Sharma, a steering committee representative at the Global Snow Leopard & Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP), noted cooperation is the inevitable way to achieve the goal of setting up at least 20 key reserves by 2020.The snow leopard is a Class-A protected animal in China, and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature classifies it as endangered-to-vulnerable. There are about 4,500 to 7,500 snow leopards living in only 12 countries.
