Singapore

Kim Jong Un has stated that North Korea is still willing to meet with President Donald Trump “at any time” despite the recent cancellation of the summit meeting between the two leaders.

The two leaders were slated to meet in Singapore on June 12^th. The language of their message was not as bombastic as usual for the North’s Foreign Ministry.

Kim Kye Gwan, a top official at North Korea’s Foreign Ministry, said Trump’s decision to cancel the talks runs counter to the global community’s wishes for peace on the Korean Peninsula.
“We would like to make known to the US side once again that we have the intent to sit with the US side to solve problem(s) regardless of ways at any time,” said Kim in comments published by the country’s state-run news agency KCNA Friday.
Kim said Trump’s decision is “not consistent with the desire of humankind for peace and stability in the world, to say nothing of those in the Korean Peninsula.”
President Trump canceled the summit Thursday in a letter addressed to Kim Jong Un, citing recent hostile comments from top North Korean officials and concern over Pyongyang’s commitment to giving up its nuclear weapons. Trump said it would be “inappropriate” to have the summit given his worries.
The final straw, US officials said, was a statement Thursday from North Korea’s Foreign Ministry calling US Vice President Mike Pence a “political dummy” and hinting that Pyongyang was ready for a “nuclear showdown” should diplomacy fail.
Trump’s administration claimed there had been hiccups behind the scenes. In a background briefing a senior White House official said the North Koreans had failed to turn up to a meeting with a White House official in Singapore to talk planning and logistics. “The North Koreans didn’t tell us anything. They simply stood us up,” the official said.
But despite President Trump’s abrupt cancellation, he appeared to leave the door open for talks to resume at some point, telling reporters Thursday that “if and when Kim Jong Un chooses to engage in constructive dialogue and actions, I am waiting.”

The two sides can still meet and South Korea, who was acting almost as a middleman in the earlier negotiations will be key if future talks are planned. The North Koreans did destroy their nuclear test site in a show for western media.

To read the entire article from CNN News, click here:

Photo courtesy CNN Video Screenshot

The armed conflict between the government forces of the Philippines and the Abu Sayyaf and other Islamist militant groups during the siege of Marawi has drawn the interest of other Muslim-majority countries in the region.

The other Muslim nations are looking for signs that extremist activity is on the rise in their own countries

Isnilon Hapilon, head of the Islamist militant group Abu Sayyaf, sat front and center, and was flanked by brothers Abdullah and Omarkhayam Maute, founders of the Maute group, another extremist organization. Both groups have pledged allegiance to IS. When Philippine security forces attempted to arrest Hapilon on May 23, the Mautes put the takeover plan into action, beginning a bloody clash with the military that pushed President Rodrigo Duterte to place all of Mindanao under martial law. Manila apparently called in help from U.S. special operations forces, despite the president having ordered the American military out of the country.
Attempts to suppress the insurgency, including aerial bombings by the Philippine military, have left more than 400 dead, including 44 civilians and around 300 of the 500 Maute fighters.
Home-grown
“I am very, very, very sorry,” Duterte said June 20 to a group of those forced by the conflict to evacuate. The president’s roots on Mindanao run deep: he served as mayor of Davao, a large city on the island, for more than 20 years, during which time he established his law-and-order reputation with a harsh crackdown on drug users and those involved in the drug trade. But Duterte seems to have underestimated the difficulty of the current conflict. The military is gearing up for a long fight, and it is impossible to predict with certainty when the insurgents will be subdued.
The Philippines’ population is roughly 90% Christian. But the country’s southern regions are home to a sizable Muslim population. Abu Sayyaf began as a local separatist group, only gradually adopting the extremist ideology of IS. The Mautes were prominent members of Marawi society before becoming radicalized. Both groups have since been involved in bombings and kidnappings. Hapilon is considered the leader of IS in Southeast Asia.
The Islamic State’s activities do in fact span the region. Citizens of Indonesia, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia were among the fighters killed in the Marawi siege. Groups and lone actors radicalized through social media have carried out attacks, including suicide bombings, in various nations. In Indonesia, there are already IS cells “in almost every province,” Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo said in June, calling the largely Christian province of Papua a rare exception. Jamaah Ansharut Daulah, an Indonesian group that has pledged allegiance to IS, was behind a May suicide bombing in Jakarta that killed or injured 10, according to security officials.
Extremist groups are also behind a spate of kidnappings in waters off Mindanao, an area bordered by the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia. The three neighbors have started joint maritime patrols to bring the matter under control.

Prior to President Duterte’s election, the Philippines had close ties to the US and joint US/Filipino military operations had Abu Sayyaf on the run. But Duterte has distanced himself from the US since taking over and the limited US involvement has allowed the terror organization to regrow stronger.

The economic boom in Southeast Asia could be threatened by the rise of these Islamist terror groups, who have already pledged their loyalty to the Islamic State.

To read the entire article from Asia-Nikkei.com, click here:

Photo Islamic State

North Korea Still Willing to Meet With President Trump

SE Asia Muslim Nations Worry Extremism from Philippines Will Spread