ASEAN leaders say 'deeply concerned' about Myanmar violence

Yahoo – AFP, Martin Abbugao and Allison Jackson, May 10, 2023 

The turmoil in junta-ruled Myanmar has dominated talks at the ASEAN
summit in Indonesia

Southeast Asian nations said Wednesday they are "deeply concerned" about the violence ravaging Myanmar, and condemned a recent attack on a convoy of diplomats delivering humanitarian aid in the country. 

Turmoil in junta-ruled Myanmar has dominated talks at this week's Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Indonesia, as the regional bloc faces criticism for its perceived inaction. 

ASEAN has led diplomatic attempts to resolve the festering crisis, but its efforts so far have failed to stem the bloodshed unleashed by a military coup in 2021. 

"We were deeply concerned with ongoing violence in Myanmar and urged the immediate cessation of all forms of violence and the use of force to create a conducive environment for the safe and timely delivery of humanitarian assistance and inclusive national dialogues," ASEAN leaders said in a statement. 

The junta has ignored international criticism and refused to engage with its opponents, which include ousted lawmakers, anti-coup "People's Defence Forces" and armed ethnic minority groups. 

An air strike on a village in a rebel stronghold last month that reportedly killed about 170 people sparked global condemnation and worsened the junta's isolation. 

Pressure on the regional bloc increased Sunday after a convoy of vehicles carrying diplomats and officials coordinating ASEAN humanitarian relief in Myanmar came under fire. 

Singapore and Indonesia said earlier that staff from their embassies in Myanmar were in the vehicles that came under fire in eastern Shan State but were unharmed. 

"We condemned the attack and underlined that the perpetrators must be held accountable," ASEAN leaders said in their statement. 

Addressing the summit Wednesday, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said he was "confident" the 10-member bloc could deal with growing global challenges if its members were united. 

"With unity, ASEAN will be able to play a central role in bringing peace and growth," Widodo said through a translator as he opened the leaders' session of the summit. 

Low expectations 

Foreign ministers and national leaders meeting on the Indonesian island of Flores are trying to kickstart a five-point plan agreed upon with Myanmar two years ago after mediation attempts to end the violence failed. 

Myanmar remains an ASEAN member but has been barred from top-level summits due to the junta's failure to implement the peace plan. 

Diplomatic sources told AFP that the foreign ministers of some countries, which they did not name, had suggested eventually inviting back the junta, citing "Myanmar fatigue". 

Jakarta's chairmanship of the bloc this year had raised hopes ASEAN could push for a peaceful solution, using its economic weight as well as its diplomatic experience. 

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said Friday that her country was using "quiet diplomacy" to speak with all sides of the Myanmar conflict and spur renewed peace efforts. 

But Indonesia was running out of time to achieve a breakthrough, said Lina Alexandra, an analyst at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta. 

After the next leaders' summit in September, Alexandra added, Indonesia will hand the bloc's influential chairmanship to communist-ruled Laos, which could bring Myanmar back "into the fold" and allow the junta to attend ASEAN summits. 

"It is time for Indonesia to show that it can do what it should do," she said. 

ASEAN's charter principles of consensus and non-interference have hamstrung its ability to stop the violence in Myanmar, which critics say poses an existential threat to the bloc. 

Divisions among its members over Myanmar and other issues, including China's growing assertiveness in the disputed South China Sea, have undermined the bloc. 

On Wednesday, diplomats were fine-tuning an implementation plan for the peace process that would be announced by their leaders on Thursday. 

The latest draft of the end-of-summit statement seen by AFP has left the paragraph on Myanmar open, reflecting diplomatic difficulties over the issue. 

Expectations for progress were low. 

"I don't think that there's going to be very much there that will surprise people," said Aaron Connelly, an analyst for International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore.

Indonesia mourns 15 years after Boxing Day tsunami

Yahoo – AFP, December 26, 2019

Nurhayati, 65 (R), who lost her 17-year-old daughter in the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami
and is still traumatized, prays at a cemetery containing mass graves in Siron, in
Indonesia's Aceh province on December 26, 2019 (AFP Photo/CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN)

Banda Aceh (Indonesia) (AFP) - Thousands of mourners flocked to mass graves Thursday in Indonesia's Aceh province to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, one of the worst natural disasters in history.

On a grassy field in Aceh Besar district where at least 47,000 victims were laid to rest, family members and relatives prayed, scattered flower petals and comforted each other.

Among them was Nurhayati who lost her youngest daughter in the disaster.

"I came here every year because I miss her so much, she was only 17, just started college," the 65-year-old told AFP, sobbing.

"It's been 15 years but even until now every time I see an ocean, even on TV, I shudder and feel like a big wave would be coming soon," she said.

Many people who lost loved ones in the disaster do not know where they were 

buried. Here, a woman walks past people praying at a cemetery containing mass 

graves in Siron, in Indonesia's Aceh province (AFP Photo/CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN)

Almost 170,000 were killed in Aceh province alone when a 9.1 magnitude undersea quake struck the predominantly Muslim province on December 26, 2004, triggering massive tsunami waves that also killed another 50,000 people in countries around the Indian Ocean, even as far as Somalia.

Some half a million people were left homeless by the catastrophe that destroyed much of the province.

Muhammad Ikramullah was only 13 when the tsunami hit, killing his parents and younger sibling. He spent years moving around, living with relatives and his parents' friends until he was able to provide for himself.

A cemetery in Ulee Lheue, Banda Aceh, contains mass graves of victims from the 

2004 tsunami which killed 220,000 people in countries around the Indian Ocean -- 

most of them in Indonesia's Aceh province (AFP Photo/CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN)

"I am still traumatised, I don't think I will ever forget what happened," the 28-year-old said.

The remains of his family have never been found, but like most people who visit the mass grave every year, Ikramullah only wanted to pray for his loved ones even though their bodies might not be buried there.

Years after the disaster, bodies are still being discovered. In 2018, the remains of dozens of people were found in a newly built housing complex.

Some have never found where their family members were buried.

Indonesian tsunami survivor Jony, 48 (R), and his daughter (L) pray at a cemetery 

containing mass graves in Siron, Aceh province, on the 15th anniversary of the disaster 
which killed 170,000 people in the province (AFP Photo/CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN)

"I don't know where my mother was buried," Jony China told AFP.

"But I keep coming here because I have a feeling she was close," he said.

Indonesia experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to it position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where tectonic plates collide.

Last year a tsunami triggered by a volcanic earthquake killed nearly 500 people in Banten province.

Related Articles:

As world honours the dead, Indonesia begins tsunami memorials

"Current" Events –  Apr 10, 2005 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

“… Mass Human Death

The final one, dear Human, is the hardest one for my partner and the one we wish to leave you with in this channeling tonight. This is the one that my partner doesn't want to even have me talk about. It's the appropriateness of mass death. For you, built in to your very essence is the honor for life, and the sorrow when it passes. It's correct and appropriate that this is there, and never let it be tempered. But the wisdom of understanding is also needed to help you get past some challenges of the Human heart.

"Dear Kryon, was the tsunami really necessary?" Yes it was. Almost 200,000 Human Beings passed over. It's an event that for you is filled with horror, sorrow, emotion, and challenge. Back in 1989, we told you of those that might have to leave the earth en masse, and here it is. Yet even my partner [Lee] asks the questions, "Why the children? Why the poorest parts of the earth? Why the seeming inappropriateness of all this death?"

And I say to you the same thing I said with respect to Terri: Do you understand yet that death is often as precious as life on this planet of many energies and lessons? They are not gone! They're all here [speaking from Kryon's perspective]. They're having a great time! They're joyful! It seems like a moment ago they leaned into the wind of birth with us beside them. We said, "How would you like to participate in an event that will change the compassion factor of the planet so that energies can move forward and provide faster acceleration of vibratory shift? How would you like to help create peace on earth through a consciousness shift within Gaia itself? And they said, "Show us the way!"

Do you understand why we are in love with humanity... that you would love the earth and the Universe so much that you would go through these things? So much of what you see is horrible tragedy, yet you're looking at the heroes of humanity as they deliver a gift that will change the very fabric of Gaia through the compassion created as a wave of humanity responds to their plight.

They knew the potentials and they went through with it. Even the children knew, for they're old souls within their divinity. There was so much compassion created at that time, in that one week, the earth has never seen anything like it in your lifetime. Billions of Humans were involved with a compassion that instantly went to the core of the planet. It went into the earth and it's still there. It changed the actual energy of where you walk and it planted a seeds that will grow that will indeed emerge later in Israel, and those surrounding Israel.

And that's what it's about. Yet some of you didn't want to hear that, did you? But they're here, with me now... and with you as well. How could you fit them all in this room, you might ask? They can fit on the head of a pin! That's interdimensional talk. They can go home in your purse or your pocket! That's interdimensional talk, too. And they've got a message for you that we've given before, but you can't hear it enough: "We did our part - now you do yours, Lighthouse! For the ones who remain are the only ones who can manipulate the tools we have helped create."

When you go home tonight, you're not going to be in a survival situation - in a tent in a tribe with no lights or clean water, with no food. You're not going to be in sorrow or despair. Instead, you go home to a warm place with plenty of food and friendship and the love of family. That's why you're the Lighthouses, because you have time for it. You've got the intellect for it. You're not in survival mode, as is so much of humanity on the earth. You have the education for it and the intuition for it. Now, do you understand why there are so many Lighthworkers in the western world? It's because your culture has created a situation where there's abundance of these things, and it allows you to lead the way in changing the energy of earth, instead of having all your time spent just trying to survive. Does this help you understand the responsibility of what you have before you?

Strike the light and send it to the Sudanese. Strike light and send it to those dark places with governments where there's corruption. Strike the light and send it to the scientists and researchers who already have the cures for the more virulent diseases on the planet, but can't begin their work due to the barriers of certain leadership and their old ways. Strike the light and send it to Israel and Palestine and get on with this solution! This is why you're here, and this is the agreement you made when you arrived and selected the culture you live in.

Achievable in your lifetime, it is. Peace and compassion will prevail. You shall see. You shall see.

And so it is.

Kryon

Indonesia arrests nearly 200 over raging forest fires

Yahoo – AFP, September 16, 2019

The fires -- usually started by illegal burning to clear land for farming -- have
unleashed choking haze across Southeast Asia (AFP Photo/ADEK BERRY)

Indonesia has arrested nearly 200 people over vast forest fires ripping across the archipelago, police said Monday, as toxic haze sends air quality levels plummeting and sparks flight cancellations.

Jakarta has deployed thousands of personnel to battle blazes that are turning land into charred landscapes and consuming forests in Sumatra and Borneo islands, where thousands of schools have been shut over health fears.

The fires -- usually started by illegal burning to clear land for farming -- have unleashed choking haze across Southeast Asia, triggering diplomatic tensions with Indonesia's neighbours.

On Monday, authorities said they had arrested some 185 people suspected of being involved in activities that led to out-of-control fires sweeping the country.

"Indonesian Police will enforce the law against anyone who is proven to have carried out forest and land burning, whether it was done intentionally or through negligence," National Police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo told reporters in Jakarta.

Indonesia's peat fires: a smouldering problem (AFP Photo/John SAEKI)

"This is a last resort. The most important thing is prevention."

Four corporations were also being investigated, he added.

Last week, Indonesia sealed off dozens of plantations where smog-belching fires were blazing, and warned that owners -- including Malaysia and Singapore-based firms -- could face criminal charges if there was evidence of illegal burning.

Some of the most serious fires occur in peatlands, which are highly combustible when drained of water to be converted into agricultural plantations.

Thick haze in Borneo -- where air quality levels have plummeted to "dangerous" levels in some areas -- caused the cancellation of about a dozen flights Sunday, national airline Garuda said.

Rival Lion Air said about 160 Borneo flights had been affected at the weekend.

Meanwhile, nearly 150,000 people have been treated for acute respiratory infections linked to the haze in recent months, according to Indonesian health authorities.

Nearly 150,000 people have been treated for acute respiratory infections 

linked to the haze in recent months (AFP Photo/Str)

While forest fires are an annual problem, the situation this year has been worsened by drier weather in Indonesia, with diplomatic tensions soaring as toxic smog drifts over to neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore.

The haze pushed Singapore's air quality to unhealthy levels for the first time in three years at the weekend.

In 2015, Indonesia suffered its worst forest fires for almost two decades, which dramatically increased its greenhouse gas emissions.

Huge fires tearing through the Amazon are also compounding concerns about the long-term impact of such blazes on keeping global temperature levels stable.

Related Article:

Singapore air 'unhealthy' ahead of F1 race

Singapore air 'unhealthy' ahead of F1 race

Yahoo – AFP, September 14, 2019

Singapore may continue to experience hazy conditions over the next few days,
the environment agency warned (AFP Photo/Roslan RAHMAN)

Singapore (AFP) - Pollution from forest fires in Indonesia pushed Singapore's air quality to unhealthy levels for the first time in three years on Saturday, the government said, a week ahead of the Formula One night race in the city.

The toxic smoke caused by burning to clear land for plantations is an annual problem for Indonesia's neighbours, but has been worsened this year by particularly dry weather.

"There has been a deterioration in the haze conditions in Singapore this afternoon," the National Environment Agency (NEA) said in a statement.

"This was due to a confluence of winds over the nearby region that led to more smoke haze from Sumatra being blown toward Singapore," it said, referring to one of the Indonesian islands where fires are raging.

The NEA said the pollutant standards index (PSI) worsened to 112 in parts of the island Saturday night.

An index reading between 101-200 is considered unhealthy, with residents advised against doing prolonged strenuous exercises outdoors.

Singapore may continue to experience hazy conditions over the next few days, the agency warned.

The city-state of 5.6 million people was shrouded in a thin white haze, with a few residents seen wearing face masks, but there was no major disruption to daily activities.

The F1 race is scheduled from Friday to Sunday on a street circuit in the Marina Bay financial district.

Singapore GP, the Formula One organisers, said the possibility of haze is one of the potential issues covered in their contingency plan for this year's grand prix.

"The plan was formulated and refined with stake holders, government bodies and the Formula One community," Singapore GP said in an emailed statement.

"In the event that the haze causes visibility, public health or operational issues, Singapore GP would work closely with the relevant agencies before making any collective decisions regarding the event."

Neighbouring Malaysia has also been affected by the smoke, with air quality in parts of the country including the capital Kuala Lumpur reaching unhealthy levels over the past few days and triggering a diplomatic row with Jakarta.

In 2015, the index reached "hazardous" levels of more than 300 in Singapore, forcing the closure of schools. Indonesian forest fires were the worst in two decades that year, firing up smog that blanketed large parts of Southeast Asia for weeks.

Malaysia court frees woman in North Korea murder case

Yahoo – AFP, M. Jegathesan, March 11, 2019

Indonesian Siti Aisyah waves to the press after her return to Jakarta having been
freed by a Malaysian court (AFP Photo/ADEK BERRY)

An Indonesian woman accused of assassinating the North Korean leader's half-brother was freed Monday after Malaysian prosecutors dropped a murder charge against her, in a shock decision that delighted her friends and family.

Siti Aisyah smiled as she was ushered into a car outside the court, where she had been on trial for a year and a half alongside a Vietnamese woman for the 2017 murder of Kim Jong Nam at Kuala Lumpur airport.

"I feel happy. I did not know this will happen. I did not expect it," said the 27-year-old, who earlier hugged her tearful Vietnamese co-accused, Doan Thi Huong, in the dock when the news was announced.

Indonesian officials mounted a major diplomatic effort to free Aisyah, which included pressure from the president. The Indonesian justice minister had written to Malaysia's attorney general seeking her release, citing problems with the case, and he agreed last week.

The women had always denied murder, saying they were tricked by North Korean spies into carrying out the Cold War-style hit using VX nerve agent, and believed it was a prank for a reality TV show.

Elite Malaysian police secure the court hearing the North Korea assassination case 

(AFP Photo/Mohd RASFAN)

Their lawyers presented them as scapegoats, saying that authorities were unable to catch the real killers. Four North Koreans -- formally accused of the murder alongside the women -- fled Malaysia shortly after the assassination.

The trial, which began in October 2017, had been due to resume Monday with the defence stage of proceedings after a break of several months.

But at the start of the hearing at Shah Alam High Court, prosecutor Muhammad Iskandar Ahmad requested that the murder charge against Aisyah be withdrawn and she be given a discharge, without providing a reason.

The judge agreed to a discharge not amounting to an acquittal, and ordered Aisyah's immediate release. This means Aisyah has not been formally cleared of the charge and could, in theory, be re-arrested.

The news was a surprise as the court had only been scheduled to hear Huong testify Monday, and the Vietnamese woman was left in shock that she was not released alongside Aisyah.

"I do not know what will happen to me now. I am innocent -- please pray for me," the 30-year-old said. Her testimony was adjourned Monday as her lawyers said they would also apply to get the charge against her dropped.

Indonesian Siti Aisyah adjusts hear headscarf during a press conference on 

her return to Indonesia (AFP Photo/ADEK BERRY)

Homecoming party

Aisyah arrived later Monday in Jakarta, where she was reunited with parents. In her hometown of Sindangsari on Java island, there was shock and delight as word spread of her release.

"We've heard the news and we're so happy. We're getting a celebration ready!" her aunt Darmi, who goes by one name, told AFP.

Indonesia often makes concerted diplomatic efforts to free its citizens detained overseas, particularly those who may face the death penalty.

Speaking at the Indonesian embassy in Malaysia, Indonesian Justice Minister Yasonna Laoly reeled off a list of figures in government -- from President Joko Widodo to the foreign minister -- who had pushed for Aisyah's release.

A murder conviction carries a mandatory penalty of death by hanging in Malaysia. The government vowed last year to abolish capital punishment but has yet to amend the law.

Vietnamese national Doan Thi Huong is escorted into the Malaysian court hearing

the assassination trial (AFP Photo/MOHD RASFAN)

There does not appear to have been any such aggressive lobbying effort from Vietnam for Huong, however.

Vietnam generally does not get publicly involved in individual criminal cases overseas, and foreign affairs officials did not respond to AFP’s request for comment Monday.

In the first stage of the trial that ran until August last year, prosecutors presented their case.

Witnesses described how the victim -- the estranged half-brother of Kim Jong Un and once seen as heir apparent to the North Korean leadership -- died in agony shortly after being attacked.

Prosecutors said Aisyah and Huong were well-trained assassins but their lawyers argued the four North Koreans were the masterminds, and provided them with poison on the day of the murder.

South Korea has accused the North of ordering the hit, which Pyongyang denies.

Malaysia had been one of the nuclear-armed North's few allies but the assassination badly damaged ties, and led to the countries expelling each other's ambassadors.

Abused Hong Kong maid Erwiana 'rises again'

Yahoo - AFP, Agus Purwanto, 28 September 2018

Erwiana now works on behalf of migrant workers

She was once the face of abused maids in Hong Kong -- imprisoned, starved and beaten so badly she lost control of her bodily functions.

But four years after her horrific ordeal made global headlines, Indonesian Erwiana Sulistyaningsih is a university graduate and fighting for the rights of domestic helpers in the southern Chinese city and beyond.

Erwiana completed a degree in economics this month -- the culmination of a dream that brought her to Hong Kong in 2013 before her life was turned upside down.

"Before I went to Hong Kong, I had been dreaming I could make enough money to study," the 27-year-old told AFP from her home in Indonesia's cultural capital Yogyakarta.

"After the incident, I thought I might have to give up on that dream."

Erwiana's employer Law Wan-tung was jailed after pictures of her extensive injuries went viral in 2014.

Widespread media coverage of Erwiana's torture had one unexpected benefit -- she was offered scholarships to study.

"I'm happy but it's bittersweet because even though I graduated university there are still many migrant workers who are persecuted and treated badly," she said.

She chose economics partly to understand "why so many people in this world have to migrate" for work.

"People should be able to live peacefully in their own country without having to work abroad unprotected," she said.

Erwiana plans to take that message to demonstrations outside the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Bali next month.

Erwiana's horrific ordeal made global headlines

She now works on behalf of migrant workers, including pushing for the release of former Filipina maid Mary Jane Veloso who is on death row in Indonesia for drug smuggling.

Most domestic workers in Hong Kong are from poor communities in Indonesia and the Philippines and are vulnerable to abuse by employers and employment agencies.

Migrants from both countries have also suffered injury -- or worse -- in the Middle East and other parts of the world.

In February, the death of a Filipina maid in Kuwait, whose body was found this year stuffed in a freezer, sparked outrage in the Philippines.

Also this year, Indonesian domestic helper Adelina Sau died in hospital after being rescued from her employer's house in Malaysia's Penang state, with wounds covering her body. Her boss was charged with murder.

It is these stories that prompted Erwiana to fight for workers' rights, and never give up on herself even when she doubted her chances.

"I never imagined I'd be here -- I almost gave up," she said.

"I was so sick, I was a failed migrant worker and my injuries were all over the media.

"But because my family and fellow migrant worker friends gave me strength, I finally had the spirit to rise again."

VIDEO: A former Indonesian domestic helper Erwiana Sulistyaningsih was imprisoned, starved and beaten so badly she lost control of her bodily functions. But four years later, she now fights for the rights of domestic helpers around the world https://t.co/RYY89JL6rA pic.twitter.com/kn1yXP9R6y

— AFP news agency (@AFP) September 28, 2018

Erwiana Sulistyaningsih arrives at the Wanchai Law Courts to begin giving

 evidence against her former employer who is accused of abuse and torture, in

Hong Kong on Monday. (AFP Photo/Isaac Lawrence)

Related Article:

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Indonesian maid to return to Hong Kong to help torture probe

Jokowi to Scrap ID Card for Indonesian Migrant Workers

Cars, houses, heroes: North Koreans win hearts at Asian Games

Yahoo – AFP, Daniel HICKS, Aug 28, 2018

The North Koreans were joined by the South Korean weightlifting team to celebrate
 the end of the competition with an unprecedented joint team photo.  (AFP Photo/
CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN)

North Korea's athletes are not only scooping record numbers of medals at the Asian Games, they are winning hearts with an unprecedented charm offensive and will go home as heroes -- rewarded with new cars and houses.

At the weightlifting competition which concluded Monday with an eighth gold -- smashing North Korea's previous best of four in 2014 -- the team's attitude has been the polar opposite from Incheon four years ago.

There, every medallist trotted out a well-worn script of thanking leader Kim Jong Un for his inspiration to reporters before being whisked away.

But over eight days at the Jakarta International Expo their athletes have gone off-piste to talk frankly about their nerves, fears, emotions and life back home while mingling freely with spectators and reporters.

They even were joined by the South Korean weightlifting team to celebrate the end of the competition with an unprecedented joint team photo.

"I think we have shown the world that the people of Korea are the greatest as one," +75kg winner Kim Kuk Hyang told AFP after posing with her South Korean counterparts, an astonishing statement from a North Korean given that the two countries have technically remained at war for the past 65 years.

Then she was off to grab tiny 4ft 7in (140cm) Ri Song Gum, the 48kg class gold medallist, and carry her aloft around the stage with the pair laughing, joking and punching the air.

Little and large: Kim Kuk Hyang carries Ri Song Gum around as North Korea 

celebrated their record weightlifting haul (AFP Photo/CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN)

Selfies and smiles

Hardly a single request for a selfie by a fan or Games volunteer has been turned down -- most have been accommodated with huge smiles. At the 2014 Asian Games none was entertained.

The shackles are off, athletes are revelling and happy to reveal their personal stories for the first time.

Om Yun Chol even thanked South Koreans for helping him to win 56kg men's gold.

"The passionate support from the South Korean cheerleading squad is my source of great strength," he said while posing for pictures.

Was this really the same man who four years earlier had thanked leader Kim for teaching him how to "crack a rock with an egg"?

O Kang Chol cried buckets for his dead mother after his maiden gold medal in the men's 69kg.

It was a touching moment as he mourned his mum who passed away earlier this year and whose ambition had been to see him win a first title.

Gold medallist O Kang Chol of North Korea celebrates during the victory ceremony 

of the men's 69kg weightlifting event  during the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta 

on August 22, 2018. (AFP Photo/MONEY SHARMA)

"I will visit mother's grave and give her this gold medal," he told reporters, still weeping and unabashed at baring his grief -- a huge contrast to the robotic strongmen and women paraded at previous championships.

It is an eye-opening change, which appears to have gone hand-in-hand with the thawing of global diplomatic relations culminating in the historic summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump in Singapore in June.

South Korean observers have been taken aback. "We have never see the North Koreans like this," Yonhap news agency reporter Joo Kyung-don told AFP.

The new open attitude appears to have been encouraged right from the top.

North Korean Sports Minister Kim Il Guk, one of Kim Jong Un's right-hand men, was in attendance Sunday and giving his blessing to team officials spilling the beans on previously taboo topics.

'They are not scary'

"The weightlifting champions who raise the country's honour will be rewarded with a new house and a new car," head coach Kim Kwang Dok told AFP, for the first time confirming something that had long been suspected in the secretive nation -- that sporting glory is a way out of grinding poverty.

"Our athletes will get national hero status once they return and will get big attention from our people. Everyone will be proud."

It is not just at the weightlifting arena that heads have been turning and relationships opening up.

The two Koreas marched together at the opening ceremony, fielded a joint team in women's basketball and so far have won a historic gold and two bronzes in dragon boating.

North Korean team members mingle with the public in the stands at the Jakarta 

International Expo during the Asian Games weightlifting (AFP Photo/CHAIDEER

MAHYUDDIN)

"They are not scary or anything like portrayed on the internet," South Korea basketball player Kim Han-byul said. "It's been the normal girl talk with them."

Weightlifting sisters Rim Un Sim and Rim Jong Sim tenderly cried tears of joy at each other's success as they pulled off a golden double and said they couldn't wait to get home to show off their medals to their family.

Rim Jong Sim was one who did remember, albeit briefly, to thank Kim Jong Un. "This gold medal isn't for me, but it's for my country and our supreme leader," she said.

But such expressions were few and far between and her sister had soon changed the subject.

"I can't describe how happy I am," Rim Un Sim said. "We competed together and won medals at the university championship last year, but this is the Asian Games."

Related Article:

Science & Spiritually Conference 2018, BC – Canada (4), June 16-17, 2018 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Predictions - Text version) - New 

"The second thing I told you about was this: There's a 50% chance that the new leader of North Korea, the son, would not follow in the footsteps of his father. I told you there was a 50% chance of this. Then I started itemizing the reasoning why this might make sense, especially to the Korean leader. I then told you it might take a long time if it manifested at all. I told you the problems would be within the old advisors for his father's family. He had to tread slowly and lightly to do something against all odds. This will all come out someday because of the handshake.

Here was the potential or the prediction of what might happen: Those who had the machine guns in the DM zone would drop them, because this North Korean leader would unify the two Koreas. There would be no nuclear weapons in his land and there would be the beginning of abundance for his people. His people and the world would then give him something he had always wanted and was imbued with from birth - the desire for accolades and more accolades. Like his father before him, he was the premier egotist, and this would be the unexpected way to create a world at his feet. That's what I said. Then I said, "Watch for it, but don't be anxious." I talked about that in 2013, and five more times since then. In August 2017, I itemized my advice for him, point by point. The advice that I gave followed the potentials that were there and those were the very points in the handshake this week in June of 2018.

Now, you tell me what happened. "Kryon, you're going to be famous because you predicted these things!" Dear ones, all I did was look into a field that is being shown to you today [by the scientists at the conference]. And all I did was to show you the potentials that were already there. In other words, he was thinking about these things and talking to others behind the scenes about them. No matter what his advisors told him right up to the brink of sending his missiles, he was always thinking that there might be another way that would gain him ultimate fame. Dear ones, this has been in progress since his father died! Therefore, it was in the field, but not a given, dear ones - a potential.

Next, I want to show you the bias of humanity at this time, something I have spoken of many times. This potential of the handshake is amazing, and it has started to be manifested. What should the reaction be to something that deflects the potential of war, or saves thousands lives? Instead of joy or amazement or celebration, Humans go for the reverse: It can't happen. It's a trick. It's a bad deal.

I want you to start reading the reactions of the press. I want you to read the reactions even from the South Koreans. They said, "Well, we know North Koreans, and that's never going to happen. We know who they are, and we know their nature. Because in the past, they never performed what they said they would. So it's a joke." That is a quote from a South Korean. "It's a joke."

What happened to this comment? "Isn't this a beautiful potential? Look at this amazing thing - against all odds!" Now, your free press, the reporting segment of our culture, has decided not only to report it, but to let you know it's probably not going to happen! They say: "Nay. Maybe yes, maybe no. We'll see. We expect the worse." And this continues and continues, and all it shows you is the monstrous bias of the dark side that wants to pull anything good back to what the past gave to you."