South Korean President Lee Jae-myung called on North Korea on Thursday to contribute to restoring confidence and resuming dialogue, a day after Seoul and Pyongyang exchanged sharp criticism over a landmine incident that the Seoul army and the United Nations leadership described as a violation of the armistice agreement.
“I hope that North Korea will join us now on the path to restoring confidence and resuming dialogue, after a long break,” Lee said in a speech he delivered on the occasion of the country’s Armed Forces Day, adding that his administration “will continually seek to take practical measures to reduce military tension between the two Koreas.”
The South Korean army and the United Nations Command had said that the northern neighbor violated the armistice agreement following a landmine explosion last week that injured three South Korean soldiers in the demilitarized zone.
Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korea's leader, rejected these results in a statement yesterday, Wednesday, and accused Seoul of falsifying the results and warned of a response.
Lee's government has sought to reopen dialogue with North Korea, but Pyongyang has largely rejected Seoul's overtures and continued to press ahead with border fortification activities along the demilitarized zone.
Today (Thursday), the Pakistani army launched air strikes on Afghanistan, resulting in a number of deaths, one of which affected Helmand province in the south of the country, according to the Afghan government and eyewitnesses who spoke to Agence France-Presse.
Relations between the two neighboring countries have witnessed severe tension since the Taliban government returned to power in Kabul in 2021. In October 2025, clashes between Afghanistan and Pakistan led to dozens of deaths, including as a result of Pakistani strikes that targeted the capital, Kabul, and resulted in an almost complete closure of the land borders.
After multiple mediations, the intensity of the confrontations decreased without stopping completely, before turning in late February into an open war, including new air strikes that included the cities of Kandahar and Kabul.
Finally, the raids that targeted the provinces of Helmand and Kunar, bordering Pakistan, resulted in the killing of 10 civilians, according to what was announced by the assistant spokesman for the Taliban government, Hamdullah Fitrat.
For its part, Islamabad said that it launched “planned and deliberate” strikes targeting militants in Afghanistan, without specifying their locations.
Two Helmand residents told Agence France-Presse that three air strikes targeted their village.
For its part, the Pakistani Ministry of Information confirmed that the country’s forces targeted three sites, noting that the strikes targeted “terrorist hotspots” along the border, “based on reliable intelligence information.”
Like neighboring Kandahar province, which was targeted in a raid last week, Helmand, located in southern Afghanistan, is very important to the Taliban.
In a phone call with Agence France-Presse, Abdul Wahid (50 years old), a resident of the village of Safar in Helmand province, said that the recent strikes resulted in the deaths of four people and the wounding of seven others.
Qadrallah (32 years old), also a resident of the village, said that he was in his house when his neighbors’ house was bombed.
“The entire area was destroyed,” he told Agence France-Presse by phone, noting that residents were prevented from approaching the strike sites.
He continued: “There were civilians, children and women at the site, and they killed them all. There are no military forces or anything like that.”
For its part, the Pakistani Ministry of Information said that preliminary numbers indicate that 22 militants were killed and weapons and ammunition were destroyed in the recent strikes.
“Help”
Pakistan holds armed groups that it says are based in Afghanistan responsible for the escalation of attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the southern border province of Balochistan, but the Taliban government denies any Afghan involvement and accuses Pakistan of violating its sovereignty and killing civilians on its soil.
In the mountainous state of Kinner, an Agence France-Presse correspondent saw the ruins of stone houses in the remote Chogam Valley.
Farmer Muhammad Hashem (30 years old) said that he rushed to help rescue residents after the attack that occurred before dawn. He continued: “A woman was stuck under the rubble, screaming for help. “She was having difficulty breathing and told us that there were other people stuck there.”
He added: “When we started digging, we found that a man and four children had been killed.”
Last week, the Pakistani army launched raids on several Afghan provinces, indicating that it targeted militants, while Afghanistan confirmed that there were civilian casualties.
According to data published by the United Nations, the armed conflict between the two countries has caused the deaths of more than 500 civilians since October.
Authorities in the city of Chengdu, southwestern China, granted a rare exemption from censorship to the famous Chinese singer Na Ying, on Tuesday, after she added an unauthorized song to her song list, in honor of the late singer Liu Huan, during a concert she performed over the weekend. Which brought back the spotlight on China's tightening control over the entertainment sector.
Content used in live shows, including songs and scripts for stand-up comedy, must be approved in advance by local authorities, a long-standing procedure that reflects China's strict censorship of the entertainment industry.
Artists who violate these rules could face fines or be banned from participating in future performances, or even appearing in public.
The Chengdu Municipal Administration of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism said in a statement that singer Na Ying's performance was "a short and fragmented performance during a segment to interact with the audience, and not a full performance of the song," and therefore did not require additional approval, according to what was reported by the Associated Press.
Na, one of the most influential singers in China, performed the song “Bent Moon” during her concert in Chengdu, last Saturday, in honor of her friend and late singer Liu Huan, one of the most prominent musicians in China, who passed away last Friday.
“I want to sing a song that he sang before on this stage, in his honor,” Na, dressed in black, told the audience, according to videos posted on social media. Her voice trembled while singing.
