Philippines’ Duterte says he will accept arrest if ICC issues warrant

SEOUL: South Korea and the United States on Monday began their annual joint military exercises, but they paused live-fire training while Seoul investigates how two of its fighter jets mistakenly bombed a civilian area during a warm-up drill last week.
The modified Freedom Shield exercise, which combines computer simulations and field training and runs through March 20, still drew the condemnation of nuclear-armed North Korea, which issued a government statement calling the drill a “dangerous provocative act” that increases the risks of military conflict.
About 30 people were injured, two of them seriously, when two South Korean KF-16 fighter jets mistakenly fired eight MK-82 bombs on a civilian area in Pocheon, a town near the North Korean border. The bombing occurred while South Korean and US forces were engaging in a live-fire drill ahead of the larger Freedom Shield exercise.
In a background briefing to domestic reporters on Monday, the South Korean air force repeated its initial assessment last week that one of the KF-16 pilots had entered the wrong coordinates for a bombing site.
The unidentified pilot didn’t recognize the error during a pre-takeoff check and, rushing to meet scheduled timing, failed to visually verify the target before proceeding with the bombing. The second pilot had the correct coordinates but focused only on maintaining formation with the other aircraft and dropped the bombs following the first pilot’s instructions, failing to recognize they deviated from the right target, according to the content of the briefing provided to The Associated Press.
Gen. Lee Youngsu, chief of staff of the South Korean air force, bowed and apologized Monday over the injuries and property damage caused by the incident, which he said “should have never happened and must never happen again.”
Both the South Korean and US militaries have halted all live-fire exercises in South Korea following the mishap. South Korean military officials say live-fire training will resume after they complete the ongoing investigation on the bombing and formulate preventative steps.
The Freedom Shield exercise marks the first large-scale joint exercise since US President Donald Trump began his second term. It comes amid growing tensions with North Korea over its nuclear ambitions and its alignment with Russia in President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.
Trump, who met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times during his first term, has expressed his willingness to reach out to Kim again to revive diplomacy, which collapsed due to disagreements over exchanging US-led sanctions against the North and the North’s denuclearization steps. But Pyongyang has yet to respond to his overture and has continued its fiery rhetoric against Washington and Seoul over their joint military exercises, which Kim portrays as rehearsals for invasion.
In a statement issued through state media Monday, the North Korean Foreign Ministry called the Freedom Shield exercise an “aggressive and confrontational war rehearsal” that risks triggering “physical conflict” on the Korean Peninsula.
The ministry reiterated Kim’s state goals for a “radical growth” of his nuclear force to counter what he claims as growing threats posed by the US and its Asian allies.

JAKARTA: Indonesian private tutor Patricia has been learning German for two years, armed with a dream of leaving for Europe and driven by a lack of opportunities, economic stagnation and little hope at home.
She is one of thousands of Indonesians on social media promoting a popular hashtag that translates as “let’s just escape for now.”
Anger at the quality of life in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy — a nation of 280 million known for pervasive corruption and nepotism — has stirred student protests and driven young and middle-aged professionals to seek jobs abroad.
“After working for so many years, my income remains about the same... meanwhile my needs are increasing,” said the 39-year-old in the capital Jakarta, who declined to give her last name.
“I don’t own a house or car... if I keep working like this, it will probably never be enough.”
In the last month, the hashtag has picked up steam. It has racked up thousands of mentions and reached more than 65 million accounts on X, formerly Twitter, analytics firm Brand24 said.
The outpouring has coincided with student-led protests against wide-ranging government budget cuts by new President Prabowo Subianto.
Savings have been channelled into a new multi-billion-dollar sovereign wealth fund — that reports to the ex-general.
There were nearly 7.5 million unemployed people in Indonesia, according to the latest figures from the country’s statistics agency, dating to August 2024.
That has stoked anger against a perceived poor quality of life, as the divide between the emerging nation’s rich and poor grows wider and the middle class is squeezed.
“After many strange policies and the change of president, I have shifted to feeling like I have to move abroad. It has become a primary necessity,” said Chyntia Utami, a 26-year-old tech worker in Jakarta.
“I really feel it. I don’t get social assistance, and I have limited money to spend. Working is just about surviving day by day, month by month, not working with passion.”
Some Indonesians are taking more physically demanding jobs abroad to escape.
Randy Christian Saputra, 25, left an office job at a multinational consulting firm to do manual labor on a tomato farm in Australia.
“I’m tired of the system in Indonesia. If we look abroad, they usually have a better system,” he said.
Poor living standards in the megacity Jakarta encourage others to leave.
“The longer I stay in Jakarta, the harder it is because of pollution or traffic jams. It has more to do with the living standard,” said Favian Amrullah, a 27-year-old software engineer, who is leaving for a tech startup in Amsterdam in April.
“I am exhausted, and feeling hopeless.”
Some foreign companies are trying to capitalize on the trend, including Japanese recruitment firms posting online seeking to attract the most talented.
Experts said social media offers Indonesians an outlet where they feel heard.
“This showed the public’s emotion,” said Ika Karlina Idris, associate professor at Monash University Indonesia.
She said the hashtag highlighted “the public’s concerns about jobs and nepotism” as well as at “haphazard public policies.”
The uproar sparked criticism from some government ministers. One even told those who wish to leave should not return.
“Just run away, if necessary, don’t come back,” Deputy Manpower Minister Immanuel Ebenezer told a reporter last month.
He did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.
Pro-Prabowo influencers have also spread disinformation, aiming to undermine the credibility of protesters.
In recent weeks, AFP’s Fact Check team found more than a dozen TikTok videos pushing the baseless claim that student protesters are “paid,” which attracted more than eight million views.
Pro-government and pro-Prabowo content creators then posted reaction videos amplifying the misinformation on YouTube and TikTok, garnering more than two million views, AFP Fact Check found.
Patricia remains undeterred, applying for a volunteer post in Germany in the hope she can find a paid job once there.
“I want to fight there for a better job, life, a better income,” she said. “When I have a place there... no, I won’t be returning to Indonesia.”