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North Koreans’ repatriation comes as South Korea’s newly-elected president is working to improve inter-Korean ties.

South Korea has repatriated six North Koreans who were rescued at sea earlier this year after their vessels drifted across the de facto maritime border, Seoul’s Unification Ministry has said.

The North Koreans, who were picked up by South Korean authorities in separate vessels in March and May, were transported across the Northern Limit Line on Wednesday morning with their “full consent” and after they had repeatedly expressed their wish to return home, the ministry said.

The repatriation was successfully completed with the cooperation of North Korean authorities despite repeated failed attempts by Seoul to contact Pyongyang about their return, according to the ministry.

The development comes as South Korea’s newly-elected president, Lee Jae-myung, is working to bolster ties between the two Koreas, which remain in a technical state of war after hostilities in the 1950-1953 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Speaking at a news conference to mark his first month in office last week, Lee said that Seoul should work to improve relations in coordination with its ally, the United States, and that cutting off dialogue completely would be a “foolish act”.

Last month, South Korea’s military turned off loudspeakers broadcasting anti-North Korea propaganda across the inter-Korean border in one of the Lee administration’s first steps towards rapprochement.

South Korea’s Ministry of National Defence at the time said the move would help “to restore trust in inter-Korean relations” and “promote peace on the Korean Peninsula”.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said he rushed to pick up papers dropped by US President Donald Trump at the G7 Summit partly because he feared what the White House security team might do if anyone else tried to help.

Starmer and Trump were talking to reporters about their newly signed off UK-US trade deal when the moment descended into farce as the president brandished a folder containing the arrangements and the papers spilled out onto the floor.

Sir Keir fell to his knees to scoop them up and hand them back to President Trump.

“There are quite strict rules about who can get close to the president,” he told reporters.

“I mean, seriously, I think if any of you had stepped forward other than me, I was just deeply conscious that in a situation like that it would not have been good for anybody else to have stepped forwards, not that any of you rushed to!”

The prime minister added that President Trump “was on good form” when they met on Monday.

He said that the US-UK trade deal was a “huge relief in terms of the protection of their jobs and their livelihoods” for tens of thousands of people working for Jaguar Land Rover in the West Midlands and in the firm’s supply chain.

There were widespread fears that without a deal job losses would have been inevitable.

“I was on the phone to the CEO of JLR, who rightly reminded me, although I didn’t need much reminding, that 44,000 workers at JLR are extremely relieved and pleased that we got that order signed,” Sir Keir said.

The new arrangement removes tariffs, or import taxes, on the aerospace sector and cuts the levy on cars exported from the UK to the US to 10%.

But the deal did not address the expected removal of charges on steel imports, which are currently at 25%. Negotiations over steel are ongoing.

Trump has raised taxes on goods entering the US, in a series of rapid-fire announcements he says are aimed at encouraging businesses and consumers to buy more American-made goods.

It sparked financial turmoil and alarm around the world, including in the UK, where car manufacturers and steelmakers rely on the US as a key destination for exports.

Sir Keir said on Monday the signing off of the deal marked a “very important day” for both the UK and the US, while Trump said Sir Keir had done a “great job” in doing “what other people… haven’t been able to do” in securing a deal with the US.

The pact has drawn criticism by opposition parties in the UK, with Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch calling it a “tiny tariff deal”.

IT is the biggest reunion in rock – but Oasis’s comeback may not have ­happened at all if it hadn’t been for some delicate, behind-the-scenes diplomacy by one particular person.

Step forward Anais Gallagher, Noel’s eldest daughter, who has been revealed as the gutsy go-between who has seemingly pulled off what years of fan pleading and big-money offers failed to do.

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And the plucky model has even had a hand in helping shape the band’s set list, by providing crucial insight into what the Mancunian legends’ Gen-Z fans might want to hear on the 41-date reunion tour.

The Sun can reveal that Anais, who is from Noel’s first marriage to Meg Mathews, worked tirelessly to reconcile her dad and uncle following Noel’s split from Sara MacDonald.

So Anais, 25, figured the breakdown of her dad’s marriage could be an opportunity to get her old man back together with his feisty brother and the band that made him a ­megastar.

An insider said: “Anais was one of the biggest sources of comfort and support for Noel following his divorce.

“She was the one that was helping him get back on his feet and return to doing things he loved that had fallen by the wayside.

“Over the years, Noel had offered an olive branch to Liam, but he’d never taken it up.

“Anais could tell her dad really wanted both his brothers, Liam and Paul, by his side after the split so was determined to get them back in touch.

Fighting with Noel

“She gets on great with Liam’s sons Gene and Lennon so she asked them if their dad would be willing to hear her out.

“They said they thought he would be receptive, so she then asked Liam to reach out to his brother to lend support.

“Liam’s always wanted Oasis back together so he got in touch.”

Ironically, the Wonderwall crooners fell out back in May 2000 because Liam allegedly questioned the paternity of Anais while fighting with Noel in Spain — leading Noel to leave the band for a second time.

Anais has maintained a close relationship with outspoken Liam, who is saved in her phone as “uncle”.

Anais, who has modelled for Dolce and Gabbana, is close friends with her cousins Gene, 23, and Lennon, 25, and the group often go on nights out together.

Anais was one of the biggest sources of comfort and support for Noel following his divorce

Insider

Fans had hoped Noel’s divorce would lead to a reconciliation for the band, but they were left hanging for more than a year.

The source said: “It was all very slow-going behind the scenes to get the brothers talking again.

“Anais spending so much time with her dad allowed her to realise how much he missed his brother, despite  the jibes they both made.

“It enabled her to plant the idea of a reconciliation on both sides. Thanks to her close ­relationship with Liam, she was able to call him.

“She worked hard to make sure they didn’t look back in anger, if you like.

 “Once Liam called Noel, the rest was left up to them.”

The brothers announced their reunion in August last year, sparking a frenzy as  fans went into overdrive to get their hands on ­tickets.

It’s expected that the band will make millions from their world tour, which kicks off in July.

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And in further good news for Liam, he is about to become a grandfather for the first time.

His daughter Molly Moorish, 27,  announced two weeks ago she was expecting her first child with Liverpool  footballer boyfriend Nathaniel Phillips.

Molly, whose mother Lisa had a short-lived relationship with Liam in 1998, was estranged from her dad for 19 years but they are reconciled.

In interviews, Anais said: “With my family, what you see is what you get. They are really hard-working people.

“With my dad, I would always go to him for help or advice — it’s very funny that a rock star from the 90s is like the most level-headed person I know.

“He’s definitely the guiding force in my life.”

Liam’s always wanted Oasis back together so he got in touch

Insider

And it’s safe to say that Anais has Noel’s ear.

Last month, The Sun revealed that she had encouraged her dad to distance himself from disgraced comedian Russell Brand.

Limit hangovers

Brand has been charged with rape and sexual assaults relating to four women. He has denied all the allegations.

A source said: “Anais realised that her dad’s close links to Brand wasn’t a good look.

“She’s very PR savvy. There was a discussion and Noel agreed cutting ties was best.

“Anais, Noel, and the rest of the family are horrified at Brand’s alleged behaviour and had no idea what was going on.”

And her influence on Noel doesn’t end there.

She is helping to run her dad’s social media and is on his company’s payroll.

The source said: “Anais does a lot on social media to make money, so it’s a natural fit for her to help her dad out.

“She knows what does and doesn’t work for Generation Z, whereas Noel doesn’t.

“It’s given them more of a chance to bond.

“Noel hired her because she is genuinely good at her job, not because she is his child.”

The dedicated daughter is also helping with the song selection for the tour.

The source added: “Anais has helped with the tour set list by looking at what has done well on TikTok with the younger generation.

“As a result, [the song] Bonehead’s Bank Holiday will be played live by Oasis for the first time.

“They’ll also play Digsy’s Dinner, and Talk Tonight.

“She wants to help Oasis gain younger fans as well as their long-standing fans.”

The Oasis reunion announcement has been marred by older fans hitting out at younger people getting tickets, something Anais has been very vocal about on social media.

On TikTok, she wrote: “One thing I won’t stand for is the ageism and the misogyny around people getting tickets.

“Sorry, if a 19-year-old girl in a pink cowboy hat wants to be there, I will have my friendship bracelets ready.”

Grumpy fans have claimed that the band would hate stuff put up by young people on TikTok.

Sometimes people put this hyper-aggressive masculine ideology into what they think that my dad and my uncle are going to be like

Anais Gallagher

In an interview with Hello! Anais hit back, saying they were wrong.

She told the magazine: “I see this all the time, actually, where someone will post a funny video or a cover song and people would say ‘[Oasis] would hate this’.

“No, no, you hate this.

“Sometimes people put this hyper-aggressive masculine ideology into what they think that my dad and my uncle are going to be like.

“They’re actually a lot more accepting than the fans are.”

Anais plans to be stage-side to support her father throughout the reunion run.

She joked in an interview that her aims for the year were to: “Limit the amount of hangovers I have after all the Oasis concerts, remember to take my supplements and drink a lot of water.”

Whether she can manage to keep her dad and uncle in a similar state remains to be seen.

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