A North Korean threat to test a nuclear device overshadowed six-way talks in Beijing yesterday after negotiators came up with a series of gestures aimed at resolving the crisis over the North's nuclear ambitions.
U.S. officials said the threat, made in a two-hour meeting between US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly and North Korean negotiators in Beijing on Thursday, resembled those from Pyongyang in the past.
The move has raised doubts that even faint progress can be achieved as the third round of talks among North and South Korea, the US, Japan, Russia and China entered their third day. The previous rounds ended with agreement only to meet again.
China's Foreign Ministry cancelled the closing ceremony on Saturday. But the official Xinhua news agency said the negotiations would end as scheduled.
Negotiations have been focused on a US offer of conditional aid and security guarantees to try to break a 20-month-old deadlock in the nuclear crisis. North Korea has put forward its own plan demanding rewards in return for freezing its ambitions.
While few had expected a breakthrough, the US proposal was the most detailed offer since US President George W. Bush took office and branded the North as part of an "axis of evil" alongside Iran and pre-war Iraq.
North Korea has issued no formal statement on the US proposal and its test threat was another sign of the gulf dividing the US and North Korea, the protagonists in a crisis that has simmered since October 2002 when Washington said Pyongyang had admitted having a uranium enrichment program.
North Korea has since denied have any program beyond its plutonium-powered plant but has said fuel from that plant was being reprocessed into fissile material for bombs.
The North raised nuclear arms at the talks, US officials said
"In the course of that discussion, the North Koreans made a reference to testing and they made it as part of an argument why we should accept their proposal right away," said one Bush administration official.
Also see story:
Conflict with Taiwan could leave China with “massive economic disruption, catastrophic military losses, significant social unrest, and devastating sanctions,” a US think tank said in a report released on Monday. The German Marshall Fund released a report titled If China Attacks Taiwan: The Consequences for China of “Minor Conflict” and “Major War” Scenarios. The report details the “massive” economic, military, social and international costs to China in the event of a minor conflict or major war with Taiwan, estimating that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could sustain losses of more than half of its active-duty ground forces, including 100,000 troops. Understanding Chinese
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
‘SLICING METHOD’: In the event of a blockade, the China Coast Guard would intercept Taiwanese ships while its navy would seek to deter foreign intervention China’s military drills around Taiwan this week signaled potential strategies to cut the nation off from energy supplies and foreign military assistance, a US think tank report said. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted what it called “Justice Mission 2025” exercises from Monday to Tuesday in five maritime zones and airspace around Taiwan, calling them a warning to “Taiwanese independence” forces. In a report released on Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War said the exercises effectively simulated blocking shipping routes to major port cities, including Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien. Taiwan would be highly vulnerable under such a blockade, because it
RSS