The US believes North Korea is planning to test a nuclear weapon and has asked China to intervene to block the test, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday on its Web site from South Korea.
Meanwhile, South Korea and North Korea agreed yesterday to resume talks that broke down last summer and to discuss the standoff over the North's suspected development of nuclear weapons, an Indonesian official said.
In an emergency communication sent on Friday, Washington warned Beijing that Pyongyang was possibly planning a test nuclear explosion, an unidentified US official told the Journal.
The Journal reported that the US told China it "believes the North Korean nuclear program is advanced enough that a test could come with little or no warning."
"It's clear the North Koreans want the world to think that they are moving quickly and rapidly toward a nuclear test," the official told the Journal.
The official said that US spy satellites have detected increased activities at North Korean sites where underground nuclear tests could be carried out.
The US State Department said it was "following closely all information about activities in North Korea" but declined specific comment on the reported planned nuclear test.
"Consistent with longstanding policy however we do not comment on reports about intelligence matters," department spokeswoman Darla Jordan told reporters.
The Journal quoted the official as saying that the true intent of the increased activities at North Korean sites where underground nuclear tests could be carried out was difficult to ascertain.
Another official told the newspaper that similar warnings were being sent to South Korea and Japan.
However, during a meeting between South Korean Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan and North Korea's No. 2 man, Kim Yong-nam on the sidelines of an Asian-African summit in Jakarta, Pyongyang said it would return to six-party talks aimed at getting North Korea to suspend its nuclear program, said Jacob Tobing, Indonesia's ambassador to South Korea.
"They agreed to resume the inter-Korean dialogue ... and they agreed to exchange views over the six-party talks," said Tobing, who was at the conference with the South Korean delegation.
``We know they both need this kind of meeting so we [Indonesia] offered to facilitate it. I'm very satisfied. At least one step has been taken but there is a lot work ahead,'' he said.
Earlier Kim Sang-soo, the information attache at the South Korean embassy in Jakarta, confirmed a meeting took place but refused to provide details.
Neither leader spoke to reporters as they left the talks, which lasted about half an hour.
The leaders agreed Friday on the need for the two countries to work together on territorial claims on a set of islets at the center of a dispute between South Korea and Japan, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
REASSURANCE: The US said Taiwan’s interests would not be harmed during the talk and that it remains steadfast in its support for the nation, the foreign minister said US President Donald Trump on Friday said he would bring up Taiwan with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in South Korea this week. “I will be talking about Taiwan [with Xi],” Trump told reporters before he departed for his trip to Asia, adding that he had “a lot of respect for Taiwan.” “We have a lot to talk about with President Xi, and he has a lot to talk about with us. I think we’ll have a good meeting,” Trump said. Taiwan has long been a contentious issue between the US and China.
RSS