Two North Korean naval boats briefly crossed the tense western sea border with South Korea in the first violation since a South Korean warship sank in the area following a mysterious explosion in March, the South’s military said yesterday.
A North Korean patrol boat sailed about 3km into South Korean waters on Saturday night, but quickly retreated after a South Korean navy ship broadcast warnings, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
In less than an hour, another North Korean patrol boat intruded across the border but returned to its waters after another transmission and two warning shots from the South Korean vessel, a Joint Chiefs of Staff officer said on condition of anonymity citing department policy.
The first North Korean boat responded by radioing its own warning, accusing the South Korean vessel of violating the sea border before it sailed back to the North, the Ministry of National Defense said.
Meanwhile, Japan urged China to cut its nuclear arsenal or at least to stop stockpiling more atomic weapons, prompting a strong reaction from Beijing at their foreign ministers’ talks, officials said yesterday.
The demand came when Japanese foreign minister Katsuya Okada met his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi (楊潔篪) at talks in South Korea on Saturday, said Kazuo Kodama, the Japanese foreign ministry’s press secretary.
Okada and Yang arrived in Gyeongju on Saturday to attend the two-day foreign ministerial meeting with South Korean host Yu Myung-hwan.
The three foreign ministers discussed issues including the growing tension over the sinking of the Cheonan in March.
The Japanese minister said China was the only permanent five (P5) member of the UN Security Council that was still accumulating nuclear weapons.
“Amongst the P5, it is only China which is increasing its nuclear arsenal,” Okada told Yang during the talks.
“Therefore I would like to request the Chinese government either to reduce the number of nuclear arsenals or at least commit ourselves not to increase its nuclear arsenals from the current level,” he quoted Okada as saying.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu (馬朝旭) said yesterday that Yang had repudiated Okada’s remarks and defended Beijing’s nuclear policy.
“Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi refuted the irresponsible remarks by Japan on the spot,” Ma said.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from