Showing unity against North Korean provocations, US President Barack Obama yesterday said it may be time to consider sanctions with “even more bite”’ against North Korea as its threatens its fourth nuclear test.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye said any test would trigger a regional nuclear arms race.
At a joint news conference with Park, Obama said North Korea will get “nothing except further isolation” if it proceeds with its threatened test. However, he also acknowledged there are limits to what effects additional penalties can have on the country.
Photo: EPA
“North Korea already is the most isolated country in the world, by far,” Obama said. “Its people suffer terribly because of the decisions its leaders have made. And we are not going to find a magic bullet that solves this problem overnight.”
Park struck a harsher tone, saying such a test would bring “fundamental change” to the region’s security landscape and trigger a nuclear arms race as countries hurry to match the North’s nuclear capabilities. She said such an outcome would make it fruitless to resume negotiations with the North aimed at getting it to abandon its nuclear weapons and its nuclear program.
Park said Seoul has assessed that the North is “fully ready now” to conduct another nuclear test.
“This is a very tense situation,” she said through a translator. “President Obama’s visit to South Korea sends a strong message to North Korea that its provocative acts cannot be tolerated.”
Obama said the missile technology and nuclear weapons that the North is developing pose a direct threat to South Korea and Japan, as well as to the US.
“We can’t waver in our intention. We have to make sure that, in strong concert with our allies, that we are continuing to press North Korea to change its approach,” Obama said.
Touching on another sensitive regional issue, Obama gave voice to South Korea’s grievances with Japan by calling Japan’s use of Korean “comfort women” during World War II a terrible and egregious violation of human rights.
“Those women were violated in ways that even in the midst of war was shocking,” the US leader said. “They deserve to be heard, they deserve to be respected.”
At the same time, he said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recognizes that the past must be acknowledged in full.
Obama also noted that he was visiting at a time of “great sorrow”’ and offered the US’ deepest condolences to his host over the recent ferry disaster. He said he was donating a magnolia tree from the White House lawn to the high school in honor of the lives that were lost and as a symbol of decades of friendship between the two nations.
SOLIDARITY: A group of European lawmakers condemned China’s aggressive moves, while the foreign minister of Lithuania said Taiwan ‘cannot become a second Ukraine’ A German parliamentary delegation would visit Taiwan in the first week of October, German lawmaker Holger Becker on Monday told visiting Democratic Progressive Party legislators Fan Yun (范雲) and Lin I-chin (林宜瑾) at the Bundestag in Berlin. Asked by Fan whether he is worried about possible reprisals from Beijing, such as banning him and his family from entering China, Becker said he is more interested in visiting Taiwan, as “now is the time for democracies to stand together.” Fan and Lin also met with German officials to exchange views on digital education and governance. Investing in digital infrastructure and protecting equal rights to
As China waged extensive military exercises off Taiwan, a group of US defense experts in Washington was focused on their own simulation of an eventual — but for now entirely hypothetical — US-China war over the nation. The unofficial what-if game is being conducted on the fifth floor of an office building not far from the White House, and it posits a US military response to a Chinese invasion in 2026. Even though the participants bring a US perspective, they are finding that a US-Taiwan victory, if there is one, could come at a huge cost. “The results are showing that under
DRILLS CONTINUE: China’s creation of a restricted zone across the median line of the Taiwan Strait challenges a 70-year-old fact, a ministry of defense official said The nation’s military fully complies with international rules and guidelines when responding to Chinese military drills, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, vowing to continue defending Taiwan in accordance with international law. China on Thursday launched four days of military drills around Taiwan proper in response to US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei. The drills were expected to end on Sunday, but neither Beijing nor Taipei confirmed their conclusion, although the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said it had seen some evidence suggesting at least a partial drawdown. However, China yesterday said the drills would continue, saying “the
A senior Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman has prompted a storm of ridicule online, after a late-night post in which she used restaurant listings to assert Beijing’s claim over Taiwan. “Baidu Maps show that there are 38 Shandong dumpling restaurants and 67 Shanxi noodle restaurants in Taipei,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying (華春瑩) posted on Twitter late on Sunday. “Palates don’t cheat. #Taiwan has always been a part of China. The long lost child will eventually return home,” she added. Hua’s post came at the end of a week of tensions around the Taiwan Strait, during which Beijing raged at a