South Korea yesterday said that it believed it would be consulted by the US before any possible pre-emptive US strike against Pyongyang, where foreign journalists gathered for “a big and important event.”
With a US aircraft carrier group steaming toward the area, tensions on the Korean Peninsula grew this week amid concern that the reclusive North could soon conduct its sixth nuclear test or more missile launches in defiance of UN sanctions.
China, North Korea’s sole major ally and benefactor, has called for a peaceful resolution after a sharp rise in rhetoric between Washington and Pyongyang.
Photo: reuters
While US President Donald Trump has put North Korea “clearly on notice” that he would not tolerate provocative actions, US officials have said that his administration was focusing its strategy on tougher economic sanctions.
Trump has diverted the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier group toward the Korean Peninsula, which could take more than a week to arrive, in a show of force aimed at deterring North Korea from conducting another nuclear test or launching more missiles to coincide with major commemorative events.
South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Yun Byung-se said he believed Washington would consult Seoul if it was considering a pre-emptive strike against the North.
“Under the South Korea-US alliance, any important measure on the North is taken under consultation with the South Korean government and it will continue in the future,” Yun told a parliamentary hearing.
A Washington-based think tank that monitors North Korea, 38 North, said that satellite images taken on Wednesday showed continued activity around the North’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site on the east coast that showed it was ready for a new test.
South Korean officials yesterday said there were no new signs to indicate a North Korean nuclear test was more likely, although they also said the North has maintained a state of readiness to conduct such a test at any time.
North Korea tomorrow marks the 105th anniversary of the birth of its founder, Kim Il-sung.
In 2012, it tried but failed to launch a long-range rocket carrying a satellite to mark the date and tested a newly developed intermediate-range missile last year.
About 200 foreign journalists are in Pyongyang for North Korea’s biggest national day, called “Day of the Sun.”
The North’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had guided training of the army’s special operation forces jumping from aircraft to strike at targets.
“Watching the brave combatants mercilessly blow up the enemy targets, he said with pleasure that the commanding officers made correct decisions, adding those combatants carrying out their duties independently and proactively were reminiscent of fierce tigers crossing the mountain ranges in the southern half,” KCNA reported.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique