North Korea yesterday announced a detailed plan to send a salvo of four missiles over Japan and toward the US territory of Guam, raising the stakes in a stand-off with US President Donald Trump, who it said was “bereft of reason.”
The scheme to target the island, a key US military stronghold, was intended to “signal a crucial warning,” as “only absolute force” would have an effect on the US leader, Pyongyang said.
The declaration came after Trump said that the US’ nuclear arsenal was “far stronger and more powerful than ever before.”
Photo: Reuters
The region was facing “a mini Cuban Missile Crisis,” said John Delury, a professor at Yonsei University in Seoul.
Trump’s remarks were “a load of nonsense,” said General Kim Rak-gyom, the commander of the North’s missile forces, according to Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency. “Sound dialogue is not possible with such a guy bereft of reason.”
The military would complete the Guam plan by the middle of this month and submit it to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for consideration, he said.
The statement said the four missiles would be launched simultaneously and overfly the Japanese prefectures of Shimane, Hiroshima and Kochi.
They would have a flight time of 17 minutes, 45 seconds, travel 3,356.7km and come down 30km to 40km from Guam, it said, which would put the impacts just outside US territorial waters.
Japan, which has in the past warned it would shoot down any missiles that threaten its territory, said that it could “never tolerate” provocations from North Korea.
Japanese Minister of Defense Itsunori Onodera told a Japanese parliamentary session that a missile attack on the US territory would breach the US deterrence against an attack on Japan.
He said that would be a Japanese national emergency, because it would threaten its existence as a nation.
Japan in that case can exercise the right to “collective” self-defense and activate its Aegis missile defense system, he said.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
RSS