Japan yesterday backed a US push for the UN Security Council to vote today on fresh sanctions against Pyongyang, saying that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s nuclear program poses the most serious threat since World War II.
Japanese Minister of Defense Itsunori Onodera urged tougher sanctions, including curbing oil supplies to North Korea.
He said that the regime’s advances in missile technology are complicating Japan’s ability to intercept them.
Photo: Reuters
“Japan’s security environment including North Korea is increasingly grave — perhaps it’s the most serious state in the post-war period,” Onodera told public broadcaster NHK. “If North Korea-bound oil, mainly coming from China, decreases through pressure by the international community, it will be difficult for North Korea to operate its missile brigades.”
US President Donald Trump’s administration is pushing the UN Security Council to adopt a united stance as Kim gets closer to being able to strike the US with a nuclear weapon.
China and Russia, which can veto any UN measures, have expressed skepticism that tough sanctions will stop North Korea’s nuclear push and have pushed for peace talks.
North Korea detonated its sixth and most powerful nuclear bomb on Sunday last week, which it said was a hydrogen device.
South Korea has detected moves that indicate it might soon launch another intercontinental ballistic missile.
Kim, who has said he will not negotiate unless the US drops its “hostile policies,” threw a banquet for nuclear scientists and technicians to celebrate the hydrogen bomb test, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported yesterday.
North Korean state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun on Saturday said in an editorial that Pyongyang was now a nuclear power and praised Kim for strengthening “defenses to protect the Korean Peninsula from invasion.”
KCNA said in a commentary that the US was resorting to sanctions and pressure rather than seeking talks.
The US has circulated a draft resolution that would, aside from barring crude oil shipments to North Korea, ban the nation’s exports of textiles and prohibit employment of its guest workers by other countries, according to a diplomat at the world body.
The proposal, which also calls for freezing Kim’s assets, has been sent to the 15 members of the UN Security Council, the diplomat said.
The US is willing to risk a veto of its proposal rather than see it watered down, according to a diplomat who asked not to be identified while negotiations are ongoing.
A halt to oil exports is far from certain. While China and Russia have condemned Kim’s actions, they have said the ultimate goal needs to be to coax him to the negotiating table and avoid a war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said more sanctions would not work, while China is wary about cutting off Kim’s economic lifeline to the point it risks collapsing his regime.
China is North Korea’s main ally and by far its biggest trading partner, including for oil shipments.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source