Evidence of new efforts by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to expand his nuclear arsenal underscore the challenge facing US President Donald Trump three weeks after declaring that North Korea was “no longer a nuclear threat.”
Several reports released in recent days suggest that Kim continued to ramp up his weapons production — rather than prepare to disarm — in the weeks leading up to his June 12 summit with Trump in Singapore.
The reports published by independent researchers and media organizations detail efforts to increase fuel production, build more missile launchers and expand a key rocket-engine manufacturing facility.
Photo: Reuters / Planet Labs Inc
The moves illustrate how far Kim remains from surrendering his nuclear weapons despite committing to “work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” during his meeting with Trump.
While the reports — some relying on satellite imagery predating the summit — have not been officially verified, they suggest that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has much to discuss during an expected trip to Pyongyang in the coming days.
“The reports are just a good reminder of how complicated and difficult it is to denuclearize the North,” said Shin Beomchul, director at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies’ Center for Security and Unification in Seoul. “North Korea’s intent to denuclearize has been verified only by words and, now with Pompeo expected to make another visit to Pyongyang, it’s time to prove them with actions.”
In the days since the summit, Kim has expanded ties with rivals and allies alike, visiting China and holding talks on economic cooperation with South Korea.
Trump has touted the agreement in campaign-style rallies despite criticism by arms-control experts that the lack of a clear implementation framework makes it easy for Kim to exploit.
The Seoul-based Munhwa Ilbo newspaper yesterday reported that the South Korean government was considering canceling or scaling back missile-defense plans.
Although Kim has pledged to halt nuclear-weapons tests and demolished a facility used for all six of the country’s atomic bomb detonations, he has said nothing about production and made no commitment to unilaterally disarm.
US defense analysts have said North Korea retains as many as 60 nuclear bombs and a range of missiles.
Recent revelations include an NBC News report that said US intelligence agencies believe the North has increased its production of enriched uranium fuel for nuclear weapons at multiple secret sites in recent months.
The report, citing unidentified US officials, said the US side suspected Kim might try to conceal those facilities as negotiations progress.
Moreover, the Middlebury Institute of International Studies on Sunday released an analysis that found North Korea has recently expanded a factory complex in Hamhung that produces key engines for solid-fuel ballistic missiles.
Meanwhile, during an appearance on CBS’s Face the Nation program on Sunday, Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, said that most of Kim’s weapons of mass destruction could be dismantled “within a year” with North Korean cooperation — something he acknowledged that the US has yet to receive.
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