Amid an increasing threat of North Korea launching a limited military strike against South Korea, Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) said yesterday the government has closely examined developments on the Korean Peninsula and has prepared contingency plans.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs emergency task force has been in frequent contact with the Taipei Mission in Korea in Seoul and its branch office in Pusan to stay abreast of the latest news, and to ensure that Taiwanese students and businesspeople living in South Korea are safe and have the latest travel information, Jiang said.
Information regarding the economic situation in the region would be made available to businesspeople by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, while the Financial Supervisory Commission would carry out measures to stabilize Taiwan’s capital markets, Jiang said.
The personnel of both the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Economic Affairs are on standby to provide assistance if necessary, he added.
Representative to South Korea Benjamin Liang (梁英斌) said the Seoul office has maintained regular contact with the estimated 25,000 Taiwanese living in South Korea — 8,000 of them in the capital.
A gray travel alert — the lowest level in its four-color scale — for South Korea remains in effect for the time being, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The Tourism Bureau said there are no Taiwanese tour groups in North Korea, adding that as of yesterday, there were 1,600 Taiwanese tourists in South Korea.
At a separate setting, Richard Bush, director of the Brookings Institution’s Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies, said he did not believe the situation on the Korean Peninsula would have too much of an impact on Taiwan’s security.
“I think Taiwan will align itself with the US and South Korea, and with others seeking to preserve peace and stability, and that’s a good thing,” Bush said.
Bush said that what has been happening over the past three or four months on the Korean Peninsula is a psychological and political test of wills between the North Korean regime on one hand, and the US and South Korea on the other hand.
Additional reporting by Shelley Shan
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book