North Korea's military said yesterday that war games by South Korea and US were a prelude to a US military attack and a tactic to compel it to accept US terms in six-party talks on its nuclear program.
The North's comments were the first since the six-country talks on ending Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions went into a three-week recess last Sunday.
"Its brigandish aim is to wind up its preparations for preemptive attack on the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] and drive the situation on the peninsula to an extreme pitch of tension," the North's official KCNA news agency quoted an unnamed spokesman of the North Korean army as saying, referring to the drills.
South Korean officials say the exercises are largely computer-stimulated drills to test US and South Korean readiness for military emergencies on the Korean Peninsula. They begin later this month and will not involve any mobilization of forces.
The US military says the exercise, named Ulchi Focus Lens, is largely a computer-simulated war game.
The drills are also designed to "force the DPRK to accept the unjust demands raised by the US at the six-party talks," the North Korean army spokesman was quoted as saying.
The North insisted at the six-party talks on retaining the right to operate a civilian nuclear program. Washington wants Pyong-yang to forswear all nuclear programmes in return for energy aid and security guarantees.
"The US side's arrogant action only bars the KPA [Korean People's Army] from expecting anything from the dialogue with the US and reinforces its correct judgment that it is the only way of defending the country and its sovereignty and system to build up deterrence for self-defence," the spokesman was quoted as saying.
The North also said yesterday that high-level military talks cannot resume because of the military exercises, a day after military officers from the two sides failed to agree on a date for the talks.
The last high-level military talks between the two Koreas were held in June 2004. But negotiations have been on hold over mass defections of North Koreans to the South. Official meetings between the two Koreas resumed in May.
THE TRAGEDY OF PUNCH: Footage of the seven-month-old Japanese macaque has gone viral online after he was rejected by his mother and formed a bond with a soft toy A baby monkey in Japan has captured hearts around the world after videos of him being bullied by other monkeys and rejected by his mother went viral last week. Punch, a Japanese macaque, was born in July last year at Ichikawa City Zoo. He has drawn international attention after zookeepers gave him a stuffed orangutan toy after he was abandoned by his mother. Without maternal guidance to help him integrate, Punch has turned to the toy for comfort. He has been filmed multiple times being dragged and chased by older Japanese macaques inside the enclosure. Early clips showed him wandering alone with
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday said he did not take his security for granted, after he was evacuated from his residence for several hours following a bomb threat sent to a Chinese dance group. Albanese was evacuated from his Canberra residence late on Tuesday following the threat, and returned a few hours later after nothing suspicious was found. The bomb scare was among several e-mails threatening Albanese sent to a representative of Shen Yun, a classical Chinese dance troupe banned in China that is due to perform in Australia this month, a spokesperson for the group said in a statement. The e-mail
‘OCCUPATION’: Hong Kong said it had lodged ‘stern protests’ with Panama’s consulate, and would ‘staunchly support’ the rights and interests of Hong Kong companies Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino on Monday ordered the temporary occupation of two ports run by a unit of CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd following the Supreme Court’s ruling against the firm’s concession, escalating a dispute that has become a proxy battle between the US and China in Latin America. Mulino said in a speech that the administration and operation of the two ports on the strategic Panama Canal is to revert to the country’s National Maritime Authority to ensure their uninterrupted, safe and efficient operation. The occupation covers movable equipment at the ports and does not mean a definitive loss of
GAME CHANGER The Russian invasion of Ukraine has shown the utility of small drones for recon, for supporting logistics and for killing across the modern battlefield Five European nations have announced a new program to produce low-cost air defense systems and autonomous drones using Ukrainian expertise, hard-won over the past four years fighting against Russia. Friday’s initiative of the five nations — France, Poland, Germany, the UK and Italy — comes as one of many European efforts to bolster defense along their borders, like a “drone wall ” with Russia and Ukraine to better detect, track and intercept drones violating Europe’s airspace. Both Moscow and Kyiv have cutting-edge drone warfare capabilities forged in the grim laboratory of war where battlefield innovations have rewritten modern battle tactics. Poland is
RSS