North Korea beefed up its military arsenal near its border with the South last year despite a severe economic downturn, a government source in Seoul was quoted as saying yesterday. The country deployed some 200 additional units of 240mm multiple-rocket launchers along the heavily-fortified border, Yonhap news agency reported.
The 240mm, which can shoot up to 22 rounds every 35 minutes and has a range of 60km, is considered by the South’s military as a “core threat” to the capital city of Seoul and its populous suburbs, Yonhap said.
Seoul, about 50km south of the tense border, has a population of 10.4 million people, more than one-fifth of the nation’s total population.
The US has 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea as a deterrent against the North, a legacy of the Korean War, which ended in a ceasefire.
The source said Pyongyang also deployed 2,100 new artillery guns and 300 tanks, adding that the communist state is now known to have some 10,600 projectile weapons and 4,200 tanks.
The South’s defense ministry said in a 2008 white paper that Pyongyang is armed with about 8,500 artillery guns and 3,900 tanks. North Korea’s increased military arsenal, despite its ailing economy and acute food shortage, “proves that its intention of military threat to the South remains unchanged,” the source was quoted as saying.
A defense white paper to be published early next month will contain figures on the North’s latest military capability, the defense ministry said.
Despite its ailing economy and severe food shortage, the North’s military totals 1.2 million personnel and is one of the world’s largest. Cross-border ties have been icy since Seoul accused Pyongyang of attacking a South Korean warship in March and killing 46 sailors. The North angrily denied the charge, further heightening tension in the relations already strained since the South’s conservative government took hardline policies on Pyongyang.
However, Pyongyang recently made a series of conciliatory gestures by returning the crew of a detained South Korean boat, offering to hold a new round of reunions for families separated by the peninsula’s division and accepting flood aid from Seoul.
Aid groups say the North’s food crisis is expected to worsen this year because of floods and a poor harvest.
However, the North has stockpiled almost 1 million tonnes of rice for its military by storing rice aid from overseas for the military and releasing older rice to the people, a South Korean ruling party lawmaker said on Friday.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
Africa has established the continent’s first space agency to boost Earth observation and data sharing at a time when a more hostile global context is limiting the availability of climate and weather information. The African Space Agency opened its doors last month under the umbrella of the African Union and is headquartered in Cairo. The new organization, which is still being set up and hiring people in key positions, is to coordinate existing national space programs. It aims to improve the continent’s space infrastructure by launching satellites, setting up weather stations and making sure data can be shared across
RSS