US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates yesterday urged North Korea to take concrete steps to show it is “serious” about talks after the nuclear-armed regime offered a resumption of dialogue in recent days.
Gates, in Tokyo as part of an Asia tour, called on the regime to cease its “belligerent behavior” and said that US efforts were focused on preventing Pyongyang from resorting to aggression.
Although the US supported reviving talks, “there must be concrete evidence on the part of the North that they are finally serious about these negotiations,” Gates said at a press conference with his Japanese counterpart, Toshimi Kitazawa.
During an earlier stop in Beijing, Gates suggested North Korea could prove its sincerity by freezing further missile or nuclear tests.
Describing his talks in the region this week, the Pentagon chief said the US, Japan, South Korea and China all had a “common interest” in securing peace and stability on the divided Korean Peninsula.
Washington has worked with all four countries to try to prevent tensions in the region from spinning out of control after Pyongyang shelled a South Korean island in November, killing four people.
The US has repeatedly pressed China to exercise its influence with its ally North Korea and Gates this week credited Beijing with playing a helpful role in recent months.
The North quit six-party nuclear disarmament talks in April 2009 and conducted its second atomic weapons test a month later, but has indicated willingness in principle to return to the talks.
The forum, chaired by the North’s major ally China, also includes the two Koreas, the US, Japan and Russia.
South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan, meanwhile, said efforts to revive the negotiations had gained momentum.
“China has slightly different opinions on the North’s stance, so we have more to discuss [with Beijing],” the minister told Yonhap news agency.
Despite Pyongyang’s positive statements, the US, Japan and South Korea say the North must mend ties with the South and show seriousness about denuclearization before discussions resume.
Gates — who will fly to Seoul today — warned earlier this week that North Korea had made progress with its long-range ballistic missile program and that Pyongyang would pose a direct threat to the US within five years.
He also described a worrying “sea change” in public attitudes in South Korea, with the population no longer willing to tolerate the North’s provocations.
Asked yesterday whether Washington would oppose Seoul using jets or other firepower if it came under North Korean attack, Gates said every country had a right to defend itself, but that US diplomatic efforts were focused on preventing more provocations.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
‘DELUSIONAL’: Targeting the families of Hamas’ leaders would not push the group to change its position or to give up its demands for Palestinians, Ismail Haniyeh said Israeli aircraft on Wednesday killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate ceasefire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed. Ismail Haniyeh’s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far. Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.” The deaths threatened to strain the internationally mediated ceasefire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The