North Korea's parliament re-elected Kim Jong-il as the isolated country's top leader yesterday, and approved his government's decision to "keep and increase its nuclear deterrent force" to counter what it calls a hostile US policy.
As Kim watched from a raised platform, the Supreme People's Assembly -- a rubber-stamp body for government policy -- adopted a statement that also backed the Foreign Ministry's announcement last week that North Korea no longer had "interest or expectations" for future talks on its nuclear program, according to the North's official news agency KCNA.
KCNA also reported that the parliament "decided to take relevant measures." The news agency did not elaborate.
North Korea's envoy to last week's six-nation talks in Beijing on the North's nuclear crisis warned that the reclusive state might test a nuclear device to prove itself a nuclear power, a US official said on condition of anonymity.
Representatives from the US, the two Koreas, Japan, China and Russia had met in Beijing to discuss ways to end the nuclear crisis. After the meeting, China, North Korea's only remaining major ally, released a statement saying all six countries agreed to continue to talk.
But a day after the three-day Beijing meeting ended on Friday, Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry angrily dismissed the need for more talks and vowed to "keep and strengthen its nuclear deterrent force as a just self-defensive means to repel US pre-emptive nuclear attacks," the parliament said.
Meanwhile, North Koreans were jubilant as cars mounted with loudspeakers announced that parliament had re-elected Kim Jong-il as chairman of the National Defense Commission, which oversees the country's 1.1 million armed forces -- the world's fifth largest military. By constitution, Kim's post is the highest in the government hierarchy.
People poured out of their homes and factories "dancing with bunches of flowers in their hands," KCNA said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
RSS