North Korea fired five short-range missiles during military training last week, a South Korean newspaper reported yesterday, as the top US general in the South warned that Pyongyang could conduct a second nuclear test.
The North fired the ground-to-air and air-to-air missiles, with ranges from 10km to 50km, as part of an annual training session, the Chosun Ilbo reported, citing an unidentified government official.
The report comes amid speculation that North Korea may be preparing to conduct a second nuclear test following its first one on Oct. 9.
US Army General B.B. Bell said at a news conference yesterday that a second test is possible, though he didn't cite any specific intelligence that another test was imminent.
"I can only surmise that since they tested one, we would see at some time in the future yet another test of a nuclear device," Bell said, adding that missiles and other weapons also could be tested.
"I think we can expect future tests as part of their program to develop these kinds of very provocative weapons," he said.
Bell was firm that the US and South Korean allied forces could deter aggression from the North and defeat any possible attack. Still, he called for a diplomatic solution to the standoff.
"I wish that North Korea would not only stop testing these devices, but stop making them and come back to the bargaining table," he said.
Bell also affirmed that the South remains under protection of the US "nuclear umbrella" -- an issue that drew harsh criticism yesterday from the North.
In a commentary in its main paper, the North said the US' nuclear weapons won't be able to protect the South but "will be a source of disaster and trouble bringing the holocaust of nuclear war."
"Those who are fond of fire are bound to be burned to death," the Rodong Sinmun wrote, according to an English-language dispatch from the North's official Korean Central News Agency. "If the US and South Korean war maniacs persist in nuclear war adventures, they can never evade the lot of destruction."
Meanwhile, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel, dissident playwright turned Czech president Vaclav Havel and former Norwegian prime minister Kjell Magne Bondevik called for UN Security Council action on the North over its "egregious" human rights record.
The trio commissioned a 123-page report detailing the North's atrocities. In the report, the three said the dispute over Pyongyang's nuclear program should not eclipse its deadly political repression, and that the council should instead take on leader Kim Jong-il's regime over its treatment of its people.
The report says that Security Council action is warranted under a resolution unanimously approved in April that endorsed last year's agreement aimed at preventing tragedies like the 1994 Rwanda genocide.
"Nowhere else in the world today is there such an abuse of rights, as institutionalized as it is in North Korea," Bondevik said.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
RSS