North Korean leader Kim Jong-un claimed that a missile launch yesterday showed he could strike the entire US with a nuclear weapon, signaling a new phase in his standoff with US President Donald Trump.
North Korea “successfully” launched a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with improved technology that can deliver a nuclear warhead anywhere in the US, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
Kim watched the test and “declared with pride that now we have finally realized the great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force,” it said.
Photo: AFP
Kim’s claims on his nuclear capabilities, yet to be verified independently, suggest he is seeking to push the US into talks from a position of strength.
Trump has threatened to use military force to stop Pyongyang’s nuclear program, which Kim says he needs to deter a US invasion, and Washington has long said the regime must dismantle its weapons for negotiations to start.
Trump struck a more measured tone after the launch, compared with previous threats to unleash “fire and fury,” telling reporters “we will take care of that situation.”
The UN Security Council, which imposed sanctions on North Korea this year, planned to meet later yesterday in New York.
“North Korea is saying the US should acknowledge it as a nuclear state and shift its policy to dialogue,” said Koh Yu-hwan, who teaches North Korean studies at Dongguk University in Seoul. “Pyongyang’s following the Chinese model: obtain nuclear weapons and suggest co-existence to the US.”
No major power has said it will recognize North Korea as a nuclear state. China and Russia, two countries that Trump has singled out for supporting North Korea, have said they prefer dialogue to rein Kim in.
China opposed yesterday’s test and will continue to strictly uphold UN sanctions, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Geng Shuang (耿爽) said at a regular briefing.
He reiterated support for a proposal made with Russia, under which North Korea refrains from missile and nuclear tests, while the US and South Korea halt large-scale military exercises.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told parliament it would be a mistake to recognize North Korea as a nuclear power.
Experts differ on when North Korea will pose a credible threat to the US, with estimates ranging from months to years. While the regime has made steady progress, the US and South Korea assess that its ballistic missiles still cannot survive the stress involved with re-entering the atmosphere or target specific locations.
Japanese Minister of Defense Itsunori Onodera said that Tokyo was analyzing whether North Korea had that capability.
Japan said the ICBM flew for 53 minutes on a lofted trajectory and might have reached an altitude of more than 4,000km before landing about 250km off its northwest coast.
US Secretary of Defense James Mattis said it flew higher than prior North Korean launches.
KCNA said the missile it fired showed accuracy in its target, speed correction mid-flight and the operation of a high-thrust engine.
“The test-fire also reconfirmed the control and stabilization technology, phase-separation and start-up technology, and the safety of warhead in the atmospheric reentry environment that had already been confirmed,” it said.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary