The Presidential Office today rejected a report by a South Korean newspaper saying that a military intelligence official under now-impeached South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol sought Taiwan's support for South Korea's declaration of martial law in December last year.
In a statement, Presidential Office spokesperson Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said the claim made by the Hankyoreh report that a South Korean official requested Taiwan's support for martial law, declared by Yoon on Dec. 3 last year, was "fabrication with obvious malicious intent."
Photo: Reuters
Yoon's declaration of martial law was overturned by the parliament hours later, but the incident plunged South Korea into a political crisis and led to Yoon's downfall.
Kuo said routine security exchanges between Taiwan and its democratic partners have been ongoing for years, focusing primarily on regional security rather than the internal affairs of any country.
Taiwan "[does] not interfere in or comment on the internal affairs of other countries," Kuo said, adding that the government demanded a prompt correction of the report.
Kuo's comments came shortly after the South Korean media cited an anonymous military source as saying that Moon Sang-ho, a former intelligence commander now ensnared in the martial law investigation, traveled to Taiwan at the end of November last year to meet with his local counterpart.
The source claimed the purpose of Moon's trip was to seek Taipei's support for Yoon's martial law plan, although the report also cited Moon as denying the claim.
The report surfaced during an ongoing investigation by a South Korean special prosecution team into foreign exchange crimes involving military personnel and intelligence operations allegedly linked to last year's declaration of martial law.
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
SOVEREIGNTY: The rigs show that Beijing ‘rejects Taiwan’s jurisdiction’ by building in areas where Taipei demands permission to build or alter installations Chinese oil rigs have been sighted just 26 nautical miles (42km), from Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙島), posing a threat to Taiwan’s sovereignty if left unchallenged, a brief published by the Jamestown Foundation on Tuesday said. Pratas Island, 444km from Kaohsiung, is northeast of the South China Sea and houses a Taiwanese garrison. The brief, titled “Rigging the Game: PRC Oil Structures Encroach on Taiwan’s Pratas Island” — referring to the People’s Republic of China — analyzed photographs and said that Beijing’s tools to pressure Taiwan now include oil rigs. “Oil rigs now constitute part of Beijing’s
The Taiwan Experience Education Program (TEEP) has funded short-term internships in Taiwan for more than 4,500 young people from more than 40 countries since 2015, with the goal of attracting and retaining international talent, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. Fifty-five colleges launched 514 projects this year, including in fields such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, medicine and biotechnology, green energy, and sustainability, it said. The program provides research and practical internships in Taiwan for two to six months, and offers cultural exchange and networking opportunities, the ministry said. For example, National Formosa University’s Embedded System and Autopilot Laboratory developed two solar-powered drones in
RSS