The US and South Korea approved a joint plan to deal with North Korean missiles carrying nuclear and biochemical warheads after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s regime ratcheted up its threats of attack.
US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter and South Korean Minister of National defense Han Min-koo approved the implementation of a plan to detect, disrupt and destroy North Korean missiles if needed, according to a joint statement released yesterday after annual security talks between the two countries.
While the plan is based on conceptual scenarios of a North Korean attack, it underscores the rising urgency among US and South Korean officials to prepare in case North Korea obtains the ability to tip a missile with a nuclear warhead. The Kim regime in September said it was willing to carry out a nuclear attack on its enemies at any point, and confirmed the resumption of operations at its main nuclear facility.
Photo: AFP
“We spoke candidly today about North Korean threats — nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, cyber, conventional military threats,” Carter said at a joint press conference with Han. “Those threats continue to put at risk the peace and security of the peninsula, the region and the United States.”
South Korea estimates that North Korea has between 2,500 tonnes and 5,000 tonnes of chemical weapons. North Korea also possesses an arsenal of missiles that it says can strike the US. The country conducted its third nuclear test in 2013 and threatened this year to conduct a fourth one.
North Korean provocations “can be handled in the context” of US alliances with both Japan and South Korea, Carter said, calling the two countries “essential long-standing” allies. The US has more than 75,000 troops based in Japan and South Korea.
Relations between South Korea and Japan have deteriorated in recent years over historical and territorial animosity.
Heavy rain and strong winds yesterday disrupted flights, trains and ferries, forcing the closure of roads across large parts of New Zealand’s North Island, while snapping power links to tens of thousands. Domestic media reported a few flights had resumed operating by afternoon from the airport in Wellington, the capital, although cancelations were still widespread after airport authorities said most morning flights were disrupted. Air New Zealand said it hoped to resume services when conditions ease later yesterday, after it paused operations at Wellington, Napier and Palmerston North airports. Online images showed flooded semi-rural neighborhoods, inundated homes, trees fallen on vehicles and collapsed
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In a softly lit Shanghai bar, graduate student Helen Zhao stretched out both wrists to have her pulse taken — the first step to ordering the house special, a bespoke “health” cocktail based on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). “TCM bars” have popped up in several cities across China, epitomizing what the country’s stressed-out, time-poor youth refer to as “punk wellness,” or “wrecking yourself while saving yourself.” At Shanghai’s Niang Qing, a TCM doctor in a white coat diagnoses customers’ physical conditions based on the pulse readings, before a mixologist crafts custom drinks incorporating the herbs and roots prescribed for their ailments.
Two sitting Philippine senators have been identified as “coperpetrators” in former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s crimes against humanity trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC), documents released by prosecutors showed. Philippine senators Ronald Dela Rosa and Christopher Go are among eight current and former officials named in a document dated Feb. 13 and posted to the court’s Web site. ICC prosecutors have charged Duterte with three counts of crimes against humanity, alleging his involvement in at least 76 murders as part of his “war on drugs.” “Duterte and his coperpetrators shared a common plan or agreement to ‘neutralize’ alleged criminals in the Philippines
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