North Korea - Page 64

TOKYO (Reuters) – North Korea may have launched several missiles on Wednesday morning, Kyodo News reported, citing a Japanese government source.

“The U.S. global ballistic missile defense poses a deep risk to the security of the region,” declared Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday after meeting with Japanese officials in Tokyo.

North Korea’s foreign ministry warned Monday that its government is prepared to go to war with the United States, following remarks from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in which he said the Trump administration was prepared for a military engagement with the communist dictatorship should they strike U.S. allies.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has returned from a tour of Asia that concluded with a cordial meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, one The New York Times reports featured significantly sterner tones in private than the “win-win cooperation” message of their joint public statement.

Contents: Venezuela’s Socialist government arrests bakers because of bread shortage; Venezuela’s political opposition now publishing inflation data; Suspicions grow that Kim Jong-nam’s Malaysia assassination was not with VX nerve gas

On Friday, Japan conducted its first-ever civilian missile evacuation drill, simulating an attack by North Korea against a fishing town in the Oga peninsula.

“Law of the jungle,” “extreme individualism” plague human rights in the U.S., according to a North Korea think tank’s white paper.”

(Reuters) The United States and China will work together to get nuclear-armed North Korea take “a different course”, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Saturday, softening previous criticism of Beijing after talks with his Chinese counterpart.

Recently, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi compared mounting tensions on the Korean Peninsula, created by North Korea’s continuing missile tests and joint military drills conducted by South Korea and the U.S., to “two accelerating trains, coming toward each other with neither side willing to give way.”

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters in Seoul on Friday that the Trump administration is open to military action against North Korea as a last resort, and that the Obama-era policy of “strategic patience has ended.”

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has arrived in Tokyo, Japan, for the first leg of his three-nation tour of Asia, emphasizing the need for a new approach to curbing North Korea and pressuring China to take a stronger economic stand against the rogue regime in Pyongyang.

The government of South Korea announced Wednesday that an election to choose the successor for impeached President Park Geun-hye will be held on May 9.

Thae Yong-ho, a former North Korean embassy official who became one of the highest-ranking defectors from his country, said on Thursday that a potential upcoming nuclear test by the outlaw regime in Pyongyang could “break the country in two pieces” and topple the government of Kim Jong-un.

Several reports published Wednesday indicate that the Trump administration may be looking to expand sanctions against Chinese businesses who continue to do business with the fellow communist government of North Korea.

The United States announced on Monday that it will permanently station attack drones in South Korea in what may be a continuing response to North Korea’s missile launches last week, among other provocations.

Upon assuming the presidency, many observers expressed reservations about what a Trump administration foreign policy would look like. More than any other representative of President Donald Trump’s government, United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley has answered those critics.

South Korea’s Park Geun-hye has become the first president in its history to be ousted from power via impeachment following allegations of granting inappropriate government access to a senior member of a pseudo-religious organization.

U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said on Wednesday that the United States is “considering every option that’s on the table” in response to North Korea’s provocative launch of ballistic missiles at Japan on Monday.

Repercussions from North Korea’s latest illegal ballistic missile test continue as Japanese lawmakers are pushing for pre-emptive strike options against Pyongyang’s missile facilities.

A Chinese state propaganda outlet has threatened to make South Korea “feel the pain” for proceeding with the installation of an anti-North Korea missile system, while Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi predicts an imminent “head-on” collision between Pyongyang and Washington.

State Department Acting Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner — a holdover from the Obama administration — told reporters that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has been busy meeting with his global counterparts.

Contents: Malaysia’s relations with North Korea continue rapid deterioration; China promises retaliation over surprise deployment of THAAD in South Korea; South Korea threatens to sue China in World Trade Organization (WTO)

North Korea responded to Malaysia’s expulsion of its ambassador and tighter restrictions on North Korean travel by announcing a travel ban of its own. In classic North Korean style, their travel ban prevents Malaysians from leaving Pyongyang, effectively taking all of them hostage.

China angrily denounced the beginning of America’s THAAD deployment to South Korea on Tuesday, vowing “consequences” for both Washington and Seoul as the anti-missile system comes online.

Multiple reports in South Korean and Japanese news outlets suggest Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will be visiting Asia as early as next weekend, seeking to unite South Korea, Japan, and China in cooperation against a growing North Korea threat.

South Korea’s Ministry of Unification has quadrupled its reward for North Korean defectors who supply classified information.

On Monday, Malaysia made good on a threat to expel North Korea’s ambassador over the assassination of Kim Jong-nam. Malaysia also banned its soccer team from traveling to North Korea.

Contents: Vietnam protests China’s fishing ban in the South China Sea; China’s fishing ban related to food security in times of war; North Korea fires four ballistic missiles into sea near Japan

Contents: Malaysia expels North Korea’s ambassador Kang Chol; Malaysia accused of fronting North Korean weapons sales; Kim Han-sol, son of Kim Jong-nam, under guard to prevent North Korean assassination; New sanctions indicate China is running out of patience with Kim Jong-un

The sole North Korean held by Malaysian authorities for the murder of Kim Jong-nam, half-brother to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, was released from custody and deported on Friday.

The Chinese Communist Party has commanded travel agencies not to book tours to South Korea and appears to have blocked South Korean entertainment, including popular television dramas, in response to Seoul’s accelerated moves to install a missile defense system that can reach into China.

The strange saga of Kim Jong-nam’s death in Malaysia continues to unfold. The two women who allegedly exposed him to lethal VX nerve agent are charged with murder, and a North Korean held in the case is released and deported. The North Korean government, which is seeking to claim Kim’s remains, is asserting that he died of a heart attack.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. government civilian and military units have warned for nearly 25 years about a damaging cyber attack dubbed the “electronic Pearl Harbor,” but while threats continue to intensify, America’s ability to deter and defend against such an assault still suffers from capability gaps, testified a top expert before a House panel.

China’s top diplomat, State Councilor Yang Jiechi, completed a visit to the United States this week after reportedly discussing the economy and foreign policy with both President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

The United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) issued a trilateral statement on North Korea on Monday, denouncing Pyongyang’s “flagrant disregard for multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions prohibiting its ballistic missile and nuclear programs” and calling for “strong international pressure on the regime.”

As the international community continues to grapple with how to properly reduce the global risk of an emboldened and increasingly erratic North Korea, South Korea warns that dictator Kim Jong-un appears to have completely overhauled his intelligence agency.