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)
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.
South Korea play surprise package Israel in the opening game of the World Baseball Classic on Monday, kicking off a 16-team tournament spread across four countries.
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 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 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.”
Numerous articles in Chinese state-controlled media are encouraging Chinese nationals to boycott the Lotte Group, a South Korean conglomerate that recently approved a land deal making the deployment of a new U.S. missile defense system in the country possible.
Contents: China announces it will block imports of North Korea’s coal; Assassination of Kim Jong-un’s half-brother in Malaysia threatens relations with China and North Korea
Two poison-slinging female North Korean agents have reportedly assassinated Kim Jong-nam, half-brother of dictator Kim Jong-un.
The Korean embassy has warned against visiting the migrant-dominated Paris region of Seine-Saint-Denis after thugs terrorised a coach of tourists.
Contents: UN Security Council condemns North Korea missile tests; China’s foreign policy becomes complicated by North Korean test; America’s likely response: More THAAD and Aegis missile defense systems
At a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Saturday night, held shortly after North Korea’s surprise test launch of a medium-range ballistic missile, President Donald Trump declared: “I just want everybody to understand, and fully know, that the United States of America is behind Japan, our great ally, one hundred percent.”
Officials from China’s communist government have expelled dozens of South Korean Christian missionaries following a series of police raids on church groups.
Secretary of Defense James Mattis concluded his visit to Japan this weekend with a glowing statement praising Tokyo as a “model of cost-sharing” on defense, while warning China that the United States will not hesitate to defend Japan’s East China Sea islands should Beijing make a move to colonize them.
Donald Trump’s Secretary of Defense, General James “Mad Dog” Mattis, has warned North Korea that any attack on the United States would lead to a retaliation that is both “effective and overwhelming.”
The Chinese state-run newspaper Global Times has published a column attacking President Donald Trump for his administration’s attempts to reassert Washington’s commitment to its alliance with South Korea, accusing Trump of increasing the possibility that North and South Korea “will be thrown into a war.”
Secretary of Defense James Mattis arrived in South Korea Tuesday to meet his counterpart in Seoul and acting president Hwang Kyo-ahn.
Secretary of Defense James Mattis spoke with his South Korean counterpart on Tuesday in anticipation of his arrival to the region later this week, expressing commitment for the defense of the region against North Korean belligerence.
Contents: Philippines war on drugs in chaos after murder of S. Korean businessman; US will upgrade Philippines military bases, despite Duterte’s threats
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte announced he would extend the war on drugs that won him the presidency in order to postpone anti-drug operations while the police conducted a “cleansing” of corrupt police abusing their authority.
Britain could strike free trade deals with South Korea, the U.S. and Brazil within a year of leaving the European Union (EU), according to a new report. The Trade Prospects Index, launched by former government adviser Matthew Oakley, names the
Contents: China places missiles on Russia’s border — to gain respect and attack America; Centuries-old Russia-China border dispute could lead to another war
The Pentagon announced on Wednesday that Secretary of Defense James Mattis will visit Japan and South Korea in early February, on his first overseas trip since confirmation.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — In a departure from the leniency South Korean big businesses typically receive, prosecutors on Monday requested the arrest of the de facto head of Samsung Electronics, the country’s most valuable company, in an influence-peddling scandal that has toppled the country’s president.
Russia responded to the arrival of 3,000 U.S. troops in Poland by deploying advanced S-400 anti-aircraft missiles around Moscow.
China takes “Internet addiction” among the young very seriously. They have military-style “Internet detox” boot camps where children and adolescents are forced to wear uniforms, stay offline, get fresh air and exercise, and occasionally endure beatings, psychological abuse, and even shock therapy.
The Chinese military engaged in multiple exercises near Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan this week, forcing all three nations to scramble jets while Beijing officials insisted the display of force was a “normal” event.
CNN reports that South Korea is accelerating plans to deploy a highly trained “decapitation unit,” a commando squad intended to take out the “wartime command” structure of North Korea in the “event of war.”
Although South Korea’s embattled President Park Geun-hye once made a show of asking the national legislature to decide her fate, offering to leave office at whatever moment they decided, she became much less enthusiastic about the idea after they voted to impeach her.
North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un claimed in a New Year’s Day address that his military is close to testing an intercontinental ballistic missile.
According to a high-level diplomat who defected from North Korea recently, dictator Kim Jong-un is “racing ahead with nuclear development, after setting up a plan to develop it at all costs by the end of 2017.”
Contents: Russia and Japan fail to agree on ending World War II; Former UN leader Ban Ki-moon may run for president of South Korea
The Jewish state’s Iron Dome aerial defense system could be used by South Korea to mitigate threats posed by North Korea, an Israeli diplomat said this past week, according to the Yonhap news agency.
The political crisis in South Korea came to a head on Friday, as the National Assembly voted to impeach President Park Geun-hye. A two-thirds majority vote was needed.
