North Korea claimed it has bolstered its nuclear arsenal to prevent an invasion as its premier began a visit yesterday to China.
The trip comes on the heels of a visit by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who urged Beijing to pressure the North to return to disarmament talks.
Meanwhile, a South Korean official called on the Bush administration to clarify its intelligence after it reportedly exaggerated claims that North Korea sold nuclear materials to Libya.
The Washington Post reported on Sunday that US officials told its negotiating partners that the North had exported material directly to Libya, but omitted mention of intelligence showing that the supplies first went to Pakistan with no evidence that the North knew it would be resold to Libya.
The US allegation of direct sales to Libya had been aimed at convincing countries in the six-nation disarmament talks -- which also include China, Japan, Russia and South Korea -- that they needed to press the North harder for a resolution to the two-year-old nuclear standoff.
That claim is also widely believed to have been part of the reason the North declared on Feb. 10 that it had nuclear weapons and would indefinitely boycott the deadlocked disarmament talks.
Im Jong-suk, spokesman for South Korea's ruling Uri Party, called on Washington to clarify its information on the North.
"If the United States keeps making propaganda aimed at North Korea or uses a different card such as raising the issue at the UN Security Council instead of the six-party talks, this will be an unfortunate choice for solving the North Korea nuclear crisis and peace on the Korean Peninsula," Im said in a statement yesterday.
"If alliances are based on the trust of shared information, this could cause severe problems between South Korea and the United States," he said.
On Monday, Rice said in Beijing that Washington would "have to look at other options" if the North doesn't return to the nuclear talks. She didn't elaborate, but they would likely include seeking sanctions through the Security Council.
Although Rice has also said the nuclear standoff "cannot go on forever," she has repeatedly emphasized the US has no plans to attack the North.
Despite Rice's reassurance, North Korea said late on Monday that it had bolstered its nuclear arsenal to prevent the alleged threat of an invasion.
"We have taken a serious measure by increasing nuclear arms arsenal in preparation for any invasion by enemies," the North Korean Central Broadcasting Station said in a commentary, according to a report by South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
The North has frequently claimed it would increase its nuclear deterrent in response to the perceived threat of invasion by the US, but the Monday announcement appeared to be the first time Pyongyang has claimed to have actually done so.
Still, efforts to resume the disarmament talks continued.
North Korean Premier Pak Pong-ju yesterday began a visit to China, the North's last major ally. Pak was to meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao (
Chinese officials say they will discuss the nuclear standoff with Pak, but haven't given details. Washington and Seoul have been calling on China to pressure North Korea into returning to the negotiating table.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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