South Korea was on alert yesterday for possible political change in its nuclear-armed neighbor following the disclosure that longtime North Korean leader Kim Jong-il suffered a stroke.
South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee, who told parliament Kim had undergone surgery but was recovering, said a military plan was being drawn up for any contingency.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak told security ministers and aides that “thorough preparations should be made to minimize confusion over changes in North Korea’s political circumstances.”
South Korea is still technically at war with its communist neighbor. The two forces face off across a heavily fortified border, with US troops backing the South.
Kim “collapsed because of a brain problem and had surgery from which he is recovering,” Lee Sang-hee was quoted by lawmakers as telling a closed-door session of the legislature’s defense committee.
Officials said earlier on condition of anonymity that Kim, 66, was thought to have undergone surgery, but this was the first confirmation.
Seoul officials believe Kim is still in charge of affairs in North Korea, one of the world’s most reclusive regimes. But analysts fear the powerful military could assume more power in any post-Kim era and take a harder line on nuclear disarmament and cross-border ties.
The defense minister, quoted by lawmaker Yoo Seong-min, said no unusual troop movements had been detected in the North and South Korea’s military was maintaining its customary alert level.
Asked if Seoul should revive a joint US-South Korean contingency plan to prepare for sudden political change in the North, the defense minister said relevant agencies were in talks toward a strategy “in preparation for a [possible] limited provocation or a full-scale war.”
Yonhap news agency quoted an unidentified top diplomatic source as saying there was no sign of any power vacuum in the North.
“Key policy decisions are being made normally,” the source said.
The Taipei MRT is open all night tonight following New Year’s Eve festivities, and is offering free rides from nearby Green Line stations. Taipei’s 2025 New Year’s Eve celebrations kick off at Taipei City Hall Square tonight, with performances from the boy band Energy, the South Korean girl group Apink, and singers Gigi Leung (梁詠琪) and Faith Yang (楊乃文). Taipei 101’s annual New Year’s firework display follows at midnight, themed around Taiwan’s Premier12 baseball championship. Estimates say there will be about 200,000 people in attendance, which is more than usual as this year’s celebrations overlap with A-mei’s (張惠妹) concert at Taipei Dome. There are
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday vowed to investigate claims made in a YouTube video about China’s efforts to politically influence young Taiwanese and encourage them to apply for Chinese ID cards. The council’s comments follow Saturday’s release of a video by Taiwanese rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源) and YouTuber “Pa Chiung (八炯)” on China’s “united front” tactics. It is the second video on the subject the pair have released this month. In the video, Chen visits the Taiwan Youth Entrepreneurship Park in Quanzhou in China’s Fujian Province and the Strait Herald news platform in Xiamen, China. The Strait Herald — owned by newspaper
NEW YEAR’S ADDRESS: ‘No matter what threats and challenges Taiwan faces, democracy is the only path,’ William Lai said, urging progress ‘without looking back’ President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday urged parties across the political divide to democratically resolve conflicts that have plagued domestic politics within Taiwan’s constitutional system. In his first New Year’s Day address since becoming president on May 20 last year, Lai touched on several issues, including economic and security challenges, but a key emphasis was on the partisan wrangling that has characterized his first seven months in office. Taiwan has transformed from authoritarianism into today’s democracy and that democracy is the future, Lai said. “No matter what threats and challenges Taiwan faces, democracy is the only path for Taiwan,” he said. “The only choice
CORRUPTION: Twelve other people were convicted on charges related to giving illegal benefits, forgery and money laundering, with sentences ranging from one to five years The Yilan District Court yesterday found Yilan County Commissioner Lin Zi-miao (林姿妙) guilty of corruption, sentencing her to 12 years and six months in prison. The Yilan District Prosecutors’ Office in 2022 indicted 10 government officials and five private individuals, including Lin, her daughter and a landowner. Lin was accused of giving illegal favors estimated to be worth NT$2.4 million (US$73,213) in exchange for using a property to conduct activities linked to the 2020 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential and legislative election campaigns. Those favors included exempting some property and construction firms from land taxes and building code contraventions that would have required
RSS