North Korea yesterday fired multiple ballistic missiles in a defiant show of force that coincided with a visit to Seoul by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken for a Summit for Democracy.
North Korea fired three ballistic missiles toward waters off its east coast that reached a maximum altitude of about 50km and flew about 300km to land outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone, the Ministry of Defense in Tokyo said.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a text message to reporters about the launch that several short-range ballistic missiles were fired from about 7:44am from near Pyongyang that flew about 300km.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The US, South Korea and Japan all condemned North Korea’s first ballistic missile test in about two months, calling it a threat to regional security and a contravention of UN Security Council resolutions.
It is unclear what was in the barrage. North Korea, which often comments on missile launches the following day, has been known to engage in provocations designed to coincide with high-profile political events involving the US, South Korea and Japan.
The launches followed the conclusion of US and South Korean joint military drills on Thursday last week, which included training on land, sea and in the air against contingencies posed by North Korea.
Photo: AFP
Pyongyang’s propaganda apparatus slammed the ideals advanced by the US ahead of the Summit for Democracy, which was launched under US President Joe Biden’s administration as a way for leaders to show solidarity.
US-style democracy is the “sinister intention of imperialists” to consolidate power around US-led Western forces, North Korea’s main newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, said in an article over the weekend ahead of the summit.
Hours after the missile launches, South Korean Minister of National Defense Shin Won-sik told a news conference that Pyongyang has shipped about 7,000 containers filled with munitions and other military equipment to Russia since last year to help support its war in Ukraine.
Shin said that after initially relying on ships, the North has been increasingly using its rail networks to send arms supplies to Russia through their land border.
In exchange for sending possibly several million artillery shells and other supplies, North Korea has received more than 9,000 Russian containers likely filled with aid, Shin said.
He raised suspicions that Russia could be providing North Korea with fuel, possibly in defiance of UN Security Council sanctions that tightly cap the country’s imports of oil and petroleum products.
‘CROWN JEWEL’: Washington ‘can delay and deter’ Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plans for Taiwan, but it is ‘a very delicate situation there,’ the secretary of state said US President Donald Trump is opposed to any change to Taiwan’s “status quo” by force or extortion and would maintain that policy, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Hugh Hewitt Show host on Wednesday. The US’ policy is to maintain Taiwan’s “status quo” and to oppose any changes in the situation by force or extortion, Rubio said. Hewitt asked Rubio about the significance of Trump earlier this month speaking with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) at the White House, a meeting that Hewitt described as a “big deal.” Asked whether the meeting was an indication of the
‘RELATIVELY STRONG LANGUAGE’: An expert said the state department has not softened its language on China and was ‘probably a little more Taiwan supportive’ China’s latest drills near Taiwan on Monday were “brazen and irresponsible threats,” a US Department of State spokesperson said on Tuesday, while reiterating Washington’s decades-long support of Taipei. “China cannot credibly claim to be a ‘force for stability in a turbulent world’ while issuing brazen and irresponsible threats toward Taiwan,” the unnamed spokesperson said in an e-mailed response to media queries. Washington’s enduring commitment to Taiwan will continue as it has for 45 years and the US “will continue to support Taiwan in the face of China’s military, economic, informational and diplomatic pressure campaign,” the e-mail said. “Alongside our international partners, we firmly
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion
Authorities yesterday elaborated on the rules governing Employment Gold Cards after a US cardholder was barred from entering Taiwan for six years after working without a permit during a 2023 visit. American YouTuber LeLe Farley was barred after already being approved for an Employment Gold Card, he said in a video published on his channel on Saturday. Farley, who has more than 420,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, was approved for his Gold Card last month, but was told at a check-in counter at the Los Angeles International Airport that he could not enter Taiwan. That was because he previously participated in two
RSS