North Korea yesterday fired a missile as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited South Korea, where he warned that Pyongyang was working ever more closely with Russia on advanced space technology.
Blinken’s trip came as investigators were trying to arrest South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who has entrenched himself in his residence after being impeached for a failed attempt to impose martial law.
Blinken, who had planned to encourage South Korea to maintain Yoon’s policy of enhancing cooperation with Japan, was in talks in Seoul when North Korea fired a ballistic missile that fell into the sea.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The missile flew about 1,100km, the South Korean military said.
“Today’s launch is just a reminder to all of us of how important our collaborative work is,” Blinken said, pointing to increased three-way exercises and intelligence-sharing on North Korea.
Blinken and South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul condemned the launch at a joint news conference, where the outgoing US top diplomat warned that Russia was stepping up support for North Korea as a reward for its help fighting Ukraine.
Photo: AFP
North Korea “is already receiving Russian military equipment and training. Now we have reason to believe that Moscow intends to share advanced space and satellite technology with Pyongyang,” Blinken said.
He also renewed concern that Russia, a veto-wielding UN Security Council member, would formally accept North Korea as a nuclear state, which would be a major blow to the global consensus that Pyongyang must end its program.
US and South Korean intelligence believe that North Korea late last year sent thousands of troops to fight against Ukraine and has already suffered hundreds of casualties.
In Tokyo, where Blinken was later to visit, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba voiced alarm that North Korea’s “technology has been improving.”
Blinken, whose hotel was within earshot of rowdy protests by supporters and opponents of Yoon, steered clear of taking sides in the bitterly divided country.
He repeated Washington’s concern over Yoon’s brief imposition of martial law on Dec. 3 last year and saluted the “democratic resilience” of South Korea, without commenting on attempts to arrest the president.
ANNOUNCEMENT: People who do not comply with the ban after a spoken warning would be reported to the police, the airport company said on Friday Taoyuan International Airport Corp on Friday announced that riding on vehicles, including scooter-suitcases (also known as “scootcases”), bicycles, scooters and skateboards, is prohibited in the airport’s terminals. Those using such vehicles should manually pull them or place them on luggage trolleys, the company said in a Facebook post. The ban intends to maintain order and protect travelers’ safety, as the airport often sees large crowds of people, it said, adding that it has stepped up publicity for the regulation, and those who do not comply after a spoken warning would be reported to the police. The company yesterday said that
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
QUIET START: Nearly a week after applications opened, agencies did not announce or promote the program, nor did they explain how it differed from other visitor visas Taiwan has launched a six-month “digital nomad visitor visa” program for foreign nationals from its list of visa-exempt countries who meet financial eligibility criteria and provide proof of work contracts. To apply, foreign nationals must either provide proof that they have obtained a digital nomad visa issued by another country or demonstrate earnings based on age brackets, the Bureau of Consular Affairs said. Applicants aged 20 to 29 must show they earned an annual salary of at least US$20,000 or its equivalent in one of the past two years, while those aged 30 or older must provide proof they earned US$40,000 in
UNITY MESSAGE: Rather than focusing on what Trump said on the campaign trail about Taiwan, Taipei should be willing to engage with the US, Pompeo said Taiwan plays a key role in Washington’s model of deterrence against China, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said in a speech in Taipei yesterday. During US president-elect Donald Trump’s first term, “we had developed what we believe was a pretty effective model of deterrence against adversaries who wanted to undermine the set of rules and values that the people of Taiwan and the people of the US hold dear,” Pompeo said at a forum organized by the Formosa Republican Association. “Succeeding in continuing to build this model will not solely rest at the feet of president Trump and his team,
RSS