TheNewsGuru

Tag: North Korea

  • U.S. threats of war with North Korea ‘dangerous, short-sighted – Hillary Clinton

    Former U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Wednesday said “cavalier” threats to start war on the Korean peninsula were “dangerous and short-sighted”.

    Clinton, however, urged the U.S. to get all parties to the negotiation table.

    Clinton also called on China to take a “more out-front role” in enforcing sanctions against North Korea aimed at curbing its missile and nuclear development.

    “There is no need for us to be bellicose and aggressive over North Korea,” Clinton told the World Knowledge Forum in Seoul, stressing the need for more pressure on North Korea and diplomacy to bring Pyongyang to talks.

    Tension between Pyongyang and Washington has soared following series of weapons tests by North Korea and a string of increasingly bellicose exchanges between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

    “Picking fights with Kim Jong Un puts a smile on his face,” Clinton said, without mentioning Trump by name.

    Clinton also indirectly referred to Trump’s social media comments on North Korea, saying, “the insults on Twitter have benefited North Korea, I don’t think they’ve benefited the United States”.

    The war of words has seen Trump call the North Korean leader “little rocket man” on a suicide mission, and vow to destroy the country if it threatens the U.S. or its allies.

    In turn, the North called Trump “mentally deranged” and a “mad dog”.

    Talks between the adversaries have long been urged by China in particular, but Washington and its ally, Japan have been reluctant while Pyongyang continues to pursue a goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile to hit the U.S.

    On Tuesday, Deputy Secretary of State, John J. Sullivan, said the U.S. did not rule out the eventual possibility of direct talks with North Korea.

    The situation on the Korean peninsula was now touch-and-go point and a nuclear war may break out any moment”, North Korea’s Deputy UN Amb. Kim In Ryong had told a UN General Assembly committee on Monday.

    In Seoul, the vice foreign minister said South Korea was considering levying its own sanctions on the North, although no decision had yet been made.

     

    NAN

  • Trump expands travel ban, adds Chad, North Korea, Venezuela to list

    …as Sudan is removed from list

    President of the United States, Donald Trump on Sunday ordered the inclusion of Chad, North Korea and Venezuela to the countries whose citizens are to face restrictions in entering the country.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that President Trump had recently placed a temporary ban on nationals from war troubled Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen pending the review of the vetting processes.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the new proclamation however removed restrictions that was earlier placed on Sudan.

    A statement by White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders, on Sunday stated the new countries on the list.

    Trump said he had taken the steps to strengthen the security standards for travelling to the United States.

    “Our government’s first duty is to its people, to our citizens- to serve their needs, to ensure their safety, to preserve their rights, and to defend their values.” the American President said.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the president’s original ban was highly controversial, as it was widely labelled a “Muslim ban”.

    It was subsequently abandoned by the administration after a series of federal courts blocked it on grounds it violated the US constitution’s protection of religious freedom.

    The addition of North Korea and Venezuela now means not all nations on the list are majority-Muslim.

    America and North Korea are engrossed in a face-off over the nuclear arms programme of the Asian country with which America’s ally in the peninsula, South Korea, remains technically at war since their partition.

    Venezuela, on the other hand, is facing political strife after President Nicholas Maduro conducted a referendum that stripped the opposition-controlled National Assembly of its powers.

    The criteria for the new ban list is now based on vetting procedures and co-operation, and the restrictions have now been “tailored” on a country-by-country basis.

    Ms. Sanders stated furthered that the proclamation would begin until the U.S. can conduct proper screening and vetting of those countries’ nationals.

    She said Trump had taken “key steps to protect the American people from those who would enter our country and do us harm.”

    Ms. Sanders also said the new development aims at ensuring American border and immigration security is adequate to protect the safety and security of the American people.

    ‘’Earlier this year, the President signed Executive Order 13780, which asked the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop a new minimum baseline for how much information sharing with foreign nations is required to determine whether their nationals seeking entry into the United States present security threats to our nation,” she said.

    ‘’The new baseline furthers the aims of the Executive Order by ensuring our border and immigration security is adequate to protect the safety and security of the American people.

    “New requirements on issuing electronic passports, sharing criminal data, reporting lost and stolen passports, and sharing more information on travelers will help better verify the identities and national security risks of people trying to enter the United States,’’ she added.

    She noted that foreign governments will have to work with the United States to identify serious criminals and known or suspected terrorists, as well as share identity-related information and exemplars of documents such as IDs and passports.

  • US warplanes fly off North Korea coast in new show of force

    US bombers and fighter escorts flew off the coast of North Korea Saturday in a show of force against its nuclear weapons program, escalating already sky-high tensions.

    The hermit state’s foreign minister meanwhile derided Donald Trump as “mentally deranged” at the United Nations, while the US president fired back on Twitter with fresh threats.

    The latest exchange of bellicose rhetoric comes as international alarm mounts over Pyongyang’s weapons ambitions — including a suggestion this week that the country is considering detonating an H-bomb over the Pacific.

    US bombers have carried out similar flights before, as the United States and the international community struggle to rein in North Korea’s weapons programs.

    But in a new stage for such show-of-force operations, the Pentagon stressed this was the furthest north of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas that any US fighter or bomber has flown off North Korea’s coast in this century.

    “This mission is a demonstration of US resolve and a clear message that the president has many military options to defeat any threat,” Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said.

    “We are prepared to use the full range of military capabilities to defend the US homeland and our allies.”

    The Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers flown Saturday are based in Guam, and were accompanied by F-15C Eagle fighter escorts from Okinawa, Japan, White said. They flew over international waters off the east coast of North Korea.

    There was another reason for concern after an underground rumble near North Korea’s nuclear test site. China at first said it suspected an explosion.

    But it was later ruled by a nuclear test ban watchdog and other experts to be a shallow 3.5-magnitude earthquake and likely an aftershock from the hermit state’s latest nuclear test on September 3.

    This week saw a blistering war of words between Kim and Trump, with the US leader using his maiden speech at the United Nations General Assembly to warn that Washington would “totally destroy” the North if America or its allies were threatened.

  • Putin condemns North Korea nuclear test, sues for calm

    Putin condemns North Korea nuclear test, sues for calm

    Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday that Pyongyang’s claim it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb was a threat to regional peace and issued an appeal for calm.

    North Korea’s sixth and most powerful nuclear test “torpedoes the global non-proliferation regime, violates UN Security Council resolutions and international law, and creates a threat for regional peace and stability,” Putin said in a phone call with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, according to the Kremlin.

    Putin said the crisis on the Korean peninsula problems “should be resolved only by political and diplomatic means,” a Kremlin statement said.

    The international community “should not yield to emotions, (but) act in a calm and balanced manner”, he added.

    Earlier, the Russian foreign ministry said Pyongyang’s “disregard” of UN Security Council resolutions and international law deserved “the strongest condemnation”.

    The ministry said it regretted that the leadership of North Korea was “creating a serious threat” for the region and warned that “the continuation of such a line is fraught with serious consequences” for Pyongyang.

    “We call on all interested parties to immediately return to dialogue and negotiations as the only possible way for an overall settlement of the problems of the Korean peninsula,” it said.

    The ministry said Moscow remained committed to a joint Russian-Chinese proposal that would see Pyongyang halt weapons tests in return for the United States suspending military exercises in the region.

  • Trump says ‘appeasement’ will not work after North Korea nuke test

    Trump says ‘appeasement’ will not work after North Korea nuke test

    US President Donald Trump declared Sunday that “appeasement with North Korea” will not work, after Pyongyang claimed it had successfully tested a missile-ready hydrogen bomb.

    “North Korea has conducted a major Nuclear Test,” Trump said. “Their words and actions continue to be very hostile and dangerous to the United States.”

    His comments came hours after the US Geological Survey picked up a 6.3 magnitude “explosion” in North Korea, which Pyongyang confirmed was a nuclear test, its sixth.

    The isolated regime said this one was of a hydrogen bomb that could be fitted atop a ballistic missile, sharply raising the stakes in a US-North Korea confrontation.

    Trump last month threatened North Korea with “fire and fury” if it continued to threaten the United States, but he refrained from direct threats in his latest tweets.

    “South Korea is finding, as I have told them, that their talk of appeasement with North Korea will not work, they only understand one thing!” he said.

    “North Korea is a rogue nation which has become a great threat and embarrassment to China, which is trying to help but with little success.”

  • North Korea nuclear test rocks parts of China

    North Korea’s nuclear test Sunday was widely felt in northeast China and rocked some cities for as long as eight seconds, according to reports and accounts on social media.

    The tremor was felt as far away as the city of Changchun around 400 km (250 miles) northwest of the North’s test site at Punggye-ri, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

    In the small city of Yanji, some 20 km from the border, some people reported the shaking was so intense that they fled their homes.

    Jiemiao Cangxin, a commentator on the Chinese microblog Weibo, said his building swayed so much that “I put my underpants on and I just ran, and when I reached the first floor I can say I wasn’t the only one running away with just my underpants on!”

    “In Yanji, we felt the shaking for ten seconds,” said Weibo user Buziranshaonv.

    “I was lying down and sleeping when the tremor woke me up. At first, I thought it was a dream,” said another.

    The test, North Korea’s sixth, was substantially larger than previous ones, measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale according to US monitors.

    That would make it between five to six times larger than Pyongyang’s previous effort in September last year, according to South Korea’s weather agency.

    The North called it a test of a hydrogen bomb which was a “perfect success”.

    Reports of the explosion also provoked widespread concern further away in China, with many commentators speculating about the timing of the event — just hours before Chinese President Xi Jinping is due to open a summit of BRICs nations in southern China.

    “An earthquake happened in North Korea, everyone thinks at once it is a nuclear test,” said one user, cheekily adding “is it a form of greetings for the summit in Xiamen?”

    AFP

  • North Korea fires three missiles into sea

    North Korea has fired three short-range ballistic missiles, the United States military said on Saturday.

    They were launched from a site in the North Korean province of Gangwon and flew for about 250km (150 miles), officials in South Korea said.

    Since firing an intercontinental ballistic weapon last month, Pyongyang has threatened to aim missiles at the U.S Pacific territory of Guam, the BBC reports.

    But this latest test did not threaten the U.S or Guam, the U.S military said.

    North Korean missile tests often come in response to South Korean military exercises involving the U.S.

    Thousands of U.S and South Korean troops are currently taking part in joint military drills, which are mainly largely computer-simulated exercises.

    The projectiles were launched at 06:49 on Saturday (21:49 GMT Friday), South Korea’s defence ministry said.

    The U.S military initially reported that two of the missiles had failed but, according to its later assessment, one appears to have blown up almost immediately while two flew about 250km (155 miles) in a north-easterly direction.

    The launches were spread over a period of 30 minutes, an official said.

     

  • North Korea suspends missile threat to Guam

    North Korea suspends missile threat to Guam

    North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un said Tuesday he would suspend a planned missile strike near Guam, but warned the provocative move would go ahead in the event of further “reckless actions” by the Yankees, that is Washington.

    The North’s official KCNA news agency said Kim was briefed on the “plan for an enveloping fire at Guam” during an inspection on Monday of the Strategic Force command in charge of the nuclear-armed state’s missile units.

    But Kim said he would “watch a little more the foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees” before executing any order.

    If they “persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions on the Korean peninsula,” then North Korea would take action “as already declared,” he was quoted as saying.

    “In order to defuse the tensions and prevent the dangerous military conflict on the Korean peninsula, it is necessary for the US to make a proper option first,” he added.

    Some analysts suggested Kim’s comments opened a possible path to de-escalating a growing crisis fuelled by a bellicose war of words between US President Donald Trump and the North Korean leadership.

    Their recent exchanges were focused on a North Korean threat to fire a volley of four missiles over Japan towards the US territory of Guam, which hosts a number of strategic military bases.

    Kim’s remarks would appear to bring into play the large-scale military exercises held every year by South Korea and the United States that are expected to kick off later this month.

    The North has always denounced the drills as provocative rehearsals for invasion and has in the past offered a moratorium on further nuclear and missile testing in exchange for their cancellation — a trade-off promoted by Pyongyang’s main ally China, but repeatedly rejected by Washington and Seoul.

    Some analysts said Kim was seeking a similar quid-pro-quo this time around, using the Guam missile threat as leverage.

    “This is a direct invitation to talk reciprocal constraints on exercises and missile launches,” said Adam Mount, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.

    John Delury of Yonsei University in Seoul said Kim was “de-escalating, putting Guam plan on ice” — at least for now.

    “We are not out of the woods. Both sides need to keep taking steps to de-escalate in words and deed. Diplomacy needs to go in high gear,” he added.

    The United States and South Korea insist their annual joint exercises are purely defensive in nature and cannot be linked to the North’s missile programme, which violates a host of UN resolutions.

     

    NAN

  • Trump says military option against North Korea locked, loaded – Trump

    Trump says military option against North Korea locked, loaded – Trump

    US President Donald Trump on Friday said a military option against North Korea was “locked and loaded,” his latest salvo in an escalating war of words with Pyongyang’s nuclear-armed regime.

    “Military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely. Hopefully, Kim Jong Un will find another path!” Trump tweeted.

    The tensions continue to escalate between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, prompting fears that a devastating nuclear war could be imminent.

    Yet, a UK government insider told the Sun: “The Americans are more than capable of doing what they might want, or have to do, in the region without our help.”

    The defiant statement came amid claims China will intervene if America attacks North Korea first – and will only stay neutral if Kim Jong-un launches initial missiles.

    The secretive state revealed on the country’s news channel some of the significant details of the strike, believed to be carried out in ‘mid August’, as thousands took to the streets of Pyongyang to support the statement.

  • Trump disappointed in China for doing ‘nothing’ on North Korea

    Donald Trump expressed his disappointment at China for failing to stop North Korea despite making “hundreds of billions of dollars in trade”.

    The US President has long accused China of profiting at the expense of America and refusing to stop North Korea’s nuclear programme.

    Pyongyang, which this week held another successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile—that analysts said could mean the US mainland is now within range—counts China as its sole major ally.

    Trump accused “our foolish past leaders” of allowing the situation to unfold and tweeted that “we will no longer allow this to continue”.

    He said on Twitter, late on Saturday night: “I am very disappointed in China. Our foolish past leaders have allowed them to make hundreds of billions of dollars a year in trade, yet they do NOTHING for us with North Korea, just talk.

    “We will no longer allow this to continue. China could easily solve this problem!”