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China is as likely to stop Pyongyang’s nuclear arms programme as the US is to halt its sale of weapons to Taiwan.
- PM Fumio Kishida hopes to address North Korea’s recent missile launches and resolve the issue of Japanese nationals seized by Pyongyang in the 1970s and 1980s
- But Kim Jong-un will ‘simply refuse’ to engage, after his late father’s 2002 admission to the abductions proved a ‘disastrous miscalculation’, analysts say
Kim Jong-un was also shown images of Rome, Pearl Harbour and the US Navy’s Carl Vinson aircraft carrier taken by the spy satellite North Korea launched last week, state media claimed.
The meeting in Busan will address preparations for a three-nation summit, expected to be held by early next year.
North Korea’s space agency will soon send up more satellites to continue surveillance over South Korea and elsewhere, state media reported
The launch, as soon as Wednesday, would be North Korea’s third attempt to launch a military eye in the sky after two earlier failures this year, flying in the face of Seoul’s warnings and multiple UN resolutions.
The November 30 launch in tandem with SpaceX is the first of five spy satellites Seoul plans to put into orbit by 2025 to form its own surveillance system over North Korea.
Choe Su-yong, a former intelligence official claims that Kim Jong-un introduced his daughter to Dennis Rodman saying in Korean that ‘jeo-ae’ (that girl) is his daughter. The basketball player misunderstood ‘jeo-ae’ as her name.
The United States and allies South Korea and Japan have condemned what they say is the flow of arms and military equipment from North Korea to Russia.
The North lashed out over the move, warning that it could cause a military clash in the Korean peninsula similar to those in the Middle East and Europe.
North Korea’s state media in the last week announced ‘farewell visits’ by 4 of its ambassadors, with experts warning more such diplomatic departures are likely.
In their first talks in nearly a year, special envoys from Beijing and Washington address Pyongyang’s military support for Moscow.
Aircraft detected an unidentified vessel stranded in the sea near the border and dispatched a patrol boat with food and water.
Calls in Washington to prepare for simultaneous wars with Russia and China were an ‘extremely risky’ sign, state media said, while emphasising the ‘self-defensive’ nature of Pyongyang’s own nuclear programme.
South Korea’s defence establishment has been closely monitoring the Israel-Hamas war, amid concerns Pyongyang could copy Hamas by using its massive stockpile of weapons to launch a surprise attack.
A spokesman for Pyongyang’s nuclear industry described an IAEA resolution calling for the North to curb its nuclear programmes as a ‘result of conspiracy’ by the US and its allies.
The US neglected to ensure the safety of the Cuban mission, an unnamed North Korean spokesman claimed, referring to Molotov cocktails thrown at the embassy on September 24, which US security adviser Jake Sullivan promised would be investigated.
Following Kim Jong-un’s visit to Russia this month, North Korea could arm Russia in exchange for a technology transfer to boost the North’s nuclear arsenal.
The world’s nuclear powers are boosting investment in their arsenals, with China in particular increasing its stockpile from 350 to 410 warheads.
Readers discuss the implications of the meeting of the leaders of North Korea and Russia, and lessons from history on Russia’s military outcomes.
The president said Seoul and its allies would not stand idly by if Moscow helped Pyongyang enhance its weapons programmes in return for help in the Ukraine war.
Kim Jong-un received the gifts, including special clothing not detectable by thermal cameras, at the end of his longest foreign trip since taking power in 2011.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and dramatically increased tensions over Taiwan and North Korea have boosted global arms manufacturing.
He visited a number of workshops including that of Russia’s Sukhoi Superjet 100, and watched a demonstration flight of the Su – 35, nodding with approval.
The National Security Council also said it was taking seriously the 2 countries’ discussions on military cooperation, including the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles.
How Kim Jong-un, currently in Russia to meet Vladimir Putin, maintains command and control over his country’s missile and nuclear forces while abroad is unclear.
Experts suggest Kim is in search of advanced satellite technology, nuclear-powered submarines and food aid, while the Russian president reportedly seeks weapons from North Korea.
