Beijing, China | AFP | As the United States and North Korea exchange fiery words over the regime’s growing weapons programme, China — the North’s biggest ally and trade partner — has receded into the background. Donald Trump had been publicly prodding China for months to use its influence on Pyongyang, …
Read More »Trump says US military ‘locked and loaded’ on N.Korea
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump on Friday turned up the heat on North Korea, warning Pyongyang that the US military is “locked and loaded” in the event of a misstep by the totalitarian state, despite mounting international calls for restraint. Trump launched another salvo at the regime …
Read More »Guam ‘well-equipped’ to handle North Korean threat: governor
Hagatna, UNITED STATES | AFP | Guam’s governor on Thursday said the US territory was “well-equipped” to handle any North Korean strike thanks to robust infrastructure that had survived earthquakes and typhoons, after Pyongyang released a detailed plan to launch missiles towards the island. A drumbeat of threats by North Korea …
Read More »North Korea: Trump fire talk singes Tillerson’s wings
Washington, UNITED STATES | AFP | Will the United States defeat the North Korean nuclear threat through “peaceful pressure” or “fire and fury”? This week US Secretary of State and diplomatic good cop Rex Tillerson was in southeast Asia, working with allies to isolate and cajole Kim Jong-Un’s regime. Meanwhile, back …
Read More »Possible scenarios for next stage of N. Korea crisis
Washington, UNITED STATES | AFP | The crisis over North Korea’s nuclear program deepened Thursday when US President Donald Trump underscored his threat to rain “fire and fury” on Kim Jong-Un’s regime by saying his apocalyptic warning perhaps “wasn’t tough enough.” The latest escalation in the stand-off has set the world …
Read More »N Korea war would be ‘catastrophic,’ diplomacy bearing fruit: Mattis
Washington, UNITED STATES | AFP | US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Thursday warned that war with North Korea would be “catastrophic” and said diplomatic efforts were yielding results. Speaking at an event in California, Mattis said his mission and responsibility was to have military options ready “should they be …
Read More »Trump: “fire and fury” warning to North Korea maybe not enough
Washington, UNITED STATES | AFP | President Donald Trump on Thursday hardened his warning that North Korea would face “fire and fury” if it kept threatening the US, saying maybe that tough talk “wasn’t tough enough.” However, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis later appeared to step back from the dire rhetoric …
Read More »UN hits N. Korea with tough new sanctions – but will they work?
United Nations, United States | AFP | In slapping its seventh set of sanctions on North Korea, the United Nations has adopted its toughest measures yet against the regime — but how effective they will be in changing Pyongyang’s behavior is another matter. Days after the UN unanimously approved the US-drafted …
Read More »North Korea hones Guam strike plans, mocks Trump
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | Nuclear-armed North Korea announced a detailed plan Thursday to send a salvo of four missiles over Japan and towards the US territory of Guam, raising the stakes in a stand-off with President Donald Trump and mocking him as “bereft of reason”. The scheme to target …
Read More »China warns against stoking Korea tensions after Trump ‘fury’
Beijing, China | AFP | China responded to US President Donald Trump’s apocalyptic “fire and fury” threat against North Korea by pointedly warning on Wednesday against any rhetoric that could inflame tensions over Pyongyang’s weapons programmes. Calling the situation on the Korean Peninsula “complicated and sensitive”, China’s foreign ministry issued a …
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