Latest news with #Koreas
Muscat Daily
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Muscat Daily
North Korea says US should abandon denuclearisation push
North Korea on Tuesday urged the US to abandon any attempts to persuade it to abandon its nuclear weapons programme. US President Donald Trump, who began his second term in January, is interested in resuming talks with North Korea on denuclearisation. During his first term in the years of 2018 and 2019, Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times in Singapore, Vietnam and at the demilitarised zone (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas. Although the Trump administration wanted North Korea to give up its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief, no deal was struck between the two sides and Pyongyang continues to advance its nuclear aspirations. Trump-Kim relationship 'not bad' Kim's powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, said Trump's personal relationship with the North Korean leader is 'not bad'. However, she said if the US administration were to use the Trump-Kim relationship to push for North Korean denuclearisation, Pyongyang would consider it 'nothing but a mockery'. 'If the US fails to accept the changed reality and persists in the failed past, the DPRK-US meeting will remains as a 'hope' of the US side,' Kim Yo Jong said, using the acronym for North Korea's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Kim Yo Jong's remarks suggest that North Korea is ruling out complete denuclearisation as an option if talks are relaunched with the US. Trump seeking same objectives A White House official told Reuters news agency that Trump is still seeking the same objectives in regards to North Korea as he did in the first term. 'The president retains those objectives and remains open to engaging with Leader Kim to achieve a fully denuclearised North Korea,' the unnamed US official told Reuters. During Trump's first term, the president had sometimes an unusually friendly relationship with Kim after a tense start, with Trump saying the two leaders 'fell in love'. After nuclear negotiations broke down in October 2019, the two leaders began exchanging insults, with North Korea in December of that year threatening to call him a 'dotard'. How the ties evolved? Since Trump's first term from 2017 to 2021, US and North Korea ties have grown more fraught. Trump's successor, Joe Biden, did not continue the flashy diplomatic engagements with Kim that were a feature of Trump's first administration. Instead, the Biden administration chose to deepen ties with South Korea and Japan in a bid to further isolate Pyongyang. North Korea, meanwhile, has been growing closer with Russia since it launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. North Korea has sent weapons and troops to assist Russia's assault, with Moscow in turn backing North Korea's nuclear programme. The US firmly opposed the invasion of Ukraine during Biden's term, with Trump in his second term also pushing Russia to commit to a ceasefire and end the conflict. DW
The Diplomat
10 hours ago
- Politics
- The Diplomat
North Korea Rejects Denuclearization Talks With US
A day after delivering a statement laying out Pyongyang's mistrust of the South Korean government – despite the change in administrations – Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the main voice on inter-Korean relations, said that the United States should change its stance on North Korea should it want to make a contact. 'If the U.S. fails to accept the changed reality and persists in the failed past, the DPRK-U.S. meeting will remain as a 'hope' of the U.S. side,' Kim said in the statement published on July 29 by the North's state-controlled Korean Central News Agency. (DPRK is an acronym of North Korea's official name: Democratic People's Republic of Korea.) While downplaying a White House official's praise of U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts in 2018 and 2019 to defuse tensions on the Korean Peninsula by holding summit meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore, Vietnam, and the Demilitarized Zone of the two Koreas, Kim also indicated that Pyongyang would not accept any offers of dialogue as long as Trump takes a same approach that he used last time. 'It is worth taking into account the fact that the year 2025 is neither 2018 nor 2019,' Kim said. Two years ago, North Korea encoded the policy of building up its nuclear arsenal in its constitution through a key ruling party meeting. In doing so, North Korea made clear that its nuclear status is unchangeable and its nuclear weapons program can not be a bargaining chip at the negotiating table. This development came after Trump walked out of the Hanoi summit in 2019 without reaching a deal with Kim Jong Un. Just as the U.S. and South Korea have solidified their views that North Korea will never denuclearize due to its growing aggression in pursuing advanced nuclear weapons in the past few years, Pyongyang's mistrust over Washington and Seoul's approaches to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula was cemented due to Trump's offer to make a big deal – which is also called an 'all for all' approach – during the summit meeting with Kim in Hanoi in 2019. Also, as the U.S. and South Korea have consistently carried out extensive joint military drills, which are deemed as 'invasion rehearsal' by North Korea, Pyongyang's bid to build more advanced nuclear weapons for the safety of the Kim regime has only accelerated. 'The recognition of the irreversible position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state and the hard fact that its capabilities and geopolitical environment have radically changed should be a prerequisite for predicting and thinking everything in the future.' Kim Yo Jong said. 'No one can deny the reality and should not misunderstand.' In light of what Kim said in her statements published on July 28 and 29, Pyongyang clearly showed what can be considered as its minimum condition for renewing dialogue with Washington and Seoul. According to Kim, the U.S. and South Korea should recognize North Korea as a nuclear state and recalibrate their policies in order to restore inter-Korean relations and resume the deadlocked nuclear talks. In other words, the conventional approaches of the U.S. and South Korea to entice North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons should be scrapped preemptively. 'Any attempt to deny the position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state, which was established along with the existence of a powerful nuclear deterrent and fixed by the supreme law reflecting the unanimous will of all the DPRK people, will be thoroughly rejected,' Kim said. Unlike her belligerent statement toward Seoul, in which she said Pyongyang had 'no interest' in diplomacy, Kim slightly opened the possibility of the North Korean leader meeting with Trump in the future. She said that 'the personal relationship between the head of our state and the present U.S. president is not bad.' However, she also clearly described denuclearization as a pointless concept that can be interpreted as 'nothing.' It is uncertain whether Trump can recalibrate U.S. policy on North Korea by scrapping the decades-old goal of the denuclearization of North Korea and instead pursuing a nuclear freeze or arms control in talks with Pyongyang. According to policymakers and government officials in Washington, the U.S. strategic goal – meaning the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula – will not change as long as it pursues nonproliferation. Also, even though Trump once called North Korea 'a nuclear power,' that does not imply the possibility of the U.S. government firmly recognizing North Korea as a legitimate nuclear state. Kang Yoo-jeong, a spokesperson of the South Korean Presidential Office, reiterated Seoul's stance to build a Korean Peninsula where the two Koreas have no reason to fight each other during her press briefing on Tuesday. Highlighting the KCNA's publication of Kim's statements two days in a row, Kang also mentioned that the Presidential Office views the restoration of bilateral trust between the two Koreas as the priority to handle, considering Kim's hostile remarks toward the Lee government.
DW
15 hours ago
- Politics
- DW
North Korea says US should abandon denuclearization push – DW – 07/29/2025
US President Donald Trump is seeking fresh talks with North Korea on its nuclear program, returning to the direct engagement seen during his first term. Kim's powerful sister has said denuclearization is off the table. North Korea on Tuesday urged the US to abandon any attempts to persuade it to abandon its nuclear weapons program. US President Donald Trump, who began his second term in January, is interested in resuming talks with North Korea on denuclearization. During his first term in the years of 2018 and 2019, Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times in Singapore, Vietnam and at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas. Although the Trump administration wanted North Korea to give up its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, no deal was struck between the two sides and Pyongyang continues to advance its nuclear aspirations. Kim's powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, said Trump's personal relationship with the North Korean leader is "not bad." However, she said if the US administration were to use the Trump-Kim relationship to push for North Korean denuclearization, Pyongyang would consider it "nothing but a mockery." "If the US fails to accept the changed reality and persists in the failed past, the DPRK-US meeting will remains as a 'hope' of the US side," Kim Yo Jong said, using the acronym for North Korea's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Kim Yo Jong's remarks suggest that North Korea is ruling out complete denuclearization as an option if talks are relaunched with the US. A White House official told Reuters news agency that Trump is still seeking the same objectives in regards to North Korea as he did in the first term. "The president retains those objectives and remains open to engaging with Leader Kim to achieve a fully denuclearized North Korea," the unnamed US official told Reuters. During Trump's first term, the president had sometimes a unusually friendly relationship with Kim after a tense start, with Trump saying the two leaders "fell in love." After nuclear negotiations broke down in October 2019, the two leaders began exchanging insults, with North Korea in December of that year threatening to call him a "dotard." Since Trump's first term from 2017 to 2021, US and North Korea ties have grown more fraught. Trump's successor, Joe Biden, did not continue the flashy diplomatic engagements with Kim that were a feature of Trump's first administration. Instead, the Biden administration chose to deepen ties with South Korea and Japan in a bid to further isolate Pyongyang. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video North Korea, meanwhile, has been growing closer with Russia since it launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. North Korea has sent weapons and troops to assist Russia's assault, with Moscow in turn backing North Korea's nuclear program. The US firmly opposed the invasion of Ukraine during Biden's term, with Trump in his second term also pushing Russia to commit to a ceasefire and end the conflict.
Newsweek
18 hours ago
- General
- Newsweek
China's Submarine Rescue Ship Detected Sailing Toward Russia
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A Chinese naval vessel designed to rescue submarines in distress was spotted last week while transiting waters near Japan—a key ally of the United States in Northeast Asia—and apparently en route to Russia. The presence of the Chinese submarine rescue ship coincided with Russian naval drills that spanned the Northern Hemisphere, including the Pacific Ocean, from July 23-27. Newsweek has contacted both China's defense and foreign ministries for comment via email. Why It Matters Japan forms part of the first island chain—alongside Taiwan and the Philippines—under a U.S. containment strategy aimed at limiting China's military activities across the Western Pacific. Tokyo routinely reports Chinese aircraft and ships operating near its territory. China, which operates the world's largest navy by hull count, with more than 370 ships and submarines, has been expanding its military presence beyond the first island chain and into the second, formed in part by the U.S. territories of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. In June, two Chinese aircraft carriers operated simultaneously in the broader Western Pacific in a sign of Beijing's maturing operations in what it calls the "far seas." What To Know The Joint Staff Office of Japan's Defense Ministry said a Chinese navy Dakai-class submarine rescue vessel with the hull number 841 was observed sailing in the East China Sea on July 24, marking the first time the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force had identified the ship. On Friday, the Chinese naval vessel passed through the Tsushima Strait and entered the Sea of Japan—known as the East Sea in the two Koreas—according to the report. The Sea of Japan borders the Korean Peninsula, the Japanese archipelago and Russia's Far East. The vessel, also known as the Type 927 submarine support ship, is one of three ships of its class built by China, according to Australia-based naval analyst Alex Luck, who writes about Chinese naval developments for the specialist outlet Naval News. "The Chinese Navy has been significantly expanding their submarine salvage capability with two new designs," Luck told Newsweek, referring to the Dakai and Dafeng ship classes. A Chinese Dakai-class submarine rescue vessel transits the East China Sea on July 24, 2025. A Chinese Dakai-class submarine rescue vessel transits the East China Sea on July 24, 2025. Joint Staff of Japan's Defense Ministry Luck described both classes as large, modern vessels that considerably enhance the "capability and range for Chinese submarine salvage and support operations." Given the significant expansion and ongoing modernization of China's submarine fleet, he said it was "very much plausible" that a submarine was part of the Dakai-class vessel's deployment. In its latest report on China's military development, the Pentagon assessed that the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)—the official name of China's navy—has "highly prioritized" the modernization of its submarine fleet, which is expected to grow from 60 to 80 vessels by 2035. What People Are Saying Australia-based naval analyst Alex Luck told Newsweek: "Generally speaking, the Chinese navy would want to ensure their logistics support chain in the context of significantly expanded submarine operations particularly for the nuclear-powered fleet. Therefore this deployment is yet another sign of things to come." The Pentagon said in its 2024 China military power report: "The PLAN operates six nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBN), six nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSN), and 48 diesel powered/air-independent powered attack submarines (SS). Despite the ongoing retirement of older hulls, the PLAN's submarine force is expected to grow to 65 units by 2025 and 80 units by 2035 due to an expansion of submarine construction capacity." What Happens Next It remains to be seen whether the Japanese military will detect the Chinese submarine rescue ship on its return journey—or even track a Chinese submarine operating near its territory.
The Sun
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
North Korea rejects South's peace moves as ‘great miscalculation'
SEOUL: North Korea has dismissed South Korea's recent peace overtures as a 'great miscalculation,' with Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of leader Kim Jong Un, stating Pyongyang has no interest in dialogue. The remarks mark the first official response to South Korean President Lee Jae Myung's attempts to ease tensions. Kim Yo Jong, a senior official in the ruling Workers' Party, criticized Lee's commitment to the South Korea-U.S. alliance, saying it proves he is no different from his predecessor. 'If South Korea expects to reverse all the consequences of its actions with a few sentimental words, there could be no greater miscalculation than that,' she said in a statement carried by state media. Lee, who took office in June, has sought to improve strained ties by halting anti-North propaganda broadcasts and banning activist leaflets. However, Kim dismissed these gestures as mere reversals of hostile actions that should never have occurred. 'We again make clear the official position that whatever policy is established in Seoul or proposal is made, we are not interested,' she said. South Korea's Unification Ministry acknowledged the deep distrust between the two sides but pledged to continue efforts for reconciliation. 'The wall of distrust between the South and the North is very high as a result of hostile and confrontational policy over the past few years,' a ministry spokesperson said. Despite the North's rejection, Seoul remains cautiously optimistic, noting Pyongyang's earlier decision to silence its own propaganda loudspeakers. Meanwhile, North Korea marked the Korean War armistice anniversary with a military parade in Pyongyang, though state media did not report leader Kim Jong Un's attendance. The two Koreas technically remain at war, as the 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. - Reuters
