Japan shrine visit angers South Korea

Seoul cancels visit by foreign minister after Taro Aso, deputy prime minister under Shinzo Abe, leads trip to war memorial

Taro Aso, Japan's deputy prime minister and finance minister, bows at the Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo. Photograph: AFP/Getty

South Korea has abruptly cancelled a trip to Tokyo by its foreign minister in protest at visits to a controversial war shrine over the weekend by Japanese cabinet ministers, including the deputy prime minister.

China’s North Korea Envoy Will Visit U.S. for Talks

By JANE PERLEZ and BREE FENG

Published: April 19, 2013

BEIJING — China’s special envoy on North Korea, Wu Dawei, will visit Washington early next week to conduct talks with American officials, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.

The visit was announced after Secretary of State John Kerry said in Beijing last week that China had a vital role to play in helping rid North Korea of its nuclear weapons.

Posted on Monday, 04.22.13Posted on Monday, 04.22.13
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN The Associated Press
 

BEIJING -- China's top general said Monday that a fourth North Korean nuclear weapons test is a possibility that underscores the need for fresh talks between Pyongyang and other regional parties.
Chief of the General Staff Gen. Fang Fenghui said Beijing firmly opposes the North's nuclear weapons program and wants to work with others on negotiations to end it. He said Beijing's preference is for a return to long-stalled disarmament talks involving the two Koreas, China, Russia, Japan and the U.S.
"We ask all sides to work actively to work on the North Koreans to stop nuclear tests and stop producing nuclear weapons," Fang told reporters. "We believe that dialogue should be the right solution."

 

China bird flu cases now at 102

By Melissa Gray and Paul Armstrong, CNN

updated 5:38 AM EDT, Mon April 22, 2013 

Chinese health workers collect bags of dead chickens at the Huhai wholesale market on April 5.

Bird flu scare spreads in China

 102, including 20 deaths, the World Health Organization announced.

Seventy patients remain hospitalized with the virus. The WHO said there is still no evidence of human-to-human transmission.

So far the virus has mainly affected eastern China, with 11 deaths and 33 infection cases reported in Shanghai, 24 cases, including three deaths, in Jiangsu Province, 38 cases, including five deaths, in Zhejiang Province, while Anhui Province has confirmed three cases, with one ending in death.

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April 11, 2013

Report on 3 in China Who Died From Bird Flu Points to Severity of Strain

By DENISE GRADY

A report on three of the first patients in China to contract a new strain of bird flu paints a grim portrait of severe pneumonia, septic shock and other complications that damaged the brain, kidney and other organs. All three died.

So far, the disease has killed 10 people in China and has sickened more than 20 others in the last two months, and new cases are reported every day. The illness is caused by a virus called H7N9 that patients contract from birds but that does not seem to spread from person to person.

The new report, by a team of researchers from China, was published Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine along with a commentary from American health officials, who said the disease “raises many urgent questions and global public health concerns.”

During a telephone news briefing on Thursday, Nancy J. Cox, of the influenza division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that several features of H7N9 were particularly troubling: it causes severe disease, it has genetic traits that help it infect mammals and humans probably have no resistance to it.

Because it does not seem to make birds sick, its presence in flocks may go unrecognized until people start to get sick. In addition, Dr. Cox said, it may be difficult to make an effective vaccine. Past efforts to produce vaccines against related viruses were unsuccessful.

Many questions about the virus remain. Researchers are not sure how deadly it is because they do not know how many people have been infected. The worst cases become obvious, but if some people have mild symptoms or none at all, many cases could go undetected.

Richard Webby, of the infectious diseases department at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, who was not involved in the report from China or the commentary, said in an interview that compared with other types of bird flu, H7N9 was the most worrisome he had seen because it seemed the most capable of infecting humans.

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April 11, 2013

Kerry Heads to Asia to Reassure Allies of U.S. Support

By MICHAEL R. GORDON

MANAS, Kyrgyzstan — With tensions on high in the Korean Peninsula, Secretary of State John Kerry arrives in South Korea on Friday in an attempt to reassure American allies in the region that the United States remains committed to their defense.

Besides stops in South Korea and Japan, Mr. Kerry will also visit China to urge officials there to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program, according to a senior State Department official traveling with Mr. Kerry.

Asia is the final leg of Mr. Kerry’s six-nation trip, which has already taken him to Turkey, Israel and Britain, where he attended a meeting of the Group of 8 industrialized nations in London. His trip comes as the government of Kim Jong-un has been making preparations to conduct a test launching of a medium-range Musudan missile with a potential range of 2,500 miles.

The State Department official said that the United States wanted China to crack down on the illicit flow of funds that move through front companies and banks and that the North Korean government uses to support its nuclear weapons program.

“We want to see them do what we do, what the Japanese do, what the South Koreans do, which is to stick to U.N. Security Council resolutions,” the official said, and “stop those money trails.”

The second step the United States wants the Chinese to take is to “carry some tough message to Pyongyang and make it clear to them that denuclearization is also their goal,” the official said.

Complicating the situation, the United States does not have a good sense of how decisions are being made in Pyongyang.

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April 11, 2013

South Korea Moves to Defuse Tensions With the North

By CHOE SANG-HUN

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea appeared to ease its stance on North Korea on Thursday by calling for dialogue to help defuse tensions, as its president moved to calm foreign inv

estors whose confidence the North has tried to shake with increasingly belligerent maneuvers.

“We hope the North Korean authorities come out to the dialogue table,” Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae, South Korea’s point man on the North, said in a nationally televised statement that deplored the North’s recent decision to suspend the operation of an industrial park the two Koreas have run together for eight years in the North Korean town of Kaesong. “We strongly urge North Korea not to stoke the crisis on the Korean Peninsula any further.”

Mr. Ryoo stopped short of calling his statement an official proposal for dialogue. But it was a considerable softening in tone by President Park Geun-hye's government.

Until now, South Korea has categorically rejected any early dialogue with the North, believing that doing so amid a torrent of North Korean threats to attack the South would amount to capitulation and would only embolden the North’s brinkmanship. On Monday, Mr. Ryoo said the South had no intention of talking with North Korea anytime soon because it was unlikely to bring about "concrete results." On Tuesday, Ms. Park vowed to end a "vicious cycle" of South Korea's answering North Korea's hostilities with compromise.

“Rather than being an offer for dialogue, this is a public declaration that the problem of the Kaesong industrial complex and the North’s escalating belligerent acts should be resolved through dialogue,” Mr. Ryoo said on Thursday after reading his statement.

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April 11, 2013

Pentagon Says Nuclear Missile Is in Reach for North Korea

By THOM SHANKER, DAVID E. SANGER and ERIC SCHMITT

WASHINGTON — A new assessment by the Pentagon’s intelligence arm has concluded for the first time, with “moderate confidence,” that North Korea has learned how to make a nuclear weapon small enough to be delivered by a ballistic missile.

The assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency, which has been distributed to senior administration officials and members of Congress, cautions that the weapon’s “reliability will be low,” apparently a reference to the North’s difficulty in developing accurate missiles or, perhaps, to the huge technical challenges of designing a warhead that can survive the rigors of flight and detonate on a specific target.

The assessment’s existence was disclosed Thursday by Representative Doug Lamborn, Republican of Colorado, three hours into a budget hearing of the House Armed Services Committee with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin E. Dempsey. General Dempsey declined to comment on the assessment because of classification issues.

But late Thursday, the director of national intelligence, James R. Clapper Jr., released a statement saying that the assessment did not represent a consensus of the nation’s intelligence community and that “North Korea has not yet demonstrated the full range of capabilities necessary for a nuclear armed missile.”

In another sign of the administration’s deep concern over the release of the assessment, the Pentagon press secretary, George Little, issued a statement that sought to qualify the conclusion from the Defense Intelligence Agency, which has primary responsibility for monitoring the missile capabilities of adversary nations but which a decade ago was among those that argued most vociferously — and incorrectly — that Iraq had nuclear weapons.

Patriot missiles installed in Tokyo on N. Korea threat

© AFP

Japan has deployed Patriot missiles in the capital Tokyo, officials said on Tuesday, as a defensive measure to protect the area’s 30 million residents against the threat of attack by North Korea.By News Wires (text)

 

Japan has deployed Patriot missiles in its capital as it readies to defend the 30 million people who live in greater Tokyo from any North Korean attack, officials said Tuesday.
Two Patriot Advanced Capability-3 surface-to-air missile launchers were stationed at the defence ministry in Tokyo before dawn, a ministry spokesman said, while Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera said "we are proceeding with measures including deployment of PAC-3 as we are on alert".
Local reports said batteries would be deployed in another two locations in the greater Tokyo area.
"The government is making utmost efforts to protect our people's lives and ensure their safety," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters Tuesday morning.
"As North Korea keeps making provocative comments, Japan, cooperating with relevant countries, will do what we have to do.

South Korea raises military alert level

By News Wires (text)South Korea raised its military alert level on Wednesday upon intelligence that North Korea was preparing two mid-range missiles for a possible launch. The move comes amid weeks of mounting tensions between the two countries.

South Korea raised its military watch alert to "vital threat" Wednesday ahead of an expected North Korean missile launch, as UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned the Korean peninsula may be slipping out of control.
South Korean intelligence says the North had prepared two mid-range missiles for imminent launch from its east coast, despite warnings from ally China to avoid provocative moves at a time of soaring military tensions.
Last week, North Korea told foreign diplomats in Pyongyang they had until April 10 to consider evacuation, fuelling speculation that a launch was planned between Wednesday and the April 15 birthday celebrations for founding leader Kim Il-Sung.
On Tuesday, the North reiterated a warning that the Korean peninsula was headed for "thermo-nuclear" war and advised foreigners to consider leaving South Korea.
In a further sign of the rising nuclear tensions, a key border crossing between North Korea and China has been closed to tourist groups, a Chinese official said Wednesday.
The South Korea-US Combined Forces Command raised its "Watchcon" status from 3 to 2 reflecting indications of a "vital threat", Yonhap news agency said, citing a senior military official.
Watchcon 4 is in effect during normal peacetime, while Watchcon 3 reflects indications of an important threat. Watchcon 1 is used in wartime.

Australia to tackle Japan on whaling at UN world court

Whales are dragged on board a Japanese ship after being harpooned in Antarctic waters in this undated photo released on February 7, 2008. Australia is to fire the opening salvoes in a legal battle before the United Nations' highest court in June aimed at stopping Japan's whaling research programme in Antarctica.

AFP - Australia is to fire the opening salvoes in a legal battle before the United Nations' highest court in June aimed at stopping Japan's whaling research programme in Antarctica.
"The International Court of Justice... will hold public hearings in the case concerning whaling in the Antarctic, Australia versus Japan, from Wednesday 26 June," the Hague-based ICJ said in a statement on Thursday.
Australia took Japan to court in May 2010 alleging that "Japan's continued pursuit" of a large-scale whaling programme, which Japan claimed as scientific research, put the Asian nation in breach of international conventions and its obligation to preserve "marine mammals and the marine environment".
Australia asked ICJ judges to order Japan to stop its whale research programme called "JARPA II", the second phase of its hunt on whales in Antarctica under a special permit.

Patriot missiles installed in Tokyo on N. Korea threat

By News Wires - Japan has deployed Patriot missiles in the capital Tokyo, officials said on Tuesday, as a defensive measure to protect the area’s 30 million residents against the threat of attack by North Korea.

Japan has deployed Patriot missiles in its capital as it readies to defend the 30 million people who live in greater Tokyo from any North Korean attack, officials said Tuesday.

Two Patriot Advanced Capability-3 surface-to-air missile launchers were stationed at the defence ministry in Tokyo before dawn, a ministry spokesman said, while Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera said "we are proceeding with measures including deployment of PAC-3 as we are on alert".

Local reports said batteries would be deployed in another two locations in the greater Tokyo area.

"The government is making utmost efforts to protect our people's lives and ensure their safety," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters Tuesday morning.

"As North Korea keeps making provocative comments, Japan, cooperating with relevant countries, will do what we have to do.

"For the moment, the most important thing is to implement sanctions under the UN Security Council resolutions," Abe said.

Tokyo's response thus far to the threats emanating from Pyongyang has been low key and Tuesday's moves are the most visible yet that it is rattled.

PAC-3 batteries will also be installed in the semi-tropical island chain of Okinawa, Onodera told a television programme broadcast Monday.

He said Okinawa was "the place that is most effective in responding to emergencies... so we should deploy the unit in Okinawa on a permanent basis".

Japan's armed forces are authorised to shoot down any North Korean missile headed towards its territory, a defence ministry spokesman said Monday.

South Korea blames North for bank and TV cyber-attacks

South Korean investigators say some of the
malware had been used in previous attacks

South Korean investigators say some of the malware had been used in previous attacks

South Korea has accused North Korean spies of masterminding a series of high-profile cyber-attacks last month.

Tens of thousands of computers were made to malfunction, disrupting work at banks and television broadcasters in the South.

Investigators in Seoul said they had discovered some of the code involved was identical to that used in malware previously linked to Pyongyang.

North Korea - A Country Never At Peace

The Soviet Union invested a great deal of time, effort and money in training the North Korean Army

The Soviet Union invested a great deal of time, effort and money in training the North Korean Army

The state of North Korea was born out of the Cold War conflict between communism and capitalism, a history from which it has never been able to escape.

At the end of WWII, Korea was liberated from decades of Japanese occupation and looked set to regain its independence, with the wartime allies - the US, China, Britain and the Soviet Union all supporting that goal.

Soviet and US forces occupied the two ends of the country in what was seen as a transition period ahead of democratic elections. The US remained in the South, while the Soviet Union occupied the North.

Is China ready to abandon North Korea?

China's state media has published dozens of photos showing Mr Xi glad-handing his counterparts from Australia, Cambodia and even Algeria.China's new President Xi Jinping appeared to be in sociable mood at the BOAO economic forum in the southern Chinese island of Hainan.

In contrast, China's supposed ally, North Korea, received the rhetorical equivalent of a rap on the knuckles.

"No one should be allowed to throw a region and even the whole world into chaos for selfish gains," Mr Xi warned during a speech at the opening of the forum.

The Chinese president did not mention any country by name, but it is widely believed that his words were aimed at Pyongyang.

South Korea has raised its alert level

South Korea has raised its alert level to "vital threat" amid indications the North is preparing for a missile test.

At least one ballistic missile with an estimated 3,000km (2,000-mile) range is fuelled and ready for launch, US and South Korean sources say.

Pyongyang has been making bellicose threats against South Korea, Japan and US bases in the region.

The threats follow tough new UN sanctions imposed on North Korea last month after its third nuclear test.

Separately, an initial investigation by the South into a major cyber attack last month that affected a number of banks and broadcasters has said the North is to blame.

6 April 2013 Last updated at 14:57 ET

China closes Nanjing market over H7N9 bird flu

 

A ban on live bird sales has been extended to the city of Nanjing

 

 

China has confirmed two fresh cases of bird flu in Shanghai, as it attempts to contain the latest outbreak of the virus in the east of the country.

There have now been 18 identified cases of infection of the H7N9 strain.

Japan and US agree on Okinawa land return

Agreement will return 570 hectares of land near air base and calls for relocating another base by 2022. Last Modified: 05 Apr 2013 18:58

Tensions over land use, crimes and disruptions by military flights on Okinawa had been building for years [Reuters]

Japan and the US have agreed on plans for returning to Japan land near Kadena Air Base on the southern island of Okinawa that is now used by US troops, in an effort to balance local concerns with support for the countries' military alliance.

North Korea's threats of war make Chinese neighbours nervous

Over the border from North Korea, residents of mountainous Kuandian county fear effects of conflict could spill over

 

North Korean and Chinese flags at a border crossing between the two countries. Photograph: Ng Han Guan/AP

Every time North Korea threatens a nuclear strike, Ge Weihan receives a frantic call from his mother. Although the 34-year-old filmmaker moved to Beijing years ago, his parents still live in a small Chinese village less than 25 miles (40km) from the insular nation.

5 April 2013 Last updated at 10:05 ET

South Korea 'deploys warships to track North missiles'

 

S Korea 'deploys warships to track N Korea missiles'

South Korea has deployed two warships with missile-defence systems, reports say, a day after the North apparently moved a missile to its east coast.

Military officials told South Korean media the two warships would be deployed on the east and west coasts.

Seoul has played down the North's missile move, saying it may be for a test rather than a hostile act.

6 April 2013 Last updated at 12:48 ET

North Korea: Embassies stay despite security warning

Pyongyang has been the scene of rallies in support of a declaration of war on South Korea and threats of nuclear strikes

Foreign embassies in the North Korean capital Pyongyang have played down warnings from Kim Jong-un's government over their safety.

On Friday North Korea warned it would not be able to guarantee the safety of embassy staff in the event of a war.