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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

US-N. Korea peace treaty would be 'disaster'

By Kim Jae-kyoungThe United States should never sign a peace treaty with North Korea just to control the reclusive country’s nuclear threats, experts on the North warned Wednesday.The warning comes after Pyongyang conducted its sixth nuclear test Sunday, the most powerful one to date, claiming it successfully exploded a hydrogen bomb that was small enough to be loaded onto its intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).With the North closer to becoming a nuclear weapons state, there is growing expectation that Pyongyang will demand a peace treaty with Washington by calling for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from South Korea and a guarantee of the regime’s security.The experts said such a move would be North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s strategy to delegitimize South Korea and make any affairs on the Korean Peninsula a U.S.-North Korea bilateral issue.“(The U.S.) signing a peace treaty with the North is just about the worst thing we could do,” Sean King, a New York-based political analyst and East Asia specialist, told The Korea Times. He pointed out

Sep 6, 2017
US-N. Korea peace treaty would be 'disaster'
  • 'No war on Korean Peninsula'
  • China should step up on North Korea

China should step up on North Korea

Vice Defense Minister Suh Choo-suk speaks during an interview with The Korea Times in his office at the Ministry of National Defense, Seoul, Tuesday. / Courtesy of Ministry of National DefenseVice defense minister calls for Beijing’s greater role in resolving tensions By Jun Ji-hyeChina should play a greater role in stopping North Korea from repeating its nuclear and missile tests, according to South Korea’s Vice Defense Minister Suh Choo-suk.Suh called for Beijing to cooperate with the international community more actively for additional, harsher sanctions on the North that conducted its sixth nuclear test Sunday in defiance of previous U.N. Security Council resolutions.“North Korea continues its strategic provocations despite sanctions and pressure. It has conducted six nuclear tests so far, and this year alone it has launched ballistic missiles 13 times,” Suh said during an interview with The Korea Times, Tuesday.“It is important for the international community to cooperate to prevent additional provocations, and I think China, which has a specia

Sep 6, 2017
China should step up on North Korea
  • US-N. Korea peace treaty would be 'disaster'

Additional THAAD launchers to be installed in S. Korea

The U.S. military will deploy additional missile interceptor launchers to its base in a southern town early Thursday despite strong opposition from residents and activists, according to local villagers.The residents' group in Seongju said Wednesday they have confirmed the information through various channels about the planned deployment of four launchers of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system at 2 a.m. on Thursday, in addition to two that are already installed."We think the authorities will notify the residents of the THAAD launcher installation plan this evening," the group said.They oppose the deployment, arguing the THAAD battery could turn the village, some 300 kilometers south of Seoul, into a military target, and that electromagnetic waves emanating from its powerful radar could cause health and environmental problems.Signs of the imminent deployment were detected in the morning when some 360 police troops -- much more than the usual 200 staff -- were dispatched to the THAAD deployment site apparently to prepare for possible clashes with protesters.The deploy

Sep 6, 2017
Additional THAAD launchers to be installed in S. Korea

'No war on Korean Peninsula'

South Korean Second Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun speaks at a forum hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Korea Foundation in Washington on Sept. 5. / YonhapSouth Korea cannot accept war as an option to deal with the North Korean nuclear threat, a senior Seoul diplomat said Tuesday in the wake of Pyongyang's sixth and most powerful atomic test.Second Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun reminded a forum here that Washington has repeatedly put "all options" on the table over North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.But war cannot be an option, he said."I understand the need to stress that all options are on the table," Cho told the forum hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Korea Foundation. "But we should be careful that this does not translate into an escalation of war or cause miscalculation of North Korea."Talk of war has persisted since U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to unleash "fire and fury" on Pyongyang following its two intercontinental ballistic missile tests in July."Given the calamity a war would

Sep 6, 2017
'No war on Korean Peninsula'
  • US focused on N. Korea's denuclearization, not talks: White House
  • US-N. Korea peace treaty would be 'disaster'

US will scrap missile payload limit

By Jun Ji-hyePresident Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump have agreed to lift the limit on the maximum weight of warheads to be mounted on South Korean ballistic missiles in an effort to boost Seoul’s self-defense capabilities.They reached the agreement during a telephone conversation late Monday following the North’s sixth nuclear test, Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday.The U.S. missile guidelines for South Korea, last revised in 2012, allowed the latter to develop a ballistic missile with a maximum range of 800 kilometers, but the payload for these missiles was not allowed to exceed 500 kilograms.“As an effective countermeasure, Presidents Moon and Trump agreed to remove the limit on the payload of South Korean ballistic missiles under the New Missile Guidelines,” presidential spokesman Park Soo-hyun said.The White House also said in a statement, “President Trump gave his in-principle approval to South Korea’s initiative to lift restrictions on their missile payload capabilities.”The decision was made upon the request of Moon. He first ra

Sep 5, 2017
  • Moon turning hawkish toward North Korea

Moon, Trump agree to lift warhead weight limit on S. Korean missiles to counter N. Korea provocation

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to remove the limit on the payload of South Korean missiles under the allies' missile guideline in a move to enhance South Korea's own defense capabilities against North Korean provocations, Seoul's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday.The agreement was reached in a telephone conversation between the two leaders held late Monday."President Moon held a telephone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump between 10:45 p.m. and 11:25 p.m. (Seoul time) and discussed countermeasures against North Korea's sixth nuclear test in-depth," Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Park Soo-hyun said in a press release.As an "effective" countermeasure, the two agreed to remove the limit on the payload of South Korean missiles under the Korea-U.S. missile guideline, he added.The agreement followed weeks of discussions between defense and foreign officials of the two countries to increase the weight of South Korean missile payloads as a way of beefing up deterrence against North Korean provocations. (Yonhap)

Sep 5, 2017
Moon, Trump agree to lift warhead weight limit on S. Korean missiles to counter N. Korea provocation
  • Moon pressed to ditch dialogue option

South Korea moving to build nuclear-powered submarines

With the Republic of Korea Navy currently operating the Type 209 and 214 submarines, the Moon Jae-in government is moving to build nuclear-powered submarines to better deter threats from North Korea’s submarine-launched ballistic missiles. / Graphic by Cho Sang-wonBy Jun Ji-hyeSouth Korea is moving in earnest to build the nation’s own nuclear-powered submarines as part of efforts to enhance its domestic defensive capabilities amid evolving threats from North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.The move is in line with President Moon Jae-in’s vow to better deal with North Korean submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) threats.During his presidential campaign, Moon said, “We need nuclear-powered submarines in this era,” pledging to make efforts to revise a nuclear cooperation deal between South Korea and the United States.In accordance with Moon’s aims, the Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy is working to commission a private institute to conduct a feasibility review for building such a sub.In an apparent bid to gain support from the U.S., which

Sep 4, 2017
South Korea moving to build nuclear-powered submarines

US will bring in strategic weapons

By Jun Ji-hyeThe militaries of South Korea and the United States are discussing holding joint war drills featuring various U.S. strategic assets following North Korea’s sixth nuclear test, South Korean officials said Monday.The U.S. military will bring in stealth fighter jets, heavy bombers and nuclear-powered aircraft carriers to South Korea for the “biggest-ever exercise” to retaliate against North Korea’s provocation, the officials said.Some of the drills will be aimed at striking the North’s key facilities and its leadership, including the young leader, Kim Jong-un.  On Sunday, Pyongyang claimed to have successfully tested a hydrogen bomb that can be mounted on its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The Kim regime has claimed its ICBM is capable of striking targets on the U.S. mainland.Following the large-scale provocation, Gen. Jeong Kyeong-doo, chairman of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), and his U.S. counterpart Gen. Joseph Dunford held a phone conversation and agreed to come up with “effective military responses

Sep 4, 2017

Moon pressed to ditch dialogue option

South Korea's military fires a Hyunmoo II ballistic missile during an exercise at an undisclosed location Monday. The military conducted a live-fire exercise simulating an attack on North Korea's nuclear test site to warn Pyongyang over its latest nuclear test. / AP-YonhapBy Kim Jae-kyoungPresident Moon Jae-in faces a dilemma with North Korea as he is running out of options to deal with the reclusive state following its sixth nuclear test Sunday.North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has rejected Moon’s peaceful overture, and U.S. President Donald Trump also believes Moon’s “talk of appeasement will not work.”Then, what options are left for Moon to rein in North Korea and defuse tensions on the Korean Peninsula?Unfortunately, there are very few as the Kim regime is wholly uninterested in anything President Moon has to say.Against this backdrop, experts said that Moon should take the dialogue option off the table for the moment and strengthen international cooperation to tighten sanctions against North Korea and deepen its diplomatic isolation.In particular, they

Sep 4, 2017
Moon pressed to ditch dialogue option
  • Moon, Trump agree to lift warhead weight limit on S. Korean missiles to counter N. Korea provocation

4 more THAAD launchers to be deployed soon

A military helicopter carries equipments to the THAAD deployment site in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, Monday. The military plans to resume the deployment following the completion of an environmental impact assessment. /YonhapBy Kim Se-jeongThe Ministry of National Defense said Monday the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) will soon deploy the remaining four anti-missile launchers of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province.Its announcement came hours after the Ministry of Environment gave the green light to the full deployment by concluding that the THAAD’s impact on people and the neighboring environment would be very small.“North Korea’s nuclear weapons technology is advancing and the threat of missiles is growing. After consultations with the U.S., we now announce that the remaining four launchers will be temporarily installed,” the ministry said in a statement.“We will carry out additional work on the site for the equipment already there and start a new environmental assessment on land next to the curre

Sep 4, 2017
4 more THAAD launchers to be deployed soon
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