WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States believes there is a “genuine possibility” that North Korea could conduct a nuclear test or other saber rattling while Joe Biden is on his first trip as president to Asia, a top US official said Wednesday. “Our intelligence does reflect the genuine possibility” of nuclear-capable missile tests or a nuclear weapon test around the time of Biden’s trip, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said. Biden departs […]
Tag: Nuclear
N. Korea completes preparation for nuclear weapon test: Seoul lawmaker
Seoul, SOUTH KOREA (AFP) — North Korea has completed preparations for a nuclear test and is seeking the best moment to carry it out, a South Korean lawmaker said Thursday, a day before US President Joe Biden is due to arrive in Seoul. Despite North Korea’s recent Covid-19 outbreak, “preparations for a nuclear test have been completed and they are only looking for the right time”, lawmaker Ha Tae-keung told reporters after being briefed by […]
South Korea’s Yoon calls on North to trade nukes for aid
by Sunghee Hwang Agence France Presse South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol called on the North to give up its nuclear weapons in exchange for massive economic aid at his swearing-in Tuesday, describing Pyongyang’s missiles as a threat to regional and global security. Yoon, 61, who started work in an underground bunker with a security briefing on North Korea, took office at a time of high tensions on the peninsula, with Pyongyang conducting a record […]
North Korea fires submarine-launched missile after US nuclear warning
SEOUL, North Korea (AFP) — North Korea fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile Saturday, Seoul said, its second missile launch in three days after the United States warned Pyongyang could be preparing for a nuclear test. North Korea has dramatically ramped up its sanctions-busting missile launches this year, conducting 15 weapons tests including firing an intercontinental ballistic missile at full range for the first time since 2017. The Saturday launch comes two days before South […]
Russia practises nuclear-capable missile strikes: ministry
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia on Wednesday said its forces had practised simulated nuclear-capable missile strikes in the western enclave of Kaliningrad, amid Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine. The announcement came on the 70th day of Moscow’s military action in the pro-Western country, with thousands killed and more than 13 million displaced in the worst refugee crisis in Europe since World War II. After sending troops to Ukraine in late February, Russian President Vladimir […]
NKorea tests new weapons system aimed at enhancing ‘tactical nukes’ efficiency: KCNA
North Korea has test-fired a new weapons system, under the supervision of leader Kim Jong Un, that it claims will boost the efficiency of its tactical nuclear weapons, state media said early Sunday. The “new-type tactical guided weapon… is of great significance in drastically improving the firepower of the frontline long-range artillery units and enhancing the efficiency in the operation of tactical nukes,” the official Korean Central News Agency reported, without specifying when the test […]
CIA warns desperate Putin poses nuclear threat
Russia’s setbacks in its invasion of Ukraine could lead President Vladimir Putin to resort to using a tactical or low-yield nuclear weapon, CIA director William Burns said Thursday. “Given the potential desperation of President Putin and the Russian leadership, given the setbacks that they’ve faced so far, militarily, none of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to tactical nuclear weapons or low-yield nuclear weapons,” Burns said during a speech in […]
Russia ‘would deploy nuclear arms’ near Finland, Sweden if they decide to join NATO
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev warned Thursday that Russia would deploy nuclear weapons close to the Baltic States and Scandinavia if Finland or Sweden decide to join NATO. Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s security council and president from 2008 to 2012, wrote on Telegram that if the countries joined, this would more than double Russia’s land border with NATO members. “Naturally, we will have to reinforce these borders,” he said. […]
Kim’s sister says North Korea nukes could ‘eliminate’ South
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea will use its nuclear weapons to “eliminate” South Korea’s army in the event they launch a pre-emptive strike, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un said Tuesday. Kim Yo Jong’s warning, carried in state media, was her second angry retort in three days to comments made by South Korea’s defense chief Suh Wook last week. They come as North Korea has resumed its sanctions-breaking weapons tests with […]
US, Iran spar over stalled nuclear talks
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – The United States and Iran blamed each other Monday for a weeks-long impasse that has held up a return to the 2015 deal that sought to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said that the country’s negotiators would not return to Vienna, the site of the year-long talks to restore the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), until Washington settles outstanding issues. “We will […]
Russians leave Chernobyl with Ukrainian troops as hostages: Kyiv
KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Russian troops on Tuesday vacated Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant after weeks of occupation, but took an unspecified number of captive Ukrainian servicemen with them, officials in Kyiv said on Thursday. “As they ran away from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the Russian occupiers took members of the National Guard, whom they had held hostage since Feb 24, with them,” the state nuclear agency Energoatom said in a statement on Telegram, […]
UN atomic watchdog alarm over shelling of Chernobyl staff town
VIENNA, Austria (AFP) – The International Atomic Energy Agency expressed “concern” on Thursday after Ukraine warned of bombardment by Russia of the town where staff working at the Chernobyl nuclear site live. “Ukraine informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) today that Russian forces were shelling Ukrainian checkpoints in the city of Slavutych where many people working at the nearby Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant live, putting them at risk,” the Vienna-based UN agency said in […]





