Obama went on to the Lao capital for a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. One estimate says that at least seven diplomats have defected to South Korea this year.
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The statement stressed the importance of working to reduce tension in the Korean Peninsula and beyond, reiterating the importance of maintaining peace and stability there and in north-east Asia at large. According to the report, the system will work in different stages – the Cabinet Secretariat will alert the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the Coast Guard, and the Fisheries Agency of missile launches from the reclusive state.
The North’s KCNA news agency said Kim personally oversaw Monday’s missile firing, which he “appreciated as flawless”.
Obama added: “In recent years, we’ve worked together to strengthen our alliance, and to ensure our readiness against any threat”.
Still, North Korea’s liquid-fueled ballistic missiles are vulnerable to preemptive strikes during their fueling stage. “These launches are provocative”.
“North Korea has had fairly close relations with Laos for several decades”.
Touching on the controversy over the deployment of a USA -operated missile defense system, known as Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad), and concerns over the North’s capability to launch missiles from submarines under water, the veteran lawmaker emphasized that Seoul must take the lead in pushing for talks with the North to resolve growing tensions with Pyongyang. “And President Park and I agreed that the entire global community needs to implement these sanctions fully and hold North Korea accountable”.
Find us on Facebook too! Seoul has also yet to confirm news that a North Korean diplomat based in Russia’s Far East defected with his family in July.
The latest high-profile defection comes from Thae Yong-Ho, North Korea’s deputy ambassador to London, who has since been accused by his former country of leaking state secrets, embezzlement, and child rape. “And I want to thank her team as well that worked very hard behind the scenes to make that happen”.
The ministry said a growing number of defectors are seeking more opportunities and better lives in the South compared with the past when the bulk were largely from the lower class seeking better economic conditions.
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“With each test, each violation of UN Security Council resolutions – and there have been 22 of them so far this year – the DPRK demonstrates further advancement of its ballistic program”, United States envoy Samantha Power said.
