GIMPO, South Korea South Korea’s initial retaliation to the North’s latest nuclear test was a mix of K-pop, scathing commentary on its nuclear programme and derision of the ruling family’s penchant for costly clothes and luxury handbags. The UN said it would work immediately on significant new measures against North Korea.
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The Chinese government nonetheless appears sensitive to public criticism of its ties with North Korea.
In a previous statement issued by the ministry, spokesperson Arrmanatha Nasir said that the hydrogen bomb test contravened the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) “and its spirit, as well as a clear violation of North Korea’s obligations under [various] UN Security Council resolutions”.
The 2005 blacklisting of Banco Delta Asia not only froze North Korean money in the bank but also scared away other financial institutions from dealing with Pyongyang for fear they would also be blacklisted.
After North Korea’s third nuclear test in 2013, the US took the unusual step of sending its most powerful warplanes – B-2 stealth bombers, F-22 stealth fighters and B-52 bombers – to drills with South Korea in a show of force. “Amid reports of widespread hardship and human rights abuses, the priority must be the health and welfare of North Korean people”, Swire said.
China “will never accept North Korea as a nuclear-possessing country”, Wu asserted.
The meeting comes as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe aims to bolster Tokyo’s role on the global security stage and after North Korea’s announcement on Wednesday that it had tested a miniaturised hydrogen nuclear bomb, drawing threats of further sanctions on the isolated nation.
They also agreed to make progress on jointly studying on missile technology and defense equipment, including protection suits for chemical and biological weapons, said the statement. “I want to emphasize that the origin and frictions of the North Korean nuclear issue do not lie in China”.
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South Korean officials said stopping the broadcasts was the main reason the North agreed at that time to end an armed standoff and express regret over a landmine explosion that injured South Korean soldiers. The North’s state media has yet to mention Kim’s birthday or South Korea’s loudspeaker campaign.
