SEOUL: North Korea is planning to launch another satellite just three months after its first attempt to put a military eye in the sky failed, prompting condemnation from Tokyo and Seoul on Tuesday and demands to call it off.
The launch is set to take place between August 24 and 31, Pyongyang told Japan’s coast guard Tuesday, with Tokyo mobilizing ships and its PAC-3 missile defense system in case it lands in their territory.
Seoul said the launch would be “an illegal act” because it violates UN sanctions prohibiting the North from tests using ballistic technology, which is used for both space launches and missiles.
“North Korea’s so-called ‘satellite launch’ is a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions... No matter what excuses North Korea tries to make, it cannot justify this illegal act,” South Korea’s Unification Ministry said in a statement.
The foreign ministry said Seoul would “respond sternly to the North’s illicit provocation with close trilateral Korea-US-Japan cooperation.”
The United States echoed that statement.
“We urge the DPRK to refrain from further unlawful activity and call on Pyongyang to engage in serious and sustained diplomacy,” the State Department said in a statement, using the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Pyongyang’s announcement came days after leaders from Washington, Seoul and Tokyo met at Camp David in the United States, with North Korea’s growing nuclear threats a key item on the agenda.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida urged Pyongyang to call off the launch, saying Japan was taking “all possible measures to prepare for any unforeseen eventuality.”
Japan’s Coast Guard said Pyongyang had informed it of three designated danger areas: the Yellow Sea, East China Sea and waters east of the Philippines’ Luzon Island.
In May, Pyongyang launched what it described as its first military reconnaissance satellite, but the rocket carrying it, the “Chollima-1” — named after a mythical horse that often features in official propaganda — plunged into the sea minutes after takeoff.
Soon after, Kim Jong Un’s government vowed to successfully launch its spy satellite “in the near future,” saying it was a necessary counterbalance to the growing US military presence in the region.
Pyongyang’s new launch plan follows Seoul and Washington kicking off their major annual joint military drills on Monday.
Known as Ulchi Freedom Shield, the exercises, which are aimed at countering growing threats from the nuclear-armed North, will run through August 31.
Pyongyang views all such drills as rehearsals for an invasion and has repeatedly warned it would take “overwhelming” action in response.
Suspected North Korean hackers have already targeted the exercises, with email attacks on South Korean contractors working at the allies’ combined exercise war simulation center.
On Tuesday, North Korea’s state news agency condemned “the aggressive character” of the US-South Korea drills.
KCNA warned in a commentary that if the drills involve a “nuclear provocation,” the possibility “of a thermonuclear war on the Korean peninsula will become more realistic.”
South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers last week that Pyongyang could launch a reconnaissance satellite ahead of the 75th anniversary of the North’s founding on September 9, member of parliament Yoo Sang-bum told reporters after the briefing.
Choi Gi-il, professor of national security at Sangji University, told AFP: “Pyongyang appears to be timing its next satellite launch with the ongoing joint Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, having improved and supplemented technical aspects of the launch over the past three months.”
“Given the nature of the North Korean regime, three months seems sufficient enough to find flaws from its failed May launch and apply fixes — though we have to see whether it can pull it off this time,” he said.
Kim has made the development of a military spy satellite a top priority.
The crash of the satellite in May sparked a complex South Korean salvage operation. The government analyzed the retrieved parts and concluded the satellite had no military utility.
North Korea plans satellite launch as Seoul, US hold drills
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North Korea plans satellite launch as Seoul, US hold drills
- The launch is set to take place between August 24 and 31
- Seoul said the launch would be “an illegal act” because it violates UN sanctions
French deal on New Caledonia ‘state’ hits early criticism
NOUMEA: An accord between France and New Caledonia, creating a state within a state and hailed by President Emmanuel Macron as “historic,” hit immediate fierce criticism in the Pacific territory on Sunday.
Following deadly protests that rocked New Caledonia last year, Macron called for talks to break a deadlock between forces loyal to France and those seeking independence.
After 10 days of negotiations near Paris, French officials and a delegation of 18 New Caledonian pro-independence and anti-independence representatives reached agreement on Saturday to create a “State of New Caledonia” within the French Republic.
The text, which still requires French parliamentary approval and to pass a referendum in the territory, provides for the creation of a Caledonian nationality and the sharing of powers. But it won few supporters in the archipelago.
The signatories of the draft agreement admitted during a meeting with Macron on Saturday evening that they were struggling to win over opponents of the deal that will be submitted to a referendum in February 2026.
Joel Kasarerhou, president of civil society group Construire Autrement, called the agreement “stillborn,” describing it as a “poor” replica of previous agreements and “lacking ambition and vision.”
Kasarerhou said the youth at the heart of the May 2024 uprising had been “forgotten or barely mentioned.” He feared another “May 13” — the date the 2024 riots began.
Home to around 270,000 people and located nearly 17,000 kilometers from Paris, New Caledonia is one of several overseas territories that remain an integral part of France.
It has been ruled from Paris since the 1800s, but many indigenous Kanaks resent France’s power over the islands and want more autonomy or independence.
France’s Macron announces plan to accelerate military spending
- The French president pledged to double the military budget by 2027 in response to a complex geopolitical moment
PARIS: President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday announced a plan to push forward France’s defense spending, pledging to double the military budget by 2027 — three years earlier than originally planned — in response to a complex geopolitical moment.
France had aimed to double its defense budget from 2017 levels by 2030. However, Macron pledged to reach the target by 2027. A military budget that stood at 32 billion euros ($37.40 billion) in 2017 will rise to 64 billion euros by 2027, with an additional 3.5 billion euros allocated for next year and another 3 billion euros in 2027.
He said the accelerated spending, which comes as France is struggling to make 40 billion euros in savings in its 2026 budget, would be paid for by increased economic activity.
“Our military independence is inseparable from our financial independence,” he said. “This will be financed through more activity and more production.”
He said Prime Minister Francois Bayrou would provide more details in an address on his plans for the 2026 budget on Tuesday. Bayrou is facing an uphill battle to steer billions of euros worth of savings through a bitterly divided parliament, as France strives to lower its budget deficit to keep EU bean-counters and foreign investors at bay.
Nigeria’s former President Muhammadu Buhari dies in London
- Buhari, 82, who first led the country as a military ruler after a coup in the 1980s, earned a devoted following for his brand of anti-corruption conviction politics
LAGOS: Nigeria’s former President Muhammadu Buhari, who led Africa’s most populous country from 2015-23 and was the first Nigerian president to oust an incumbent through the ballot box, died in London on Sunday, a presidential spokesperson said.
“President Buhari died today in London at about 4:30 p.m. (1530 GMT), following a prolonged illness,” President Bola Tinubu’s spokesperson said in a post on X.
Buhari, 82, who first led the country as a military ruler after a coup in the 1980s, earned a devoted following for his brand of anti-corruption conviction politics.
He referred to himself as a “converted democrat” and swapped his military uniform for kaftans and prayer caps.
“I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody,” was a constant refrain Buhari told supporters and critics alike.
Buhari defeated Goodluck Jonathan in 2015 in what was judged to be Nigeria’s fairest election to date. Many hoped the retired major general would crack down on armed groups, just as he had as the country’s military head of state.
Instead, violence that had mostly been confined to the northeast spread. That left swathes of Nigeria outside the control of its stretched security forces as gunmen in the northwest, armed separatists and gangs in the southeast roamed unchecked.
Much of his appeal lay in the anti-corruption ethos that was a central plank of his agenda both as a military and civilian ruler. He said endemic corruption in Nigeria’s political culture was holding people back.
“Baba Go Slow”
But Buhari quickly disappointed after his 2015 win.
He took six months to name his cabinet. During that time, the oil-dependent economy was hobbled by low crude prices, prompting people to call him “Baba Go Slow.”
His second victory in 2019 came despite his first term being blighted by Nigeria’s first recession in a generation, militant attacks on oilfields, and repeated hospital stays.
Born on December 17, 1942, in Daura in the northwestern state of Katsina state, Buhari enrolled in the army at 19. He would eventually rise to the rank of major-general.
He seized power in 1983 as a military ruler, promising to revitalize a mismanaged country. Buhari took a tough line on everything from the conditions sought by the International Monetary Fund to unruliness in bus queues.
In 1984, his administration attempted to kidnap a former minister and vocal critic living in Britain. The plot failed when London airport officials opened the crate containing the abducted politician.
His first stint in power was short-lived. He was removed after only 18 months by another military officer, Ibrahim Babangida.
Buhari spent much of the following 30 years in fringe political parties and trying to run for president until his eventual victory over Jonathan in 2015.
’Inexcusable’ failures led to Trump assassination attempt: Senate report
- A congressional inquiry accused the Secret Service of ‘a cascade of preventable failures that nearly cost President Trump his life’
- Six unidentified Secret Service staff have been disciplined with punishments range from 10 to 42 days’ suspension without pay
WASHINGTON: A congressional inquiry into the attempt to assassinate US President Donald Trump at a campaign rally a year ago on Sunday lamented “inexcusable” failures in the Secret Service’s operations and response, and called for more serious disciplinary action.
On July 13, 2024, a gunman shot the then-Republican presidential candidate during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, grazing his ear.
One bystander was killed and two other people in addition to Trump were wounded before a government sniper killed the gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Crooks.
“What happened was inexcusable and the consequences imposed for the failures so far do not reflect the severity of the situation,” said the report released by the US Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
The dramatic incident energized Trump’s bid to return to the White House, with his campaign using a photo of him bloodied and pumping his fist as he was hurried offstage to woo voters.
The report did not shed new light on the gunman’s motive, which still remains a mystery, but accused the Secret Service of “a cascade of preventable failures that nearly cost President Trump his life.”
“The United States Secret Service failed to act on credible intelligence, failed to coordinate with local law enforcement,” said the committee’s Republican chairman Rand Paul.
“Despite those failures, no one has been fired,” he added.
“It was a complete breakdown of security at every level-fueled by bureaucratic indifference, a lack of clear protocols, and a shocking refusal to act on direct threats.
“We must hold individuals accountable and ensure reforms are fully implemented so this never happens again.”
Staff disciplined
The Secret Service cited communication, technical and human errors and said reforms were underway, including on coordination between different law enforcement bodies and establishment of a division dedicated to aerial surveillance.
Six unidentified staff have been disciplined, according to the agency. The punishments range from 10 to 42 days’ suspension without pay, and all six were put into restricted or non-operational positions.
Reflecting on the assassination attempt earlier this week, Trump said “mistakes were made” but that he was satisfied with the investigation.
In an interview with his daughter-in-law on Fox News’ “My View with Lara Trump,” Trump said the sniper “was able to get him from a long distance with one shot. If he didn’t do that, you would have had an even worse situation.”
“It was unforgettable,” Trump said of the events.
“I didn’t know exactly what was going on. I got whacked. There’s no question about that. And fortunately, I got down quickly. People were screaming.”
Russia’s Lavrov visits Beijing to discuss Ukraine
- Russia’s top diplomat arrived in China following a visit to North Korea
- China claims to be neutral in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine
MOSCOW: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met Sunday in Beijing with his Chinese counterpart to discuss Ukraine and relations with the United States.
Russia’s top diplomat arrived in China following a visit to North Korea, where he received assurances of support in its conflict with Ukraine.
Lavrov and Wang Yi “discussed relations with the United States and the outlook for settling the Ukrainian crisis,” Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
China, a diplomatic and economic ally of Moscow, claims to be neutral in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
But it has never denounced Russia’s 2022 invasion nor called for it to withdraw its troops, and many of Ukraine’s allies believe that China has provided support for Russia.
Beijing regularly calls for an end to the fighting, while also accusing Western countries of prolonging the conflict by arming Ukraine.
The statement from the Russian foreign ministry said Levrov and Yi also discussed other “burning issues” such as the war in Gaza and the “situation on the Korean peninsula.”
