North Korea's Kim Jong Un attends launch of restored destroyer, KCNA says
Kim said the restoration of the destroyer "had not delayed" North Korea's attempts to enhance naval power, and said plans were in place "to build two more 5,000-ton destroyers next year", KCNA said.
Kim called for the country to strengthen its maritime military presence in the Pacific Ocean in the face of what he said were U.S. provocations, KCNA said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
8 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
How just 15 undersea cables could leave Australia digitally stranded if war breaks out
Australia's former Deputy Secretary of Defence Mike Pezzullo has warned that the risk of war between China and Taiwan is growing rapidly - and if it breaks out, Australia will be forced to join in. 'We don't really have a choice,' he says. 'Our military, ports, bases, intelligence systems - they're all deeply tied to Americas,' he told 7News. Pezzullo also warned that Australia's internet could be crippled if conflict breaks out. He revealed the country is dangerously exposed, with 99 per cent of internet traffic funnelled through just 15 undersea cables. If they were destroyed by enemy submarines or unmanned vessels, the nation would be digitally isolated, opening the way for targeted strikes on military infrastructure. 'You'd want to ensure those are protected,' Mr Pezzullo said. 'But we have no missile defence systems. We're completely bereft in that area.' He also warned Australia's fuel security is dangerously fragile, with 90 per cent of oil and petrol coming through the South China Sea and only 60 days of reserves in storage. Australia's big-ticket defence projects, including AUKUS nuclear submarines and new frigates, are progressing, but Mr Pezzullo says they remain years away from completion. 'That technology is improving almost monthly, but we're playing catch-up.' Opponents of a harder stance on China point to the economic risks, but Mr Pezzullo claims that's a moot point: 'In a world war, every economy would suffer together.' He warned that defence funding must increase to three or even three-and-a-half per cent of GDP if Australia is serious about deterring adversaries. 'Plan A is always peace through diplomacy. But if you want peace, prepare for war.' He said Taiwan's defence spending, a little above two per cent of GDP, is nowhere near adequate for the threats it faces. His comments come as more than 30,000 personnel from 19 countries hone their skills in the biennial military exercise Talisman Sabre, including live-fire drills and air combat operations. The exercises are being held against the backdrop of the US pressing allies such as Australia to make clear what role they would play in a real conflict, like a potential war between America and China over Taiwan. The US is also carrying out a review of the AUKUS security pact. Defence analysts say it's unlikely the review would result in the $368 billion submarine program being scrapped altogether, it may mean more demands of Australia to contribute to America's industrial base. The military drills off the coast are also expected to be monitored by China, as it has for the past four Talisman Sabre exercises.
The Independent
3 hours ago
- The Independent
Powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim rejects South Korea's appeasement overture
The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un rebuffed an appeasement overture by South Korea's new liberal government, saying Monday that North Korea has no interests in talks with South Korea no matter what proposal its rival offers. Kim Yo Jong's comments suggest again that North Korea, now preoccupied with its expanding cooperation with Russia, has no intentions of returning to diplomacy with South Korea and the U.S. anytime soon. But experts said North Korea could change its course if it thinks it cannot maintain the same booming ties with Russia when the Russia-Ukraine war nears an end. 'We clarify once again the official stand that no matter what policy is adopted and whatever proposal is made in Seoul, we have no interest in it and there is neither a reason to meet nor an issue to be discussed with' South Korea, Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by state media. It's North Korea's first official statement on the government of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, which took office in early June. In an effort to improve badly frayed ties with North Korea, Lee's government has halted anti-Pyongyang frontline loudspeaker broadcasts, taken steps to ban activists from flying balloons with propaganda leaflets across the border and repatriated North Koreans who were drifted south in wooden boats months earlier. Kim Yo Jong called such steps 'sincere efforts' by Lee's government to develop ties. But she said the Lee government won't be much different from its predecessors, citing what it calls 'their blind trust' to the alliance with the U.S. and attempt to 'stand in confrontation' with North Korea. She mentioned August's annual South Korea-U.S. military drills in August, which North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal. North Korea has been shunning talks with South Korea and the U.S. since leader Kim Jong Un's high-stakes nuclear diplomacy with President Donald Trump fell apart in 2019 due to wrangling over international sanctions. North Korea has since focused on building more powerful nuclear weapons targeting its rivals. North Korea now prioritizes cooperation with Russia by sending troops and conventional weapons to support its war against Ukraine, likely in return for economic and military assistance. South Korea, the U.S. and others say Russia may give North Korea sensitive technologies that can enhance its nuclear and missile programs. Since beginning his second term in January, Trump has repeatedly boasted of his personal ties with Kim Jong Un and expressed intent to resume diplomacy with him. But North Korea hasn't publicly responded to Trump's overture. In early 2024, Kim Jong Un ordered the rewriting of the constitution to remove the long-running state goal of a peaceful Korean unification and cement South Korea as an 'invariable principal enemy.' That caught many foreign experts by surprise because it was seen as eliminating the idea of shared statehood between the war-divided Koreas and breaking away with his predecessors' long-cherished dreams of peacefully achieving a unified Korea on the North's terms. Many experts say Kim likely aims to guard against South Korean cultural influence and bolster his family's dynastic rule. Others say Kim wants legal room to use his nuclear weapons against South Korea by making it as a foreign enemy state, not a partner for potential unification which shares a sense of national homogeneity.
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Labour ditches plan to charge inheritance tax on payments made to bereaved military children
Labour has ditched plans to hit the grieving children of military personnel with a tax on their bereavement payments. In October Rachel Reeves announced plans to make relatives in receipt of off-duty death-in-service payments, other than spouses or civil partners, pay inheritance tax from April 2027. This means children and unmarried partners of soldiers who died from illness while off-duty, would have been subject to a tax on their payments. But the Chancellor was forced to back down from her Budget announcement after mounting pressure from members of the Armed Forces, who called it a 'corrosive' plan. The Government confirmed to The Daily Telegraph that after a consultation with Armed Forces organisations it had decided to withdraw the proposals. A spokesman said: 'From April 6, 2027 all death in service benefits payable from registered pension schemes will be out of scope of Inheritance Tax, regardless of whether the scheme is discretionary or non-discretionary.' The latest climbdown comes after Ms Reeves was forced to scale down plans to scrap the universal winter fuel payment and reforms to the welfare system. Mark Francois, the Tory Armed Forces spokesman, said he welcomes the reversal decision 'though it represents another U-turn by this Labour Government'. He added: 'I am pleased that common sense has now finally prevailed.' An HM Treasury spokesman said: 'It's right that we are excluding all death in service benefits from inheritance tax while still achieving the Government's objective of removing inconsistencies between pension schemes.'
