PN's Voice 78

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PN's Voice 78, 31-03-2016
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PN's Voice No. 78   31. 03. 2016 
Small steps, Road to peace


Trump Repeats Call for a Nuclear South Korea

U.S. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has repeated his call to nuclear arm both South Korea and Japan. Trump argues that such a move would significantly reduce U.S. security burdens in Asia.

Trump's remarks have added weight to calls in South Korea for the country's own nuclear armament in the wake of North Korea's fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range missile test in February. Trump first broached the idea in an interview published Friday, arguing that the U.S. is no longer rich enough to defend other countries and the possibility of allowing the allies to go nuclear is something that "we have to talk about."

He repeated the point again during a town hall meeting televised on CNN Tuesday night. "At some point we have to say, you know what, we're better off if Japan protects itself against this maniac in North Korea. We're better off, frankly, if South Korea is going to start to protect itself," Trump said, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The White House rejected Trump's idea as destabilizing, stressing that it could give Pyongyang justification for its nuclear development and reassuring U.S. commitment to defend the ally. "Mr. Trump's suggestion that somehow we should encourage our allies in South Korea to develop nuclear weapons is directly contrary to a policy that the United States has long pursued and is directly contrary to a policy that the international community has long supported," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said. "And it's hard for me to imagine why it would be a good idea to give the North Koreans any justification or any incentive to further accelerate their nuclear weapons program. It doesn't make any sense," he said. "What protects South Korea and Japan is knowing that they have the steadfast support of the most powerful country in the world."
Source : Yonhap News


North Korean Propaganda Video Depicts Nuclear Strike on Washington

North Korea released a propaganda video last Saturday that depicts a nuclear strike on Washington, along with a warning to “American imperialists” not to provoke the North. The four-minute video clip, titled “Last Chance,” uses computer animation to show what looks like an intercontinental ballistic missile flying through the earth’s atmosphere before slamming into Washington, near what appears to be the Lincoln Memorial. A nuclear explosion follows. “If the American imperialists provoke us a bit, we will not hesitate to slap them with a pre-emptive nuclear strike,” read the Korean subtitles in the video, which was uploaded to the YouTube channel of D.P.R.K. Today, a North Korean website. “The United States must choose! It’s up to you whether the nation called the United States exists on this planet or not.”

Hatred for America has long been a prominent theme in North Korean propaganda, and this is not the first video of its kind. North Korea released a similar video in 2013 that showed Lower Manhattan being bombed, and another soon afterward that showed President Obama and American troops in flames.
Source : The New York Times, The Guardian


President Park Arrives in Washington

President Park Geun-hye arrived in Washington Wednesday to kick off her itinerary in the U.S. leading up to the fourth Nuclear Security Summit. Ahead of the opening of the summit which will be held in the U.S. capital Thursday, Park will hold a series of bilateral summit meetings with the leaders of the U.S., China and Japan to coordinate joint stances regarding sanctions on North Korea and discuss other issues of mutual interest.

During a summit meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, Park plans to share her thoughts on the new UN Security Council resolution adopted earlier this month against the North as well as Seoul and Washington’s individual sanctions imposed on the regime. In a following trilateral summit meeting with Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Park will discuss how the three allies can cooperate in executing their individual sanction measures on Pyongyang. Park will also hold a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. In the Park-Xi summit, the first of its kind since Pyongyang's fourth nuclear test in January, the two leaders are expected to exchange opinions on the North Korean situation including the nuclear issue.

Seoul's presidential office anticipated that Park and Xi will exchange in-depth opinions about how to faithfully implement UN Security Council Resolution 2270 and how to deepen their bilateral communication on North Korean matters.
Source : KBS News, The Korea Herald


N. Korea Key Topic for Obama-Xi Summit
North Korea will be a key topic when U.S. President Barack Obama holds a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, the White House said on Wednesday. "There obviously are a wide range of issues that the United States and China are able to effectively coordinate on," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said. "The best example of that recently is that, you know, our efforts to work together to isolate and apply further pressure on the North Korean regime for their destabilizing activities on the Korean Peninsula." Other issues on the agenda include cyber security and human rights, he said. The two leaders are scheduled to meet one-on-one Thursday on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit.

The meeting comes as Pyongyang has been ratcheting up tensions with threats of attacks, claims of breakthroughs in its nuclear and missile programs and a series of missile firings into the sea. China is considered the only country with any meaningful influence over Pyongyang as the main provider of food and energy aid as well as diplomatic protection for the impoverished, provocative regime. But Beijing has often showed reluctance to use that influence as it fears that pushing Pyongyang too hard could lead to its collapse, an influx of refugees into the country, instability on its border and ultimately, the emergence of a pro-U.S. nation on its doorstep.
Source : The Korea Herald


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