The commandant of the Marine Corp voices concern over the ongoing feud between South Korea and Japan. On Tuesday, General David Berger said any strains on alliances in Asia may jeopardize international efforts to deescalate threats from North Korea.
North Korea confirms the launch of two short-range ballistic missiles off the East Coast was supervised by the country’s leader Kim Jong Un. State media released still images Friday, showing Kim overseeing the tests which took place early Friday morning local time. Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) says Kim expressed “great satisfaction” over his military’s “mysterious and amazing success rates” in recent testing activity and vowed to build up “invincible military capabilities no one dare provoke.”
Defense Secretary Mark Esper traveled to Seoul to meet with his South Korean counterpart. Esper met with South Korea’s defense minister Friday to discuss security in the Korean Peninsula as well as denuclearization.
North Korea fired missiles into the sea off its east coast for the fourth time in less than two weeks. It’s latest launch of short-range ballistic missiles was conducted Tuesday in response to military exercises between Washington and Seoul.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is calling on world leaders to deter Iran from securing the Persian Gulf.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says the biggest issue between South Korea and Tokyo is a lack of mutual trust. While speaking at a news conference Tuesday, Abe accused Seoul of not keeping its promises and regularly violating trade agreements between the two nations.
According to North Korean state media, leader Kim Jong-un attended Wednesday’s test firing of a new multi-rocket launcher system.