Jesse Johnson - The Japan Times

ASIA PACIFIC

Aug 3, 2019

Trump minimizes missile launches as North Korea opens door to more powerful tests

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday continued to downplay North Korea's three tests of short-range ballistic missiles over eight days as Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry appeared to open the door to the possibility of even more powerful tests in the near future.

ASIA PACIFIC

Aug 2, 2019

Trump plays down third North Korean missile test in eight days as allies' concerns grow

North Korea fired two "new-type" projectiles from its east coast, the South Korean military said Friday — the country's third launch in just over a week, but one that U.S. President Donald Trump looked to play down — as a trade and history clash between Tokyo and Seoul threatened joint efforts to...

ASIA PACIFIC

Jul 31, 2019

North Korea fires two short-range missiles into Sea of Japan for second launch in six days

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles from its east coast Wednesday, the South Korean military said, less than a week after the launch of two similar weapons as it looks to heap pressure on Seoul and Washington to halt upcoming joint military drills.

ASIA PACIFIC / Politics

Jul 30, 2019

Top U.S. envoy to North Korea to attend ASEAN forum, as speculation of sideline talks grows

The U.S. special envoy to North Korea, Stephen Biegun, will join Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the Thai capital for meetings on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum this week, in a move that could signal possible talks with the nuclear-armed country.

ASIA PACIFIC

Jul 29, 2019

China announces military exercises in areas near Taiwan in South and East China seas

China has announced large-scale military exercises in broad swaths of the waters and airspace in both the South and East China seas near Taiwan, days after Beijing said in a defense white paper that it will not renounce the use of force in efforts to reunify Taipei with the mainland.

ASIA PACIFIC

Jul 25, 2019

North Korea raises stakes with firing of two short-range missiles into Sea of Japan

Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya said that Japan was still analyzing whether the projectiles were, in fact, ballistic missiles.

ASIA PACIFIC

Jul 25, 2019

U.S. sends warship through Taiwan Strait after warning from Beijing

The U.S. Navy has sailed a warship through the Taiwan Strait, a move that came the same day that Beijing warned it would not rule out using force against self-ruled and democratic Taiwan to halt any move toward formal independence.

ASIA PACIFIC

Jul 24, 2019

China defense white paper singles out Japan over security shift and blasts U.S. for undermining global stability

China has singled out Japan for its shifting security policies and lambasted the United States for undermining global stability, noting rising strategic competition among major powers, in its first defense white paper in seven years.

ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS

Jul 23, 2019

Kim inspects new submarine in first public display of North Korea's nuclear capabilities since 2017

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected a "newly built submarine" that was to operate in the Sea of Japan, state-run media said Tuesday, in one of the first displays of power related to his country's nuclear capabilities since November 2017.

ASIA PACIFIC / Politics

Jul 22, 2019

North Korea's Kim casts vote in local elections with '99.98%' turnout

Under the thin veneer of supposedly free elections, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un cast his ballot Sunday in nationwide polls to choose new deputies to the country's local assemblies, state-run media has reported.

ASIA PACIFIC

Jul 21, 2019

Top South Korean official says joint U.S. military exercises to continue despite threat from North

Joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises scheduled for next month are going ahead, a top Seoul official said Saturday, despite a threat by North Korea to boycott working-level talks with Washington and possibly restart nuclear and longer-range missile tests.

ASIA PACIFIC

Jul 20, 2019

'Top Gun' sequel, co-produced by China's Tencent, drops Japanese and Taiwanese flags

Eagle-eyed viewers have spotted a curious discrepancy in the first trailer for "Top Gun: Maverick," the sequel to the beloved '80s classic "Top Gun," which Paramount debuted Thursday — the patches on the iconic leather jacket worn by star Tom Cruise no longer bear the Taiwanese and Japanese flags....

ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS

Jul 17, 2019

U.S. needs new bases and new capabilities in Asia to counter China threat, defense chief nominee says

U.S. President Donald Trump's pick to be the next defense chief has said that new military bases are needed "throughout the Indo-Pacific region" while also urging the fielding of "new capabilities" amid the threat to U.S. and allied forces from powerful Chinese missiles.

ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS

Jul 16, 2019

North Korea hints talks with U.S. could be halted and missile, nuclear tests restarted if military exercises go ahead

North Korea hinted Tuesday that long-stalled working-level denuclearization talks with the United States due to be restarted soon could be halted and nuclear and missile tests restarted if the U.S. goes ahead with planned joint military exercises with South Korea.

ASIA PACIFIC / Politics

Jul 14, 2019

China holds military drills off southeastern coast in wake of U.S. approval of Taiwan arms deal

China's military carried out air and naval drills off its southeastern coast in "recent days," the Defense Ministry said in a brief statement Sunday, a move that comes less than a week after the U.S. approved a $2.2 billion arms deal for self-ruled Taiwan.

JAPAN / Politics

Jul 13, 2019

U.S. ambassador to Japan William Hagerty to leave post for Senate run, Trump says

U.S. Ambassador William Hagerty will leave his post to run for the Senate, President Donald Trump tweeted late Friday. Hagerty received a “Complete & Total Endorsement” from the American leader.

ASIA PACIFIC

Jul 11, 2019

U.S. Forces Korea acknowledges North Korean ICBM can hit anywhere in the United States

U.S. Forces Korea has said for the first time that North Korea's powerful Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) can hit targets anywhere in the mainland United States, with an estimated range of nearly 13,000 km (8,000 miles).

ASIA PACIFIC / Politics

Jul 10, 2019

U.S. hopes to see 'freeze' of North Korea's nuke program as starting point — not endgame, State Department says

The United States hopes to see a "freeze" of North Korea's nuclear weapons program as a starting point — not an endgame — for Pyongyang eventually relinquishing its arsenal, a State Department spokeswoman said Tuesday ahead of a fresh round of talks expected to kick off later this month.

ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS

Jul 9, 2019

$2.2 billion Taiwan-U.S. arms deal angers China, but sale more symbolic than signal of strength

The U.S. State Department's approval of a possible sale to Taiwan of "big ticket" weapons at an estimated value of $2.2 billion is likely to be seen as a symbolic move that makes sense for both Taipei and Washington as they grapple with an increasingly assertive China.

ASIA PACIFIC

Jul 3, 2019

Pentagon calls Chinese anti-ship missile test in South China Sea 'disturbing'

The Pentagon has blasted as "disturbing" a Chinese missile launch from its man-made islands in the disputed South China Sea, saying that the test was meant to intimidate other claimants to the strategic waterway.

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