A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Sunday, August 27, 2017
N.Korea tests short-range missiles as S.Korea, U.S. conduct drills
SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea fired several short-range
missiles into the sea off its east coast early on Saturday, South Korea
and the U.S. military said, as the two allies conducted annual joint
military drills that the North denounces as preparation for war.
The U.S. military’s Pacific Command said it had detected three short-range ballistic missiles, fired over a 20 minute period.
One appeared to have blown up almost immediately while two flew about
250 km (155 miles) in a northeasterly direction, Pacific Command said,
revising an earlier assessment that two of the missiles had failed in
flight.
The test came just days after senior U.S. officials praised North Korea
and leader Kim Jong Un for showing restraint in not firing any missiles
since late July.
The South Korean Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the
projectiles were launched from the North’s eastern Kangwon province into
the sea.
Later on Saturday, the South Korean Presidential Blue House said the
North may have fired an upgraded 300-mm calibre multiple rocket launcher
but the military was still analyzing the precise details of the
projectiles.
Pacific Command said the missiles did not pose a threat to the U.S.
mainland or to the Pacific territory of Guam, which North Korea had
threatened earlier this month to surround in a “sea of fire”.
Tensions had eased somewhat since a harsh exchange of words between
Pyongyang and Washington after U.S. President Donald Trump had warned
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un he would face “fire and fury” if he
threatened the United States.
North Korea’s last missile test on July 28 was for an intercontinental
ballistic missile designed to fly 10,000 km (6,200 miles). That would
put parts of the U.S. mainland within reach and prompted heated
exchanges that raised fears of a new conflict on the peninsula.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the missiles did not
reach its territory or exclusive economic zone and did not pose a
threat to Japan’s safety.
MILITARY DRILLS
The South Korean and U.S. militaries are in the midst of the annual
Ulchi Freedom Guardian drills involving computer simulations of a war to
test readiness and run until Aug. 31.
The region where the missiles were launched, Kittaeryong, is a known
military test site frequently used by the North for short-range missile
drills, said Kim Dong-yub, a military expert at the Institute for Far
Eastern Studies in Seoul.
A
North Korean flag flutters on top of a tower at the propaganda village
of Gijungdong in North Korea, in this picture taken near the truce
village of Panmunjom, South Korea, August 26, 2017.
“So rather than a newly developed missile, it looks to be short range
missiles they fired as part of their summer exercise and also in
response to the Ulchi Freedom Guardian drill,” he said.
The United States and South Korea are technically still at war with the
North because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace
treaty. The North routinely says it will never give up its weapons
programmes, saying they are necessary to counter perceived U.S.
hostility.
Washington has repeatedly urged China, North Korea’s main ally and trading partner, to do more to rein in Pyongyang.
China’s commerce ministry late on Friday banned North Korean individuals
and enterprises from doing new business in China, in line with United
Nations Security Council sanctions passed earlier this month.
The White House said Trump had been briefed about the latest missiles but did not immediately have further comment.
The U.S. State Department did not immediately comment about the Saturday
launches. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson earlier this week credited
the North with showing restraint by not launching a missile since the
July ICBM test.
Tillerson had said he hoped that the lack of missile launches or other
“provocative acts” by Pyongyang could mean a path could be opening for
dialogue “sometime in the near future.”
Trump also expressed optimism earlier this week about a possible
improvement in relations. “I respect the fact that he is starting to
respect us,” Trump said of Kim.
North Korea's state media reported on Saturday that Kim had guided a
contest of amphibious landing and aerial strike by its army against
targets modelled after South Korean islands near the sea border on the
west coast.
The official KCNA news agency quoted Kim as telling its Army that it
"should think of mercilessly wiping out the enemy with arms only and
occupying Seoul at one go and the southern half of Korea."
A new poster on a North Korean propaganda website on Saturday showed a
missile dealing "a retaliatory strike of justice" against the U.S.
mainland, threatening to "wipe out the United States, the source of
evil, without a trace."
On Wednesday, Kim ordered the production of more rocket engines and
missile warheads during a visit to a facility associated with North
Korea's ballistic missile programme.
Additional reporting by Ju-min Park in Seoul, Nobuhiro Kubo and Tim
Kelly in Tokyo, Christian Shepherd in Beijing and David Brunnstrom and
Idrees Ali in Washington; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Michael Perry