The U.S. and North Korea Are Back to Talking Tough
Uri Friedman | Atlantic
The attack dogs have been let loose. That much was clear from the stark message North Korea delivered this week after the collapse of Donald Trump’s summit with Kim Jong Un in Vietnam last month: Kim is considering abandoning nuclear negotiations with the United States and resuming the nuclear and missile tests that brought the two countries to the brink of war early on in the Trump administration. Just as important as the message was the messenger. North Korea’s vice foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, delivered the warning during a briefing in Pyongyang on Friday with foreign diplomats and journalists. Choe is an experienced diplomat (and a former English-language interpreter) who has dealt with Americans in official and unofficial talks for years. She knows the America file cold. But she also has a reputation for fiery remarks—like when she vowed to “respond to fire with fire” at the height of military tensions with the United States in 2017, or that time she nearly deep-sixed the president’s first summit with North Korea’s leader in 2018 by denouncing U.S. Vice President Mike Pence as a “political dummy” and threatening a “nuclear-to-nuclear showdown” with the United States.
No Sign of Imminent North Korea Missile Launch: South Korea Defence Chief
Hyonhee Shin and Josh Smith | Reuters
It is premature to say whether recent activity at some of North Korea’s rocket facilities involved preparation for a missile launch, South Korea’s defence minister told a parliamentary hearing on Monday. Early in March, several American think-tanks and South Korean officials reported that satellite imagery showed possible preparations for a launch from the Sohae rocket launch site at Tongchang-ri, North Korea, which has been used in the past to launch satellites but not intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of delivering a nuclear warhead. “It’s hasty to call it missile-related activity,” Defence Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo told a parliamentary defence committee. “Tongchang-ri is a launch site but we don’t see any activity being carried out for a missile launch.”
Bushehr-2, 3 Nuclear Power Plants Under Construction
Mehr News Agency
The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi said Mon. that Bushehr-2 and Bushehr-3 nuclear power plants are under construction and the required infrastructure are prepared. As he told reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting, million cubic meters of soil have been excavated and concreting process is underway at the construction site. According to earlier reports, Bushehr-2 is expected to cost about $10 billion to build, and that the physical start-ups of unit 2 and unit 3 are planned for October 2024 and April 2026, respectively. The Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom is in charge of taking technical measures on the construction of Bushehr nuclear power plant.
Bolton: China is One Reason U.S. ‘Looking at Strengthening National Missile Defense’
Ankit Panda | Diplomat
The U.S. advisor to the president on national security affairs, John Bolton, has been a mainstay on American Sunday shows since the February 28 summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Bolton’s been making the most of these appearances to underscore the administration’s continued maximalist unilateral disarmament demands of North Korea — the very reason the summit fell apart. But it doesn’t stop there for Bolton. This past Sunday, on a New York radio show, he confirmed China’s worst fears about U.S. intentions regarding the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system — the U.S. national missile defense system, designed to protect the country from intercontinental-range ballistic missiles (ICBMs). “China is building up its nuclear capacity now,” Bolton said. “It’s one of the reasons why we’re looking at strengthening our national missile defense system here in the United States.”
India, Pakistan Threatened to Unleash Missiles at Each Other: Sources
Sanjeev Miglani and Drazen Jorgic | Reuters
The sparring between India and Pakistan last month threatened to spiral out of control and only interventions by U.S. officials, including National Security Advisor John Bolton, headed off a bigger conflict, five sources familiar with the events said. At one stage, India threatened to fire at least six missiles at Pakistan, and Islamabad said it would respond with its own missile strikes “three times over”, according to Western diplomats and government sources in New Delhi, Islamabad and Washington. The way in which tensions suddenly worsened and threatened to trigger a war between the nuclear-armed nations shows how the Kashmir region, which both claim and is at the core of their enmity, remains one of the world’s most dangerous flashpoints. The exchanges did not get beyond threats, and there was no suggestion that the missiles involved were anything more than conventional weapons, but they created consternation in official circles in Washington, Beijing and London.
One-Third of Offutt Underwater; at Least 30 Buildings Damaged in Flood
Steve Liewer | Omaha World-Herald
Tech. Sgt. Rachelle Blake said water has moved east about 10 feet since Sunday morning. But none of the 60 structures that flooded over the weekend — including the 55th Wing headquarters and two large aircraft maintenance hangars — are yet accessible. It may be days before the damage can be assessed. “Right now, it's very slow,” she said. Little change in the water level is expected before Thursday. Offutt's StratCom Gate, off of Capehart Road, is closed because the road behind it is flooded. All vehicle traffic is being routed through the Kenney Gate and the Bellevue Gate, which are on higher ground on the northern part of the base.