N. Korea ‘preparing for biggest nuclear test’

New tests by North Korea of missiles or atom bombs for an ICBM could bring USA strikes on its nuclear facilities and missile sites, igniting an attack on the South.

The video, first reported by the Quartz news site, went viral on the WeChat site and apparently has been picked up by anti-government protesters in South Korea who have been singing against THAAD at rallies.

The country is now in for a drama-filled period leading up to a special presidential election in 60 days. In a regular briefing on March 10, White House spokesperson Sean Spicer said South Korea had “an acting president who we have strong relationships with” and that the United States would “continue to work with South Korea”.

The United States will permanently station attack drones in South Korea, the USA military announced.

The court upheld parliament’s vote to impeach Park amid a corruption probe.

Much has changed since South Korea’s liberals were running the country.

By ruling out talks, the White House is setting course for confrontation, not only with North Korea, but also with China.

“Chinese retaliation.is an added concern for South Korea’s already struggling economy”, Tan said. He has proposed economic exchanges and a plan for unification, in which the two Koreas come together economically before moving toward political integration. At the same time, it is questionable that China’s passive response to the United Nations resolution to impose sanctions against the North Korea’s nuclear and missile development and its direct and indirect supports for North Korea’s nuclear and missile development and manufacture stem from such a context, Jung said. He advocates reopening their joint Kaesong industrial complex, which was shut down over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile tests.

A productive relationship is expected to prevail for the remaining term of acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, and with whoever is elected as the next president, the USA statement read. In mid-February, North Korea conducted an intermediate-range ballistic missile test. Japanese and South Korean officials derided the policy as an excuse for doing nothing.

The press-shy secretary of state reportedly plans to break precedent and make the trip without US journalists coming along. The North tested a new type of ballistic missile in mid-February and practiced carrying out nuclear strikes against US bases in Japan earlier this month. By preparing for military action against North Korea, the USA is also menacing China, which it has identified as the most immediate challenge to American global hegemony. Not only does South Korea have twice the population of the North, but an economy 40 times as large, and access to USA weapons far superior to any in the North.

Flights and cruise ship visits for Chinese tourists to South Korea have also been halted, in unofficial moves that China’s central Government won’t publicly admit are directly linked to THAAD.

As of Friday, the Trump administration had said nothing publicly about Park’s removal and its implications for South Korea’s relations with the United States. Now that she is gone and the left-leaning opposition advocating a softer line may replace her, China could use its economic leverage to tip public support in favor of the opposition, which Chinese leaders hope to persuade to back out of the Thaad deal with the U.S.

The Chinese government is acutely concerned at the prospect of war on its doorstep involving its ally, North Korea. China’s Global Times, a member of Chinese official media family, called for the boycott of Lotte products.