SEOUL: Radio signals and radar activity detected at a North Korean missile base have raised concerns the reclusive regime may be preparing a new missile test, news reports in Seoul and Tokyo said Tuesday.
The North has stoked international alarm over its banned nuclear missile program, but it has not launched a missile test since September 15, raising hopes that ramped-up sanctions are having an impact.
However, the South Korean news agency Yonhap cited a government source as saying that a missile-tracing radar was switched on at an unspecified base on Monday, and there had been a flurry of telecoms traffic.
“It’s true that active movements have been detected at a North Korean missile base,” the source reportedly said. “Signs like those spotted Monday have recently been detected frequently.”
“We need to watch a while longer before determining whether the North is preparing a missile launch or gearing up for (its own) winter drill that starts Friday.”
A South Korean defense ministry spokesman declined to comment on the report, but similar accounts from Tokyo caused a temporary slump on the stock exchange there.
The Kyodo news agency quoted sources as saying the Japanese government was on alert after detecting radio signals suggesting North Korea might be preparing for a missile launch.
“North Korea might launch a missile within the next few days,” one of the sources was quoted as saying.
However, the Japanese sources also said that as satellite images have not shown any missile or moveable launch pad, the signals might only be related to winter training for the North Korean military.
North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Un visited a new catfish farm northeast of Pyongyang, its state media said Tuesday, in the latest of a series of economic outings that have coincided with a lull in weapons testing.
In September the North conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test and staged an intermediate-range missile launch over Japan.
But tensions are expected to spike again as the United States and South Korea kick off a large-scale air force drill on Monday in a new show of force against the North.
The five-day exercise, Vigilant Ace, involves 12,000 US personnel and an unspecified number of South Korean service members flying more than 230 aircraft including F-22 Rapter stealth fighters and other cutting-edge weapons at US and South Korean military bases.
Pyongyang routinely condemns such exercises, labelling them preparation for war.
The US last week unveiled fresh sanctions that target North Korean shipping, raising pressure on Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear program.
Pyongyang condemned the move as a “serious provocation” on Wednesday and warned that sanctions would never succeed.
Flurry of activity hints at North Korea missile test: reports
Flurry of activity hints at North Korea missile test: reports
Political stability at stake as Malaysia’s Najib awaits verdict in biggest 1MDB trial
- A Malaysian high court will decide on Friday whether to convict Najib of four more charges of corruption and 21 counts of money laundering involving the illegal transfer of about 2.2 billion ringgit ($539 million) from 1MDB
KUALA LUMPUR: Jailed former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak will hear a verdict on Friday in the biggest trial he faces over the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal, a ruling that could risk deepening tensions within the administration of current premier Anwar Ibrahim.
Investigators have said about $4.5 billion was allegedly stolen from 1Malaysia Development Berhad, a state fund co-founded by Najib in 2009, and that more than $1 billion allegedly made its way into his personal bank accounts. Najib, 72, last year apologized for mishandling the scandal while in office but he has consistently denied wrongdoing, saying he was misled by 1MDB officials and a fugitive financier, Jho Low, on the source of the funds. In 2020, Najib was convicted of graft and money laundering for illegally receiving funds from a 1MDB unit and began a 12-year prison sentence two years later after losing all his appeals. That sentence was later halved by a pardons board chaired by Malaysia’s king, with Najib due for release in 2028.
A Malaysian high court will decide on Friday whether to convict Najib of four more charges of corruption and 21 counts of money laundering involving the illegal transfer of about 2.2 billion ringgit ($539 million) from 1MDB.
If found guilty, he could face maximum jail terms of between 15 and 20 years on each charge, as well as a fine of up to five times the value of the alleged misappropriations.
The implementation of the penalties, however, could be stayed pending further appeals.
VERDICTS TEST GOVERNMENT STABILITY
The decision will be closely watched after another court this week dismissed a bid by Najib to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest.
That ruling reignited tensions in Anwar’s ruling administration, which includes Najib’s party, the United Malays National Organization.
UMNO campaigned against Anwar in a 2022 election but joined his coalition to form a government after the poll ended in a hung parliament.
Several UMNO leaders expressed disappointment with the decision to deny Najib house arrest, saying it risked diluting the powers of Malaysia’s rulers, while others were angered by social media posts by some members of Anwar’s coalition celebrating the ruling.
Anwar this week called for all parties to handle news of the verdict with patience and wisdom, adding that it was “inappropriate to muddy the atmosphere or add tension” even if there were those who chose not to sympathize with Najib and his family. A guilty verdict for Najib on Friday could strain ties further, with some UMNO leaders already calling for the party to review its pact with Anwar or withdraw from the government altogether. An acquittal, however, may weaken Anwar, who has been under pressure to uphold his credentials as an anti-graft campaigner. Anwar has been accused by critics of betraying progressive voters and allies after prosecutors dropped some corruption charges against Najib and other UMNO figures. The premier has repeatedly said he does not interfere in court cases.
