TOKYO: A US special envoy said on Thursday all options remain on the table for solving the crisis over North Korea’s nuclear missile program but that he did not think the Trump administration was close to triggering military action.
Joseph Yun, the US special envoy on North Korea, said the United States was seeking a peaceful resolution and diplomacy was its preferred option.
“Our policy is very much for the peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear crisis. We’ve said over and over again that what we want to see is dialogue,” Yun told reporters in Tokyo.
“Having said that, we also have said that all options are on the table and by all options, it has to include military options,” he said. “I don’t believe we are close to it.”
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has refused to give up development of nuclear missiles capable of hitting the United States in spite of increasingly severe UN sanctions, raising fears of a new war on the Korean peninsula.
The administration of US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said it prefers a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
However, Trump has exchanged insults and threats with Kim and US officials have said he and his advisers have discussed a preventative “bloody nose” strike on North Korea, alarming experts who warn that this could trigger catastrophic retaliation, especially on South Korea.
In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Trump branded North Korea’s leadership as “depraved” and said that Pyongyang’s pursuit of nuclear missiles could “very soon threaten” the American homeland.
Trump vowed to prevent that, but offered no new specifics on how he intended to rein in North Korea.
On Tuesday, the White House said it was no longer considering Victor Cha, a former official who has questioned the wisdom of a preventative strike, for the post of the next US ambassador to South Korea.
Cha said on Tuesday such a strike carried a huge risk of escalating into a war that could kill hundreds of thousands of Americans.
US officials have said the debate on military action has lost some momentum as a result of rare talks between North and South Korea launched last month to bring North Koreans to this month’s Winter Olympics in the South.
Yun welcomed the North-South dialogue and hoped it was a trend of things to come but said any talks with Washington would have to “be about steps North Korea would take toward denuclearization.”
Envoy believes US not close to military option against N.Korea
Envoy believes US not close to military option against N.Korea
Filipinos celebrate Christmas on a budget amid soaring costs
- Filipinos are choosing modest Christmas gifts, scaling down year-end festivities
- Millions look to content creators for tips on how to spend less for Christmas dinner
MANILA: As the predominantly Catholic Philippines celebrates one of its most important annual holidays on Thursday, many Filipinos have been forced to rethink their traditional Christmas celebrations amid soaring prices.
This year, street food vendor Gemma Gracia is among those who will keep her business open during the holidays.
“As a vendor, I’ve felt the prices go up since I also still buy at the market for our needs and for our selling needs,” she told Arab News.
But as celebrating Christmas was important for her family, the 39-year-old has allocated 1,000 Philippine pesos ($17) for a family meal out at Jollibee, the Philippines’ biggest fast-food chain restaurant.
“When you don’t have food to share on the table on this holiday, it’s a sad day. That’s why we make sure that we always have something on the table each year,” she said.
For many Filipinos, the time-honored traditions of Noche Buena, or Christmas Eve, is the most awaited part of this holiday season, when dinner tables across the country are filled with a hearty selection of traditional dishes.
Noche Buena, which is Spanish for “the good night,” is the dinner that follows the last evening mass of the season, known as misa de gallo or simbang gabi.
In the Philippines, such festive staples include meaty Filipino-style spaghetti and hamonado, the local version of a Christmas ham that usually serves as the centerpiece of Christmas dinner tables.
But the pinch from rising prices has affected Filipino shoppers in recent years, forcing them to adjust according to their budget.
Although the country’s central bank said inflation had eased to 1.5 percent in November, many say the statistics do not reflect on-the-ground realities, where people reel from rising retail prices, shrinking portions and diminishing purchasing power of the peso.
Allan Manansala, a 48-year-old construction worker in Manila, told Arab News that he is expecting to spend 5,000 pesos for his family of five in 2025, nearly a third of his monthly wage and about a fifth higher than what he spent in previous years.
“I might have to skip giving my children gifts this year because of the costs,” he said.
To get around the high costs, Manansala is skipping the Noche Buena festivities altogether and has instead decided to splurge on New Year’s Eve dinner, which is also a significant occasion in the Philippines.
Others, like Allan Melenio, look for different ways to save up.
“Our relative owns a meat shop, so we’re able to save on that since the prices are quite low,” he told Arab News. “But everywhere else, a piece of meat can cost so much.”
While the economy has forced Filipinos to make smarter choices and get creative, content creators are among those offering ideas to address consumers’ woes, teaching people how to stretch their meager budgets for the holidays.
One such tip came from Ninong Ry, a food content creator who challenged himself to prepare an eight-dish Noche Buena dinner with a budget of 1,500 pesos. Posted about two weeks before Christmas, his one-hour YouTube video has since garnered more than 1.4 million views.
The video was also a response to comments from Philippine Trade Secretary Cristina Aldeguer-Roque, who suggested last month that 500 pesos was enough for a family of four to host a modest Christmas Eve dinner, sparking anger among Filipinos who said she was out of touch with reality.
Jelmark Toqueb, who works as a plumber in Manila, said that the 500-peso budget was unrealistic.
“It is clearly not enough. (Five hundred pesos) is not even enough for you to cook spaghetti with meat. Maybe just the noodles and the sauce,” he told Arab News.
For 32-year-old Toqueb and his wife, who works as a public school teacher, the holiday season remains a cherished occasion to spend quality time with the family. As their Christmas tradition involves gift-giving, he chose more modest presents this year to circumvent the high costs.
“The prices now are different even from last year, (when they were) already high,” Toqueb said. “Even if the gift is simple, it’s fine. It’s the thought that counts.”
