SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended on Thursday the launching ceremony of a warship that had been damaged upon its first attempt to launch, state media KCNA said on Friday.
Satellite images had shown ongoing repairs of the 5,000-ton destroyer that had partially capsized in May, after Kim called the accident a “criminal act” and ordered its restoration before a party meeting in June.
Kim said the restoration of the destroyer “had not delayed” North Korea’s attempts to enhance naval power, and said plans were in place “to build two more 5,000-ton destroyers next year,” KCNA said.
Kim called for the country to strengthen its maritime military presence in the Pacific Ocean in the face of what he said were provocations by the US and its allies, KCNA said.
“Soon, enemies will experience themselves how provocative and unpleasant it is to sit and watch the ships of an adversary run rampant on the fringes of sovereign waters,” Kim said in a speech at the ceremony, according to KCNA.
“I’m sure that in the near future, the routes of our battleships... will be opened on the Pacific Ocean toward the outposts of aggression.”
North Korea’s Kim Jong Un lauds restored destroyer, says more to be built
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North Korea’s Kim Jong Un lauds restored destroyer, says more to be built
Kosovo, Serbia ‘need to normalize’ relations
- Kosovo, which hopes to join NATO, has also been cultivating relations with Washington in recent months, by removing tariffs on American products
PRISTINA: Kosovo and Serbia need to “normalize” their relations, Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti said, several days before legislative elections where he is seeking to extend his term with more solid backing.
Kurti has been in office since 2021 and previous accords signed with Serbia — which does not recognize the independence of its former province — have yet to be respected.
“We need to normalize relations with Serbia,” said Kurti. “But normalizing relations with a neighboring authoritarian regime that doesn’t recognize you, that also doesn’t admit to the crimes committed during the war, is quite difficult,” he added.
Tensions between the two neighbors are regularly high.
“We do have a normalization agreement,” Kurti said, referring to the agreement signed under the auspices of the EU in 2023.
“We must implement it, which implies mutual recognition between the countries, at least de facto recognition.”
But to resume dialogue, Serbia “must hand over Milan Radoicic,” a Serb accused of plotting an attack in northern Kosovo in 2023, Kurti asserted, hoping that “the EU, France, and Germany will put pressure” on Belgrade to do so.
Kosovo, which hopes to join NATO, has also been cultivating relations with Washington in recent months, by removing tariffs on American products and agreeing to accept up to 50 migrants from third countries extradited by the US. So far, only one has arrived.
“We are not asking for any financial assistance in return,” Kurti emphasized. “We are doing this to help the US, which is a partner, an ally, a friend,” added the prime minister, who did not rule out making similar agreements with European countries.
Unable to secure enough seats in the February 2025 parliamentary elections, Kurti was forced to call early elections on Sunday, after 10 months of political deadlock during which the divided parliament failed to form a coalition.
“We need a decisive victory. In February, we won 42.3 percent, and this time we want to exceed 50 percent,” he said.
