With many countries opening their borders and returning to international flights, the question remains why many airlines still find it difficult to accommodate more arrivals and departures from Suvarnabhumi Airport.
According to Prachachat Business, the problems mainly affect flights from China where, according to earlier reports, more than 20 airlines have applied for Suvarnabhumi airport, with 50 to 60 flights a day, since China opened its border.
The above figure indicates that the majority of applications have not yet been approved. It is important to note that the above figure is well below the record of around 200 flights per day in 2019.
Nitinai Sirismatthakarn, president of Airports of Thailand (AoT), said AoT had in the past allowed Thai Airways and Bangkok Flight Services (BFS) to operate the ground services.
Thai Airways planes at Suvarnabhumi Airport.
However, when Thai Airways, which was responsible for about 80 percent of the territory, needed to be rehabilitated, the processes sabotaged its capacity to serve passengers, both in terms of equipment and staff, even though the company tried to hire more people to meet the demands.
Nitinai said AoT has proposed to Cabinet to open the auction for finding a third operator for the ground service to resolve the issue.
On March 7, 2023 the Cabinet approved the AoT to award the apron, ground handling equipment and other activities of Suvarnabhumi Airport to the third operator. The AoT will issue an invitation to the private sector to cooperate with the airport next June/July.
AoT added that it plans to have its subsidiary AOTGA also participate in the auction as the company has been operating at Phuket International Airport and Don Mueang Airport for 4 years.
AOTGA serves more than 50 airlines from around the world on the ground at Phuket International Airport and another 10 airlines at Don Mueang Airport.
Chinese President Xi Jinping gestures while speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, March 20, 2023. (Sergei Karpukhin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin warmly welcomed Chinese leader Xi Jinping to the Kremlin on Monday, a visit that sent a powerful message to Western leaders allied with Ukraine that their efforts to isolate Moscow have fallen short.
Xi’s trip — his first abroad since his re-election earlier this month — showed off Beijing’s new diplomatic swagger and gave a political lift to Putin just days after an international arrest warrant was issued for the Kremlin leader on war crimes charges related to Ukraine.
The two major powers have described Xi’s three-day trip as an opportunity to deepen their “no-limits friendship.” China looks to Russia as a source of oil and gas for its energy-hungry economy, and as a partner in standing up to what both see as U.S. domination of global affairs. The two countries, which are among the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, also have held joint military drills.
They shook hands before sitting down and making brief statements at the start of their meeting, calling each other “dear friend” and exchanging compliments. Putin congratulated Xi on his re-election and voiced hope for building even stronger ties.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands prior to their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, March 20, 2023. (Russian Presidential Press Office via AP)
“China has made a colossal leap ahead in its development in recent years,” Putin said, adding that “it’s causing genuine interest all around the world, and we even feel a bit envious,” as Xi smiled.
He welcomed China’s proposals for a political settlement in Ukraine and noted Russia is open for talks.
“We will discuss all those issues, including your initiative that we highly respect,” Putin said. “Our cooperation in the international arena undoubtedly helps strengthen the basic principles of the global order and multipolarity.”
Moscow and Beijing have common cause: Earlier this month, Xi accused Washington of trying to isolate his country and hold back its development as it challenges for regional and global leadership.
In an increasingly multipolar world, the U.S. and its allies have been unable to build a broad front against Putin. While 141 countries condemned Moscow at a United Nations vote marking the first anniversary of Russian troops rolling into Ukraine, several members of the G-20 — including India, China and South Africa — chose to abstain. Many African nations have refrained from openly criticizing Russia either.
“We hope that the strategic partnership between China and Russia will on the one hand uphold international fairness and justice, and on the other hand promote the common prosperity and development of our countries,” Xi said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, center right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, center left, talk to each other during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, March 20, 2023. (Russian Presidential Press Office via AP)
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that over dinner, Putin will likely offer Xi a “detailed explanation” of Moscow’s actions in Ukraine. Broader talks involving officials from both countries on a range of subjects are scheduled for Tuesday, he added.
For Putin, Xi’s presence is a prestigious, diplomatic triumph amid Western efforts to isolate Russia over Ukraine.
In an article published in the Chinese People’s Daily newspaper, Putin described Xi’s visit as a “landmark event” that “reaffirms the special nature of the Russia-China partnership.”
Putin also specifically said the meeting sent a message to Washington that the two countries aren’t prepared to accept attempts to weaken them.
“The U.S. policy of simultaneously deterring Russia and China, as well as all those who do not bend to the American diktat, is getting ever fiercer and more aggressive,” he wrote.
Xi’s trip came after the International Criminal Court in The Hague announced Friday it wants to put Putin on trial for the abductions of thousands of children from Ukraine.
China portrays Xi’s visit as part of normal diplomatic exchanges and has offered little detail about what the trip aims to accomplish, though Ukraine cast a long shadow on the talks.
At a daily briefing in Beijing on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Xi’s trip was a “journey of friendship, cooperation and peace.”
“China will uphold its objective and fair position on the Ukrainian crisis and play a constructive role in promoting peace talks,” he said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s motorcade drives toward The Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, March 20, 2023. (AP Photo)
Beijing’s leap into Ukraine issues follows its recent success in brokering talks between Iran and its chief Middle Eastern rival, Saudi Arabia, which agreed to restore their diplomatic ties after years of tensions.
Following that success, Xi called for China to play a bigger role in managing global affairs.
“President Xi will have an in-depth exchange of views with President Putin on bilateral relations and major international and regional issues of common concern,” Wang said.
He added that Xi aims to “promote strategic coordination and practical cooperation between the two countries and inject new impetus into the development of bilateral relations.”
Although they boast of a “no-limits” partnership, Beijing has conducted a China First policy. It has shrunk from supplying Russia’s military — a move that could worsen relations with Washington and turn important European trade partners against Beijing. On the other hand, it has refused to condemn Moscow’s aggression and has censured Western sanctions against Moscow, while accusing NATO and the United States of provoking Putin’s military action.
China last month called for a cease-fire and peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cautiously welcomed Beijing’s involvement, but the overture fizzled.
The Kremlin has welcomed China’s peace plan and said Putin and Xi would discuss it.
In this grab taken from video provided by RU-24, China’s President Xi Jinping stands, during an official welcome ceremony upon his arrival at the Vnukovo-2 government airport outside Moscow, Monday, March 20, 2023. (RU- 24 via AP)
Washington strongly rejected Beijing’s call for a cease-fire as the effective ratification of the Kremlin’s battlefield gains.
Kyiv officials say they won’t bend in their terms for a peace accord.
“The first and main point is the capitulation or withdrawal of the Russian occupation troops from the territory of Ukraine in accordance with the norms of international law and the UN Charter,” Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, tweeted on Monday.
That means restoring “sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity,” he wrote.
The Kremlin doesn’t recognize the authority of the International Criminal Court and has rejected its move against Putin as “legally null and void.” China, the U.S. and Ukraine also don’t recognize the ICC, but the court’s announcement tarnished Putin’s international standing.
China’s Foreign Ministry called on the ICC to “respect the jurisdictional immunity” of a head of state and “avoid politicization and double standards.”
Russia’s Investigative Committee said Monday it is opening a criminal case against a prosecutor and three judges of the ICC over the arrest warrants issued for Putin and his commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova. The committee called the ICC’s prosecution “unlawful” because it was, among other things, a “criminal prosecution of a knowingly innocent person.”
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VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press reported from Moscow.
A female Chinese student who was extorted by three compatriots near Ekkamai district in Bangkok identified the three suspects in detention as people who abducted her on March 16, 2023.
Pol. Maj. Gen. Tawatkiat JIndakuansanong, commander of the 5th Metropolitan Police Bureau, briefed reporters on March 20 that the inspector has already filed 4 charges against the suspects for false imprisonment, extortion, extortion for ransom and carrying weapons in a public place. The suspects are Ran Xiaoyong, Zeng Bo and Nie Lijiao or Xiao Ei.
In the case of the owner of the rented car and the person who had rented a car for the suspects, the police found no connection to the misconduct and their interrogation was beneficial to the police.
Pol. Col. Punsa Amarapitak, Superintendent of Thong Lor Police Station, told reporters that the interrogation was hindered because the three suspects could not speak Thai and needed a translator. The problem was that the designated translator was involved in an accident and could not be at the police station, so the team had to request another translator from the Tourism Police Bureau, causing delays.
Pol. Col. Punsa stressed that the team will expedite the interrogation to conclude it by today as the law allows the police only up to 48 hours of detention.
“If the team cannot complete the questioning by today, they will still apply for the detention warrant and later send the police to the prison for further questioning.” said Pol. Col. Punsa
The police insist on denying bail because the penalty is heavy and the police are afraid of absconding. Later, the Bangkok South Criminal Court considered the petition before allowing the three suspects to be detained for 12 days, from March 20–31.
Two men were sent to the Bangkok Remand Prison; while Nie Lijiao was sent to the Central Women’s Correctional Institution.
So far Nie Lijiao told she has known the victim for more than a year and that she said she only invited the victim to talk about cryptocurrencies and did not force the victim to transfer money.
For further investigation, police are now looking into whether there are any other suspects, but cannot disclose the status of the case as this could affect the investigation. Police believe that a foreigner living in Thailand may be helping the suspects.
Based on the calculation based on the results of the last general elections combined with the new election constituency boundaries will benefit the ruling Phalang Pracharath Party most and it means the Pheu Thai Party won’t win a landslide and will likely end up in the opposition camp after the May election, said Associate Professor Thanaporn Sriyakut, president of the Political Science Association of Kasetsart University, on Monday.
Thanaporn presented the forecast at a Matichon-organized forum on general election analysis at Matichon Office. He believes the new 400 constituencies is likely a result of gerrymandering.
Thanaporn Sriyakut, / Khaosod PHOTO
“It’s either Prayut or Prawit winning,” he said, referring to incumbent PM Gen Prayut Chan-o-ocha, who’s a candidate for the United Thai Nation Party and Deputy PM Gen Prawit Wongsuwan, leader and PM candidate for the ruling Phalang Pracharath Party. “We’re still witnessing the struggle between the two poles [of conservative and liberal forces] and I conclude the conservative side will stay on.”
All in all, he predicts the ruling Phalang Pracharath will win 142 MP seats and lead a new coalition with 264 MPs. There will be six coalition partners including the Bhumjai Thai (59 MPs), the Democrat (48 MPs) and Thai Liberal Party (10 MPs). In the opposition camp, Pheu Thai will gain 174 MPs and will be joined by four other parties, including Move Forward (48 MPs) and Prachart (9 MPs).
Khaosod PHOTO
Thanaporn cited examples of alleged gerrymandering, including in Sukhothai province, the northeastern region, Bangkok and Songkhla to posit that the new constituency boundaries seem to benefit the ruling Phalang Pracharath Party.
Two other speakers at the event offered caveats on such forecasts, however. Satitorn Tananitichote, director of the Office of Innovation for Democracy at King Prajadhipok Institute warns that MPs defections to different parties and the fact that Prayut is no longer a PM candidate for the ruling Phalang Pracharath Party must be taken into consideration. He believes the new boundaries looks “very intentional” in design, however.
Former PM Office Minister Suranand Vejjajiva who served under the Yingluck Shinawatra administration was the third speaker. Prayut, said Suranand, is no longer a political “magnet” that he was and will likely affect the upcoming general election results.
Suranand Vejjajiva / Khaosod PHOTO
Suranand added that even some who had supported Prayut said they had enough with eight years under him. “Gen Prawit is also not a magnet either.”
Nevertheless, Suranand warns about the influence of the “deep state”, namely the bureaucracy that could also continue to influence the direction of Thailand after the election. The patronage system, he added, has never been dismantled.
The logos of the Swiss banks Credit Suisse and UBS are displayed at Paradeplatz in Zurich, Switzerland, Sunday March 19, 2023. (Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP)
GENEVA (AP) — Shares of Credit Suisse plunged 60.5% in early trading Monday after the announcement that banking giant UBS would buy its troubled rival for almost $3.25 billion in a deal orchestrated by regulators to stave off further market-shaking turmoil in the global banking system.
UBS shares also were down 8% on the Swiss stock exchange.
Swiss authorities urged UBS to take over its smaller rival after a plan for Credit Suisse to borrow up to 50 billion francs ($54 billion) failed to reassure investors and the bank’s customers. Shares of Credit Suisse and other banks plunged last week after the failure of two banks in the U.S. raised questions about other potentially weak global financial institutions.
Markets remained jittery Monday despite the best efforts of regulators to restore calm. In the U.S., the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced late Sunday that New York Community Bank has agreed to buy a significant chunk of the failed Signature Bank in a $2.7 billion deal.
Global stock markets sank, with Hong Kong’s main index sliding more than 3%. Market benchmarks in Frankfurt and Paris opened down more than 1%, with European banking stocks dropping more than 2%. Shanghai, Tokyo and Sydney also declined. Wall Street futures were off 1%.
Credit Suisse is among 30 financial institutions known as globally systemically important banks, and authorities were worried about the fallout if it were to fail.
People walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan’s Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Monday, March 20, 2023, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Credit Suisse is among 30 financial institutions known as globally systemically important banks, and authorities were worried about the fallout if it were to fail.
“An uncontrolled collapse of Credit Suisse would lead to incalculable consequences for the country and the international financial system,” Swiss President Alain Berset said as he announced the deal Sunday night.
UBS is bigger but Credit Suisse wields considerable influence, with $1.4 trillion assets under management. It has significant trading desks around the world, caters to the rich through its wealth management business, and is a major mergers and acquisitions advisor. The bank did weather the 2008 financial crisis without assistance, unlike UBS.
Many of its current problems are unique and unlike the weaknesses that brought down Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in the U.S. It has faced an array of troubles in recent years, including bad bets on hedge funds, repeated shake-ups of its top management and a spying scandal involving UBS.
Those troubles resurfaced last week after it reported managers had identified “material weaknesses” in its internal controls on financial reporting. Shares plunged Wednesday after its largest investor, the Saudi National Bank, said it wouldn’t invest any more money in the bank to avoid triggering regulations that would kick in if its stake rose about 10%.
An aerial view of the headquarters of the Swiss banks Credit Suisse, center, and UBS, left, at Paradeplatz in Zurich, Switzerland, Sunday March 19, 2023. (Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP)
Switzerland’s executive branch passed an emergency ordinance allowing the merger to go through without shareholder approval.
As part of the deal, approximately 16 billion francs ($17.3 billion) in Credit Suisse bonds will be wiped out. That has triggered concern about the market for those bonds and for other banks that hold them.
The combination of the two biggest and best-known Swiss banks, each with storied histories dating to the mid-19th century, amounts to a thunderclap for Switzerland’s reputation as a global financial center — putting it on the cusp of having a single national banking champion.
The deal follows the collapse of two large U.S. banks last week that spurred a frantic, broad response from the U.S. government to prevent further panic.
A traffic light signals green in front of the logos of the Swiss banks Credit Suisse and UBS in Zurich, Switzerland, Sunday March 19, 2023. (Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP)
Credit Suisse Chairman Axel Lehmann called the sale to UBS “a clear turning point.”
“It is a historic, sad and very challenging day for Credit Suisse, for Switzerland and for the global financial markets,” Lehmann said, adding that the focus is now on the future and on what’s next for Credit Suisse’s 50,000 employees — 17,000 of whom are in Switzerland.
Also Sunday, the world’s central banks announced coordinated moves to stabilize banks, including access to a lending facility for banks to borrow U.S. dollars if they need them, a practice widely used during the 2008 crisis.
“Today is one of the most significant days in European banking since 2008, with far-reaching repercussions for the industry,” said Max Georgiou, an analyst at Third Bridge. “These events could alter the course of not only European banking but also the wealth management industry more generally.”
Colm Kelleher, the UBS chairman, hailed “enormous opportunities” from the takeover and highlighted his bank’s “conservative risk culture” — a subtle swipe at Credit Suisse’s reputation for more swashbuckling gambles in search of bigger returns. He said the combined group would create a wealth manager with over $5 trillion in total invested assets.
UBS officials said they plan to sell off parts of Credit Suisse or reduce the bank’s size.
Swiss Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter said the Federal Council, the country’s executive branch, “regrets that the bank, which was once a model institution in Switzerland and part of our strong location, was able to get into this situation at all.”
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde lauded the “swift action” by Swiss officials, saying they were “instrumental for restoring orderly market conditions and ensuring financial stability.”
She reiterated that the European banking sector is resilient, with strong financial reserves and plenty of ready cash. The Credit Suisse parent bank is not part of European Union supervision, but it has entities in several European countries that are.
Last week, when the ECB raised interest rates, she said banks “are in a completely different position from 2008” during the financial crisis, partly because of stricter government regulation.
The Swiss government is providing more than 100 billion francs to support the takeover.
Berset said the Federal Council had been discussing Credit Suisse’s troubles since early this year and held urgent meetings last week.
Investors and banking industry analysts were still digesting the deal, but at least one analyst suggested it might tarnish Switzerland’s global banking image.
“A country-wide reputation with prudent financial management, sound regulatory oversight, and, frankly, for being somewhat dour and boring regarding investments, has been wiped away,” Octavio Marenzi, CEO of consulting firm Opimas LLC, said in an email.
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Sweet reported from New York. Associated Press writers Frank Jordans and Emily Schultheis in Berlin, Barbara Ortutay in Oakland, California, Chris Rugaber in Washington and David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany, contributed.
Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha can still be called the prime minister until a new government is established.
The House of Representatives has been dissolved effective immediately. The order was signed by HM the King March 17 but published on the Royal Gazette today, Monday March 20.
The Election Commission will now have to meet to decide on the election date, either May 7 or 14.
Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said Gen. Prayuth Chan-o-cha can still be called the Prime Minister; he does not need to be called an acting PM. Wissanu claimed that the Council of State used to give reasons why, if the word “acting” were used, it could lead to confusion later.
Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha / Khaosod PHOTO
According to AP, Thai election will pit the heavily favored opposition Pheu Thai party, backed by billionaire populist Thaksin Shinawatra, against parties representing the conservative establishment, spearheaded by the military.
The leading Pheu Thai candidate is Thaksin’s daughter, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who is heavily favored in opinion polls.
If elected, she would be the third member of the Shinawatra family to be prime minister in the past two decades. Her father held office in 2001-2006, and Thaksin’s sister Yingluck in 2011-2014. Both of them were toppled by military coups.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra / Khaosod PHOTO
Prayuth is a former general who led the 2014 coup and is facing a challenge not only from Pheu Thai but also from his longtime comrade-in-arms and deputy prime minister, Prawit Wongsuwan. He was the declared candidate of a second military-backed party. Prayuth came to power again as head of a coalition government after the 2019 election.
More than 52 million of the country’s population of over 66 million are eligible to vote across 400 constituencies. Four hundred seats will be determined by first-past-the-post races in each constituency. A separate party preference ballot will seat the other 100 members of the House of Representatives from national party lists.
Personnel from the Office of Atoms for Peace use radiation detectors to locate the missing radioactive cylinder at a metal factory in Prachinburi province on Mar. 19, 2023.
PRACHINBURI — Officials on Monday said there is no indication of any risk to public health from the radioactive cylinder found melted at a metal foundry in Prachinburi province.
The cylinder containing Cesium-137, which had been reported missing from a power plant last week, was tracked down to an unnamed factory in Prachinburi’s Kabin Buri district on Sunday. Despite public fears of radiation exposure, governor Ronnarong Nakornjinda said the situation remains under control as there is no impact to the environment.
“No Cesium-137 contamination was found in metal products from the factory,” Ronnarong said. “Radioactivity readings around the plant appeared normal, while air and water samples collected from areas surrounding the plant returned normal results. There is no radioactive contamination in the environment.”
A radioactive cylinder, a steel tube, 30 cm (12 inches) long and 13 cm (5 inches) diameter that has gone missing from a steam power plant in Thailand’s eastern province of Prachinburi. (The Prachinburi Provincial Public Relations Office via AP)
The factory was shut down yesterday after officials detected traces of Cesium-137 in metal dust, which is a waste product of the steelmaking process. Ronnarong said the dust was stored at the facility after being collected from the furnace and was not distributed elsewhere.
Blood tests would be conducted on workers and nearby residents to detect any radiation exposure.
Police said they are investigating how the cylinder ended up at the metal foundry, which they believe was stolen and sold as scrap metal. The 30-centimeter-long cylinder was installed on a 17-meter-tall silo at a steam power plant in the same province and was used for measuring ash in the silo.
“The power plant is a closed area,” Prachinburi provincial police commander Winai Nutcha said. “Ordinary people would not be able to take it except for the plant’s employees.”
Experts have warned of health risk — which includes burns, nausea, and cancers — if the radioactive material is exposed. The half-life of Cesium-137 is around 30 years.
The episode reminded the public of a radiation accident in 2000, when an illegally disposed canister containing Cobalt-60 was dismantled by junkyard workers in Samut Prakan province. The incident resulted in three deaths and at least five people hospitalized for radiation sickness.
NACC to Start Phase 2 of Online Assets Declaration System With Digital Technology on April 1
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) will be ready for Phase 2 of the Online Declaration System (ODS) which will upgrade the service for the online electronic filing of assets and liabilities accounts, following positive responses from nearly ten per cent of those who have filed in Phase 1 and remarked that it was easy, convenient and fast to use.
Niwatchai Kasemmongkol, Secretary-General of the NACC who concurrently acts as spokesman of the NACC Office, said the NACC Office has launched the Online Declaration System via www.nacc.go.th and https://asset.nacc.go.th./ods-app for the conveniences of those who may be legally obliged to file assets and liabilities accounts to the NACC.
Previously, those who had filed assets and liabilities accounts had had documents enclosed and sent to the NACC Office at the headquarters or in the provinces.
Since Phase 1 of the Online Declaration System opened on October 1, 2022, positive responses have been made from 138 persons who having obligation to submit the account of assets and liabilities to the NACC.
Phase 2 of the Online Declaration System will be ready on April 1, 2023, for those who may be legally obliged to file assets and liabilities accounts under Section 102 (1-8) including:
(1) Persons holding political position
(2) Justice of the Constitutional Court
(3) Person holding a position in an independent agency
(4) Judicial official under the law on regulations of judicial officials of the Court of Justice who is in the position of the Director-General and above
(5) Official of the Administrative Court under the law on establishment of Administrative Court and administrative case procedure who is in the position of the Director-General of the Administrative Court of First Instance and above
(6) Public prosecutors under the law on regulations of public prosecutors who is in the position of the Director-General and above
(7) Person holding a high-ranking position
(8) Other positions as obliged by other laws to submit the account of assets and liabilities
Phase 3 of the Online Declaration System is scheduled to open on October 1, 2023, for those who may be legally obliged to file assets and liabilities accounts under Section 102 (9) including Local administrator, deputy local administrator, assistant local administrator and members of the local assembly as prescribed by the NACC.
The ODS can be used online via www.nacc.go.th and https://asset.nacc.go.th./ods-app. For more information, please call 1205 NACC Hot Line during office hours
North Korean government shows what it says is a ballistic missile in North Pyongan Province, North Korea, on March 19, 2023. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Monday it simulated a nuclear attack on South Korea with a ballistic missile launch over the weekend that was its fifth missile demonstration this month to protest the largest joint military exercises in years between the U.S. and South Korea.
The North’s leader Kim Jong Un instructed his military to hold more drills to sharpen the war readiness of his nuclear forces in the face of “aggression” by his enemies, state media reported.
The South Korean and Japanese militaries detected the short-range missile being launched Sunday into waters off the North’s eastern coast, which reportedly came less than an hour before the U.S. flew long-range B-1B bombers for training with South Korean warplanes. The North characterizes the U.S.-South Korea exercises as a rehearsal to invade, though the allies insist they are defensive in nature. Some experts say the North uses the exercises as a pretext to advance its weapons programs.
This photo provided by the North Korean government shows what it says is a ballistic missile in North Pyongan Province, North Korea, on March 19, 2023. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency said the missile, which flew about 800 kilometers (500 miles), was tipped with a mock nuclear warhead. It described the test as successful, saying that the device detonated as intended 800 meters (yards) above water at a spot that simulated an unspecified “major enemy target,” supposedly reaffirming the reliability of the weapon’s nuclear explosion control devices and warhead detonators.
The report said the launch was the final step of a two-day drill that also involved nuclear command and control exercises and training military units to switch more quickly into nuclear counterattack posture, properly handle nuclear weapons systems and execute attack plans.
The exercise was also a “stronger warning” to the United States and South Korea, who are “undisguised in their explicit attempt to unleash a war” against the North, KCNA said.
Photos published by state media showed Kim walking through a forest with his daughter and senior military officials and a missile the North described as a tactical nuclear weapon system soaring from the woods spewing flames and smoke.
Saying that his enemies are getting “ever more pronounced in their moves for aggression,” Kim laid out unspecified “strategic tasks” for further developing his nuclear forces and improving their war readiness, KCNA said. This indicated that the North could up the ante in its weapons demonstrations in coming weeks or months.
A U.S Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter transports a M777 howitzer during a joint military drill between South Korea and the United States at Rodriguez Live Fire Complex in Pocheon, South Korea, Sunday, March 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Jeon Ha Gyu, spokesperson of South Korea’s Defense Ministry, said it’s clear North Korea with its ramped-up testing activity is making “considerable progress” in nuclear weapons technology. He did not provide a specific assessment about the North’s claim about the successful warhead detonation.
North Korean photos indicated the latest launch was of a solid-fuel missile apparently modeled after Russia’s Iskander mobile ballistic system that the North has been testing since 2019. The missiles are built to travel at low altitudes and be maneuverable in flight, which theoretically improve their chances of evading South Korean missile defenses.
While these missiles have been mostly fired from wheeled vehicles, North Korea has also tested them or their variants from railcars, a submarine and a platform inside a reservoir. Photos of the latest test suggested the missile was possibly fired from a silo dug into the ground, highlighting the North’s efforts to diversify its launch options and make it harder for opponents to identify and counter them.
South Korea’s military said the launch took place at a mountainous northwestern region near Tongchangri, which hosts a site where the North conducted long-range rocket and satellite launches in previous years.
FILE – In this photo provided by South Korea Defense Ministry, U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers, center, fly in formation with South Korea’s Air Force F-35A fighter jets over the South Korea Peninsula during a joint air drill in South Korea, Sunday, March 19, 2023. (South Korea Defense Ministry via AP, File)
North Korea likely has dozens of nuclear warheads, but there are differing assessments on how far the North has advanced in miniaturizing and engineering those weapons so that they could fit on the newer weapons it tested in recent years.
While the North after six nuclear tests may be able to place simple nuclear warheads on some of its older systems, like Scuds or Rodong missiles, it will likely require further technology upgrades and nuclear tests to build warheads that can be installed on its more advanced tactical systems, according to Lee Choon Geun, an honorary research fellow at South Korea’s Science and Technology Policy Institute.
Sunday’s short-range launch was the North’s fifth missile event this month and the third since the U.S. and South Korean militaries began joint exercises on March 13. The allies’ drills, which are to continue through Thursday, include computer simulations and their biggest springtime field exercise since 2018.
The North so far in 2023 has fired around 20 missiles over nine different launch events. They included short-range missiles fired from land, cruise missiles launched from a submarine, and two different intercontinental ballistic missiles fired an airport near Pyongyang as it tries to demonstrate a dual ability to conduct nuclear attacks on South Korea and the U.S. mainland.
The latest ICBM test last Thursday preceded a summit between South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who agreed to resume security dialogues and take other steps to improve their oft-strained relations in the face of North Korean threats.
North Korea already is coming off a record year in testing activity, with more than 70 missiles fired in 2022, as Kim accelerates his weapons development aimed at forcing the United States to accept the idea of the North as a nuclear power and negotiating badly needed sanctions relief from a position of strength.
In response to the most recent ICBM launch, the U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency open meeting Monday morning at the request of the United States, United Kingdom, Albania, Ecuador, France and Malta. Security Council resolutions have long banned North Korean ballistic missile activity, but permanent council members Russia and China have thwarted punishment or further sanctions in recent years.
The U.N. Security Council held an informal meeting Friday at which the U.S., its allies and human rights experts shone a spotlight on what they described as the dire rights situation in North Korea. China and Russia denounced the meeting as a politicized move.
North Korea’s U.N. Mission called the meeting about “our non-existent ‘human rights issue'” unlawful. It also said the U.S. held Friday’s meeting “while staging the aggressive joint military exercise which poses a grave threat to our national security.”
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KIM TONG-HYUNG reported from Seoul, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.
A radioactive cylinder, a steel tube, 30 cm (12 inches) long and 13 cm (5 inches) diameter that has gone missing from a steam power plant in Thailand's eastern province of Prachinburi. (The Prachinburi Provincial Public Relations Office via AP)
A metal cylinder with radioactive contents that has gone missing from a power plant in Si Maha Phot District, Prachinburi province, 100 kilometers east of Bangkok, has been found in the province.
The 30-centimeter- (12-inch-) long cylinder containing the radioactive material Caesium-137 was discovered missing on March 10 from a piece of machinery at the National Power Plant 5 which belongs to the National Power Supply Public Co., Ltd.
The company said it is not clear whether the cylinder had gone missing by accident. The company added a reward of 100,000 baht for anyone who can provide information about it.
According to a statement from the Office of Atoms for Peace (OAP), search teams and drones have been deployed to recover the missing cylinder. The search focused on steel recycling facilities, junk shops and secondhand stores.
Eventually, the search team found it on Sunday, March 19, at one company in Hat Nang Kaeo Subdistrict, Kabin Buri District, while scanning for radiation along the piles of scrap metal, including the compressed steel that will go into the furnace.
Health officials cautioned the public that prolonged direct contact with radioactive material can cause skin rashes, hair loss, canker sores, fatigue, and vomiting. They said short-term contact with Caesium-137 may not show immediate symptoms but could lead to a higher risk of cancer.
