Page 11 - ARUBA TODAY

A11
WORLD NEWS Monday 5 February 2018

North Korea slams Trump’s State of the Union address

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) “If Trump does not get rid of vent North Korea from be-
— North Korea on Sunday his anachronistic and dog- ing able to attack the U.S.
slammed President Donald matic way of thinking, it will with nuclear weapons.
Trump’s State of the Union only bring about the conse- The foreign ministry official
address and said its nuclear quence of further endan- said that North Korea’s
capabilities would “deter gering security and future “self-reliant defense ca-
Trump and his lackeys from of the United States,” the pability with the nuclear
showing off on the Korean official said, in comments force as its backbone will,
peninsula.” carried by the North’s of- however, completely deter
In his address last week, ficial Korean Central News Trump and his lackeys from
Trump said that “no regime Agency. showing off on the Korean
has oppressed its own citi- The official disputed peninsula.”
zens more totally or brutally Trump’s claim in his address On Friday, Trump sought
than the cruel dictatorship that the United States had to increase pressure on
in North Korea.” “made incredible progress Pyongyang over its nucle-
“We need only look at the and achieved extraordi- ar program by consulting In this Monday, Jan. 22, 2018 file photo, a North Korean girl
depraved character of the nary success” over the last with allies and highlighting walks past the Taedong Gate in Pyongyang, North Korea.
North Korean regime to un- year, calling it “the height the human rights abuses Associated Press
derstand the nature of the of Trump-style arrogance, suffered by defectors from escape the reclusive coun- Trump has expressed a will-
nuclear threat it could pose arbitrariness and self-con- North Korea. try after a train ran over his ingness to deal with rising
to America and to our al- ceit.” Trump hosted about a limbs. Days earlier, Ji raised tensions with Pyongyang
lies,” Trump said. Trump also said in his half-dozen North Korean his crutches in triumph through diplomacy, but he
On Sunday, a North Korean speech that the U.S. was defectors in the Oval Of- when Trump singled him has said the United States
foreign ministry official shot “waging a campaign of fice, including Ji Seong-ho, out during his State of the would use military force on
back at the president. maximum pressure” to pre- who had used crutches to Union address. North Korea if needed.q

China criticizes U.S. for nuclear adversary claims

By JOE McDONALD any use of nuclear weap- warheads, or about 20 versible trends” and called limits the United States and
Associated Press ons, however limited, is ac- times as many as Beijing. on Washington to work with Russia each to 1,550 strate-
BEIJING (AP) — China on ceptable. Beijing has rattled Japan, Beijing to “jointly safeguard gic nuclear warheads on a
Sunday criticized a U.S. “The Chinese side expresses South Korea and Southeast peace, stability and pros- maximum of 700 deployed
government report that firm opposition” to the re- Asian governments with perity in this region and the launchers.
cast Beijing as a poten- port, said a ministry spokes- increasingly assertive ges- world.” The U.S. government says
tial nuclear adversary and man, Ren Guoqiang. tures and belligerent com- President Donald Trump’s it has been in compli-
called on Washington to “We hope the U.S. will ments aimed at enforcing nuclear doctrine breaks ance since August and ex-
reduce its own much larger abandon a Cold War men- its claims to disputed islands with his predecessor, pects Moscow to comply
arsenal and join in promot- tality and earnestly shoul- and swathes of ocean. Barack Obama, by ending by the deadline, which is
ing regional stability. der its special and prior In December, China sent a push to reduce the role Monday.q
A Defense Ministry state- responsibility for its own nu- bombers and fighter planes of nuclear weapons in U.S.
ment said China’s nuclear clear disarmament,” said to fly around Taiwan, the military policy.
arsenal is the “minimum Ren. self-ruled island the com- In a written statement,
level” required for security. The ruling Communist munist mainland claims as Trump on Friday said U.S.
It pledged never to be the Party’s military wing, the its territory. The warplanes strategy is designed to
first to use nuclear weap- People’s Liberation Army, flew near South Korean make use of nuclear weap-
ons “under any circum- has the world’s fifth-largest and Japanese air space, ons less likely. But arms con-
stances.” nuclear arsenal, with 300 prompting Japan to dis- trol group criticized it as
The sweeping U.S. nuclear warheads, according to patch fighter jets to inter- reckless.
strategy review issued Fri- the Stockholm International cept them. Friday’s report endorsed
day said Washington wants Peace Research Institute. The Defense Ministry state- adhering to U.S. arms con-
to prevent Beijing from mis- The United States and Rus- ment said global peace trol agreements, including
takenly concluding that sia each have about 7,000 and development “are irre- the New START treaty that