Tag Archives: Ballistic Missiles

Japan defense review warns of enhanced North Korea threats

Japan's Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera attends a news conference at Defence Ministry in Tokyo, Japan August 8, 2017. REUTERS/Issei Kato

By Kiyoshi Takenaka

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan warned on Tuesday against the acute threat posed by North Korea’s weapons programs as Pyongyang’s continued series of missile and nuclear tests, in defiance of U.N. sanctions, brings technological progress to the reclusive state.

Japan released its annual Defence White Paper after North Korea fired two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) last month on lofted trajectories to land off Japan’s west coast.

“It is conceivable that North Korea’s nuclear weapons program has already considerably advanced and it is possible that North Korea has already achieved the miniaturization of nuclear weapons and has acquired nuclear warheads,” the Defence Ministry said.

“Since last year, when it forcibly implemented two nuclear tests and more than 20 ballistic missile launches, the security threats have entered a new stage,” it added in the 563-page document.

North Korea’s latest ICBM test showed Pyongyang may now be able to reach most of the continental United States, two U.S. officials have told Reuters.

The growing threat has prompted Japanese municipalities to hold evacuation drills in case of a possible missile attack, and boosted demand for nuclear shelters.

Missiles launched on a lofted trajectory were difficult to intercept, the defense ministry said.

With North Korea pressing ahead with missile tests, a group of ruling party lawmakers led by Itsunori Onodera, who became defense minister on Thursday, urged Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in March to consider acquiring the capability to hit enemy bases.

If realized, that would be a drastic change in Japan’s defense posture. Tokyo has so far avoided taking the controversial and costly step of acquiring bombers or cruise missiles with the range to strike other countries.

“North Korea’s missiles represent a deepening threat. That, along with China’s continued threatening behavior in the East China Sea and South China Sea, is a major concern for Japan,” Onodera told a news briefing in Tokyo.

The ministry said the number of Japan’s jet scrambles against Chinese aircraft hit a record in the year to March 2017. The first confirmed advancement of China’s aircraft carrier to the Pacific also came in December 2016.

“There is a possibility that their naval activities, as well as air force activities, will pick up pace in the Sea of Japan from now on,” the ministry said.

“We need to keep a close eye on the Chinese naval force’s activity,” it added.

Tokyo’s ties with Beijing have long been plagued by a territorial dispute over a group of tiny, uninhabited East China Sea islets and the legacy of Japan’s wartime aggression.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi dismissed the white paper, telling state television in Manila, which he visited for a regional security meeting, that Japan was “playing the same old tune”.

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Additional reporting by Tim Kelly, and Ben Blanchard in BEIJING; Editing by Paul Tait and Clarence Fernandez)

North Korea fires missile into sea off east coast in unusual night test

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watches the test of a new-type anti-aircraft guided weapon system organised by the Academy of National Defence Science in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) May 28, 2017. KCNA/via REUTERS

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea fired a ballistic missile on Friday in an unusual late-night test launch from its northern Jangang province that landed in the sea off its east coast, possibly in Japan’s exclusive economic zone, South Korea and Japan said.

The launch took place at 11:41 p.m. (1441 GMT), an official at South Korea’s Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The U.S. Defense Department also confirmed the launch as a ballistic missile, saying it was making further assessments.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in called a National Security Council meeting for 1 a.m. Saturday, his office said, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also said a National Security Council meeting would be convened.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that the North Korean missile flew for about 45 minutes.

(Reporting by Jack Kim in Seoul, William Mallard in Tokyo and Idrees Ali in Washington; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Two U.S. bombers hold firing drills with South Korean forces

U.S. B-1B Lancer flies over South Korea during a joint live-fire drill in this handout picture provided by South Korean Air Force and relased by Yonhap on July 8, 2017. South Korean Air Force/Yonhap via REUTERS

SEOUL (Reuters) – Two U.S. supersonic bombers conducted live-fire drills on Saturday in South Korea in a show of force following North Korea’s test-launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the South’s military said.

The pair of B-1B Lancer strategic bombers flew from a U.S. base on Guam and were joined by U.S. and South Korean jet fighters to conduct the simulated destruction of an enemy ballistic missile launcher and underground facilities, the South’s air force said.

North Korea announced on Tuesday it successfully test-launched an ICBM, saying the missile was capable of carrying a large and heavy nuclear warhead.

Some experts believe the missile has the range to reach Alaska and Hawaii and the test signaled a significant advance in the North’s declared intent to build a nuclear-tipped missile that can hit the U.S. mainland.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said the test indicated a quicker than expected pace of the North’s ICBM program.

The B-1B bombers conducted the live-fire exercise at a range in South Korea’s eastern Gangwon province, dropping weapons in a simulated attack on a missile launcher, the South Korean air force said in a statement.

South Korean and U.S. fighter jets conducted precision strike drills aimed at attacking enemy targets hidden underground, it said.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the bombers then flew west, hugging the heavily fortified Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) border between the two Koreas, before leaving South Korean airspace.

The drill follows a joint artillery and missile exercise by South Korean and U.S. forces a day after the North’s ICBM test.

TRUMP WARNING

Despite the sabre-rattling, the United States and South Korea have said they are committed to resolving the crisis over the North’s pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile peacefully.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Friday in Hamburg, where the leaders of G20 nations are meeting, there would not be many good options left on North Korea if the peaceful pressure campaign failed.

U.S. President Donald Trump vowed on Thursday to confront the North “very strongly” and said Washington was considering “severe things” for the isolated state following the ICBM test.

The United States, Japan and South Korea agreed on Friday to push for a quick U.N. Security Council resolution to put new sanctions on North Korea.

On the sidelines of the G20 summit, Trump, Moon and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to apply “maximum pressure” to counter the North nuclear threat.

North Korea has hailed the ICBM test as marking the completion of is strategic weapons capability that it says includes atomic and hydrogen bombs.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited a mausoleum honouring state founder Kim Il Sun on Saturday, the anniversary of his grandfather’s death, the North’s official KCNA news agency reported.

He was joined by military officials who contributed to the success of the ICBM test, the news agency said.

(Reporting by Heekyong Yang; Editing by Jack Kim, Robert Birsel)

Exclusive: U.S. plans to test THAAD missile defenses as North Korea tensions mount

A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor is seen in Seongju, South Korea, June 13, 2017. Picture taken on June 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

By Phil Stewart

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States plans to carry out a new test of its THAAD missile defense system against an intermediate-range ballistic missile in the coming days, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Friday, as tensions with North Korea climb.

Despite being planned months ago, the U.S. missile defense test will gain significance in the wake of North Korea’s launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on July 4 that has heightened concerns about the threat from Pyongyang.

The test will be the first of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) to defend against a simulated attack by an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), one of the officials said. The THAAD interceptors will be fired from Alaska.

The United States has THAAD interceptors in Guam that are meant to help guard against a missile attack from a country such as North Korea.

The officials who disclosed to Reuters the precise nature and timing of the upcoming test spoke on condition of anonymity.

Asked by Reuters, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) confirmed that it aimed to carry out a THAAD flight test “in early July.”

Chris Johnson, an MDA spokesman, said the THAAD weapon system at the Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska in Kodiak, Alaska, would “detect, track and engage a target with a THAAD interceptor.”

“The test is designated as Flight Test THAAD (FTT)-18,” Johnson said. He did not elaborate.

Still, in recent testimony to Congress, Vice Admiral James Syring, then the director of the Missile Defense Agency, said FTT-18 would aim to demonstrate THAAD’s ability to intercept a separating IRBM target.

MDA said THAAD had a 100 percent successful track record in its 13 flight tests since 2006. After previous tests, the U.S. military has publicly disclosed the results.

SOUTH KOREAN DEPLOYMENT

THAAD is a ground-based missile defense system designed to shoot down short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles.

Lockheed Martin Corp, the prime contractor for the THAAD system, said it has the ability to intercept incoming missiles both inside and outside the Earth’s atmosphere.

This year’s U.S. deployment of THAAD in South Korea to guard against North Korea’s shorter-range missiles has also drawn fierce criticism from China, which says the system’s powerful radar can probe deep into its territory.

Earlier this month Moscow and Beijing, in a joint statement, called on Washington to immediately halt deployment of THAAD in South Korea.

The statement said Washington was using North Korea as a pretext to expand its military infrastructure in Asia and risked upsetting the strategic balance of power in the region.

THAAD’s success rate in testing is far higher than the one for America’s Ground-based Midcourse Defense system (GMD), the system specifically designed to shoot down an ICBM headed for the U.S. mainland.

That GMD system has only a 55 percent success rate over the life of the program. But advocates note that the technology has improved dramatically in recent years.

In a key development, the GMD system successfully shot down an incoming, simulated North Korean ICBM in a test in May.

That led the Pentagon to upgrade its assessment of America’s ability to defend against a small number of ICBMs, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.

MDA told Congress in June that it plans to deliver 52 more THAAD interceptors to the U.S. Army between October 2017 and September 2018, for a total of 210 since May 2011.

In a sign of U.S. congressional concern about missile defense, several lawmakers filed amendments to a sweeping defense policy bill on Friday that addressed North Korea. Republican Representative Don Young, whose home state Alaska is seen as especially vulnerable to the North Korea threat, asked for more ground-based interceptors for his state, and a study of potential additional sites on the East Coast or Midwest.

Democratic Representatives John Conyers and Sheila Jackson Lee, along with Republican Walter Jones, filed an amendment to the annual National Defense Authorization Act saying that nothing in the bill should be construed as authorizing the use of force against North Korea.

The full House of Representatives is due to consider the bill, and its amendments, next week.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and James Dalgleish)

Russia and China tell North Korea, U.S. and South Korea to embrace de-escalation plan

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping walk past honour guards during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia July 4, 2017. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia and China joined diplomatic forces on Tuesday and called on North Korea, South Korea and the United States to sign up to a Chinese de-escalation plan designed to defuse tensions around Pyongyang’s missile program.

The plan would see North Korea suspend its ballistic missile program and the United States and South Korea simultaneously call a moratorium on large-scale missile exercises, both moves aimed at paving the way for multilateral talks.

The initiative was set out in a joint statement from the Russian and Chinese foreign ministries issued shortly after President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping held wide-ranging talks in the Kremlin.

“The situation in the region affects the national interests of both countries,” the joint statement said. “Russia and China will work in close coordination to advance a solution to the complex problem of the Korean Peninsula in every possible way.”

North Korea said on Tuesday it had successfully test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the first time, which flew a trajectory that experts said could allow a weapon to hit the U.S. state of Alaska.

Russia and China both share a land border with North Korea and have been involved in past efforts to try to calm tensions between Pyongyang and the West.

Moscow and Beijing used the same joint declaration to call on Washington to immediately halt deployment of its THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea, a move Washington says is necessitated by the North Korean missile threat.

The statement said Washington was using North Korea as a pretext to expand its military infrastructure in Asia and risked upsetting the strategic balance of power in the area.

“The deployment … of THAAD will cause serious harm to the strategic security interests of regional states, including Russia and China,” the statement said.

“Russia and China oppose the deployment of such systems and call on the relevant countries to immediately halt and cancel the process of deployment.”

(Reporting by Denis Dyomkin/Vladimir Soldatkin/Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

North Korea ‘most urgent’ threat to security: Mattis

U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis arrives for a House Armed Services Committee hearing on the Pentagon's budget priorities on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

By Idrees Ali and Mike Stone

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Monday that North Korea’s advancing missile and nuclear programs were the “most urgent” threat to national security and that its means to deliver them had increased in speed and scope.

“The regime’s nuclear weapons program is a clear and present danger to all, and the regime’s provocative actions, manifestly illegal under international law, have not abated despite United Nations’ censure and sanctions,” Mattis said in a written statement to the House Armed Services Committee.

“The most urgent and dangerous threat to peace and security is North Korea,” the statement added. “North Korea’s continued pursuit of nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them has increased in pace and scope.”

Earlier this month, the U.N. Security Council expanded targeted sanctions against North Korea after its repeated missile tests, adopting the first such resolution agreed by the United States and China since President Donald Trump took office.

The U.S. focus on North Korea has been sharpened by dozens of North Korean missile launches and two nuclear bomb tests since the beginning of last year and by Pyongyang’s vow to develop a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland.

Mattis, speaking before the panel, warned of the potential losses in the case of conflict with North Korea.

“It would be a war like nothing we have seen since 1953 and we would have to deal with it with whatever level of force was necessary … It would be a very, very serious war,” Mattis said.

The Korean War ended in 1953, three years after fighting began in a conflict that would kill 140,000 South Koreans, 36,000 U.S. soldiers and 1 million civilians.

South Korea’s top national security adviser said last week that Seoul did not aim to change its agreement on the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system to protect against North Korea, despite a decision to delay its full installation.

Chung Eui-yong called the decision to delay installation of remaining launchers of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, system, pending a review of its environmental impact, a domestic measure to ensure a democratic process.

(Reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Peter Cooney and Stephen Coates)

North Korea says U.S. bomber flights push peninsula to brink of nuclear war

Kim Jong Un stands on the conning tower of a submarine during his inspection of the Korean People's Army Naval Unit 167 in this undated photo released June 16, 2014. REUTERS/KCNA

By Ju-min Park and Ben Blanchard

SEOUL/BEIJING (Reuters) – North Korea accused the United States on Tuesday of pushing the Korean peninsula to the brink of nuclear war after a pair of strategic U.S. bombers flew training drills with the South Korean and Japanese air forces in another show of strength.

The two supersonic B-1B Lancer bombers were deployed amid rising tensions over North Korea’s pursuit of its nuclear and missile programmes in defiance of U.N. sanctions and pressure from the United States.

The flight of the two bombers on Monday came as U.S. President Donald Trump said he would be “honoured” to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the right circumstances, and as his CIA director landed in South Korea for talks.

South Korean Defence Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun told a briefing in Seoul that Monday’s joint drill was conducted to deter provocations by the North.

North Korea said the bombers conducted “a nuclear bomb dropping drill against major objects” in its territory at a time when Trump and “other U.S. warmongers are crying out for making a preemptive nuclear strike” on the North.

“The reckless military provocation is pushing the situation on the Korean peninsula closer to the brink of nuclear war,” the North’s official KCNA news agency said on Tuesday.

Tensions on the Korean peninsula have been high for weeks, driven by concerns that the North might conduct its sixth nuclear test in defiance of pressure from the United States and Pyongyang’s sole major ally, China.

The U.S. military’s THAAD anti-missile defence system has reached initial operational capacity in South Korea, U.S. officials told Reuters, although they cautioned that it would not be fully operational for some months.

China has repeatedly expressed its opposition to the system, whose powerful radar it fears could reach inside Chinese territory. Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang again denounced THAAD on Tuesday.

“We will resolutely take necessary measures to defend our interests,” Geng said, without elaborating.

Asked about Trump’s suggestion he could meet Kim, Geng said China had noted U.S. comments that it wanted to use peaceful means to resolve the issue. Trump has been recently been full of praise of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s efforts to rein in its neighbour.

“China has always believed that using peaceful means via dialogue and consultation to resolve the peninsula’s nuclear issue is the only realistic, feasible means to achieve denuclearization of the peninsula and maintain peace and stability there, and is the only correct choice,” Geng told a daily news briefing.

It was widely feared North Korea could conduct its sixth nuclear test on or around April 15 to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of the North’s founding leader, Kim Il Sung, or on April 25 to coincide with the 85th anniversary of the foundation of its Korean People’s Army.

The North has conducted such tests or missile launches to mark significant events in the past.

Instead, North Korea conducted an annual military parade, featuring a display of missiles on April 15 and then a large, live-fire artillery drill 10 days later.

“VIGILANCE, READINESS”

Acting South Korean president Hwang Kyo-ahn called for stronger vigilance because of continuing provocation by North Korea and for countries such as China to increase pressure on the North.

The U.S. military said Mike Pompeo, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, visited South Korea and conducted detailed security discussions with his South Korean counterpart Lee Byung-ho and also visited Yeonpyeong island, which was bombed by North Korea in 2010.

Trump drew criticism in Washington on Monday when he said he would be “honoured” to meet North Korea’s young leader.

“If it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, I would absolutely, I would be honoured to do it,” Trump told Bloomberg News.

Trump did not say what conditions would be needed for such a meeting to occur or when it could happen.

“Clearly conditions are not there right now,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer said.

Trump warned in an interview with Reuters on Thursday that a “major, major conflict” with North Korea was possible, while China said last week the situation on the Korean peninsula could escalate or slip out of control.

In a show of force, the United States has already sent an aircraft carrier strike group, led by the USS Carl Vinson, to waters off the Korean peninsula to conduct drills with South Korea and Japan.

North Korea test-launched a missile on Saturday that appeared to have failed within minutes, its fourth successive failed launch since March. It has conducted two nuclear tests and a series of missile-related activities at an unprecedented pace since the beginning of last year.

The North is technically still at war with the South after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a treaty, and regularly threatens to destroy the United States, Japan and South Korea.

(Writing by Jack Kim; Editing by Paul Tait and Nick Macfie)

New nuclear-capable missile test a success, North Korea says

Passengers watch a TV screen broadcasting a news report on North Korea firing a ballistic missile into the sea off its east coast, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea

By Ju-min Park

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea said on Monday it had successfully test-fired a new type of medium- to long-range ballistic missile the previous day, claiming advances in a weapons programme it is pursuing in violation of U.N. resolutions.

North Korea fired the missile on a high arc into the sea early on Sunday, the first probe of U.S. President Donald Trump’s vow to get tough on an isolated regime that tested nuclear devices and ballistic missiles last year at an unprecedented rate.

The North’s state-run KCNA news agency said leader Kim Jong Un supervised the test of the Pukguksong-2, a new type of strategic weapon capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

The United States, Japan and South Korea requested urgent U.N. Security Council consultations on the test, with a meeting expected later on Monday, an official in the U.S. mission to the United Nations said.

Japan said further sanctions against North Korea could be discussed at the United Nations, and called on China to take a “constructive” role in responding.

China is North Korea’s main ally and trading partner but is irritated by its repeated aggressive actions, although it rejects suggestions from the United States and others that it could be doing more to rein in its neighbour.

“We have asked China via various levels to take constructive actions as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and we will continue to work on it,” said Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.

China said it opposed North Korean missile tests that run contrary to U.N. resolutions.

“All sides should exercise restraint and jointly maintain regional peace and security,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a regular briefing, adding that China would participate in talks at the United Nations on the launch with a “responsible and constructive attitude”.

Russia’s foreign ministry expressed concern over the launch, RIA news agency quoted the ministry as saying.

HIGH ANGLE

North Korea has conducted five nuclear tests, including two last year, although its claims to be able to miniaturise a nuclear weapon to be mounted on a missile have never been verified independently.

Leader Kim said in his New Year speech the North was close to test-launching an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and state media have said such a launch could come at any time.

A fully developed ICBM could threaten the continental United States, which is about 9,000 km (5,500 miles) from North Korea.

The KCNA news agency said the missile fired on Sunday was launched at a high angle in consideration of the safety of neighbouring countries. A South Korean military source said on Sunday it reached an altitude of 550 km (340 miles).

It flew about 500 km towards Japan, landing off the east coast of the Korean peninsula.

The missile was propelled by a solid fuel engine and was an upgraded, extended-range version of its submarine-launched ballistic missile that was tested successfully last August, according to KCNA.

The missile’s name – Pukguksong-2 – translates as north star or Polaris, the same name of the first U.S. submarine-launched missile.

South Korea’s military said the missile had been launched using a “cold-eject” system, whereby it is initially lifted by compressed gas before flying under the power of its rocket, a system used for submarine-launched missiles.

North Korea’s pursuit of large solid-fuelled missiles was “a very concerning development”, said Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

“Large solid-fuel motors are difficult to make work correctly so this is indeed a significant advance by North Korea,” McDowell said.

‘INTOLERABLE’

In addition to launching more quickly, solid-fuel engines also boost the power and range of ballistic rockets.

“Solid-motor engines mean that the fuel is pre-stored and the missile can be launched quickly. For example, rolled out of a cave, tunnel, or bridge,” said Melissa Hanham, a senior research associate at the U.S.-based Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, California.

“They are also more difficult to track by satellite because they have fewer support vehicles in their entourage.”

The North’s Rodong Sinmun newspaper showed pictures of a missile fired from a mobile launch vehicle, with a flame appearing only after it had risen clear of the vehicle.

Before Sunday, the North’s two most recent missile tests were in October. Both were of intermediate-range Musudan missiles and both failed, according to U.S. and South Korean officials.

A U.S. official said at the weekend the Trump administration had been expecting a North Korean “provocation” soon after taking office.

The latest test came a day after Trump held a summit meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and also followed a phone call last week between trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Abe described the test as “absolutely intolerable”.

In brief comments made while standing beside Abe in Florida, Trump said: “I just want everybody to understand, and fully know, that the United States of America is behind Japan, our great ally, 100 percent.”

Trump and his aides are likely to weigh a series of responses, including new U.S. sanctions to tighten financial controls, an increase in naval and air assets in and around the Korean peninsula, and accelerated installation of new missile defence systems in South Korea, the administration official said.

However, the official said that, given that the missile was believed not to have been an ICBM, and the North had not carried out a new nuclear explosion, any response would seek to avoid increasing tension.

(Additional reporting by Tony Munroe and Christine Kim in SEOUL, David Lawder in WASHINGTON, Kaori Kaneko in TOKYO and Ben Blanchard in BEIJING; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Robert Birsel)

China protests U.S. sanction list on Iran that hits Chinese firms

china and u.s. flags wave

BEIJING (Reuters) – China on Monday said it had “lodged representations” with the United States over Washington’s new sanctions list targeting Iran, which includes Chinese companies and individuals.

The sanctions on 25 people and entities imposed on Friday by President Donald Trump’s administration, and came two days it had put Iran ‘on notice’ following a ballistic missile test.

Those affected by the sanctions cannot access the U.S. financial system or deal with U.S. companies, and are subject to secondary sanctions, meaning foreign companies and individuals are prohibited from dealing with them or risk being blacklisted by the United States.

The list includes two Chinese companies and three Chinese people, only one of whom the U.S. Treasury Department explicitly said was a Chinese citizen, a person called Qin Xianhua.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said that Beijing had lodged a protest with Washington, and that such sanctions, particularly when they harmed the interests of a third party, were “not helpful” in promoting mutual trust.

“We have consistently opposed any unilateral sanctions,” Lu told a regular press briefing.

Executives of two Chinese companies included on the list said on Sunday they had only exported “normal” goods to the Middle Eastern country and didn’t consider they had done anything wrong.

China has in the past been angered by what it calls unilateral sanctions placed on Chinese firms by the United States and others in relation to Iran or North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

China has close economic and diplomatic ties with Tehran, but was also instrumental in pushing through a landmark 2015 deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program.

(Reporting by Michael Martina; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

U.S. warns North Korea of ‘overwhelming’ response if nuclear arms used

US Defense Scretary shakes hands with South Korean government official

By Phil Stewart

SEOUL (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s defense secretary warned North Korea on Friday of an “effective and overwhelming” response if it chose to use nuclear weapons, as he reassured South Korea of steadfast U.S. support.

“Any attack on the United States, or our allies, will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons would be met with a response that would be effective and overwhelming,” Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said at South Korea’s defense ministry, at the end of a two-day visit.

Mattis’ remarks come amid concern that North Korea could be readying to test a new ballistic missile, in what could be an early challenge for Trump’s administration.

North Korea, which regularly threatens to destroy South Korea and its main ally, the United States, conducted more than 20 missile tests last year, as well as two nuclear tests, in defiance of U.N. resolutions and sanctions.

The North also appears to have also restarted operation of a reactor at its main Yongbyon nuclear facility that produces plutonium that can be used for its nuclear weapons program, according to the U.S. think-tank 38 North.

“North Korea continues to launch missiles, develop its nuclear weapons program and engage in threatening rhetoric and behavior,” Mattis said.

North Korea’s actions have prompted the United States and South Korea to respond by bolstering defenses, including the expected deployment of a U.S. missile defense system, known as Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), in South Korea later this year.

The two sides reconfirmed that commitment on Friday.

China, however, has objected to THAAD, saying it is a direct threat to China’s own security and will do nothing to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table, leading to calls from some South Korean opposition leaders to delay or cancel it.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang reiterated China’s opposition, which he said would never change.

“We do not believe this move will be conducive to resolving the Korean peninsula nuclear issue or to maintaining peace and stability on the peninsula,” Lu told a daily news briefing in Beijing.

South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo said Mattis’ visit to Seoul – his first trip abroad as defense secretary – sent a clear message of strong U.S. support.

“Faced with a current severe security situation, Secretary Mattis’ visit to Korea … also communicates the strongest warning to North Korea,” Han said.

Once fully developed, a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) could threaten the continental United States, which is about 9,000 km (5,500 miles) from North Korea. ICBMs have a minimum range of about 5,500 km (3,400 miles), but some are designed to travel 10,000 km (6,200 miles) or more.

Former U.S. officials and other experts have said the United States essentially has two options when it comes to trying to curb North Korea’s fast-expanding nuclear and missile programs – negotiate or take military action.

Neither path offers certain success and the military option is fraught with huge dangers, especially for Japan and South Korea, U.S. allies in close proximity to North Korea.

Mattis is due in Japan later on Friday.

(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing; Editing by Nick Macfie, Robert Birsel)