US submarine arrives in South Korea as envoys meet Trump stresses importance of remembering Holocaust lessons
A US submarine has arrived in South Korean waters, while envoys from the United States, Japan and South Korea met in Tokyo to discuss rising tensions with North Korea.
Pyongyang reportedly marked the 85th anniversary of the founding of its military yesterday by conducting a large artillery drill.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, citing a South Korean government source, said there were signs that North Korea’s military carried out the live-fire exercise in areas around the city of Wonsan on its east coast.
South Korea’s defence ministry could not immediately confirm the report.
At a “national meeting” of thousands of senior military and civilian officials the day before, Pak Yongsik, North Korea’s defence minister, reiterated that the country is ready to use pre-emptive strikes or any other measures it deems necessary to defend itself against the “US imperialists”.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un did not attend. It was not known how he was marking yesterday’s anniversary.
North Korea often marks significant dates by displaying its military capability and has conducted five nuclear tests on such occasions in the past. Pyongyang launched a missile one day after the 105th birthday of late founder Kim il-Sung on April 15.
Al Jazeera’s Divya Gopalan, reporting from Seoul, said that yesterday’s reportedly large artillery test could be a way of North Korea “saving face and managing tensions” by taking action that is probably outside the UN sanctions remit and is at a less provocative level than a missile launch or nuclear test.
“So this [artillery test] is not banned by the UN, yet it is some kind of provocation,” Gopalan said.
North Korea’s recent moves are testing the developing policies of US President Donald Trump, who has reportedly settled on a strategy that emphasises WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump on Monday stressed the importance of remembering lessons of the Holocaust, underscoring the need to “remain vigilant against hateful ideologies and indifference”.
“Every generation must learn and apply the lessons of the Holocaust so that such horror, atrocity, and genocide never again occur,” Trump said in a proclamation marking the Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust.
Recalling that the Holocaust was “the statesponsored, systematic persecution and attempted annihilation of European Jewry by the Nazi regime and its collaborators”, the Republican president stressed the need to “remember the victims, honour their memory and their lives, and celebrate humanity’s victory over
increased pressure on North Korea with the help of China, North Korea’s only major ally, instead of military options or trying to overthrow North Korea’s government.
The nuclear-powered USS Michigan submarine arrived at Busan in what was described as a routine port visit to rest the crew and load supplies. Commander Jang Wook, from the South Korean navy public affairs office, said there was no plan for any drill.
The submarine’s arrival comes as the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier heads towards the Korean Peninsula in a show of force.
Gopalan said that the mood in Seoul was anxious and that, while there have often been tensions between South Korea and its neighbour over the past decades, there is a general sense that the level has been ratcheted up recently. “Due to the fact that the US is putting weight behind its words and maybe because the US tyranny and evil”.
“We pledge to never be bystanders to evil. We must never forget,” said Trump, who was to give a speech yesterday at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.
Presidential adviser and first daughter Ivanka Trump, who converted to Judaism before marrying Jared Kushner, said in a White House statement that world leaders should pledge to ensure that “genocide like the Holocaust will never happen again”.
She was in Berlin yesterday participating in a “Women 20” meeting about female economic empowerment, and will visit the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the statement said.
President Trump raised eyebrows in January shortly after taking office when he issued a statement marking
seems to be almost as unpredictable North Korea at the moment; so people are finding it hard to gauge where this is going to go,” Gopalan said.
She reported that presidential elections are due soon in South Korea and there are many important domestic issues that would normally be the focus of public debate. “Instead, North Korea is the main topic of conversation,” said Gopalan.
In Tokyo, US representative for North Korea Policy Joseph Yun, met yesterday with his Japanese counterpart Kenji Kanasugi and Kim Hong-kyun of South Korea.
Scott Heidler, reporting from Tokyo, said no policy change announcements are expected from the meeting, which is an opportunity for the three countries to plan and coordinate their response to any potential action by North Korea. “It’s not unprecedented that they sit down like this, but obviously with this current Holocaust Remembrance Day that made no mention of the six million Jews killed.
The Anti-Defamation League, which tracks acts of anti-Semitism, called the omission “puzzling and troubling”.
Trump was also criticised for his slow reaction to a spate of anti-Semitic threats against Jewish community centres.
Earlier this month, White House spokesperson Sean Spicer was forced to apologise after appearing to favourably compare Adolf Hitler’s actions during the Holocaust to atrocities carried out now by Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad.
His comments provoked outrage far beyond America’s borders, especially in Israel. — AFP
situation, it’s much more important,” he said.
A US ministerial meeting has been scheduled in Washington DC for Friday.
Meanwhile in an unusual event, the entire US Senate has been asked to attend a briefing on North Korea on Wednesday at the White House.
“So obviously this has escalated to a higher level because the situation is is so tense,” said Heidler.
Japan’s foreign ministry also announced that China’s envoy for North Korea, Wu Dawei, will visit Tokyo on Tuesday for talks with Kanasugi, which may take place later this week.
Trump spoke by phone with both the Japanese and Chinese leaders on Monday. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV quoted President Xi Jinping as telling Trump that China strongly opposes North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme and hopes “all parties will exercise restraint and avoid aggravating the situation”.
Trump met the 15 UN Security Council ambassadors, including the Chinese and Russian representatives, at the White House on Monday, and said the UN Security Council must be prepared to impose new sanctions on North Korea. “The council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile programmes,” he said.
Recent US commercial satellite images indicate increased activity around North Korea’s nuclear test site, and third-generation dictator Kim Jong-un has said the country’s preparation for an intercontinental ballistic missile launch is in its “final stage”. — Al Jazeera