North Korea Threatens to Retaliate, Criticizes South for ‘Reckless’ Drills

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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has revoked approval for more than 60 N95-type mask manufacturers in China to export to the United States, after testing found that many of their products did not meet quality standards. The agency on May 7 cut the number of authorized manufacturers in China to 14 from around 80. Previously, on April 3, it had authorized the import of China-made masks that hadn’t been tested to counter shortages in personal protective equipment. One condition of that policy, however, was that the masks be tested by independent labs. Millions of masks had been imported since then. Testing by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that many of the masks did not meet the…

North Korea threatened Friday to retaliate against South Korea for “reckless” military drills near their disputed sea boundary, but the South denied any training in the immediate area, the scene of several bloody naval skirmishes in recent years.

The wrangling came five days after South Korea accused the North of initiating an exchange of gunfire along their land border. No casualties were reported, but the incident was a reminder of persistent tensions on the peninsula.

North Korea’s Ministry of the People’s Armed Forces accused South Korea of mobilizing fighter jets and warships for drills on their western sea boundary on Wednesday.

“Such reckless move of the military warmongers of the south side is the height of the military confrontation,” it said in a statement carried by North Korean state media. “This is a grave provocation which can never be overlooked and this situation demands a necessary reaction from us.”

North Korea said the South Korean drills violated 2018 agreements that require both countries to halt firing exercises along their land and sea borders to lower front-line tensions.

North Korea Threatens to Retaliate, Criticizes South for ‘Reckless’ Drills

South Korea’s Defense Ministry said the drills didn’t break the agreements because they took place in its western waters about 300 kilometres (185 miles) from the sea boundary. A ministry official, requesting anonymity because of department rules, said South Korea has been maintaining military readiness without violating the 2018 agreements.

On Sunday, South Korea said several bullets fired from North Korea struck one of its front-line guard posts and South Korean soldiers fired 20 warning shots in return. South Korea sent a message asking North Korea to explain the incident, but the North has yet to reply, the Defense Ministry said.

The Koreas have been divided along the world’s most heavily fortified land border since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. Their poorly marked western sea boundary witnessed naval clashes in 1999, 2002, and 2009. Attacks blamed on North Korea in the area in 2010 killed 50 South Koreans—46 on a warship and four on a border island.

Relations between the two Koreas improved significantly in 2018 as their leaders held three rounds of talks.

The United States stations about 28,500 troops in South Korea to help deter potential aggression from North Korea.

Focus News: North Korea Threatens to Retaliate, Criticizes South for ‘Reckless’ Drills

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China should expand its stock of nuclear warheads to 1,000 to counter the challenges posed by the United States, chief editor of the Chinese state-run Global Times newspaper argued in a May 8 social media post. The communist regime’s nuclear arsenal should include “at least 100 DF-41 strategic missiles,” said Hu Xijin, who is known for his hawkish stance on foreign relations. The DF-41, unveiled in mid-2019 by the rocket force of China’s military, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), is estimated to have a 12,000- to 15,000-kilometer range, the longest nuclear operating range in the world, and is capable of striking the continental United States. “We love peace and promise not to use nuclear weapons first, but we need a bigger nuclear arsenal to suppress U.S. strategic ambition and impulse against…