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January
Myanmar junta replaces air force chief amid bombing campaign - sources
Written by Nur Yasmin
Myanmar's military leader has removed the head of the air force, local media and four sources close to the armed forces said, replacing one of the most senior figures in a junta that has carried out bombing raids to try to crush resistance.
The sources told Reuters that 57-year-old Maung Maung Kyaw, a general from an elite military background, had been ousted from the post he had held since 2018.
Two of the sources said he was replaced on Monday by Htun Aung, who had been the air force's chief of staff.
There was no public announcement that Maung Maung Kyaw had been removed and Reuters was unable to establish why junta leader Min Aung Hlaing had removed him.
Military spokesman Zaw Min Tun did not respond to a request for comment on whether Maung Maung Kyaw had been removed. The spokesman was quoted by local news outlet Eleven Media as saying Maung Maung Kyaw had ended his service after a four-year term.
Reuters was unable to contact Maung Maung Kyaw directly, and requests for comment through the military received no response.
Since the coup on Feb. 1 last year in which an elected government was overthrown, and during the protests that followed the coup, the air force has been used to ferry troops around Myanmar to quell opposition.
Witnesses say the air force has also been used for bombing raids that have killed civilians. The junta has not commented on the allegations. It says it does not target civilians, only "terrorists".
The junta, which has jailed ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and most of her allies, calls the opposition forces loyal to her deposed government "terrorists".
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a human rights group, says more than 1,400 people have been killed in violence since the coup, including those killed in bombing raids. The junta disputes the reported number of casualties.
Maung Maung Kyaw was the subject of a Reuters investigation last year that revealed his family members, including his son and nephew, were part of a young generation of military families with business interests including supplying the armed forces.
Photos and postings on social media – showing parties at expensive venues in Singapore and trips to Bangkok, London and Santorini – showed his family members enjoying a lifestyle far out of reach for the vast majority of Burmese.
Maung Maung Kyaw, who has had sanctions imposed on him by the United States over his role in the coup, did not respond to questions Reuters sent to the military before publication of its investigation.
In recent weeks, aerial bombardment of the town of Loikaw in eastern Kayah state, bordering Thailand, where ethnic armed groups have joined forces with newly formed anti-coup armed organizations, has forced thousands of people to flee.
Opponents of the junta say Myanmar's military has sustained heavy losses during the fighting. The junta has not commented on the reports that it has suffered heavy losses. (Reuters)
January
U.S. pushing for more U.N. sanctions on North Korea over missiles
Written by Nur Yasmin
The United States is pushing the United Nations Security Council to impose more sanctions on North Korea following a series of North Korean missile launches, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said on Wednesday.
"The U.S. is proposing U.N. sanctions following North Korea's six ballistic missile launches since September 2021, each of which were in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions," Thomas-Greenfield posted on Twitter.
Earlier on Wednesday the United States imposed unilateral sanctions over the missile launches. It blacklisted six North Koreans, one Russian and a Russian firm, accusing them of procuring goods for the programs from Russia and China.
A U.S. diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States had proposed five of those individuals also be subjected to a U.N. travel ban and asset freeze. The move has to be agreed by consensus by the Security Council's 15-member North Korea sanctions committee, which includes Russia and China.
"We continue to coordinate with partners to prepare the additional three individuals and entities designated by State for U.N. nomination," the U.S. diplomat said.
Since 2006 North Korea has been subjected to U.N. sanctions, which the Security Council has strengthened over the years in an effort to target funding for Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has sought unsuccessfully to engage Pyongyang in dialogue to persuade it to give up its nuclear bombs and missiles since Biden took office in January last year.
North Korea continued developing its nuclear and ballistic missile programs during the first half of 2021 in violation of U.N. sanctions and despite the country's worsening economic situation, U.N. sanctions monitors reported in August. (Reuters)
January
North Korea launches 'more advanced' missile after hypersonic test
Written by Nur Yasmin
North Korea appeared to test-fire a ballistic missile on Tuesday that may be more advanced than a "hypersonic" one it launched less than a week ago, South Korea's military said, as Pyongyang pursues increasingly powerful weapons.
Tuesday's launch, condemned by authorities in Washington and Tokyo and prompting an expression of concern from the U.N. secretary general, underscored North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's New Year's vow to bolster the military with cutting-edge technology at a time when talks with South Korea and the United States have stalled. read more
Initial estimates found the missile travelled more than 700 km (435 miles) to a maximum altitude of 60 km at up to 10 times the speed of sound (12,348 km/h), South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement.
"We assess that this is more advanced than the missile North Korea fired on Jan. 5, though South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities are conducting detailed analysis," the JCS said.
The launch was detected around 7:27 a.m. (2227 GMT Monday) from North Korea's Jagang Province toward the ocean off its east coast, the same location as last week's test.
The U.S. military's Indopacific Command said while it had assessed that the launch did not pose an immediate threat to the United States or its allies, it "highlights the destabilising impact of North Korea's illicit weapons program."
The Federal Aviation Administration said on Tuesday it briefly halted departures at some U.S. West Coast airports around the time of reports that North Korea had launched a ballistic missile. read more
A U.S. official said the pause lasted less than 15 minutes "due to initial reports of events in the Indo-Pacific region," without directly tying it to the missile launch.
North Korea has joined a global race in developing hypersonic missiles, usually defined as types reaching at least five times the speed of sound - and which can manoeuvre at relatively low trajectories, making them much harder to detect and intercept.
South Korean military officials cast doubts on the capabilities of the hypersonic missile North Korea claimed to have test-fired last Wednesday, saying it appeared to represent limited progress over Pyongyang's existing ballistic missiles.
"Today's test might be intended to send a message to the South after authorities here said the earlier test was a failure and did not involve a hypersonic missile," Kim Dong-yup, a former South Korea Navy officer who teaches at Seoul's Kyungnam University.
'DESTABILISING'
South Korea's National Security Council held an emergency meeting and President Moon Jae-in expressed concerns over the series of launches coming ahead of South Korea's March 9 presidential election.
The nuclear envoys of South Korea and the United States talked on the phone to share their assessment on the missile test and coordinate responses. They agreed to continue to try to restart the peace process with North Korea, South Korea's foreign ministry said.
"The United States condemns the DPRK's ballistic missile launch," a U.S. State Department spokesperson said, while U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres was "very concerned" and repeated a call for North Korea to comply with U.N. resolutions and resume talks.
"Diplomatic engagement is the only way to reach a sustainable peace and a complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Dujarric said.
U.N. Security Council resolutions ban all North Korean ballistic missile and nuclear tests and have imposed sanctions over the programmes.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida noted the United Nations had just finished discussions on how to respond to last week's launch and called North Korea's continuing launches "extremely regrettable."
Tuesday's test occurred hours after the U.S. mission to the United Nations, joined by France, Ireland, Japan, the United Kingdom and Albania, condemned last week's launch and called on U.N. member states to fulfil their sanctions obligations.
China and Russia have pushed the U.N. Security Council to ease sanctions on North Korea by removing a ban on Pyongyang's exports of statues, seafood and textiles, and lifting a refined petroleum imports cap.
North Korea has said it is open to talks, but only if the United States and others drop "hostile policies" such as sanctions and military drills.
Few observers expect Kim to ever fully surrender his nuclear arsenal and North Korea argues its military activities are similar to those of other countries. (Reuters)
January
'Colonial wine from new, authoritarian bottles': Hong Kong re-tools sedition law
Written by Nur Yasmin
The Hong Kong government is expanding its use of a long-dormant sedition law in what some lawyers and democracy advocates say is intensifying a squeeze on press freedom.
Evidence of the renewed reliance on the sedition legislation came in late December when China-ruled Hong Kong targeted two media outlets. On Dec 29, about 200 police raided the office of online outlet Stand News and arrested seven people, charging two editors with conspiracy to publish "seditious publications". read more
Authorities have not fully detailed what led to the charges. But pro-Beijing media outlets Ta Kung Pao and DotDotNews listed specific Stand News articles that they deemed seditious, including interviews with local democracy activists and opposition figures - topics that until recently were not out of the ordinary in Hong Kong.
A day earlier, prosecutors levelled a new charge of sedition against Jimmy Lai, 74, founder of the now shuttered Apple Daily newspaper and some of his top executives. read more
The charge of sedition, inciting resistance or insurrection against central authorities, stems from colonial-era laws designed to thwart dissent against the British crown, and had not been used in Hong Kong since the mid-1960s until recently, three legal scholars interviewed by Reuters say. Last month's sedition charges were the first to be brought against the media since 1967, according to those scholars.
Some legal scholars say recent court judgements have empowered authorities to use the controversial national security law (NSL) imposed on the city by Beijing in 2020, to bolster colonial-era laws, including sedition.
The security law, enacted after sometimes-violent, pro-democracy protests rocked the city in 2019, gives police extra powers of search, seizure and surveillance and makes it tougher for those arrested to get bail. Only judges selected for national security duties will handle cases under the law.
The sedition law allows officials to directly target the published content of media operations and does not require prosecutors to prove that an offending article or speech was intended to be seditious, according to three lawyers.
"To some extent, the government is better armed now," Simon Young, a professor at the University of Hong Kong's law school, told Reuters. "The national security law provides an enhanced procedural and investigative framework to bring these charges."
A barrister whose career has straddled Hong Kong's handover from Britain to China in 1997, said: "We can see that at a stroke, the NSL has re-tooled these old laws that were largely forgotten. You could say we are now drinking bitter, old colonial wine from new, authoritarian bottles."
Asked whether the security legislation had enhanced the powers of colonial-era laws such as sedition, the Hong Kong Department of Justice declined to comment but said the prosecution of offences endangering national security was "based on admissible evidence".
"We express our deep regret regarding the governments, media and organisations of the United States and Western countries in respect of their attempt to twist facts and slandering remarks on the enforcement actions taken in accordance with the law," a government spokesman told Reuters.
The actions against Stand News targeted "illegal acts" and had "nothing to do with freedom of the press", he added.
The latest moves extend a media clampdown over the past year that included the shutdown of Apple Daily and the imposition of fresh staff guidelines on public broadcaster RTHK to ensure all content complies with the national security law. read more
'WALKING ON EGGSHELLS'
A full-page article in the China-backed Ta Kung Pao newspaper last week criticised the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) and the Foreign Correspondents' Club (FCC) for helping to organise a regional human rights press award that honoured journalistic works it said had "smeared" the Hong Kong police and Chinese government.
The newspaper, whose articles have often preceded enforcement actions, called on authorities to investigate.
Asked if the government planned to investigate the FCC and the HKJA, a government spokesman said it did not comment on "speculation". "We will continue to spare no efforts in pursuing the legal liabilities of any organisations and individuals endangering national security."
Keith Richburg, the president of the FCC and head of the University of Hong Kong's journalism school, said that the closure of Stand News and arrests "leaves everyone walking on eggshells ... It's an open question as to whether Hong Kong can continue to thrive and prosper without having that free and open and critical press."
Ronson Chan, the head of the HKJA, dismissed the Ta Kung Pao allegations, and told Reuters the awards process was "independent and fair".
The government spokesman told Reuters that "freedom of speech and freedom of the press are not absolute, and can be restricted for reasons including protection of national security," adding that "no one is above the law".
DIFFICULT TO ENFORCE
Broadly defined by legal scholars as a crime of incitement to resist or insurrect, in words or acts, against legal authority, the sedition laws in Hong Kong and elsewhere have long been seen as British colonial relics overtaken by more modern statutes.
According to Hong Kong's Crimes Ordinance - the legislation that details sedition offences - it is a crime to publish anything that brings "into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against ... the government of Hong Kong".
Despite the tough language, some lawyers and academics said they had long believed sedition offences would be difficult to enforce. Freedom of speech and other rights protections have been written into more modern laws, including Hong Kong's Bill of Rights and the Basic Law, the former British colony's mini-constitution since its handover to Beijing in 1997.
Ten academics, criminal lawyers and diplomats interviewed by Reuters said their views had changed because the NSL's powers can be applied to older laws, such as sedition.
Some provisions of the NSL refer generally to acts "endangering national security", which judges have ruled effectively extends the law's reach to cover older, pre-existing laws that involve national security, such as sedition and espionage. read more
In rulings on pre-trial matters for two separate cases last year, including one involving media tycoon Lai, the Court of Final Appeal said the security law's reference to "acts endangering national security" included violations of these older laws.
And a District Court ruling in April noted that under the security law, the older offence of sedition was now classified as an indictable offence, making it a more serious crime with a potentially longer statute of limitations and tougher sentencing guidelines, according to the legal scholars interviewed by Reuters.
In the past, the offence of sedition was classified as a summary offence that would be handled by a lower court magistrate alone, without a jury.
While the government's enforcement hand has been strengthened, the basis on which authorities arrested journalists and charged media organisations still needs to be fully tested in Hong Kong's courts, including the Court of Final Appeal, lawyers, legal scholars and diplomats point out.
Three criminal barristers said certain exceptions written long ago into the sedition law that authorities are now relying on were good ammunition for defence counsel.
The Crimes Ordinance states, for example, that it is not seditious to show the sovereign "has been misled or mistaken in any of (its) measures" or point out "matters which are producing ... feelings of ill-will or enmity between different classes of the population of Hong Kong". (Reuters)
January
Omicron surge threatens to slow down Australia's economic recovery
Written by Nur Yasmin
Australia's most populous state, New South Wales, suffered its deadliest day of the pandemic on Wednesday, with surging Omicron infections leading to staff shortages that have disrupted supply chains and hampered the economy's recovery.
Australian businesses are grappling with the growing toll of workers out sick or ordered to isolate for being close contacts. But the virus is also scaring customers away from airlines, entertainment and hospitality sectors, already battered by several lockdowns over the past two years.
"Essentially (small businesses) are in a lockdown ... there is little support out there to help them keep their doors open," Alexi Boyd, head of the Council of Small Business Organisations, told broadcaster ABC on Wednesday.
Australia's daily infections on Wednesday lingered near records with around 100,000 reported so far. Forty-two new deaths were registered, with New South Wales suffering its worst day of the pandemic with 21 deaths.
Labour shortages and caution about being in public places have stifled household spending, ANZ said in a research note, with spending in early January resembling lockdown conditions in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia's largest cities.
Before the Omicron outbreak erupted during the Christmas period, the economy had been making a surprisingly strong recovery. In November, employment levels rose far faster than expected as coronavirus lockdowns were lifted, and retail sales also surged for a second consecutive month. read more
Amid pressure on supply chains, supermarket chain Coles Group (COL.AX) reintroduced purchase limits on toilet paper, some meat products and medicines.
Fielding criticism at the beginning of an election year over his handling of the Omicron outbreak, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has proposed to ease isolation rules for asymptomatic workers ahead of a national cabinet meeting on Thursday.
The head of Melbourne's Chapel Street Precinct, a local marketing body representing around 2,200 commercial entities, said the controversy over tennis superstar Novak Djokovic has "created the perfect distraction" for Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews and Morrison.
"(The Djokovic case) means nowhere near enough attention is being focussed on the absolute decimation of small businesses," General Manager Chrissie Maus said.
An Australian court on Monday quashed the government's decision to cancel Djokovic's visa over questions of his medical exemption status but he still faces the threat of deportation. (Reuters)
January
China's Omicron-hit Tianjin launches new round of tests
Written by Nur Yasmin
The Chinese city of Tianjin started a new round of testing of its 14 million residents on Wednesday to block the Omicron variant, as financial analysts warned of the growing economic costs on China of curbs to extinguish clusters of infections.
China, which has stuck to what is effectively a "zero-COVID" policy, is scrambling to prevent the spread of the highly infectious Omicron variant ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday later this month and as Beijing prepares to stage the Winter Olympics from Feb. 4.
Japanese automaker Toyota said operations at its joint-venture factory in Tianjin had been halted since Monday due to the impact on its suppliers of mandatory coronavirus testing of Tianjin residents.
"We plan to resume operations as soon as the government's instructions and the safety and security of the local community and suppliers are confirmed and assured," Toyota said in a statement to Reuters.
Tianjin, about 100 km (62 miles) southeast of Beijing, reported 33 domestically transmitted coronavirus infections with confirmed symptoms for Tuesday, up from 10 the day before, national data showed.
The city ordered a half-day off for employees at companies and other institutions on Wednesday and required them to keep activities "relatively static" to comply with the city's second round of mass testing, the local government said in a statement.
In the central province of Henan, the city of Anyang, where Omicron has also been detected in the community, reported 65 local symptomatic cases on Tuesday, a surge from just two a day earlier.
A vice premier, Sun Chunlan, visited Henan and said Omicron presented a challenge to the city's virus control efforts.
Officials should "further increase the efficiency of testing and epidemiological investigation and adopt strict community-level control measures", the official Xinhua news agency quoted her as saying in a report late on Tuesday.
Case numbers in Tianjin and Anyang are tiny compared with outbreaks in many other countries, with the total number of Omicron infections unclear.
Tianjin has made it harder for people to leave town, while Anyang, has ordered residents to remain indoor during mass testing, unless for essential jobs or for their tests.
China is likely to see ramped-up virus restrictions to contain Omicron, Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note, revising down their 2022 growth forecast to 4.3% from 4.8% previously, citing economic costs from the potentially intensified measures.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley also said they saw downside risk to their first-quarter growth forecast this year, as Omicron could "imply more costs than benefits under China's Covid-zero strategy".
Including infections in Tianjin and Anyang, mainland China reported a total of 166 local symptomatic cases for Tuesday, more than 110 a day earlier.
There were no new deaths, leaving the death toll at 4,636. As of Jan. 11, mainland China had 104,189 confirmed symptomatic cases, including both local ones and those arriving from overseas. (Reuters)
January
S.Korean officials test positive for COVID-19 after attending CES trade show in U.S.
Written by Nur Yasmin
More than 30 officials from major South Korean companies who attended the giant CES tech trade show in Las Vegas last week tested positive for COVID-19 while in the United States, industry sources and one company said on Wednesday.
About 20 officials from Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and about six at SK Group, parent of energy firm SK Innovation (096770.KS) and chipmaker SK Hynix (000660.KS), were among those who tested positive for the virus after attending CES, the sources said.
They declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to media.
Hyundai Heavy Industries (329180.KS) said six of its employees who attended CES tested positive while in the United States and were quarantined, and some have been released since.
Meanwhile "multiple" Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) and Hyundai Mobis officials who attended CES also tested positive after arriving back in South Korea, South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo reported, citing an unidentified industry source without specifying the exact number of cases.
"Many Korean businesspeople who attended CES ... are now confirmed to be infected with COVID-19," Son Young-rae, a senior South Korean health ministry official, said at a briefing.
"We are promptly contacting those who participated in the event and conducting epidemiological investigations, but we urge domestic businesspeople or those who are in Korea that attended the event to undergo PCR tests as soon as possible," he said.
Most of the Samsung officials who tested positive have were flown back to Korea from Nevada in two chartered flights, arriving late on Tuesday Seoul time, and the remaining Samsung officials are expected to be flown back on Wednesday, South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported, citing unidentified industry sources.
The Samsung officials are being moved to quarantine facilities in South Korea and most were asymptomatic or have light symptoms, the paper said.
A spokesperson for Consumer Technology Association (CTA), CES' operator, did not have an immediate response.
Nevada state health authorities said, "Many new cases have had recent travel history, attended events, and have visited multiple locations where they could potentially have acquired their infection." They said they do "not have evidence linking the recent surge in COVID-19 cases with CES."
Samsung Electronics declined to confirm details of the cases. It said it "took a number of steps to protect the health and well-being of (CES) attendees", including requiring vaccines, mask mandates, social distancing protocols and providing testing for all employees throughout the week.
SK Group declined to confirm, citing its policy of not disclosing personal information. Hyundai Motor Group did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
South Korea reported 381 cases of infections contracted overseas for Tuesday, a record, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, bringing the daily number of infections across the country to 4,388.
Health ministry official Son said the rise of infections contracted overseas is seen mainly due to the spread of the Omicron variant, although the number of CES attendees who tested positive did have some effect. (Reuters)
January
Taliban increase payment in wheat as economic crisis deepens
Written by Nur Yasmin
The Taliban administration said on Tuesday it was expanding its 'food for work' program, in which it uses donated wheat to pay thousands of public sector employees instead of cash as a financial crisis intensifies.
Wheat, largely donated by India to the previous U.S.-backed Kabul government, is being used to pay 40,000 workers 10kg of wheat per day for working five hours a day, agriculture officials told a news conference.
The scheme, which has largely paid labourers on public works programs in Kabul, will be expanded around the country, they said.
"We are ready to help our people as much as we can," said Fazel Bari Fazli, deputy minister of administration and finance at the Ministry of Agriculture.
The Taliban administration has already received an additional 18 tonnes of wheat from Pakistan with a promise of 37 tonnes more and is in negotiation with India for 55 tonnes, according to Fazli.
"We have lots of plans for food for work program," he said.
It was not clear how much of the donated wheat would be used as direct humanitarian aid and how much to pay workers.
The expanding program underlines the growing conundrum faced by the Taliban administration as cash in the country dries up and could raise questions among donors over the use of humanitarian aid for government purposes while strict restrictions remain on financial flows into the country.
International sanctions on Taliban members, frozen central bank assets and the sudden drop off in international assistance that once formed the backbone of the economy has left the Taliban government with limited government finances and a growing economic crisis.
Humanitarian aid has continued as foreign governments attempt to prevent millions from starving, but is designed to bypass Afghan government channels and is mostly distributed by international multilateral institutions.
U.N. agencies on Tuesday asked donors for $4.4 billion in humanitarian aid for Afghanistan in 2022, calling the funds an "essential stop gap" to ensure the country's future. (Reuters)
January
N.Korea's Kim calls for more 'military muscle' after watching hypersonic missile test
Written by Nur Yasmin
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for boosting the country's strategic military forces as he observed the test of a hypersonic missile, state media said on Wednesday, officially attending a missile launch for the first time in nearly two years.
On Tuesday authorities in South Korea and Japan detected the suspected launch, which drew condemnation by authorities around the world and prompted an expression of concern from the U.N. secretary-general.
The second test of a "hypersonic missile" in less than a week underscored Kim's New Year's vow to bolster the military with cutting-edge technology at a time when talks with South Korea and the United States have stalled.
After watching the test, Kim urged military scientists to "further accelerate the efforts to steadily build up the country's strategic military muscle both in quality and quantity and further modernize the army," KCNA news agency reported.
It was the first time since March 2020 that Kim had officially attended a missile test.
"His presence here would suggest particular attention on this programme," Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, posted on Twitter.
Unlike some other recent tests, ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun published photos of Kim attending the launch on its front page.
"While Kim probably unofficially attended other tests in the interim, this appearance and its Page One feature on Rodong Sinmun is important," said Chad O'Carroll, chief executive of Korea Risk Group, which monitors North Korea. "It means Kim is not concerned about being personally associated (with) tests of major new tech. And doesn't care how the U.S. sees this."
U.N. Security Council resolutions ban all North Korean ballistic missile and nuclear tests and have imposed sanctions over the programs.
Talks aimed at persuading North Korea to surrender or limit its arsenal of nuclear weapons and missiles have stalled, with Pyongyang saying it is open to diplomacy but only if the United States and its allies stop "hostile policies" such as sanctions or military drills.
U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland called the launches dangerous and destabilising.
"It obviously takes us in the wrong direction," she said at a regular briefing in Washington on Tuesday. "As you know, the United States has been saying since this administration came in that we are open to dialogue with North Korea, that we are open to talking about COVID and humanitarian support, and instead they're firing off missiles."
The European Union on Tuesday condemned the latest North Korean missile launch as a "threat to international peace and security" and called on Pyongyang to resume diplomacy.
'SUPERIOR MANOEUVERABILITY'
Despite their name, analysts say the main feature of hypersonic weapons is not speed - which can sometimes be matched or exceeded by traditional ballistic missile warheads - but their manoeuvrability, which makes them an acute threat to missile defence systems.
Photos released by state media appeared to show the same type of missile and warhead that was first tested last week, analysts said.
"The test-fire was aimed at the final verification of overall technical specifications of the developed hypersonic weapon system," KCNA reported.
After its release from the rocket booster, a hypersonic glide vehicle made a 600 km (375 mile) "glide jump flight" and then 240 km of "corkscrew manoeuvering" before hitting a target in the sea 1,000 km away, the report said.
South Korean officials had questioned the capabilities of the missile after the first test last week, saying it did not appear to demonstrate the range and manoeuverability claimed in a state media report and featured a manoeuverable warhead rather than an actual glide vehicle.
On Tuesday, however, South Korea said the second test appeared to show improved performance, with the missile reaching top speeds up to 10 times the speed of sound (12,348 km per hour / 7,673 miles per hour), although they did not comment on its manoeuverability.
"The superior manoeuverability of the hypersonic glide vehicle was more strikingly verified through the final test-fire," KCNA said. (Reuters)
January
Japan business mood sours on higher costs, BOJ sticks to recovery view
Written by Nur Yasmin
Japanese manufacturers turned less positive about their business conditions in January, a survey showed on Wednesday, even as central bank governor Haruhiko Kuroda stressed the economy was on track for a recovery accompanied by rising inflation.
Along with the potential hit from a spike in COVID-19 cases led by the Omicron variant, companies complained of rising energy and raw material costs that were squeezing profits, the Reuters Tankan poll showed. read more
The survey highlights the dilemma Japan faces as a country that relies heavily on fuel and food imports, making its economy vulnerable to the type of cost-push inflation now under way.
While rising inflation is welcome progress for the Bank of Japan's effort to achieve its 2% price target, there is a risk the higher cost of living could cool consumption and discourage firms from raising prices - pushing Japan back into deflation.
In a speech to the BOJ's regional branch managers on Wednesday, Kuroda said consumer inflation was likely to gradually accelerate on rising energy costs and an expected increase in demand.
"Japan's economy is picking up as a trend, although it remains in a severe state due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic," Kuroda said.
"The BOJ will scrutinise the pandemic's impact and won't hesitate to take additional easing steps as needed," he said, reiterating the central bank's resolve to focus on supporting a fragile economic recovery with massive monetary stimulus.
Japan's economy shrank in the third quarter of last year as supply constraints and curbs on activity to contain the pandemic hit factory output and consumption.
Analysts expect growth to have rebounded in October-December and the current quarter as output and consumption pick up, though a recent spike in Omicron infections clouds the outlook.
Sources have told Reuters the BOJ is expected to slightly raise its inflation forecast for the fiscal year beginning in April on rising energy costs, though the new projection will still be below its 2% target. read more
Japan has not been immune to the impact of global commodity inflation, with wholesale prices in November rising a record 9.0% from a year earlier.
But soft wage growth and consumption have prevented many firms from passing on rising costs to households, keeping core consumer inflation at a more modest 0.5% in November. (Reuters)