WORLD THIS WEEK

North Korea: Pyongyang tests its second hypersonic missile

TRT World

What happened?

On 6 January, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the state media, reported North Korea testing of the second 'hypersonic missile' on 5 January. The KCNA stated: "The successive successes in the test launches in the hypersonic missile sector have strategic significance in that they hasten a task for modernizing the strategic armed force of the state."

It read: "The missile made a 120 kilometres lateral movement in the flight distance of the hypersonic gliding warhead from the initial launch azimuth to the target azimuth and precisely hit a set target 700 kilometres away." KCNA confirmed the details of the test such as the ability of operation in the winter season and flight control. In addition, the missile demonstrated its ability to combine "multi-step glide jump flight and strong lateral manoeuvring."

On 5 January, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said: "Since last year, North Korea has repeatedly launched missiles, which is very regrettable." South Korea's National Security Council convened an emergency meeting addressing the concern on the launch.

What does this mean?

First, Pyongyang's lack of interest in rejoining denuclearization talks. For a country that is struggling with food shortages and economic crisis, North Korea shows no signs of resurrecting the long-stalled talks with the US. Despite the UNSC resolutions banning nuclear missile tests, Pyongyang continues to develop and test weapons. North Korea wishes to deliver a clear message to the US that the regime will not succumb to the idea of reunification of the Korean peninsula and allow US intervention like in Iraq and Libya.

Second, the North Korean upper hand. Pyongyang has been pushing for the development of nuclear weapons with ICBMs as its priority. The North here gains supremacy over South Korea, paralyzing Seoul's defense On the same day, the Wall Street Journal, in its editorial, took a less alarmist, and positive note: "One lesson is that on all the available evidence 6 January was not an "insurrection," in any meaningful sense of that word. It was not an attempted coup. America's democratic institutions held up under pressure. They also held in the states in which GOP officials and legislators certified electoral votes despite Mr. Trump's complaints. And they held in the courts as judges rejected claims of election theft that lacked enough evidence. Democrats grudgingly admit these facts but say it was a close run thing. It wasn't. It was a near-unanimous decision against Mr. Trump's electoral claims."

The US: Remembering 6 January

What happened?

On 6 January 2022, observing the first anniversary of the attack on the US Capitol Hill, President Biden said: "To state the obvious, one year ago today, in this sacred place, democracy was attacked - simply attacked. The will of the people was under assault. The Constitution - our Constitution - faced the gravest of threats. Outnumbered and in the face of a brutal attack, the Capitol Police, the DC Metropolitan Police Department, the National Guard and other brave law enforcement officials saved the rule of law. Our democracy held. We the people endured. And we the people prevailed. For the first time in our history, a president had not just lost an election, he tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power as a violent mob breached the Capitol."

On the same day, the Wall Street Journal, in its editorial, took a less alarmist, and positive note: "One lesson is that on all the available evidence 6 January was not an "insurrection," in any meaningful sense of that word. It was not an attempted coup. America's democratic institutions held up under pressure. They also held in the states in which GOP officials and legislators certified electoral votes despite Mr. Trump's complaints. And they held in the courts as judges rejected claims of election theft that lacked enough evidence. Democrats grudgingly admit these facts but say it was a close run thing. It wasn't. It was a near-unanimous decision against Mr. Trump's electoral claims."

Earlier, on 4 January, Trump cancelled his proposed speech on 6 January. According to a news report, he said: "In light of the total bias and dishonesty of the 6 January Unselect Committee of Democrats, two failed Republicans, and the Fake News Media, I am cancelling the January 6th Press Conference."

What does it mean?

First, there is less likely to be "justice" to what had happened on 6 January 2021. Though the democrats would want to fix Trump and his supporters for what had happened that day, it would remain a tough task to do it legally. Biden instead has to look at addressing the larger fallouts and implications of 6 January to American democracy instead of trying to fix Trump. The second one is less likely to result in the first. His speech on 6 January 2022 is an attempt to fix Trump, rather than a road map to address the issues at hand. Equally important are questions over racial inequality, women's rights, economic recovery, and pandemic fallouts. The decline in American democracy has global implications.

ALSO IN NEWS

Japan and Australia sign Reciprocal Access Agreement

On 6 January, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met at a virtual summit and concurred to sign the Reciprocal Access Agreement. The two countries will strengthen their defence and security cooperation through the agreement. Prime Minister Kishida was scheduled to visit the US and Australia but cancelled the trips after a sudden surge in coronavirus cases. The agreements signed with Australia further enhance the cooperation between the countries to counter the influence of China in the region.

Japan: Foreign and Defence Ministers meet with the US on the Indo-Pacific

On 7 January, the Foreign Ministers and Defence Ministers of Japan and the US issued a joint statement and voiced their concerns regarding China's influence in the Indo-Pacific region. Both countries pledged to cooperate and fight against China in the future. The statement reiterated their commitment to work together and respond to any destabilizing activities undertaken by China. The Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin responded: "We deplore and firmly oppose the gross interference in China's internal affairs by the US, Japan and Australia and the fabrication of false information to smear China and undermine the solidarity and mutual trust of countries in the region."

Australia: Canberra cancelled Djokovic's visa for vaccine exemption

On 6 January, the world's number one Tennis player Novak Djokovic had his visa revoked when he arrived in Melbourne to play in the Australian Open. Tournament organizers said he had been granted a medical exemption by medical panels of the organizing body of Tennis Australia. However, the Australian border force said: "Non-citizens who do not hold a valid visa on entry or who have had their visa canceled will be detained and removed from Australia." The decision received a backlash from Serbia as president Aleksandar Vucic said Djokovic was a victim of "harassment."

Vietnam: Indian Defence Minister to discuss the sale of Brahmos

On 2 January, the Economic Times reported that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh would be visiting Vietnam in the coming days to celebrate the golden jubilee of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The top leaders of the two countries will discuss major military deals, including the sale of the Brahmos missile jointly produced by India and Russia. The meeting between Singh and the Vietnamese delegation will be discussing defence exports, joint collaboration, training and maintenance of defence equipment.

India: China renames 15 territories in Arunachal Pradesh

On 6 January, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi referred to China's action of renaming numerous locations in the Indian territory of Arunachal Pradesh and called it a "ridiculous exercise." He said: "Calling Tuting and "DouDeng" or River Siyom as "XiYueMu" or even Kibithu as "Daba" does not alter the fact that Arunachal Pradesh has always been and will always remain an inalienable part of India." The Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian also reacted to the statement by Bagchi and said: "For standardized management of the area, the competent authorities in China in accordance with relevant regulations have published the names for the relevant area. These are matters that are within China's sovereignty."

Afghanistan: Pakistani Foreign Minister pledges to resolve Durand Line issue via diplomatic channel

On 4 January, the Taliban government in Afghanistan announced that the Durand Line issues would be handled through the diplomatic channel. On 3 January, the Pakistani Foreign Minister had also confirmed a similar stance on the issue and said: "Afghanistan is our brotherly and friendly country. Some quarters want to unnecessarily raise this issue, which is not in Pakistan's interest." The Taliban deputy spokesperson also commented on the issue and said: "We don't want our relations to be strained with neighbouring countries over such small issues. We will work together to prevent such incidents in the future."

Iran: Trump must face justice for the killing of Soleimani

On 3 January, Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi said that the former US President Donald Trump should face justice for his role in the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani. Raisi urged the formation of a 'fair court' that would take action against Trump or else he said: "don't doubt, and I tell this to all American statesmen, that the hand of revenge will come out of the ummah's [nation's] sleeve." Iran also called upon the UN General Assembly and the Security Council to take action against the US and Israel for their involvement in the killing of Iran's top General.

France: Google and Facebook fined in France for over tracking cookies

On 6 January, France's data privacy watchdog, the Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL) fined Google and Facebook. This is because they made it difficult for users to refuse cookies that tracked their activity. Both the giants were fined a combined sum of EUR 210 million. CNIL's head of data protection and sanctions said: "Rejecting cookies should be as easy as accepting them." France had given three months to companies to comply with the country's orders and had warned them to face a penalty of EUR 100,000 for every day delayed.

P5 countries pledge to prevent nuclear war

On 3 January, China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US pledged to prevent nuclear war and said: "We strongly believe that the further spread of such weapons must be prevented." They also mentioned that a nuclear war "cannot be won and must never be fought." The statements resonated with Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev's ideas when a nuclear arms race was at its zenith. The five countries also affirmed that "nuclear weapons — for as long as they continue to exist — should serve defensive purposes, deter aggression, and prevent war."

About the Authors

Keerthana Nambiar is a Postgraduate scholar at the University of Mysore. D Suba Chandran is Dean and Professor in the School of Conflict and Security Studies at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS). Avishka Ashok and Ashwin Dhanabalan are Research Associates at NIAS.