Party speech suggests record year of weapons testing will continue into 2024 in defiance of international sanctions.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered the military, including its nuclear programme, to “accelerate” war preparations to counter what he called unprecedented confrontational moves by the United States.
Speaking at an ongoing meeting of the country’s ruling Workers’ Party, Kim “set forth the militant tasks for the People’s Army and the munitions industry, nuclear weapons and civil defence sectors to further accelerate war preparations”, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Thursday.
Kim also stressed that the “military situation” on the Korean peninsula had become “extreme” due to “unprecedented” anti-North confrontations with the US, KCNA said.
The state news agency did not go into detail on the preparations.
South Korea, Japan and the US have deepened political and defence cooperation this year in the face of a record-breaking series of weapons tests by Pyongyang and recently activated a system to share real-time data on North Korean missile launches.
Earlier this month, a US nuclear-powered submarine arrived in the South Korean port city of Busan, and Washington has deployed its long-range bombers in drills with Seoul and Tokyo.
Pyongyang, meanwhile, successfully launched its first military spy satellite on the third attempt, tested the solid-fuelled Hwasong-18, its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), and enshrined nuclear power status in the country’s constitution.
Kim earlier this week defined 2023 as a “year of great turn and great change” in which Pyongyang saw “eye-opening victories”.
Last week, the United Nations atomic agency said a second reactor at North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear facility appeared to be operational, calling it “deeply regrettable”.
Kim Jong Un oversaw last month’s test of the Hwasong-18 solid-fuelled ICBM [KCNA via KNS and AFP]
Kim’s comments suggest North Korea is unlikely to slow the pace of its weapons tests or military modernisation, although some analysts believe he aims to build leverage towards diplomacy with Washington, possibly after the US presidential election in November next year.
Nuclear talks collapsed in 2019 after the failure of a series of high-stakes summits with then-President Donald Trump over sanctions relief in return for a partial surrender of Pyongyang’s nuclear programme. The country has been under UN Security Council sanctions since it first conducted a nuclear test in 2006.
North Korea has been deepening ties with Moscow, and Kim told party delegates Pyongyang would further expand strategic cooperation with “anti-imperialist independent” countries.
Kim made a rare trip outside his country in September when he met Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Russian Far East touring the Vostochny Cosmodrome and later visiting military bases and weapons factories. The meeting took place amid concerns Pyongyang was supplying military equipment to Moscow for use in its war with Ukraine in exchange for Russian technological know-how.
Kim also laid out economic goals for 2024, calling it a “decisive year” to accomplish the country’s five-year development plan and stressing the importance of agriculture, the report said.
North Korea has suffered serious food shortages in recent decades, including a famine in the 1990s. International experts say the prolonged border closures during the COVID-19 pandemic worsened food security.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
