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...peaceful demonstrations would always be welcome,but that our methods can't
N Korea fires 23 missiles, prompting air raid alert in South
Launches came hours after Pyongyang threatened to use nuclear weapons to make the U.S. and South Korea pay the ‘most horrible price in history’ for war games
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEOUL, 2 NOVEMBER
A
ir raid sirens sound-
ed on a South Kore-
an island and resi-
dents evacuated to
underground shelters after
North Korea fired more than
20 missiles Wednesday, at
least one of them in its direc-
tion and landing near the
rivals’ tense sea border. South
Korea quickly responded by
launching its own missiles in
the same border area.
The launches came hours
after North Korea threatened
to use nuclear weapons to get
the U.S. and South Korea to
“pay the most horrible price
in history” in protest of ongo-
ing South Korean-U.S. mili-
tary drills that it views as an
invasion rehearsal. The White
House maintained that the
United States has no hostile
intent toward North Korea
Israel’s Netanyahu appears to
edge toward victory after vote
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TEL AVIV, 2 NOVEMBER
Former Israeli Prime Minis-
ter Benjamin Netanyahu
appeared headed toward vic-
tory Wednesday, with some
85% of the ballots from nation-
al elections counted and
showing that voters gave him
and his far-right allies what
looks like a majority in the
country’s parliament.
Votes were still being
counted and results were not
final. But if preliminary indi-
cations were correct, Israel was
potentially headed to its most
right-wing government, bol-
stered by a strong showing
from the ultranationalist Reli-
gious Zionism party, whose
members use inflammatory
anti-Arab and anti-LGBTQ
rhetoric.
The initial results pointed
to a continued rightward shift
in the Israeli electorate, fur-
ther dimming hopes for peace
with the Palestinians and
setting the stage for possible
conflict with the Biden admin-
istration and Israel’s sup-
porters in the United States.
The early results also
showed that Netanyahu had
overcome his detractors, who
claimed he was not fit to rule
while on trial for corruption
and have refused to sit with
him in government. Netan-
yahu’s partners have promised
to help him evade a convic-
tion. “We are on the verge of
a very big victory,” Netanyahu,
73, told supporters at a gath-
ering in Jerusalem early
Wednesday. “I will establish
a nationalist government that
will see to all Israeli citizens
without any exceptions.”
Elections officials worked
through the night tallying
votes and by Wednesday
morning, about 85% of the bal-
lots had been counted. The
vote, like past elections, was
tight but initial indications
showed Netanyahu was head-
and vowed to work with allies
to curb North Korea’s nuclear
ambitions.
The North’s barrage of
missile tests also came as
world attention was focused
on South Korea following a
weekend Halloween tragedy
that saw more than 150 peo-
ple killed in a crowd surge in
Seoul in what was the coun-
try’s largest disaster in years.
South Korea’s military said
North Korea launched at least
23 missiles — 17 in the morn-
ing and six in the afternoon
— off its its eastern and west-
ern coasts on Wednesday. It
said the weapons were all
short-range ballistic missiles
or suspected surface-to-air
missiles. Also Wednesday,
North Korea fired about 100
artillery shells into an eastern
maritime buffer zone the
Koreas created in 2018 to
reduce tensions, according
to South Korea’s military.
ed back to the premiership
with a majority in the coun-
try’s 120-seat parliament.
Final results are expected
on Friday. The hundreds of
thousands of remaining bal-
lots-mostly from those who
voted away from their regu-
lar place of residency, in nurs-
ing homes and elsewhere-
have to be cross-checked for
accuracy, a more time-con-
suming effort. They could
lend a boost to Netanyahu’s
opponents, reducing the size
of his majority.
With Netanyahu and his
allies projected to win more
than the 61-seat majority
needed to form a govern-
ment, the country’s pro-
tracted political crisis may be
headed toward a conclusion,
though Israel remains as
divided as ever.
Tuesday’s election was
Israel’s fifth in less than four
years, with all of them focused
largely on Netanyahu’s fitness
to govern. On trial for a slew
of corruption charges,
Netanyahu, who denied
wrongdoing, is seen by sup-
porters as the victim of a
witch hunt and vilified by
opponents as a crook and
threat to democracy.
Even if Netanyahu and
his allies emerge victorious,
it could still take weeks of nego-
tiations for a coalition gov-
ernment to be formed.
Netanyahu was Israel’s
longest-serving prime min-
ister, governing for 12 con-
secutive years-and 15 years
altogether-before he was
ousted last year by a diverse
coalition led by the centrist
Yair Lapid, the current care-
taker prime minister.
be the same as those used by the left,which always harmed the population,
The 23 missiles launched
is a record number of daily mis-
sile tests by North Korea,
some experts say.
One of the ballistic missiles
was flying toward South
Korea’s Ulleung island before
it eventually landed 167 kilo-
meters (104 miles) northwest
of the island. South Korea’s mil-
itary issued an air raid alert on
the island, according to the
South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
South Korean media pub-
lished photos of island resi-
dents moving to underground
shelters.Hours later, South
Korea’s military said it lifted
the air raid alert on the island.
South Korea’s transport min-
istry said it has closed some
air routes above the country’s
eastern waters until Thursday
morning in the wake of the
North Korean launches.
That missile landed 26
kilometers (16 miles) away
from the rivals’ sea border. It
Officials: Saudis tell US that
Iran may attack the kingdom
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, 2 NOVEMBER
Saudi Arabia has shared intel-
ligence with American officials
that suggests Iran could be
preparing for an imminent
attack on the kingdom, three
U.S. officials said Tuesday.
The heightened concerns
about a potential attack on
Saudi Arabia come as the
Biden administration is crit-
icizing Tehran for its crack-
down on widespread protests
and condemning it for send-
ing hundreds of drones — as
well as technical support —
to Russia for use in its war in
Ukraine. “We are concerned
about the threat picture, and
we remain in constant con-
tact through military and
intelligence channels with
the Saudis,” the National
Security Council said in a
statement. “We will not hes-
itate to act in the defense of
our interests and partners in
the region.” Saudi Arabia did
not immediately respond to
requests for comment. Nor did
Iran’s mission to the United
Nations. One of the officials
who confirmed the intelligence
sharing described it as a cred-
ible threat of an attack “soon
or within 48 hours.” No U.S.
embassy or consulate in the
region has issued alerts or guid-
ance to Americans in Saudi
Arabia or elsewhere in the Mid-
dle East based on the intelli-
gence. The officials were not
authorized to comment pub-
licly and spoke on condition
of anonymity.
Asked about reports of
the intelligence shared by
the Saudis, Brig. Gen. Pat
Ryder, the Pentagon press
secretary, said U.S. military
officials “are concerned about
the threat situation in the
region.”
“We’re in regular contact
OUTGOING BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT JAIR BOLSONARO
FOLLOWING DEFEAT IN THE PRESIDENTIAL RUNOFF ELECTION
In this photo provided by South Korean Presidential Office,
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, center, speaks during
the National Security Council (NSC) meeting at the presidential
office in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022. ����
landed in international waters
off the east coast of South
Korea. South Korea’s mili-
tary said it was the first time
a North Korean missile has
landed so close to the sea
border since the countries’ divi-
sion in 1948.
“This is very unprece-
dented and we will never tol-
with our Saudi partners, in
terms of what information they
may have to provide on that
front,” Ryder said. “But what
we’ve said before, and I’ll
repeat it, is that we will reserve
the right to protect and defend
ourselves no matter where our
forces are serving, whether in
Iraq or elsewhere.”
State Department spoke-
sperson Ned Price said Amer-
ica was “concerned about
the threat picture,” without
elaborating. The Wall Street
Journal first reported on the
Saudis sharing the intelli-
gence earlier on Tuesday.
Iran has alleged without pro-
viding evidence that Saudi Ara-
bia and other rivals are foment-
ing the dissent on its streets
by ordinary Iranians.
Of particular ire is protest
coverage by Iran Interna-
tional, a London-based, Farsi-
language satellite news chan-
nel once majority-owned by
a Saudi national.
The U.S. and Saudis
blamed Iran in 2019 of being
behind a major attack in east-
ern Saudi Arabia, which halved
the oil-rich kingdom’s pro-
duction and caused energy
prices to spike. The Iranians
denied they were behind the
attack, but the same triangle-
shaped, bomb-carrying drones
used in that attack are now
being deployed by Russian
forces in their war on Ukraine.
The Saudis have also been
erate it,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff
said in a statement.
In 2010, North Korea shelled
a front-line South Korean
island off the peninsula’s
western coast, killing four
people. But the weapons used
were artillery rockets, not bal-
listic missiles whose launch-
es or tests are banned by mul-
hit repeatedly in recent years
by drones, missiles and mor-
tars launched by the Iran-
backed Houthi rebels in
Yemen. Saudi Arabia formed
a coalition to battle the Houthis
in 2015 and has been inter-
nationally criticized for its
airstrikes in the war, which
have killed scores of civil-
ians.In recent weeks, the Bi-
den administration has impo-
sed sanctions on Iranian offi-
cials for the brutal crackdown
on demonstrators after the
death of 22-year-old Mahsa
Amini in September after her
arrest by Iran’s morality police.
The administration has also
hit Iran with sanctions for sup-
plying drones to Russia for use
in its war in Ukraine.
At least 288 people have
been killed and 14,160 arrest-
ed during the protests, accord-
ing to the group Human
Rights Activists in Iran.
Demonstrations have con-
tinued, even as the feared
paramilitary Revolutionary
Guard has warned young Ira-
nians to stop.
Iran already launched a
series of attacks targeting
Kurdish separatist positions
in northern Iraq amid the
protests, killing at least 16 peo-
ple, including an American cit-
izen. U.S. relations with Saudi
Arabia have also been strained
after the Riyadh-led alliance
of oil producing nations,
OPEC+, announced in Octo-
NEW DELHI, THURSDAY 03 NOVEMBER 2022
tiple U.N. Security Council res-
olutions.Later Wednesday,
South Korean fighter jets
launched three air-to-sur-
face, precision-guided missiles
near the eastern sea border to
show its determination to get
tough on North Korean provo-
cations. South Korea’s military
said the missiles landed in
international waters at the
same distance of 26 kilome-
ters (16 miles) north of the sea
border as the North Korean
missile fell earlier Wednesday.
It said it maintains a readi-
ness to win “an overwhelm-
ing victory” against North
Korea in potential clashes.
“North Korea firing missiles
in a way that sets off air raid
sirens appears intended to
threaten South Koreans to
pressure their government
to change policy,” said Leif-
Eric Easley, a professor at
Ewha University in Seoul.
“North Korea’s expand-
ber that it would cut pro-
duction by 2 million barrels
per day starting in November.
The White House has said
it is reviewing its relationship
with the Saudis over the move.
The administration said the
production cut is effectively
helping another OPEC+ mem-
ber, Russia, pad its coffers as
it continues its war in Ukraine,
now in its ninth month.
White House National
Security Council spokesman
John Kirby on Tuesday reit-
erated that the administration
remains concerned that Iran
may also provide Russia with
surface-to-surface missiles.
“We haven’t seen that con-
cern bear out, but it’s a con-
cern we have,” Kirby said.
Even as the U.S. and oth-
ers raise concerns about pos-
sible Iranian action, the admin-
istration has not ruled out the
possibility of reviving the
2015 Iran nuclear deal, which
was brokered by the Obama
administration and scrapped
in 2018 by the Trump admin-
istration.
The U.S. special envoy to
Iran, Robert Malley, said on
Monday that the adminis-
tration was not currently
focused on the deal, which has
been stalled since August.
Still, Malley refused to
declare the deal dead and
said the administration
“makes no apology” for “try-
ing to do everything we can
to prevent Iran from acquir-
ing a nuclear weapon.”
The deal had provided
Tehran with billions of dol-
lars in sanctions relief in
exchange for the country
agreeing to roll back its nuclear
program. It includes caps on
enrichment and how much
material Iran can stockpile and
limits the operation of
advanced centrifuges need-
ed to enrich.
ing military capabilities and
tests are worrisome, but offer-
ing concessions about alliance
cooperation or nuclear recog-
nition would make matters
worse.”The Joint Chiefs of
Staff earlier identified three of
the North Korean weapons
launched as “short-range bal-
listic missiles” fired from the
North’s eastern coastal town
of Wonsan, including the one
that landed near the sea bor-
der. North Korean short-range
weapons are designed to strike
key facilities in South Korea,
including U.S. military bases
there.
In an emergency meeting
with top security officials,
South Korean President Yoon
Suk Yeol ordered officials to
take swift unspecified steps to
make North Korea face con-
sequences for its provoca-
tion. He said he would con-
sider the North Korean mis-
sile’s landing near the border
Investigators raid Seoul police
over deadly crowd surge
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEOUL, 2 NOVEMBER
South Korea’s National Police
Agency on Wednesday raid-
ed local police departments
in the capital, Seoul, and the
city’s Yongsan district office
as it investigates whether
official ineptitude contributed
to a deadly crowd surge that
killed 156 people in the neigh-
borhood of Itaewon.
The raids came a day after
the national agency acknowl-
edged that Seoul police failed
to act for hours despite receiv-
ing at least 11 emergency
calls from pedestrians
warning about a swelling
crowd of Halloween revelers
getting out of control ahead
of the crush on Saturday in
a narrow alley near Hamilton
Hotel.
The national agency said
members of its special inves-
tigation unit were retriev-
ing documents and other
materials from the Seoul
Metropolitan Police Agency
and Yongsan’s police sta-
tion, district office and fire
department and other offices.
Local officials and police
have faced sharp questions
about why they didn’t employ
crowd controls or sufficient
personnel in the small
nightlife district despite antic-
ipating a crowd of 100,000 fol-
lowing the easing of Covid19
restrictions in recent months.
National police chief Yoon
Hee Keun also acknowledged
Tuesday that its initial inves-
tigations found that police offi-
cers failed to effectively han-
dle calls notifying authorities
about the potential danger of
the crowd gathering in Itae-
won.
Yoon said police have
launched an intense internal
probe into the officers’ han-
dling of the emergency calls
and other issues, including
the on-the-spot response to
the crowd surge in Itaewon
“a virtual violation of (our) ter-
ritorial waters.”
During the meeting, offi-
cials also lamented that the
North Korean missile launch-
es came as South Korea is in
a mourning period over the
crowd crush. They noted this
“clearly showed the nature of
the North Korean govern-
ment,” according to South
Korea’s presidential office.Ear-
lier Wednesday, Japanese
Defense Minister Yasukazu
Hamada said at least two bal-
listic missiles fired by North
Korea showed a possibly
“irregular” trajectory. This
suggests the missiles were
the North’s highly maneu-
verable, nuclear-capable KN-
23 missile, which was modeled
on Russia’s Iskander missile.
Japanese Prime Minister
Fumio Kishida called North
Korea’s continuing missile
tests “absolutely impermis-
sible.”
that night.
His agency also released
the transcripts of 11 calls
placed to the police’s 112
emergency hotline by pedes-
trians in Itaewon on Satur-
day, the first one made around
6:30 p.m., about four hours
before the crush near Hamil-
ton Hotel.
The unidentified caller,
who was in front of a conve-
nience store at the same alley
where the crush occurred,
pleaded for police to enforce
controls on the area because
“too many people are going
up and down and it’s too
scary.”
“People aren’t able to
come down but (people) are
also pushing up and I think
(they) could get crushed to
death,” the caller said.
In transcripts of the 11 calls,
the callers used the Korean
word meaning “crushed to
death” 13 different times to
convey their concerns.
South Korea’s interior
minister and emergency
office chief, the Seoul mayor
and the head of the Yongsan
ward office, which governs
Itaewon, have all offered
public apologies.
As of Wednesday, 156
people were confirmed as
dead and 157 were being
treated for injuries after they
were trampled in a crowd
surge centered in a narrow
alley that runs between the
hotel and a dense row of
storefronts.