SEOUL -- The Republic of Korea (ROK) and the United States on Wednesday conducted joint ballistic missile exercises a day after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) declared a successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). ROK's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement that the missile units of the ROK and the US carried out joint ballistic missile drills in the East Sea at 7 am local time (2200 GMT on Tuesday) in response to the DPRK's repeated ballistic missile provocations. The joint exercises mobilized the South Korean military's Hyunmoo-II ballistic missiles and the eighth US Army's ATACMS ground-to-ground missiles to show their combined capability in emergency situations, the statement said. The joint missile drills followed the DPRK's claim on Tuesday that it successfully test-fired a new type of ICBM, called Hwasong-14, which flew about 930 km and was lofted as high as some 2,800 km. The joint drills were conducted as South Korean President Moon Jae-in proposed it to US President Donald Trump, Yoon Young-chan, Moon's senior press secretary, told reporters. President Moon said it would be necessary to clearly show the South Korea-US combined missile preparedness to the DPRK as just announcing a statement was not enough. how to take off festival wristbandcustom wrist sweatbandsdebossed wristbandprinted braceletsyouth wristbandscustom livestrong braceletscustom rubber bands
TIANJIN - China is working on a national strategy on smart cars, and mulls banning production and sales of fossil fuel cars, according to policy makers attending a forum on automotive industry development. With the global auto industry leaning toward intelligent and electric vehicles, work has begun on a timetable to ban manufacture and sales of traditional energy cars, according to Xin Guobin, vice minister of industry and information technology. He told a forum in Tianjin that auto-makers should have a thorough understanding of the situation and readjust their strategies. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) will work out the timetable, Xin said. Producing and selling more than 28 million vehicles in 2016, the eighth year as the world's biggest producer and manufacturer, China's auto industry contributed at least one tenth of total retail sales of consumer goods. Also the largest producer and market for new energy vehicles, more than 500,000 of them were built and sold last year. There are more than 1 million new energy vehicles on the road, or half of the world total. To encourage development of new energy vehicles, subsidies of as much as half of the original price are available, but in the long term, such subsidies may lead to blind expansion by auto makers, said Song Qiuling, a deputy section chief from the Ministry of Finance, at the forum. Subsidies will gradually be reduced and a new energy credit policy introduced, according to Song. On June 13, the MIIT released a policy document for public opinion on fuel consumption control and new energy vehicle credits, requiring auto-makers to meet a new energy credit ratio of 8 percent in 2018, 10 percent in 2019, and 12 percent in 2020, to ease pressure on energy and environment. Xin confirmed that the policy would be put into effect in the near future. He said the time period up to 2025 will be critical for the auto industry. Energy-saving and emission reduction requirements are increasing, the development of new energy vehicles is becoming more technically demanding and intelligent vehicles are expected to have a profound effect on the industry.
