Copyright kyodonews
GYEONGJU, South Korea - U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday he has instructed the Pentagon to "immediately" restart nuclear weapons testing on an "equal basis" with other nuclear powers. Trump made the announcement on social media ahead of his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea, saying it is inevitable as other countries continue testing. Without elaborating the specifics of the potential testing, to be conducted for the first time in decades, Trump highlighted that the United States has more nuclear arms than any other country. "Because of the tremendous destructive power, I HATED to do it, but had no choice! Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years," he wrote. Trump had suggested that nuclear disarmament would be one of the issues to be discussed with Xi during the meeting, their first in person since 2019, in the southern port city of Busan. In Tokyo, Japan's top government spokesman Minoru Kihara said at a press conference that the country will continue "realistic and practical efforts" toward realizing a world without nuclear weapons, including the early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Japan is the only country to have suffered nuclear attacks and has advocated a world free of nuclear weapons.
