Play The Diplomat’s Quiz: August 21, 2016 Edition

North Korea, on Wednesday claimed to have resumed plutonium production at the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center, the country’s primary nuclear energy facility. Restarting the reactor at Yongbyon is the latest in a long string of actions this year in contravention of United Nations sanctions.

The Philippines received its first of ten coast guard vessels from Japan yesterday to help boost its maritime and law enforcement capabilities.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) formally received the first multi-role response vessel (MRRV), which was named BRP Tubbataha, from the Japanese government after an arrival and blessing ceremony at the Headquarters Coast Guard Ready Force, Pier 13, South Harbor in Manila.

The Government of India had formed an expert committee to suggest tax rates that will benefit both the center and the states. As per the “Report on the Revenue Neutral Rate and Structure of Rates for the Goods and Services Tax (GST)” published in December 2015, a four-band tax structure has been recommended: zero percent for essentials, 12 percent for “merit” goods consumed mostly by poorer people, a standard rate of 17-18 percent, and 40 percent for luxury goods. The GST will not cover alcohol and petroleum products, but the states have been given the rights to set their own rates on such high-revenue items.

The next biggest hurdle for GST will come in the states, as at least 16 state legislatures must also ratify the new GST Constitutional amendment. Then the Central GST and Interstate GST bills (which will set the actual tax rates) will be presented in the Indian parliament, yet another challenge to be met before the concept of single tax becomes a reality. The opposition parties are demanding a cap of 18 percent on the tax. This will become a contentious issue, as the revenue from taxes goes up to 27 percent in some of India’s states. The single tax will now subsume over 15 different taxes both at the central and state levels, but the GST will lead the government into uncharted territories when it comes to prevalent taxes in states. If the government does not put a cap on the maximum tax rate, the ultimate sufferers will Indian consumers. It is not clear, though, how the central government proposes to compensate states for the loss of tax revenue if it does decide to cap the tax at 18 percent.

On Thursday, the South Korean army held its largest-ever artillery drills. The live-fire exercise involved around 300 artillery systems.

According to an account of the exercise given to the Associated Press by a South Korean army official, “units along the border began firing shells simultaneously in multiple directions on Thursday afternoon.”

The exercise did not draw any reaction, military or otherwise, from North Korea, which has been known to react angrily to exercises on the southern side of the tense border between the two Koreas.

This time last year, Asia observers around the world hung to every word Prime Minister Shinzo Abe uttered in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II. This year, though the 71st milestone does not have the same global resonance, the date of August 15 continues to highlight discord between Japan and its two neighbors – China and South Korea.

Abe spent the day visiting Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery, which holds the remains of 365,000 unidentified Japanese soldiers who died overseas – a much more politically neutral site of remembrance than the Yasukuni Shrine, a controversial shrine that honors the souls of millions of Japanese war dead — including 14 Class-A war criminals. Abe refrained from visiting Yasukuni, instead sending a proxy with a ritual offering made from his private funds.

Vietnam has quietly expanded its military capabilities in the South China Sea by purportedly deploying new Israel-made long-range mobile rocket launchers on five bases in the Spratly Islands in recent months, Reuters revealed on August 10.

On Thursday, the U.S. Embassy in Tajikistan announced Washington’s latest security move in the region. According to a statement from the embassy, the U.S. was donating “$12 million dollars’ worth of U.S. equipment to Tajikistan’s Border Guard Agency.” The donation consisted of two primary components: Tajikistan would be receiving some $9 million dollars’ worth of communication equipment, including radios and software, and $3 million dollars’ worth of Jeep Wranglers.

The SM-3 would supplement parallel missile defense efforts in South Korea. For instance, the United States is also reportedly looking to upgrade South Korea’s Patriot Advanced Capability-2 missile defense systems to the more advanced PAC-3 platforms. South Korea would become the third U.S. ally after Japan and Taiwan to field the PAC-3 system.

“Right now we’re focused on upgrading the Patriot system that we have here in Korea,” Eric Fanning, the U.S. secretary of the army, told Yonhap. “I have seen the potential for the upgrades,” Fanning reportedly added, strongly suggesting that a PAC-3 upgrade was forthcoming.

Earlier this summer, for the first time, a U.S. PAC-3 system was temporarily transferred from Kadena Air base in Okinawa, Japan, to Busan, South Korea.

Singapore will deploy a medical team to Iraq for around three months next year as part of the city-state’s deepening contribution to the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS), the country’s defense minister confirmed yesterday.

Earlier this month, during his state visit to the United States, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had announced at a joint press conference with U.S. President Barack Obama that the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) would be sending a medical support team to Iraq (See: “Singapore to Deepen Role in Islamic State Fight”).