June 16, 2009
NKorea Warns of Nuclear War Amid Rising Tensions
NKorea warns of nuclear war amid rising tensions
SEOUL, South Korea
North Korea's communist regime has warned of a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula while vowing to step up its atomic bomb-making program in defiance of new U.N. sanctions.
The North's defiance presents a growing diplomatic headache for President Barack Obama as he prepares for talks Tuesday with his South Korean counterpart on the North's missile and nuclear programs.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak told security-related ministers during an unscheduled meeting Sunday to "resolutely and squarely" cope with the North's latest threat, his office said. Lee is to leave for the U.S. on Monday morning.
A commentary Sunday in the North's main state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, claimed the U.S. has 1,000 nuclear weapons in South Korea. Another commentary published Saturday in the state-run Tongil Sinbo weekly claimed the U.S. has been deploying a vast amount of nuclear weapons in South Korea and Japan.
North Korea "is completely within the range of U.S. nuclear attack and the Korean peninsula is becoming an area where the chances of a nuclear war are the highest in the world," the Tongil Sinbo commentary said.
Kim Yong-kyu, a spokesman at the U.S. military command in Seoul, called the latest accusation "baseless," saying Washington has no nuclear bombs in South Korea. U.S. tactical nuclear weapons were removed from South Korea in 1991 as part of arms reductions following the Cold War.
South Korea's Unification Ministry issued a statement Sunday demanding the North stop stoking tension, abandon its nuclear weapons and return to dialogue with the South.
On Saturday, North Korea's Foreign Ministry threatened war on any country that dared to stop its ships on the high seas under the new sanctions approved by the U.N. Security Council on Friday as punishment for the North's latest nuclear test.
It is not clear if the statements are simply rhetorical. Still, they are a huge setback for international attempts to rein in North Korea's nuclear ambitions following its second nuclear test on May 25. It first tested a nuclear device in 2006.
In Saturday's statement, North Korea said it has been enriching uranium to provide fuel for its light-water reactor. It was the first public acknowledgment the North is running a uranium enrichment program in addition to its known plutonium-based program. The two radioactive materials are key ingredients in making atomic bombs.
On Sunday, Yonhap news agency reported South Korea and the U.S. have mobilized spy satellites, reconnaissance aircraft and human intelligence networks to obtain evidence that the North has been running a uranium enrichment program.
South Korea's Defense Ministry said it could not confirm the report. The National Intelligence Service - South Korea's main spy agency - was not available for comment.
North Korea said more than one-third of 8,000 spent fuel rods in its possession has been reprocessed and all the plutonium extracted would be used to make atomic bombs. The country could harvest 13-18 pounds (6-8 kilograms) of plutonium - enough to make at least one nuclear bomb - if all the rods are reprocessed.
In addition, North Korea is believed to have enough plutonium for at least half a dozen atomic bombs.
North Korea says its nuclear program is a deterrent against the U.S., which it routinely accuses of plotting to topple its regime. Washington, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea, has repeatedly said it has no such intention.
The new U.N. sanctions are aimed at depriving the North of the financing used to build its rogue nuclear program. The resolution also authorized searches of North Korean ships suspected of transporting illicit ballistic missile and nuclear materials.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the new U.N. penalties provide the necessary tools to help check North Korea's continued pursuit of nuclear weapons.
The sanctions show that "North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons and the capacity to deliver those weapons through missiles is not going to be accepted by the neighbors as well as the greater international community," Clinton said Saturday at a news conference in Canada.
Russia says North Korea to launch new ballistic missile
Moscow believes that North Korea is planning to launch a new ballistic missile, according to a report from Interfax, the Russian news agency.
"We have certain information on the type and characteristics of the rocket. However there is no precise information on the timing of its launch," said a source in Russia's General Staff. He added that Russia would monitor the launch.
He did not specify if it would be a long or short-range missile. In the past week, South Korean and American intelligence have identified a missile being moved to the Musudan launch pad, one of North Korea's most commonly-used sites.
Yonhap, the South Korean news agency, said a missile capable of hitting the West coast of the United States could be launched in mid-June.
A second source, this time at the Russian Foreign ministry, told ITAR-TASS that "judging by everything, a launch will take place. There are signs that preparations for this are under way."
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Wild Thing's comment........
It looks like Kim Jong Il wants to go out in a blaze of glory! And in the meantime Obama talks about disarming
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:46 AM | Comments (5)
June 06, 2009
Nuke .........Nuke
Al Gore may go to NKorea to help US reporters
The United States might send former US vice president Al Gore to Pyongyang in order to negotiate the release of two American journalists on trial in North Korea for illegal entry.
State Department spokesman Ian Kelly did not rule out such a possibility when asked if it would make sense to send Gore, who is chairman of the California station Current TV, which employs the two journalists.
"It's a very, very sensitive issue, I'm not going to go into it," Kelly told reporters who pressed him on the matter.
"This is such a sensitive issue, I'm just not going to go into those kinds of discussions that we may or may not have had," he added when asked whether Gore himself had raised the matter with the State Department.
"The bottom line is that these two young women should be released but I'm not going to go into any kind of details on what we will or won't do," Kelly said when asked again if it would help to send Gore.
The TV reporters were detained by North Korean border guards on March 17 while researching a story about refugees fleeing the hardline communist state.
In a column published May 9 in the Washington Post, Victor Cha, a former adviser to president George W. Bush on North Korea, suggested that President Barack Obama's administration should send Gore to Pyongyang.
"The United States needs to send a high-level envoy to North Korea to bring these women home. The obvious candidate would be Gore," wrote Cha, who is now a a professor at Georgetown University.
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Wild Thing's comment.........
LOL at the cartoono, perfect....... good one!!
So far North Korea isn't afraid of the USA's Muslim Thug in our White House.
Hahahaha what would also be great isfi Gore does go, the how wonderful it would be if N. Korea keeps Gore there.
......Thank you RAC for sending this to me.
RAC has a website that is awesome. 336th Assault Helicopter Company
13th Combat Aviation Battalion - 1st Aviation Brigade - Soc Trang, Republic of Vietnam
Posted by Wild Thing at 07:49 AM | Comments (6)
May 30, 2009
Obama’s Foreign Policy Speak ~ "kind of worried"
U.S. Officials 'Kind of Worried' Over Activity at North Korean Military Facility
U.S. intelligence officials have spotted activity at a key North Korean military facility that has them "kind of worried," a senior official told FOX News.
Support activity, including the movement of certain vehicles and personnel, has been spotted at Sanumdong, a research-and-development complex, the official said. The activity is consistent with that observed prior to the launch of the Taepodong-2 missile in the past.
The official said part of the concern, given the fact that Sanumdong is not itself a launch site, is that the North Koreans may be preparing to move a warhead by rail -- for an unknown purpose.
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Wild Thing's comment........
Well that’s reassuring..”kinda worried”. I’d like my leaders to be more than “kinda anything” . Good lord....THIS is Obama’s foreign policy speak????
"U.S. intelligence officials have spotted activity at a key North Korean military facility that has them "kind of worried,"
They are tearing down the Obama/Biden 2008 signs all over the barracks?
U.S. intelligence officials have spotted activity at a key North Korean military facility that has them "kind of worried" ...
Interesting vernacular ... for an intelligence official. I am sort of concerned, kind of.
NSA Analyst report to superior officer: "Hey, sir, like, we were watching some stuff on satelite, and, you know, there's alot of things moving around and it sort of looks weird ... I dunno, don't wanna raise any alarms or anything, but some of the older guys around here were sort of worried."
"kind of worried" = “kinda cool” but the opposite or something like that.
SEOUL, May 29 (Reuters)
Chinese ships shunning waters near Korea amid tensions
SEOUL, May 29 (Yonhap)
Chinese fishing vessels are leaving the Yellow Sea, where tensions between the two Koreas have escalated after Pyongyang's threats of military clash, a defense source here said Friday.
"Chinese fishing ships operating near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) began withdrawing yesterday," the source said, adding the military authorities are trying to find out whether North Korea asked them to do so.
More than 280 Chinese vessels were fishing near the NLL for crab earlier this week but the number has dropped to about 140, according to the source.
Tensions are running high around the de-facto inter-Korean maritime border following North Korea's warning Tuesday of military action that came after South Korea announced its full participation in the Proliferation Security Initiative, a U.S.-led campaign to stop the trade of weapons of mass destruction and related materials.
There were two deadly skirmishes between the two sides near the sea border, in 1999 and 2002.
An official at Seoul's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, however, said the withdrawal did not appear to be a sign of an imminent provocation.
"All Chinese ships would have evacuated the area if that was the case," the official said, adding the crab-catching season was almost over.
"The government is closely following developments in the West Sea (Yellow Sea), but there are no imminent signs of hostilities," said the official, who spoke on customary condition of anonymity.
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And there is also this...........................
Obama Defense Secretary Says North Korea NOT A THREAT
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, en route to an annual security summit in Singapore Friday, signaled as much, saying North Korea’s actions so far do not warrant sending more US troops to the region.
“I don’t think that anybody in the [Obama] administration thinks there is a crisis,” Mr. Gates told reporters aboard his military jet early Friday morning, still Thursday night in Washington.
Meanwhile South Korea children are doing something similar to our duck and cover drills at the height of the Cold War.
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:48 AM | Comments (8)
May 28, 2009
Hillary Clinton Warns North Korea for ‘Belligerent’ Behavior
Clinton Warns North Korea for ‘Belligerent’ Behavior in Region
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said North Korea must face consequences for its “belligerent and provocative behavior” after Kim Jong Il’s regime threatened military action against South Korea.
Clinton spoke in Washington after North Korea’s official news agency said Kim’s government would no longer abide by the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War and may respond militarily to South Korea’s participation in a U.S.-led program that would block ships suspected of carrying nuclear weapons or material for export.
The U.S. takes “very seriously” its commitments to defend South Korea and Japan, its principal allies in the region, Clinton said. She called on North Korea to return to the so- called six party talks aimed at dismantling its nuclear arms program.
“The Korean People’s Army will not be bound to the Armistice Agreement any longer,” the official Korean Central News Agency said in a statement today. Any attempt to inspect North Korean vessels will be countered with “prompt and strong military strikes.”
North Korea raised the specter of a maritime confrontation. The dispatch by the Korean Central News Agency said North Korea can’t guarantee the safety of ships passing through its western waters. The statement specified five islands controlled by the South that were the site of naval skirmishes in 1999 and 2002.
“What they are saying is that they will take military action if there is any action taken on behalf of the program such as boarding their ships, stopping and searching and so on,” said Han Sung Joo, a former South Korean foreign minister.
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Recap:
-North Korea tests nuke
-Obama gives speech saying he's outraged, then goes golfing
-North Korea fires two missiles
-Obama's UN Ambassador, Susan Rice (the same woman that the 911 Commission says turned down Sudan's offer to hand over Osama Bin Laden) goes on Today Show and says UN is going to meet, threatens more UN sanctions on the already fully isolated country
-UN meets, doesn't pass new sanctions, does send "stern letter"
-North Korea responds by test firing another anti-ship missile
-Obama Press Secretary is pressed by ABC News Jake Tapper to explain what Obama's next attempt will be,
Gibbs dodges (clearly had no idea & Admin is fully stumped)
-Russia goes on military alert concerned there could be nuclear war
-North Korea responds by announcing it is no longer bound by the 50+ yr old cease-fire/armistice, and that it will take action.
-North Korea also restarts its shut down nuclear facilities
-North Korea then declares it will attack US and/or South Korean ships
Article HERE.........
My Way News
NKorea threatens to attack US, SKorean warships
SEOUL, South Korea
North Korea threatened military action Wednesday against U.S. and South Korean warships plying the waters near the Koreas' disputed maritime border, raising the specter of a naval clash just days after the regime's underground nuclear test.
Pyongyang, reacting angrily to Seoul's decision to join an international program to intercept ships suspected of aiding nuclear proliferation, called the move tantamount to a declaration of war.
"Now that the South Korean puppets were so ridiculous as to join in the said racket and dare declare a war against compatriots," North Korea is "compelled to take a decisive measure," the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said in a statement carried by state media.
North Korea warned Wednesday that any attempt to stop, board or inspect its ships would constitute a "grave violation."
The regime also said it could no longer promise the safety of U.S. and South Korean warships and civilian vessels in the waters near the Korea's western maritime border.
"They should bear in mind that the (North) has tremendous military muscle and its own method of strike able to conquer any targets in its vicinity at one stroke or hit the U.S. on the raw, if necessary," it said.
A North Korean newspaper, Minju Joson, said in commentary Wednesday that Pyongyang does not fear repercussions for its actions.
"It is a laughable delusion for the United States to think that it can get us to kneel with sanctions," it said. "We've been living under U.S. sanctions for decades, but have firmly safeguarded our ideology and system while moving our achievements forward. The U.S. sanctions policy toward North Korea is like striking a rock with a rotten egg."
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Wild Thing's comment........
Oh, well if Hillary CLINTON has warned them, the I guess they have no CHOICE but to back down. I mean this is about a nuclear bomb after all.
Will she throw an ashtray? Or will she send out one of her Arkancide guys? She’ll invite L’il Kim in for a meeting in Fort Marcey Park —or maybe Starbucks, on that corner in Adams Morgan.
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....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:40 AM | Comments (10)
May 26, 2009
North Korea Test-fires 2 More Missiles
NKorea test-fires 2 more missiles
North Korea launched tests of two more short-range missiles a day after detonating a nuclear bomb underground, a news report said, pushing the regime's confrontation with world powers further despite the threat of U.N. Security Council action.
Two missiles — one ground-to-air, the other ground-to-ship — with a range of about 80 miles (130 kilometers) were test-fired from an east coast launch pad, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported, citing an unnamed government official.
South Korean spy chief Won Sei-hoon had informed lawmakers earlier Tuesday that a missile test was likely, according to the office of Park Young-sun, a legislator who attended the closed-door briefing.
Yonhap reported that North Korea was preparing to launch a third missile from a west coast site, again citing an unnamed official.
North Korea appeared to be displaying its might a day after conducting an underground atomic test in the northeast that the U.N. Security Council condemned as a "clear violation" of a 2006 resolution banning the regime from developing its nuclear program.
The U.N. Security Council is condemning North Korea's nuclear test as a clear violation of its resolutions.
The council said in a statement Monday that it will begin work immediately on a new legally binding resolution addressing North Korea's violations.
The U.N.'s most powerful body held an emergency meeting at Japan's request after North Korea conducted its second nuclear test earlier Monday.
The council is demanding that North Korea abide by two previous resolutions, which among other things banned further nuclear tests and called for a return to six-party talks aimed at eliminating its nuclear program.
Obama: North Korea 'Recklessly Challenging' International Community
North Korea's nuclear test is a "matter of grave concern," President Obama said Monday, as officials in Washington accused the rogue regime of blatantly defying the international community.
The communist country said it had carried out a powerful underground nuclear test, much larger than one conducted in 2006. The regime also test-fired three short-range, ground-to-air missiles later Monday from the same northeastern site where it launched a rocket last month, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing unnamed sources.
The twin moves were roundly condemned in Washington.
"These actions, while not a surprise given its statements and actions to date, are a matter of grave concern to all nations," Obama said in a written statement, calling them an apparent violation of international law. "North Korea's attempts to develop nuclear weapons, as well as its ballistic missile program, constitute a threat to international peace and security."
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Wild Thing's comment............
“UN Security Council condemns NKorea nuke test”
That’ll show ‘em!
“A strongly worded letter may be next.”
Following that a devastating set of incentive packages will follow.
Do UN Resolutions beat Nuclear Bombs in the same way that Paper covers Rock?????
And from Obama.........he might as well have said......“And if you don’t stop we’re going to say even MEANER things about you....”
Obama did say......
North Korea 'Recklessly Challenging' International Community
He isn't challenging the community Obama, he is challenging you!
Obama's words mean nothing and our enemies know that. He is a joke.
Posted by Wild Thing at 07:48 AM | Comments (9)
April 05, 2009
North Korea Launches Rocket, Defying World Pressure
North Korea Launches Rocket, Defying World Pressure
North Korea defiantly carried out a provocative rocket launch Sunday that the U.S., Japan and other nations suspect was a cover for a test of its long-range missile technology.
Liftoff took place at 10:30 p.m. EDT Saturday from the coastal Musudan-ri launch pad in northeastern North Korea, the South Korean government said. In Washington, the State Department also confirmed the launch.
The U.S., South Korea, Japan and others suspect the launch is a guise for testing the regime's long-range missile technology — one step toward eventually mounting a nuclear weapon on a missile capable of reaching Alaska and beyond.
They contend the launch violates a U.N. Security Council resolution barring the regime from ballistic missile activity, part of efforts to force North Korea to shelve its nuclear program and halt long-range missile tests.
"We look on this as a provocative act," U.S. State Department spokesman Fred Lash said.
The rocket flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific Ocean, the Japanese broadcaster NHK said, citing its government.
Wild Thing's comment........
Fox is not covering this much right now as I am posting this. I only caught one thing on FOX.
Geraldo is cheering for It’s success! Why doesn’t he move to Venezuela, Cuba or NKorea? He’d be so much happier there!
CNN has a little more. I don't like CNN but sometimes it has a story happening that the others don't.
Posted by Wild Thing at 06:55 AM | Comments (6)
April 01, 2009
Critics Decry Obama Nominee for State Dept. Legal Adviser Harold Koh
Koh, No? Critics Decry Obama Nominee for State Department Legal Adviser
Harold Koh, President Obama's pick to become one of the State Department's top lawyers, has ignited fury among critics who say his legal views are a threat to American democracy.
President Obama's nominee to be the State Department's legal adviser has ignited a fury among conservative critics who say his views are a threat to American democracy -- an accusation the White House on Tuesday called "outrageous" and "completely baseless."
Former Clinton administration official Harold Koh, who has been dean of the Yale Law School since 2004, once wrote that the U.S. was part of an "axis of disobedience" with North Korea and Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Koh also has long held that the U.S. should accept international law when deliberating cases at home.
Obama nominated Koh on March 23 to become the State Department's legal adviser -- an appointment that, if confirmed by the Senate, will give Koh far-reaching influence over the extent to which international norms affect U.S. law.
"This is not a desk job. This guy will be the face of American international law around the world," said Steven Gross, legal expert and fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation.
"The top legal adviser at State travels extensively and is involved in international legal negotiations, treaties and in major United Nations conferences.
"The president should have the right to choose the most conservative or liberal legal advisers to give them advice,
but this is much more than that. The concern is that he cares as much about -- if not more about -- international law and integrating that into the American judicial system than he does about protecting American prerogatives and American sovereignty," Gross said.
The White House vehemently defended Koh's nomination on Tuesday, telling FOXNews.com that he is "one of the most respected members of the legal community."
Koh's critics insist his legal views undermine the U.S. Constitution and American sovereignty.
John Fonte, senior fellow and director of the Center for American Common Culture at the Hudson Institute, told FOXNews.com that Koh's views have "a very big practical effect on American foreign policy and on American democracy.
"This is international imperialism. Under Koh's plan, the Constitution would become secondary and international law would take precedence regardless of what Americans said about the matter."
And this from Daniel Pipes
.......what brings him to attention here is his apparent endorsement of Islamic law within the American court system. Clyne writes:
A New York lawyer, Steven Stein, says that, in addressing the Yale Club of Greenwich in 2007, Koh claimed that "in an appropriate case, he didn't see any reason why sharia law would not be applied to govern a case in the United States."
1) The day may have arrived when Americans, like Britons and the Dutch, have to stave off their establishment advocating Shari'a. It's a dark day, indeed.
(2) The Senate must reject Harold Koh as State's legal advisor.
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Wild Thing's comment.......
The plan to destroy America from the inside out is moving along at record pace. The republicans better do everything they can to block this terrorist apologist.
This is scary if he gets nominated. He believes that Sharia law should be part of our courts, that it is important to look at the laws of OTHER NATIONS when interpreting our Constitution.
Other post about Harold Koh:
B.Hussein Obama's Most Perilous Legal Pick Harold Koh....at Theodore's World Marck 31, 2009
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:40 AM | Comments (6)
March 31, 2009
Japan Prepares for North Korea Missile Launch
Japan Prepares for North Korea Missile Launch
For First Time, Tokyo Says It Will Deploy Missile Interceptors Against Rocket or Debris From Pyongyang's Planned Launch
TOKYO
Japan's move Friday to deploy missile interceptors is the boldest challenge North Korea faces so far to its plan to launch a rocket in the next few days.
Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said he ordered the deployment of missile interceptors to Japan's northern coast to prepare to shoot down the rocket and any debris that could fall on Japanese territory. It was the first such order Japan had issued, a ministry spokesman said.
North Korea said it will launch a rocket carrying a satellite between April 4 and April 8, and warned that fragments could fall into the Sea of Japan between the two countries as well as southeast of Japan in the Pacific Ocean.
Japan and its allies suspect the rocket is a new long-range missile, and have demanded that Pyongyang cancel the plan. A launch would violate United Nations Security Council sanctions imposed in 2006 after North Korea tested a long-range missile.
Any action Japan takes would be restricted to shooting at material that threatens to fall on Japanese land or sea. Nevertheless, the move is a bold one for Japan, which has a pacifist constitution that strictly restricts its military to measures of national defense.
Japan is particularly worried about North Korea because of its proximity to the rogue nation. After Pyongyang's launches in recent years, Tokyo imposed sanctions on North Korea and pushed the U.N. Security Council to enact further sanctions. At the time, Japan didn't have the missile-defense capabilities it has today.
Analysts say that by warning that it will intercept a rocket or debris, Japan is walking a fine diplomatic line between cautious preparation at home and tough talk to put North Korea on notice -- without antagonizing the country.
In recent years, Tokyo has expanded its military role. It has sent noncombat troops to Iraq and has a refueling mission in the Indian Ocean that supports U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
The U.S., which Japan relies on for its defense, has to proceed cautiously. U.S. diplomats are now dealing with North Korea's arrest of two U.S. journalists on the North Korea-China border on March 17.
The U.S. has been leaning against trying to shoot down the North's projectile and a senior U.S. official this week said the administration has ruled it out.
Wild Thing's comment..........
We may not scare N. Korea ( with Obama as President) , but I bet Japan does, or at least I bet they take Japan more seriously then they take us.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:45 AM | Comments (3)
March 09, 2009
S. Korea Drills Begin ~ North Korea Threatens War if Satellite Launch is Intercepted
South Korean protesters with a North Korean flag and portraits of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il stage a rally against North Korea's recent military policy in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, March 9, 2009. North Korea ordered its armed forces on standby and warned Monday it will retaliate against anyone seeking to block its planned satellite launch, a move many fear will disguise a missile test
North Korean soldiers march as South Korean and US soldiers watch at the border village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas. North Korea put its military on combat alert Monday as US and South Korean forces started a major joint exercise which the communist nation has branded as a prelude to invasion.
Tension high on Korean peninsula, military drills begin
SEOUL
U.S. and South Korean troops began annual military drills on Monday and North Korea said it had put its armed forces on full combat readiness in response to the exercises, heightening tensions on the Korean peninsula.
North Korea, which is preparing to test-fire its longest-range ballistic missile, also said it would regard the shooting down of any of its rockets as an act of war.
The North Korean army said in a statement that the drills were a "military provocation" that would only occur "on the eve of a war".
U.S., South Korea begin exercise amid North Korea’s threats
SEOUL
The annual Key Resolve/Foal Eagle exercises were to kick off Monday, scheduled to last through March 20.
The peninsulawide joint exercises feature thousands of visiting U.S. servicemembers from duty stations around the world.
As in previous years, Key Resolve/Foal Eagle was preceded by protests from the North Korean government, which claims the exercise is preparation for an invasion.
This year’s protests led the United Nations Command and the North Korean army to resume general officer-level talks after a seven-year hiatus.
USFK spomesman Dave Palmer said the talks were requested by the North in the interest of easing the growing tensions on the peninsula. The first of the new talks took place March 2 and were primarily used by the North as a platform to rail against the exercises, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported. A second set of general officer talks took place Friday.
A U.N. Command press release said the command, represented at the 45-minute meeting by a delegation led by Air Force Maj. Gen. Johnny Weida, assured the North that the exercises are "purely defensive in nature and have no connection to ongoing or current events."
UNC representatives also used the meeting to address recent North Korean threats to civilian aircraft, the release said.
The United Nations Command news release said the UNC considered Pyongyang’s statement "entirely inappropriate, had raised great concern in the international community and should be retracted immediately."
This year’s exercises have been surrounded by media speculation, much of it erroneous, according to USFK officials. South Korean media reported that B-2 and F-22 aircraft from U.S. bases on Guam and Okinawa would be participating, but those reports are incorrect, according to a 7th Air Force spokesman at Osan Air Base, South Korea.
Palmer, a USFK spokesman, said reports that 26,000 U.S. servicemembers have come to South Korea for the exercise are a "mischaracterization." He said 26,000 is the approximate number of people participating in the exercises, including those who are normally stationed in South Korea.
Originally known as Reception Staging Onward Movement and Integration/Foal Eagle, the first portion had its name changed in March 2008 to Key Resolve to reflect the changing roles of American troops on the peninsula.
Key Resolve is a command-post exercise — a computer-based simulation that focuses on bringing new troops and equipment onto the peninsula in the event of a contingency. Foal Eagle is a series of field exercises. Both exercises have U.S. servicemembers and civilians working closely with their South Korean counterparts.
North Korea Threatens War if Satellite Launch is Intercepted
North Korea put its armed forces on standby for war Monday and threatened retaliation against anyone seeking to stop the regime from launching a satellite into space in the latest barrage of threats from the communist regime.
The warning came as U.S. and South Korean troops kicked off their annual war games across the South, exercises the North has always condemned.
Analysts say the regime is trying to grab President Barack Obama's attention as his administration formulates its North Korea policy.
The North also indicated it was pushing ahead with plans to fire a communications satellite into space, a provocative launch neighboring governments believe could be a cover for a missile test.
U.S. and Japanese officials have suggested they could shoot down a North Korean missile if necessary, further incensing Pyongyang.
"Shooting our satellite for peaceful purposes will precisely mean a war," the general staff of the North's military said in a statement carried Monday by the official Korean Central News Agency.
Any interception will draw "a just retaliatory strike operation not only against all the interceptor means involved but against the strongholds" of the U.S., Japan and South Korea, it said.
The North ordered military personnel "fully combat ready" for war, KCNA said in a separate dispatch.
South Korea's Defense Ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae downplayed the threats as "rhetoric" but said the country's military was ready to deal with any contingencies.
Hundreds halted at border after NKorea cuts phone lines (S Koreans also stranded inside NK)
SEOUL
More than 700 South Koreans were blocked from travelling to a joint industrial complex in North Korea on Monday after Pyongyang cut its last communication channel with Seoul, officials said.
Seoul's unification ministry said 726 people were unable to travel to the Kaesong complex just north of the border.
The North said early Monday that it would cut off military phone lines with the South, the last remaining communications channel, in protest at a joint US-South Korean military exercise which started Monday.
It ordered its 1.2-million-member military to be fully combat-ready, saying the joint exercise was aimed at launching a "second Korean War."
"As an immediate measure we will enforce a more strict military control and cut off the north-south military communications," a military spokesman said.
"It is nonsensical to maintain a normal communications channel at a time when the South Korean puppets are getting frantic with the above-said war exercises, levelling guns at fellow countrymen in league with foreign forces."
South Koreans cannot cross the border without approval by North Korea through the military communications lines.
The unification ministry said the 726 includes those working in the complex and civilian groups trying to visit Kaesong for other purposes. It said truck traffic was also halted.
Japan urges N. Korean restraint over 'satellite' launch threats
TOKYO,
Kyodo
Tokyo is urging Pyongyang to exercise restraint in issuing threats of retaliation against countries attempting to intercept what the North calls a satellite and what other countries suspect may be a missile, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said Monday. The launch would be a "violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. We are urging North Korea to exercise restraint as what it is going to do will undermine regional stability," Kawamura told a news conference.
North Korea warned Monday that any move to intercept what it calls a satellite launch would result in a counterstrike against the countries, such as Japan, the United States and South Korea, trying to stop it.
Kawamura stressed that Japan's Defense Ministry and Self-Defense Forces have a responsibility to protect the country's security and it is constantly collecting information and making preparations, although he did not say they are especially tightening their security at this time.
Japan, South Korea and the United States have said that even if Pyongyang launches a satellite, it would violate existing U.N. Security Council resolutions.
Wild Thing's comment.........
Maybe North Korea is the trojan horse for China, Iran, Hamas, et al. The want to see how the new “Dear Leader” responds.
Obama is calling Hillary to ask her “What would BILL do ?”
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:48 AM | Comments (7)
October 14, 2007
N. Korea Beefs Up Guard At Nuclear Test Site
N. Korea beefs up guard at nuclear test site
SEOUL (Reuters)
North Korea has increased security around a site where it conducted a nuclear test last year, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday.
"Intelligence information was obtained that guards were being reinforced at the nuclear test site, along with (additional fencing)," it quoted an unnamed South Korean government source as saying.
"South Korea and U.S. authorities are keeping a close watch on the area and analysing the North's intentions."
But the source dismissed the likelihood of a second test at the Gilju site in North Hamkyung province, citing Pyongyang's pledge to the international community to disable its nuclear facilities.
North Korea marked the first anniversary of the nuclear test on October 9 that made it globally ostracised and the target of painful sanctions.
Wild Thing's comment........
Does Bush really believe that N. Korea is going to abide by our demands? I sure wouldn't. They must think Hillary is going to get elected so they’re getting ready to get all new updated equipment from the Pentagon.
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:47 AM | Comments (4)
January 15, 2007
North Korea Conducts Emergency Drill Of Top Security
It reminds me of the 80's song......by Corey Hart - "Sunglasses At Night".
North conducts emergency drill of top security
January 15, 2007
Joong Ang Daily
Several security organs directly in charge of the safety of North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-il, conducted an emergency drill in Pyongyang on Friday, intelligence sources from South Korea and the United States said.
Military troops and tanks from the Pyongyang Defense Command were deployed rapidly while increased military communications were noted that day.
In addition, the Escort Bureau, in charge of protecting Mr. Kim, also had a busy day, the sources said. The incident sparked a flurry of activity by the South's intelligence community, as the increased military activity in the North's capital did not fit the usual pattern of winter drills conducted by the North's military.
The fact that security organs closely guarding the North's leader's safety were involved in the activities sparked momentary suspicion among some sources that a military coup might have occurred in the North.
By the end of the day, however, intelligence officials here concluded that the drill was to prepare for any unforeseen changes inside the power structure of Kim Jong-il's inner circle.
A source familiar with the circumstances said, "We have confirmed that the activities pertained not to a real situation but were part of a drill to respond to a possible scenario."
The source added that the situation did not require an emergency meeting by authorities in the South.
Nevertheless, intelligence officials said that drills of this kind rarely happen in the North.
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:47 AM | Comments (8)
October 15, 2006
N. Korean Ambassador to UN Walks Out In A Huff
N. Korean Ambassador to UN, Park Kil-yon, walks out after the resolution(against N. Korea) is adopted
On the morning of Oct. 15(S. Korean time), UN Security Council was convened and ambassadors of member nations declared N. Korean nuclear test as a threat to international community. As soon as they unanimously approved the resolution for sanction against N. Korea, N. Korean Ambassador to UN, Park Kil-yon, announced N. Korea's view and walked out of the meeting 10/15/06 (UN Headquarter = Yonhap News)
(UN Headquarter = Yonhap News) Cho Bok-rae, Kim Kye-hwan = U.S. Ambassador to U.N., John Bolton, was enraged at the walk-out of N. Korean Ambassador to UN, Park Kil-yon, from the conference room, after rejecting the resolution. His angry remarks also drew fire from Russian delegation.
Ambassador Bolton was upset over Park's behavior, and said, "It is the contemporary equivalent of Nikita Khrushchev pounding his shoe on the desk,",and loudly demanded to consider expulsion of N. Korea from UN.
Then, Russian Ambassador to UN, Vitaly Churkin, told the Chairman of the Security Council, Japanese Ambassador, Oshima Kenjo, to ask Bolton "not to use an inappropriate metaphor even when he is upset," a scene reminiscent of repeated clashes between U.S. and Soviet Union at UN during Cold-war days.
After the resolution was approved, N. Korean Ambassador walked out of the conference room, announcing that N. Korea "totally reject" the resolution, and any further pressure from U.S. would be regarded as a declaration of war.
Talking to reporters gathered outside the Security Council conference room, he maintained that the nuclear test is justifiable in light of U.S. nuclear threat and hostile policy, and the Security Council resolution applied double standard and lacked fairness. He condemned the resolution as 'gangster-like act.'
Japanese Ambassador said he was surprised at the Park's rejection of the resolution, but it was not unexpected, and expressed his displeasure, saying, "N. Korea showed the same reactions when a resolution (against N. Korea) was adopted after July missile launches."
Wild Thing's comment....
Gotta Love Mr.Bolton! giggle He is great!! I watched this on TV and Bolton called it like he saw it, and was right on target. Bolton said, "I'm addressing the empty chair there" and then went into the Krushchev shoe-banging analogy. He was right to call out the North Koreans for their boorish behavior.
Posted by Wild Thing at 01:55 AM | Comments (15)
October 13, 2006
North Korea Bombs Out When It Comes To Electricity
North Korea might now have The Bomb, but it doesn't have much electricity
As the world grapples with how to rein in the "axis of evil" state which this week conducted a nuclear test, this spectacular satellite photo unveiled yesterday by US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld shows in stark detail the haves and have-nots of the Korean peninsula.
The regime in the north is so short of electricity that the whole country is switched off at 9 p.m. - apart from the capital of Pyongyang where dictator Kim Jong-il and his cohorts live in relative luxury. But even there, lighting is drastically reduced.
The result, as shown in this picture taken one night earlier this week, is a startling contrast between the blacked-out north and the south, which is ablaze with light, particularly around major cities and the capital, Seoul, in the north-west of the country.
Mr Rumsfeld showed the picture to illustrate how backward the northern regime really is - and how oppressed its people are. Without electricity there can be none of the appliances that make life easy and that we take for granted, he said.
"Except for my wife and family, that is my favourite photo," said Mr Rumsfeld.
"It says it all. There's the south, the same people as the north, the same resources north and south, and the big difference is in the south it's a free political system and a free economic system."
"The people in the north are starving, their growth is stunted. It's a shame, a tragedy."
An aide added: "This oppressive regime is too busy trying to make war to make life comfortable for its people."
Wild Thing's comment........
Dictatorship for Dummies
#1 Keep the people poor and starving
#2 See rule #1
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:47 AM | Comments (4)
