Category Archives: Koreas

Korean peninsula geopolitics for Oct. 13: Jingoism and literal geographical events

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1. It appears that there has been an earthquake, or a series of them in North Korea related to their nuclear tests, indicating that they have destabilized the ground and region, geographically. (Meanwhile, the bulk of blue pilled Westerners still think Global Warming is a real thing)

S. Korea Detects Magnitude 2.9 Earthquake Near N. Korean Test Site

South Korea detects a fourth small earthquake near Pyongyang’s nuclear test site.

Seoul’s weather agency reported a magnitude 2.9 quake early Friday with the epicenter located in the northeastern territory of the isolated state.

 

Meteorologists say the quake does not appear to be man made, and may have been a result of North Korea’s previous nuclear tests.

 

Experts have speculated the mountain where Pyongyang conducts its nuclear tests could explode, which could bear the risk of radioactive pollution.

The Australian and South Korean foreign ministers are discussed how to deter North Korea’s nuclear program amid the detection of the recent earthquake.

More at Yahoo news as well.

Trump Sends Second Aircraft Carrier To Korean Peninsula With 7,500 Marines Aboard

Just one week after uttering his now-infamous “this is the calm before the storm” statement to the press ahead of a dinner with military leaders, we now learn that President Trump has dispatched a second nuclear aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, filled with 7,500 marines, to the Korean Peninsula.  Of course, this comes after rumors swirled earlier this week that North Korea is preparing to fire multiple short-range rockets around the opening of the Chinese Communist Party’s twice-a-decade congress on Oct. 18th.

 

‘The USS Theodore Roosevelt, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, is en route to the western Pacific after leaving San Diego port last week.

 

The Roosevelt will focus on maritime security operations in the Pacific and Middle East, the US military announced.

 

But the £3.4billion ($4.5billion) warship, known as “the Big Stick”, has been sent to boost US defence on the Korean peninsula, according to South Korean media.

 

It is expected to arrive in region in the coming weeks amid fears North Korea is about to test another missile or nuclear weapon.’

North Korea warns its ‘hand is on the trigger’ and is prepared to launch ‘a salvo of missiles’ at US territory Guam

North Korea has made fresh threats to attack the U.S. territory of Guam with a ‘salvo of missiles’ after a recent aviation exercise over the peninsula.

Kim Jong-Un‘s government warned that a joint exercise with Japan and South Korea has ‘hardened our determination that the U.S. should be tamed with fire’.

In a statement published in North Korean state media, Pyongyang said the military drills ‘lets us take our hand closer to the ‘trigger’ for taking the toughest countermeasure’.

 

N. Korea fires missile over Japan, lands far out in the Pacific

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MSN.COM:

Video courtesy of Fox News)

UPDATE: WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. military said on Thursday that it had detected the launch of a single North Korean intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) that flew over northern Japan before landing in the Pacific Ocean.

The missile did not pose a threat to North America or the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam, Commander Dave Benham, a spokesman for U.S. Pacific Command said in a statement, citing an initial assessment.

Benham said the launch was detected at 11:57 a.m. Hawaii time (5:17 p.m. EDT/2117 GMT) and the missile had been launched from Sunan in Pyongyang, North Korea.

 

Koreas – Sept. 5, 2017

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“Madness in great ones, must not unwatched go.”

LOCK AND LOADED

North Korea ‘secretly moving ballistic missile towards west coast’ and threatens America with the ‘final miserable end’ after US warns Kim Jong-un is ‘begging for war’

North Korea, which has launch facilities for its missile program on its west coast, reportedly launched the rocket during the night to avoid surveillance.

 

South Korea’s defence ministry said they could not confirm the contents of the report but said the North was considered ready to launch more missiles at any time.

The report came as the US ambassador to the UN warned that North Korea was “begging for war” and the United States’ patience has almost run out.

 

Calling on the UN to impose the “strongest possible measures” against Pyongyang, US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said: “The time has come to exhaust all diplomatic means before it is too late.

“Enough is enough. War is never something the United States wants.

“We don’t want it now, but our country’s patience is not unlimited.”

In a dramatic session of the Security Council, Nikki Haley said: 'We must now adopt the strongest possible measures'

North Korea says nuclear tests are ‘gift packages for the US’ and warns more will follow

North Korea said nuclear tests are “gift packages” to the United States and that more will follow.

Han Tae Song, the ambassador of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to the UN in Geneva, made the comment during a UN-sponsored Conference on Disarmament today.

 

The warning comes two days after his country detonated its sixth and largest nuclear test.

“The recent self-defence measures by my country, DPRK, are a gift package addressed to none other than the US,” Han told the Geneva forum.

Sept. 4. UN Security Council:

North Korea Nuclear Progress Puts Iran on Renewed Pathway to Bomb

U.S. officials are closely monitoring an ongoing meeting between senior North Korean and Iranian officials that comes on the heels of a nuclear test by Pyongyang, according to senior Trump administration officials and other sources who expressed concern that North Korea is helping to put the Islamic Republic back on the pathway to a functional nuclear weapon.

 

Sources told the Washington Free Beacon that Pyongyang continues to stockpile illicit nuclear material on Iran’s behalf in order to help the Islamic Republic skirt restrictions implemented under the landmark nuclear deal.

North Korea’s latest nuclear test of a hydrogen bomb has roiled Trump administration officials and led President Donald Trump to consider multiple options for war.

 

However, it also has renewed fears among U.S. officials and foreign policy insiders about Pyongyang’s long-standing relationship with Iran, which centers on providing the Islamic Republic with nuclear technology and know-how.

Thank you Richard, M., Tundra T., Wrath of Khan and all who sent in materials. More to come.

This is an interesting video on the subject:

 

 

Korea updates Sept. 3 2017

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1. M6.3 magnitude quake confirmed to be North Korean explosion, likely nuclear, possibly hydrogen bomb.

2. From Fox News:

Quake in North Korea may have been nuclear test

A magnitude 5.6 earthquake was detected in northern North Korea on Sunday, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported. The U.S. Geological Survey measured the quake at magnitude 6.3.

 

The quake was detected at 12:36 p.m. in North Korea’s North Hamgyeong province, Yonhap reported, citing information from the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA).

 

Reuters gave the location as 55 kilometers north northwest of Kimchaek, citing U.S. Geological Survey information. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, the news agency said.

Japan stated that if it was confirmed to be a nuclear test, it would be “absolutely unacceptable”, whatever that means.

3. Sunday Express:

North Korea readies HYDROGEN BOMB as Kim Jong-un ‘watches loading into ICBM’

Kim Jong-un inspects a hydrogen bomb and ICBMGETTY/REUTERS

North Korea has said it has created a hydrogen bomb with great ‘destructive power’

North Korea has said it has developed a more advanced nuclear weapon that has “great destructive power” amid World War 3 fears.

 

Kim Jong-un’s state media mouthpiece NCNA declared the hydrogen bomb’s power is adjustable to hundreds of kilotons and can be detonated at high altitudes.

 

It also boasted that these latest components would allow the country to build as many nuclear weapons as it wants.

KCNA reported: “Kim Jong-un said he felt the pride at the indomitably bolstering up of [North Korea’s] nuclear forces despite a great price as he watched the Juche-oriented thermonuclear weapon with super explosive power mad

4. NKorea missile fear sets pre-emptive strike debate in Japan

(Richard points out that this debate is an important one to follow, as its post WW2 policies exist for a reason and to change those has meaning.)

TOKYO (AP) — Japan is debating whether to develop a limited pre-emptive strike capability and buy cruise missiles – ideas that were anathema in the pacifist country before the North Korea missile threat.

 

With revisions to Japan’s defense plans underway, ruling party hawks are accelerating the moves, and some defense experts say Japan should at least consider them.

 

Japan has a two-step missile defense system, including interceptors on destroyers in the Sea of Japan that would shoot down projectiles mid-flight and if that fails, surface-to-air PAC-3s on land.

5. UK says North Korea nuclear test is reckless, could bring a “new order of threat”

LONDON, Sept 3 (Reuters) – North Korea’s latest nuclear test could represent a new order of threat, Britain’s foreign minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday.

 

“There’s no question that this is another provocation, it’s reckless,” he told Sky news. “They seem to be moving closer towards a hydrogen bomb which, if fitted to a successful missile, would unquestionably present a new order of threat.”

 

Pyongyang conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test earlier on Sunday.

He said Britain’s preference was for a diplomatic solution and that none of the military options relating to North Korea were palatable. (Reporting by William James; editing by John Stonestreet)

(And the beggar’s preference is for a horse. But if he sits around wishing for one he likely will never achieve his destination. Palatable or no, a solution that does not result in a nuclear strike against a city outside North Korea must be done. It is possible to eliminate the nuclear potential of NORK and take out the administration without destroying all the slave labour camps and so on which a lot of the more or less innocent North Korean populations live in. But something permanent has to be done. Something with strategic certainty.)

6. ‘We’ll see’: Trump refuses to be drawn on whether US will attack North Korea for detonating hydrogen bomb but warns America may stop ‘ALL trade with any country doing business with Kim’

Both economic and military action could be in store for North Korea after its detonation of a 100-kiloton nuclear bomb, Donald Trump has hinted.

 

The president remained tight-lipped amid claims that America is gearing up for military intervention as he left church on Sunday morning.

 

When asked whether the US would make a preemptive strike on North Korea after its nuclear test caused a 6.5-magnitude earthquake, Trump – who was leaving church – only said: ‘We’ll see.’

 

But in a pair of tweets afterwards, he said: ‘I will be meeting General Kelly, General Mattis and other military leaders at the White House to discuss North Korea. Thank you.

7. North Korea says 6th nuke test was H-bomb, ‘perfect success’

8. NYT: North Korea Says It Tested a Hydrogen Bomb Meant for Missiles

9. North Korea says it successfully tested hydrogen bomb; Trump denounces its ‘hostile’ behavior

“North Korea said Sunday that it successfully conducted a test of a hydrogen bomb meant to be loaded onto an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

The announcement was made on state-run television. A news reader called the test a “complete success” and said the “two-stage thermonuclear weapon” had “unprecedented” strength. North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un ordered the test, according to the announcement.

It is the rogue nation’s sixth, and most powerful, nuclear test.

President Trump responded on Twitter, commenting on North Korea’s continuing “hostile and dangerous” actions toward the U.S. and its being a “great threat and embarrassment to China.” The president also said South Korea’s “talk of appeasement” with its northern neighbor won’t work.

Thank you all for your diligence in following and posting these links. Unless something major happens concerning Korea in the next few hours, please post all Korea related news to the comments under this post.

This just in. I have no idea what she is saying, But I would not buy a used car from her.

It is alleged to be the new hydrogen bomb in the hundred kiloton range the NORKS tested.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Koreas: News updates on Aug. 30, 2017

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1. Japan Seeks New U.S. Missile Radar As North Korea Threat Grows – Sources

Japan wants to have a land-based version of the Aegis ballistic missile defense (BMD) system operational by 2023 as a new layer of defense to help counter North Korea’s missile advances.

 

Yet, without the new powerful radar, known as Spy-6, Japan will have to field the system with existing radar technology that has less range than a new generation of BMD interceptor missiles, the sources who have knowledge of the discussion told Reuters.

 

That could mean that while the interceptor has enough range to strike a missile lofted high into space, the targeting radar may not be able to detect the threat until it is much closer.

 

Japanese officials have witnessed a demonstration of Spy-6 technology, which boosts the range of BMD radars dozens of times, but efforts to secure the equipment from their ally have come to naught.

2. Seoul training special forces unit to infiltrate North Korea and assassinate Kim Jong-un if war breaks out 

South Korea is planning to send special forces units into Pyongyang in search of Kim Jong-un and his closest advisers in the event that North Korea should start a conventional war.

The plan is among the revisions being made to South Korea’s revised strategy for dealing with an attack from the North.

(Either South Korea is being led by Obama, or this cannot be quite true, as its very odd to telegraph your plans to the enemy in this way. The pun on telegraph was, by the way, initially unintended then I decided to go with it)

3. VLAD MOVE North Korea missile launch over Japan prompts Russia to evacuate hundreds to ‘safe zones’ – as Kim Jong un’s rogue state vows not to ‘flinch an inch’

VLADIMIR Putin ordered Russians to be evacuated from the North Korean border as war between Pyongyang and the US continued to loom this evening.

 

The Russian President signed off a move to get 1,500 nationals away from the 24-mile border with Kim Jong-un’s rogue state.

 

Russia described the move as a “training exercise” after Moscow’s foreign ministry earlier said the crisis could “lead the world to the brink of a catastrophe”.

 

The evacuated are expected to be moved to “safe zones” further inside Russia in the event that conflict breaks out.

The war of words between Pyongyang and Washington continued to ratchet up today as North Korea told Donald Trump it won’t “flinch an inch”.

 

The US responded by telling Kim’s regime “enough is enough” after a missile test flew over the Japanese mainland last night.

4. Kim Jong-un cackles like a maniac as he oversees latest North Korea missile launch and taunts Trump that ‘it’s just a curtain-raiser’ for possible strike on Guam

NORTH Korean dictator Kim Jong-un vowed to fire more missiles as pictures emerged of the despot cackling maniacally as he over saw the launch described as “just a curtain-raiser”.

 

Just one day after his latest launch brought his country and American one step closer to war the smirking communist called for more weapons testing over the Pacific to advance his country’s ability to contain Guam.

 

State media reported that the dictator had said: “The current ballistic rocket launching drill like a real war is the first step of the military operation of the Korean People’s Army in the Pacific and a meaningful prelude to containing Guam.”

 

The Rodong Sinmun newspaper, mouthpiece of the North’s ruling party, on Wednesday carried more than 20 pictures of the launch near Pyongyang. One showed Kim smiling broadly at a desk with a map of the Northwest Pacific, surrounded by aides.

5. This one is interesting. The URL cannot be found, although the headline still gives search results, but the URL gives an error.

Headline:

World War 3? US tests ‘most dangerous nuclear weapon ever produced’ amid North Korea row

Someone made a computer voice video of the article below:

6. North Korea: State TV footage shows missile launch over Japan

More links and videos on this critical issue will be posted as they become available. I ask readers to please post all relevant Korea links in the comments under this post.

Thank you M, Richard, and many more who sent in these videos and stories.

 

Unprecedented, serious and significant threat’: Japan’s prime minister on North Korea missile launch

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CNBC.Com

North Korea fired a ballistic missile that passed over Japan early Tuesday, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had strong words about its gravity.

Abe said the missile was an unprecedented, serious and grave threat to Japan. The Japanese prime minister also said he would ask the United Nations to up the pressure on Pyongyang.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

Yoshikazu Tsuno | Pool | Reuters
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

A South Korean military official told NBC News that the missile was fired around 5:57 a.m. local time on Tuesday. The official said that the missile flew for about 2,700 kilometers (1,678 miles), reaching a maximum altitude of 550 kilometers (342 miles). U.S. Pacific Command projected that the missile splashed down at 6:29 a.m. local time.

 Japanese broadcaster NHK reported that the North Korean missile broke into three pieces and fell into the sea.

[Meanwhile, Trump has become Obama]

North Korea fires missile over Japan, Pentagon confirms

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From Fox News:

North Korea fired a missile over Japan, the Pentagon confirmed on Monday.

“We assess North Korea conducted a missile launch within the last 90 minutes,” the Pentagon said.

“We can confirm that the missile launched by North Korea flew over Japan,” the Pentago continued. “We are still in the process of assessing this launch. North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) determined the missile launch from North Korea did not pose a threat to North America. We are working closely with Pacific Command, Strategic Command and NORAD and will provide an update as soon as possible.”

A senior U.S. official said that there had been some movement suggesting an intermediate missile was being prepped.

 

 

 

South Korean military fires at unidentified projectile from North Korea

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WSJ

The South Korean military have fired at an unidentified North Korean projectile that is reported to have crossed the border between the two nations on Tuesday evening. Yonhap later said the object was a drone. After spotting the object, the army broadcast warning signals and fired shots in accordance with its procedures, the South Korean joint chiefs of staff said. “The military is on high alert and air surveillance has been strengthened,” it added. The army fired about 90 shots at 4pm local time when the device flew near South Korea’s eastern Gangwon province, the Yonhap state news agency reported.

VICE assists the North Koreans with disseminating their propaganda

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This VICE clip is interesting on a couple of levels. Somewhat at face value. But I can’t help but wonder why VICE would be invited to North Korea after the exceptional and important documentary they did on VICE guide to Travel about North Korea, where they broke all kinds of local laws and showed the regime for what it really was.

Of course, that was when Vice was amazing and courageous, and before they took a hard hard lurch to the left. 

Perhaps the new slant on things makes it acceptable to the Kim Jong dynasty despite its previous libertarian bent.

General Mattis Warns North Korea: Stop or Face ‘Destruction of Its People’

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From CBN:

jamesmattisap2

U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis warned North Korea to stop its missile tests and nuclear program or face devastation.

The news comes after dictator Kim Jong Un threatened to attack U.S. forces in Guam after revelations that his regime now has mini-nukes.

“The DPRK must choose to stop isolating itself and stand down its pursuit of nuclear weapons,” Mattis said in a statement, referring to North Korea. “The DPRK should cease any consideration of actions that would lead to the end of its regime and the destruction of its people.”

U.S., Japanese Analysts Agree: North Korea Has Developed Nuclear Missile Warheads

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From Breitbart:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un seen celebrating the successful test of an intercontinental ballistice missile July 5, which has prompted calls at the UN for tougher sanctions on Pyongyang

AFP

by JOHN HAYWARD8 Aug 20170

A grim milestone appears to be passing, as both U.S. and Japanese intelligence analysts believe North Korea has developed the technology to miniaturize nuclear warheads and fit them inside long-range missiles, years ahead of schedule.

 

Japan’s annual defense review, released on Tuesday morning, described the threat from North Korea’s nuclear missile program as “acute.”

 

“It is conceivable that North Korea’s nuclear weapons program has already considerably advanced and it is possible that North Korea has already achieved the miniaturization of nuclear weapons and has acquired nuclear warheads,” the white paper warned. “Since last year, when it forcibly implemented two nuclear tests and more than 20 ballistic missile launches, the security threats have entered a new stage.”

RELATED:

North Korea threatens to attack Guam

New York Post:

North Korea is mulling a possible missile strike on Guam, where strategic US bombers and countless soldiers are based.

The Hermit Kingdom’s official news agency announced early Wednesday local time that the nation was “carefully examining” plans for a medium-to-long range rocket attack.

Their statement came just hours after President Trump threatened to unleash “fire and fury” on the North “like the world has never seen.”

 

His warning was in response to reports that Pyongyang had developed a nuclear warhead capable of fitting inside its ballistic missiles.

 

Guam — which is known as the “Tip of the Spear — is home to thousands of American service members and their families.

 

North Korea’s state-run news agency, KCNA, said Tuesday that the government was looking at an “operational plan” that would send numerous medium-to-long-range strategic ballistic missiles towards the US-owned Pacific island to counteract the bombers that are positioned there and “send a serious warning signal to the US.”

(I suddenly understand Obama’s policies of “Strategic patience”. If he waited long enough and did nothing North Korea and Iran will destroy the USA for him)

 

Koreas:

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North Korea:

South Korea:

South Korea to freeze deployment of THAAD missile defense pending environmental probe

SEOUL – South Korea will suspend any further deployment of a controversial U.S. missile defense system until an environmental impact assessment ordered by new President Moon Jae-in is finished, his office said Wednesday.

Seoul agreed last year under Moon’s ousted predecessor Park Geun-hye to deploy the powerful missile intercept system to guard against threats from nuclear-armed North Korea despite angry opposition from Beijing, which views it as a threat to its own military capabilities.

(One wonders what the environmental impact might be of ten or fifteen South Korean naval vessels sinking off the Korean peninsula. Or a smoking ruin of a South Korean city with nuclear fallout from primitive and dirty weapons.)

H/T Xanthippa & Richard.